Hi everyone
I have completed above and have done an extra 2 5 k runs since. My times not gr8 so I’m going to continue repeating week 9 run 3 in order to get more distance in a shorter time. Is it good enough to continue running 5k 3 times a week or should I increase distance? Motivational tips would also be greatly appreciated 😃
Congratulations! You’ve done brilliantly to complete the programme-hope you did some celebrating! There’s the opportunity to claim a virtual badge from Oldfloss here…
healthunlocked.com/couchto5...
And a place to chat for graduates here…
healthunlocked.com/couchto5...
Come and say hi!
Congratulations and well done...come and say hello! x
congratulations RolaCola ..welcome to your new way of life you runner you!!! Plenty of people ready to chat about all things running on here!!
Brilliant ⭐️
Congratulations RolaCola , it's a fantastic achievement 
As you've probably read elsewhere on this forum, C25K is about running for 30 minutes, not actually achieving 5k in 30 minutes. There are a lot of us here, self included, who have been running years and not come anywhere near that time. How fast you run depends a lot on your age, sex, fitness level, height, where you run etc etc.
Us women are generally slower than men, our limbs are shorter, we carry more fat and less muscle and our hips and pelvis are different. Doesn't mean we can't run, or run well, we just can't run as fast (of course I'm generalising, some women are fast and some men are slow).
Now that you can run for 30 minutes you're very wise to keep running like this for a few weeks until you're entirely comfortable with it. When I graduated C25K my next goal was to actually run for 5k. I gradually increased how long I ran for and then one day I just went for it and covered 5k. This might be an approach for you to consider?
After a while you'll probably want to do something a bit different. I highly recommend the Nike Running Club app (NRC). it's free and you don't need to buy Nike stuff to use it. They have lots of guided runs - different distances, different times, different styles of running. It really helped me develop my running knowledge.
One thing I have learned is that speed isn't the ultimate badge of a good runner. Fair enough, if you enjoy it, go for it, but a lot of us waste time beating ourselves up that we aren't somehow 'fast enough'.
You can be a great runner and run slowly, you get all the health benefits and minimise the risk of an injury. On the other hand sometimes there are days when you just want to run as fast as you can. That's good too, as long as you accept that your fast is just as valid as anyone else's fast. For example, my fastest wouldn't even put me among the top 50% of people to complete my local Parkrun, but I don't care because it doesn't matter.
My motivational tips:
1. Remind yourself YOU ARE AWESOME! Three months ago if someone had told you that you'd be running for 30 minutes how impressed would you be? (if you even believed that was possible). Pat yourself on the back for being amazing!!
2. You are doing fantastically well and will continue to improve in more ways than I can list such as but not limited to how you look, how you feel, your physical health, your mental health and your self esteem.
3. If you ever think anyone is looking at you judgmentally when you run remind yourself that (a) they are jealous of what you can do (b) they are guilty that they aren't making your effort and (c) tell yourself 'ha ha ha I've got better things to do with my time than worry about what people I don't know think about me 'cos I'm awesome!!'
4. If you're on a run and it's getting difficult SMILE. It somehow loosens everything up, lifts your mood and gives you a spring in your step, which is probably what you were missing. Another thing to do is to say out loud 'I've got this, I'm having a great time' which will confuse the bit of your brain that's saying the opposite and hopefully shut it down.
So good luck with your future runs and let us know how you get on. We are all willing you on to greater things
Well done on completing the ct5k 👏🏻👏🏻 a great achievement! I consolidated for around 4 weeks then started Ju-Ju’s magic plan to gradually increase my distance to 10k - good luck and happy running.
Whoop whoop 🙌 well done it is a fabulous achievement. I did quite a few week 9 run 3 to consolidate and found that along with my confidence in being a runner my time/ distance got longer without realising it.
Happy running 😊
congratulations! 👏🏼🎉 awesome achievement. Bask in the glory and consolidate- Yesletsgo has comprehensively said everything I would have said. You might want to look at the Bridge to 10k at some point if you want to increase your distance
For now just enjoy that you can run for 30 mins and contemplate what’s next for you- exciting times ahead 😊
Well Done. Now is the time for consolidation but also the time to enjoy your running. So next time you go out have an Excellent run.
That sounds wonderful.
You’ve had some great replies so I’ll not add anything apart from congratulations! Keep enjoying it whatever you do next.
Firstly, congratulations on completing 🎉🎉🎉
In terms of consolidation, really anything goes. If you want to work on speed my suggestion (ie, what worked for me) is try to stick to 3 runs per week. Do one shorter, faster run, do one 5k/30min, and do one longer, slower run. Running further does help you run faster over shorter distances, so it's good to mix it up.
Also worth trying is to go back to the early weeks of the plan and replace the walks with light jogs, then push yourself a bit on the running sections. One session like this every couple of weeks certainly helped me in the early stages.
Good luck.
Completed C25K!
C25K. Completed it mate. 
Completed C25K finally!
Actually completed C25K!
C25k ✅ program completed!!!
