Good morning Good people. I am taking so many positives from this forum that I must give something back. Its "rest" 😀 day.

My two bob and a balloons worth. Here we go. Week 4 and run 1 completed. I am now convinced that with the steady progress this plan delivers that I will learn to run again 😀 BUT much much more slowly than when I ran 40 plus years ago. Initially I ran too hard for the first two weeks and aches and pains began to develop. The single most change for me was to accept the breath through my nose advice. It almost immediately slowed me down to a basic jog and the pains began to leave my knees pain free after a few more gentler runs. I keep reading and re reading the stories from other people's journeys and gain insight from them. In reality I will not be running 5k in less than 30 minutes for many more months to come or even ever. This does not matter for an older git such as I. However this couch to 5k will enable me to jog run 5k in whatever time it takes. After a few or many more 5 k eventual runs I will get faster. So for now I am going to "trust the program" and get there. I am happy with my "slow" progression and my physical and mental health has grown exponentially thanks to getting off my derriere and doing something. 🙂 what more could I possibly realistically hope for. Long story/rant over. Loads of love light and progress to you all. Namaste.

[Annieapple Administrator Graduate]

🍏What a lovely encouraging post Namaste with sensible advice! Thank you! Enjoy your rest day! Then it’s onwards and upwards!!! You are in a lovely week and almost half way through the program 🎈

[Hidden in reply to Annieapple]

Thanks for your reply. Positive comments that we all make to one another are soooo helpful.

[JoP61 Graduate]

Sounds like you're doing brilliantly. What you describe about getting off your derriere is very much how I felt when I started running 6 years ago. I still can't run 5K in 30 minutes but I'm faster than I was when I started and I run at least 3 times per week. It has delivered great rewards both physically and mentally.

You're right to trust the program and you will definitiely get there! Happy running!

[Hidden in reply to JoP61]

Thank you most kindly. 😀

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate]

Brilliant…I have been running for 6 years now and I have never run 5k in 30 minutes…my fastest was 32 mins…I wasn’t even trying and still to this day I think it was a glitch in my watch! I’m on my 3rd repeat of c25k…the 2nd repeat I never completed and now that I’m working my running is very sporadic…I’m on week 6 now…so into the longer runs which obvs means a longer time out of my day…but early mornings and early evenings are going to be a factor now because those are my fav times to run…running regularly can only improve your running so keep doing what you’re doing …we’re all right behind you! I can’t breathe through my nose either, so I just breathe how it happens naturally so I wouldn’t worry about that…you’re doing a cracking job!

[Hidden in reply to Mummycav]

Thanks for the kind reply 😀 all the best and people such as yourself and others here support and make us all realise we are not alone. Namaste.

[Bestsie_07]

I can second that and say I definitely can not run as fast now as I did in my forties. But it doesn't matter, the only person I have anything to prove to is myself. The one big difference I notice now I'm an older runner is the warm down takes longer. However I've turned it into a reward for my run by combining my stretches with a few minutes of Yoga. It's a real treat and I feel so much better after. I have one more run to do before stepping into week 5 and from what I hear, I'm gona need some serious luck and a good wind behind me 🤣