I need to go to go out & do Wk 8 Run 2 this morning & prevaricating (but will do it) ….
I’m an exceptionally slow runner and run 1 on Wednesday felt rubbish, so was good to read about Toxic 10 & Tomato Ten in someone else’s post as I do have these! (And in swimming too!)
I want to run gradually faster … as well as get to 5k as I’m no where near that yet. What have others done?
I have always run slightly more than the program- I was running 30mins instead of 25 in wk 7 and did some faster bursts at the end as felt capable.
I’m a very overweight post menopausal 54yr old who had a breast cancer op Oct last year & lost a lot of the little fitness & muscle tone I had whilst recovering, who’s still suffering tiredness (& peri-menopausal symptoms all over again) from the hormone therapy drugs I’m now on.
So I did something daft in my overly emotional state & signed up for the Hever Castle Triathlon, to do 400m swim, 20k cycle & 4k run on 28/9/24 with a small Kent based breast cancer charity Team Pheonix Foundation for Medway/Maidstone area. They help otherwise lost causes like me actually complete (if not race) this type of event as a small team, supporting each other. They provide coaching & training for all 3 disciplines & a bike you can buy at the end at cost. I’ve not started the running yet with them as they started with swimming training first 28/4/24 & I did my first cycling training session Tuesday. I cried Tues as I didn’t think I could even cycle still, and had an enormous fear of falling off - but the coach had me up & going and beaming with relief. They’ve also provided 6 strength & conditioning coached sessions with Amazon24 in Rainham Kent - an amazing local gym run & owned by Mel Young.
I count myself very lucky to have found this charity.
So i’m now exercising 6 times a week with all the different bits. I am the slowest in the group (maybe not at swimming). I need to very much work on improving my running & cycling speeds over the next 4 months 😁
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Well done for getting to Week 8! You’re doing really well.
It’s not the time yet to start to work on your speed. C25K is meant to be run at ‘easy conversational pace’ . Continue just the way you are for now! I’m a slow runner too - I think on my graduation run I covered 3.5K.
I’m sure you’ll be able to run 4K by the the of September, but pushing too early will risk injury. There’s no reason why you can’t swim and ride alongside your running though. I’m not knowledgable enough to advise you what is overdoing it, but take care.
When you’ve graduated and spent a few weeks doing 30 minute runs (consolidation) then you can start increasing time on your feet, but do this gradually.
That’s good advice and helpful, I’m very mindful on doing things incrementally because of my lack of fitness & weight. And because I don’t want an injury so I can definitely do the Tri!
Yes the charity is amazing & voluntarily run by a very small handful of people who’ve all been through the program. There’s no rehab for breast cancer on NHS, but this is a fantastic equivalent
If you're getting coaching for the event your best bet is to speak to your coaches and share your worries. They know your history, they have helped other people and they are ideally placed to make sure you do your best in the event. Doing your best doesn't mean being fast, there are many ways to measure success and speed is probably the least informative.
The vast majority of us here (and in real life ) aren't elite athletes so when we do an event we really are in it just for the experience of taking part. Trying to do too much too fast too soon is a recipe for disaster as I've found out from personal experience.
You have plenty of time to get to 5k, very few people actually achieve 5k in 30 minutes by the end of C25K. I didn't and even after 3+ years of pretty consistent running am nowhere near it and I know I'm not unusual for this.
Good luck, you are doing an amazing thing. Choose your own criteria for success and you will shine
Two great answers already! Take it one step at a time and get to the end of the programme first. Getting faster is a really common goal and a fun one to work toward when you’re ready. When you graduate from couch to 5k, that will unlock more runs in a new section of the app. One of those is an interval based speed run. Building a faster run into your weekly training can be a great way to keep your running fresh and maybe help with pace. But there’s no rush, and it’s most important to concentrate on getting your base right first. Speed can come later.
There are lots of options for building to 5k…you’re most definitely not alone in having that as a goal too. Something like this here…
But any gradual increase would work. Lots of people use the time based magic plan over on our Bridge to 10k board (don’t let the name put you off…it’s for any graduate who wants to carry on running and feels it fits best with their running)
What a fabulous charity and a wonderful opportunity for you. I’m so pleased for you that you signed up.
I look forward to reading more about the training you do and how you feel along the way. As the team you are training with have done this before, you should be in safe hands in terms of pacing the progress.
Wow! What an event and charity you've found there. Best of luck.
Getting to Week 8 is terrific. Whilst I was doing C25K, I kept laughing and telling a friend that I felt like I could walk faster than I was running. But I kept my eyes on completing the programme first.
As it was, just from consistency, I did increase my pace, but I wouldn't worry about it atm. Finish the programme and then start looking at different goals.
I went from C25K to a month of consolidation and on my last run of the four weeks, I ran 5K distance - slowly, but I did it.
Do listen to your coaches, I'm sure they have good experience and advice to give you...
Have you tried the Stepping Stone programme with Steve Cram on the C25k app? It's supposed to be for graduates but you're almost there.
There are three runs: strength (35mins) , speed (16mins) and stamina (40mins).
For the speed section (after your 5-minute warm-up) you start off with 5 mins running at your normal pace then, in 1-minute increments, you alternate a faster-than-normal run with a slower-than-normal run. You repeat this six times then do your 5 minute cool-down walk. It's basically a short session of HIIT.
It's helped me to improve my speed. My normal running pace is only 4mph so I do that for 5mins, then run for a minute at 5.5mph, then a minute at 3.5mph repeating both six times followed by my 5-min cool down walk. Your slow run is supposed to be 80% of your normal pace and the faster run 120% so you can do the calculations based on your own speed
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) aren't elite athletes so when we do an event we really are in it just for the experience of taking part. Trying to do too much too fast too soon is a recipe for disaster as I've found out from personal experience. 
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