I recently had a somewhat disturbing conversation with an NHS physio who laughed at me when I said I was planning to start C25K in January, and then run/jog a 3K in the Race for Life next June.
Apart from the obvious negativity and demoralising affect that this has had on my recovery , I don't think it's an unreasonable goal.
For context I will be 70 in December have this year gone into diabetes type 2 remission, had a TAVI in August and am now undergoing radiotherapy for lung cancer - it's a lot and there has been only 4 weeks between heart surgery and cancer treatment. Awaiting cardio re hab
I fully expect that the c25K will be extended by quite a lot to get me ready for a 3k. Am I being unreasonable? Has anyone else done this?
I look forward to your replies
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SandraLlew
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You are being reasonable, no NHS physio should discourage you not to try C25K let alone laugh at you for suggesting doing it, if in doubt see your doctor, good luck.
I don't think you are being unreasonable, you've been through a lot lately so don't set your sights too high, take every run really slow, it doesn't matter how slow it is the runs are timed, not on how fast they are. If you ache then take extra rest days in between,and I'd suggest regular walking building up to starting the programme.
Have fun and let us know how you are getting on, we will all cheer you home 😁
That is basically my plan, to walk run a bit, walk etc alternating walking, running and jogging as my body dictates. there is no chance that I will be able to do the C25K straightaway and honestly, I don't want to peak too soon.
Precisely, can be repeated again and again until that weeks targets are met comfortably, so stretching it to 6 months may work and if it doesn't I will have donated £15 to cancer research by way of my fee to enter the Race for Life.
I agree with SAR . A pre programme ‘campaign’ of walks of gradually increasing lengths and with bursts of faster /more effort walking as your fitness increases would be a great way to prepare. Likewise getting yourself good trainers and running kit if you need them, would be a mental preparation.
You have had a lot to contend with but your goal, subject to medical advice, is admirable. I hope the rehab gives you reassurance and impetus.
I adapted the c25k programme for myself after first completing it in the 9 weeks but giving myself shin splints by so doing. I made everything more gradual and it worked for me second time through. You could use the basic idea but personalise it, depending on your present fitness levels you could start week1 on for example 4 30second runs and then build up to 1min runs, build that up to 8 rounds etc etc.
Wishing you fitness, success and fun. Please let us know how you get on.
Exactly! I will be guided by my body and the principles of the C25K if not the exact distances/times. I've done it before after a TIA and I can do it again but this time it will be a much longer process. Thanks for the encouragement, I have a nice new Garmin watch and heart rate monitor which will help to keep me safe.
Gosh SandraLlew you’ve been through a lot. Wishing you all the best with your recovery and your goal to run that 3km. Being laughed at by the physio much have been awful, I’m really sorry they weren’t kinder to you.
I think as an admin here, I have a responsibility to say that going against the advice of real life medical professionals who know your personal medical history isn’t advised. We’d always recommend finding another suitably qualified person who will support you. I hope you have better experiences with other physios. You don’t have to give up on your goal-I really hope you can find a physio who can help you with how you can run rather than if you can run.
Thank you, I am hoping the the rehab team are better than the person who called me. I called her out on it and I think she realised that her reaction was bad. But too late damage was done.
Was this *your* NHS physio, or a random NHS physio?
I can understand why a physio might laugh *with* you if you'd said you were intending to start tomorrow. But you'd given them a clue that you need something to look forward to whilst you go through all of this, whether you actually tie your laces in January or not (and you are doing cardiac rehab before unless the waiting lists for that are worse than I've heard - certainly wouldn't recommend this stuff without having done the rehab and getting specific advice* - you've got challenges to your lungs and to your cardiovascular system.
The beauty of C25K is that it starts you off with running and walking intervals, always starts with a warm up walk and finishes with a warm down walk and absolutely insists that you don't run on consecutive days. There are some versions which are shorter and which look at pace (ie they really do aim to get you to 5K), whereas the one endorsed by the NHS is solely about building a habit of running continuously at any pace (which might not be faster than walking) for 30 minutes (and the majority of those who do it are not running 5K in that time, probably most not even close)
*when you do seek advice, check they've got the right info. I found that my most significant (and relevant) diagnosis wasn't on there and an extra one that I've never had was!
This was the physio that called me to do a quickie assessment following heart op and to inform me of next steps. They will call me in for an assessment after I have finished the radiotherapy and then book me in for rehab.
I know it's not going to be an easy road, but to add to all my problems I have ADHD and can be incredibly focussed but I have to have goals, short term is cardiac re hab, mid term is C25K and longer term is the 3K. If I don't have real goals - ie quantifiable and time based I won't do anything. 'Getting better' is not a goal for me, it could be if I was running and wanted a better time.
It's all very complex but they never seem to take anything other than their tiny niche expertise into account. I believe they offer online rehab if there are no live sessions available.
Yes, I asked my cardio rehab team if it was ok and I did my first parkrun (5k) 3 months after my surgery. I’ve had 2 stents, AVR and a single CABG, I was 71 at the time.
Don’t expect to do much more than gently jog round or even walk. Doing that you’ll be faster than most people!
You don’t have unreasonable expectations. The program is designed to ease you into running. Go at your own pace. I restarted the program at week 1 in July, 10 weeks after a colostomy operation. I’m at week 9 now and feeling great. C25K can be life changing. Do whatever you want/can, this isn’t a rehearsal!!!👍
Hi Sandra, firstly I want to say how sorry I am to hear of everything you’ve been through but also for the way your physio reacted. I think having goals (particularly ones that improve your health/fitness) is so important, especially during times like this when you are dealing with the challenges of cancer. I’ve just completed Couch to 5K but have been doing a jeffing version (named after Jeff Galloway -the person who invented the run walk run method). I do a ratio of 30:30 (30 seconds of running followed by 30 seconds of walking) and keep repeating it for the length/duration of the run. Some people start with just 10 seconds of running but the walk breaks shouldn’t be more than 30 seconds each time.
And the running bit can be just a slow shuffle - whatever feels right for you.
Here’s a link to his page if you want to find out more. I hope this helps but good luck regardless.
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