Is week 8 pointless?

[Submariner85]

So I have just finished week 8 and then had a peek at week 9. On two of the runs this week I actually did 33 mins on one of them and 37 on another with no problems ( don't ask, dodgy positioning of my sweaty towel over the phone and accidentally pressing pause on the app) ( I have to hide the elapsed time or I get very dispirited when I run for 15 minutes but then find it's only been 2🙄)

Anyway, being as week 8 is 28 minutes and week 9 is 30, those two extra minutes are nothing compared to what we've done in the past.

Is it time to go couch to 9k in 8 weeks?

[nowster Graduate]

There's method in the later weeks. The usual recommendation is never to increase your level of activity more than 10% week on week.

And the last three weeks of Couch to 5K do exactly that: 25 minutes, (add 2.5minutes, round up) 28 minutes, (add 2.8 minutes, round down) 30 minutes.

Muscles develop quickly as they have an extensive blood supply. Bones (apart from marrow), joints, tendons, fascia, etc. don't have as good a blood supply and take longer to adjust.

The recommendation after graduating from Couch to 5K is to stay at 30 minutes for a few weeks so that your body can adjust.

Push too hard and you increase your chances of injury. Just like gambling a run of good luck can run out, and every run is another roll of the dice.

Take it from one who pushed for a 5km/30 minute graduation run, and achieved it, but in doing so gave himself a massive ankle sprain which required over a month and two physio visits to recover from. And then I had to start C25K from the beginning again. I'm the same age as you now and that was five years ago.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

[Submariner85 in reply to nowster]

I guessed there was a reason but it just didn't seem like a massive step. I didn't intentionally do the extra, who knew a soggy towel could mess with a phone screen 🙂. I'm guessing that the speed I am doing now and the distances I have covered means it will take between 40-45 minutes to do the whole 5k. I will work on getting a faster time in the coming weeks. If I can stay motivated that is because I kid you not, I am not enjoying this at all. I'm sure somebody said that by the end of week 9 you will have the running bug. Well, it's only got a week to manifest itself so it needs to get a move on

[nowster Graduate in reply to Submariner85]

I'd suggest not pursuing speed in the coming weeks. Go for extending your running time instead. Speed will come by itself as you get stronger.

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Submariner85]

No, not everyone gets the running bug. You can do the programme and skip off into the sunset and never run again if you don't want to.

It is very normal for people to have at least one run during Weeks 7-9 that they don't enjoy, it's a slog etc etc. It is learning to 'be with' those feelings that makes a person into a runner, that running is just something you do and there will be ups and downs (and yeah, it is those who are thinking about distances and speeds who seem to stumble particularly) The programme is training for your mind as much as the body.

(But you may, quite reasonably, have been misled by the name of the programme! Most who graduate from it are not running 5K in 30 minutes, and many never will. The idea is running 30 continuous minutes sustainably)

[Submariner85 in reply to GoogleMe]

Yep, agree with everything you've said here. When I finish the last run I will sign up for a park run and see how I go from there. My running so far has been a very solitary thing so perhaps doing it with others will give me a fresh outlook. And as for not enjoying a run between weeks 7 and 9, I can honestly say everything between week one and now has not been enjoyable. Everything is just a lot easier now

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Submariner85]

I am sure we can come up with lots of potential tweaks to try. And there are lots of things in life we might not think of ourselves as enjoying but we do them anyway - cleaning our teeth comes to mind!

Many of us are a bit wired not to like being told what to do (which is often a good thing!) and that can be, consciously or unconsciously, part of the problem. One thing you have in your favour is that it sounds as though you do *want* to enjoy it - there are plenty of people around who start this as some kind of self-punitive thing, or who want to prove running isn't for them.

CBDB makes a very good point though - there is a satisfaction from completing the programme that can never be taken from you, regardless of what you do with it after that.

[T2runner Graduate]

Everyone is different, so the program is set a a standard to cover most people, not everyone finds they can move up a week so may need to repeat a run or week. All our bodies develop differently so what works for one may not for another, stick to the plan, it's the safest thing to do.

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to T2runner]

The programme builds in all the repeats of completed sessions anyone needs. If a person has maintained a running motion through all the run sections and a walking motion through all the walking sections, however slow, however tough it felt, they have completed that session.

[It is different when you are using the programme as a graduate refresher/return, although many still feel that doing the programme as is works best]

[CBDB Ambassador]

What a shame that you are not enjoying it. There is seldom a run that I didn’t enjoy.

And one of the things that I would always suggest might interfere with your enjoyment is speed/pace.

Just to check if it is speed, if I were you, I’d plan in one of my runs at a speed you would definitely think of almost too slow. But see how the whole run feels when you go that slow. I’m hoping and wishing for you that this might suddenly open up a more enjoyable running experience.

And if not, after graduation, there are of course always other sports. It’s awesome that you stuck it out! That achievement will always be yours!

[T2runner Graduate in reply to CBDB]

I find the first 30mins rough, after that it's fine😆

[Submariner85 in reply to CBDB]

when it comes to speed i have no idea what i should be doing. At the moment i am doing anywhaere between 5.5 and 6 km an hour. I can walk at 5.5 so i believe i am going slow enough there. Plus it seems that the slower i go the more "ploddy" my steps are and they seem to be impacting (if thats the word im looking for) on the ground harder than if i am running faster. So weirdly it is more comfortable to run faster but obviously i cant maintain it

[CBDB Ambassador in reply to Submariner85]

I’d say forget about the exact speed but just focus on slow and fast, light leg turnover. It should be less impact, and shorter step length. Here is a post with several videos that might help with visualising it.

healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Not sure this helps, but maybe a bit. It just is such a common thing we come across on these forums: we think we are running slow but don’t realise there is a whole different level of slow that might unlock a much more “aerobic stability”. It’s worth a try anyway.

Wishing you good running vibes and sending running joy your way. Hope you might still get to experience it.

Fab! Keep on keeping on, you are doing great!

[CBDB Ambassador in reply to CBDB]

Here is another video of beginner “slow joggers”. I think you might even hear the metronome set at 180 BPM, as often it is encouraged to do these very quick light steps when slow jogging:

youtu.be/UNiNxH3cCsQ?si=JjP...(Not working as expected?)

[FoleyB]

I'm just about to start week 9. Run 1 is tomorrow. I havent enjoyed every run, but I have enjoyed most of them. Like you I felt I could have just kept going at the end of w8r3, but previous injuries sustained on C25K warned me to stick to the programme. As has been said, I won't be running 5k in 30 mins, more like 4 as my run phase pace is about 7mins per km. That gives me my next target...to run the full 5km in one hit (40mins), again using the 10% rule to progress through the weeks. I'll miss Steve Cram though. When i get to there I'm looking at my first Parkrun. After that, who knows.