OMG I've done 20mins!!!!

Hi I've never written on here before but love reading your posts. Today though I just had to shout it from the rooftops that I ran non-stop for 20mins earlier (wk5, no3)!!! I can't believe it. I had planned to do a repeat of wk5, no2 because 20mins just sounded too scary & impossible, but once I was out I thought 'oh what the hell, just do it'. And I did!

I came home & jumped up & down with excitement to confused family faces & texted lots of my friends & had either no reply, or unimpressed ones. They don't get it at all. It doesn't sound like much until you try & do it. They've not been the person switching on the Wk1 podcast for the first time & thinking 'how the hell can I be running for 30mins within 9 wks?! They surely don't mean me'. But they do & you can.

So hope you don't mind but I knew you'd all understand and share the joy ;) And to all of you out there who haven't reached this point, you can do it too. Just keep at it & don't let the big numbers scare you, it's easier than you think.

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25 Replies

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  • sallysparkle well done to you :) its sure is the best feelin eh.. am on wk 8 myself and ran for 28mins today non stop!! never thought in my wildest dreams i could achieve that, but i did, and for the 1st time i can visualise myself running the full 30.. its an amazing programme eh..

    well done again to you and keep up the good work :)

  • Thanks scavo & well done to you too! 28m is brilliant & so close to 30, you've practically done it already. Yes the programme's amazing, I've been telling everyone to use it but they look at me like I'm mad. Probably the same look I would have given them actually ;D

    Enjoy your final week...what will you do then?

  • Hmmm, i havent really thought about what to do once ive completed the programme as i never thought i would actually complete it, i suppose ill just try to keep up 30mins run 2-3 times a wk for a while and try improve my speed, will see after that.. there is a bridge to 10k podcast i think, but 10k, oh that just seems way too optimistic at the moment!!

  • Maintaining a 30 min run 2 or 3 times a week is a good idea now that you have got this far, but you may start to get bored and want to challenge yourself! I'm a graduate of c25k and now take part in parkruns once a month. These are weekly timed 5k events, run by volunteers and free to enter. Perhaps something to think about once you've completed c25k? Check the map here parkrun.com/events/uk to see if there is one local to you.

    andystev has put a link to download B210K here couchto5k.healthunlocked.co...

  • well done :) you must be grinning from ear to ear.

    dont worry about the odd looks you get from couch potatoes. I used to think "why on earth would anyone do that for FUN" but once you start it is so addictive.

    lots of like-minded folk on here so if everyone else thinks you're mad, we are always here :)

  • :) well done. its such a fab feeling when you do the 20 minutes!!! i am sure you'll be smiling for a few days yet on the back of this.

  • Fantastic for you! You and I must be on the exact same C25K schedule, because I just completed week 5 run 3 too! Like you, I was planning to re-run #2 for a couple more days to get used to it, but then I just went for it and it felt great. Keep it up, you can do it!

  • Well done!! I'm only just ahead of you (w6r1) and felt exactly the same. I

    was so amazed I repeated w5r3 just to prove it wasn't a flook!

  • Awesome!! Well done!

  • That's fantastic well done :) W5r3 for me tomorrow!

  • Well done :) A fantastic achievement and a moment to enjoy.

    I completed the 20 mins on Monday and must have looked like a mad woman jumping in the air when I had finished. Oh well, what the hell....

    Fired with enthusiasm I couldn't wait to do week 6 run 1 but boy did I struggle :(

    Don't know why because I paced myself but I am hoping that it was a one-off and the next one will be easier...

    Great to hear about everyone who is at the same stage. It helps to know that there are others out there pounding the streets all round the country going through the same!

  • that week 6, run 1 was a killer for me aswell. in your head you think this one will be easy as you can run for 20mins but in reality some of us find the intervals harder after the long run, but then, some of us just breeze through.

    dont worry, its all uphill from now ~ onwards & upwards :)

    happy running. x

  • How funny, after my 20minute run I thought I'd find week 6, run 1 a breeze, but I too found it difficult and am hoping to find run 2 tomorrow easier...

  • Just done run 2 tonight and it was great so sure you will be fine.... Good to know that Laura found it the hardest run too. Great news that they seem to be doing more podcasts to keep us going when we have finished these :)

    I will be doing run 3 on Sunday so keep your fingers crossed that I can do the 25 mins.

  • That's absolutely brilliant. Now you've run 20 mins you know that you will be able to run 25 mins and then 30 mins! Don't worry if you haven't completed 5k in 30 mins by the end of week 9, not many of us have. When I finished c25k it took me a few more weeks to be able to run 5k and that was in about 40 mins. I then did my first parkrun to get an official time and did it in just under 35 mins.

    Well done!

  • Well done you; keep at it! It doesn't really get any harder now, just longer. If you've done 20 mins you can do 30.

  • Well done, it is so exciting to manage that first 20minutes, I remember how fantastic I felt. It's the point when you know you are going to complete the programme. Good to see so many people posting. I do wonder how many runners there are who are maybe just reading rather than posting. This is a really successful programme. Now you've started, keep on posting. :)

  • Well done sallysparkle! Your friends sound like mine, one of mine said' so you think you're an expert just because you ran 20 minutes' it was the'just' in the sentence that annoyed me. Just? There's no just about it, I worked hard to do that, she's jealous because she can't do it. Also like other people I struggled going back to intervals, it's week 7 for me, still hard work but strangely enjoyable. Good luck.

  • Brilliant - it feels good doesn't it. I ran my first 30 mins today. A couple of months ago I would never have believed it (I'm nearly 64!) Your next week is a bit harder than you think it's going to be but after the first day you'll be fine. From then on it gets better and better, easier and easier. Good luck.

  • Fantastic!! Well done :)

  • Brilliant! Well Done! I am about to do final week 8 run and still cant quite believe it.. You made me smile with your family/friend responses! as my family tend to switch off a bit now when I come sweatily in after a run full of beans and grinning.....thank goodness for this site!!

  • Congratulations! It feels fantastic doesn't it!!! I did it myself last night too and I've had a daft grin on my face today.

    Yay you!

  • Wow everyone, thanks for all your lovely replies and encouraging responses. It's nice to know when you're not the only crazy person around LOL. I was very surprised to hear some of you say that I might find wk6 difficult now. I had (obviously wrongly) assumed that going back to the short intervals would be like a walk in the park, literally, now I'm practically a fully fledged runner. Have even been busy trying to convince people to enter a couple of spring/summer 5ks with me. Yikes!

    Am hoping to get out tonight to try wk6#1 so we'll soon see........

    Well done to everyone else on your own progress. Keep smiling! :D

  • Well done you, it's such a great personal achievement, keep going:-)

  • Brillant - keep going :)

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