now to keep the faith!

[jennyn]

Having finished yesterday (and can't wait to see my shiny new badge!) my next plan is to research a maintenance and improvement plan. Have to admit, due to being a slow runner I am no where near the 5k, so thats my priority. Good luck and any tips from the others would be very welcome, have changed my profile pic to show how pleased I am!

[Joysmum Graduate]

Congratulations. I too would be very interested in the responses you get as I don't want to do the bridge to 10k as I get bored and I certainly can't be out of the house for much longer than 40 mins in any case so i would want something to up the speed and distance I do in that time.

[TJFlute]

Love the pic!!

Joysmum and Jennyn this is my suggestion

I would do run one:30 minute, keeping a gentle jogging pace (either using Laura or own music

run two: alternate between fast running(sprinting!) and walking/slowjog maybe using week 1 to help with timings

and run three: 20 or 25 minutes but trying to do it at a slightly faster rate than run one.

This should build your strength up and help with speed eventually.

There will soon be new podcast wihich will help with speed too.

Let us know how you get on!

[jennyn Graduate in reply to TJFlute]

thanks for this, it sounds just right, will start with this on my next run, definitely want to increase my distance and will be great to pick my own music. will watch out for the new podcast, will there be a new forum do you think?

[sfb350 Graduate]

Don't the shiny new badges look nice ?

[jennyn Graduate in reply to sfb350]

ha ha they certainly do! there was quite a bit of time when I thought I would never achieve it, its certainly true that your worst enemy is yourself, I have learned never to think about what I've got to do next time, or whether i can complete the run, i just get my earphones in and my head down!

[gypsydepp Graduate]

Well done jenny on becoming a graddie!

Good luck with your next few runs,

[jennyn Graduate in reply to gypsydepp]

thank you, was so pleased to see my badge, I got tears in my eyes! am running again tomorrow, hoping to get outside but its absolutely p*****g it down here!

[ribena-berry Graduate]

Huge congrats! The shiny new badge suits you!

TJ Flute's advice is great. I'm doing the B210K programme, but didn't start it til a few weeks after graduating to get used to running 5km.

I also use the week one podcast from C25K once a week, alternating sprints for 1min and 'easy' jogging for 90secs. It's def making a difference to my pace on longer runs.

Good luck with all your future runs.

[jennyn Graduate in reply to ribena-berry]

thanks for that, its great to have the badge!!! will watch out to see how your getting on, am starting tomorrow and hoping I don't get too wet. Haven't done a run outside for quite a few weeks, so will be interested to see how it goes!

[PatButcher Graduate]

Woop! congratulations to you!! Your badge suits you ;). I was unsure too, how I'd cope after c25k but I tried TJFlute's suggestion about the slow jog, fast run thingy and it works a treat Keep us posted on how you get on

[jennyn Graduate in reply to PatButcher]

thanks PatButcher, can't stop grinning in real life too!

[blueboots Graduate]

Congratulations jennyn. I eventually made it to 5K about 9 weeks after completing the programme. I didn't really follow a particular plan but think it would have been quicker if I had stuck to a chosen plan. Best of luck with however you choose to continue your running. Well done

[jennyn Graduate in reply to blueboots]

thanks blueboots, I think its great you have kept going, would be easy to stop wouldn't it! we need to keep posting and encouraging I think!

[Minuette Graduate]

Well done

I'm a veeeerrry slow runner and at the moment I'm doing pretty much what TJ suggested but instead of doing 30 mins gentle run am upping the distance each week. So far after graduating I'm up to running 38 mins, getting to 5K I think is still a couple of weeks away.

[jennyn Graduate in reply to Minuette]

thanks Minuette, I too am a long way from 5k, so think I will just keep going and running a bit longer if I can, to see how far I can go. I think if I try to go faster, I won't be able to keep going for so long. Will be waiting to see when you get there!

[PatButcher Graduate]

Gonna try the interval runs today...gulp! feel like climbing back in my bed actually but I know I'll punish myself if I don't go

[jennyn Graduate in reply to PatButcher]

Is absolutely tipping down here, I wanted to go outside! Might wait a bit and see if it cheers up. Good luck with yours, you know you will feel better once your done x

[seadreamer Graduate]

Well done on graduating! - about to do my final wk 9 run today, so really welcome the inspiration from others who have done this. Suggestions for how to continue sound good too so thanks to everyone for that! I, too am not near 5 k yet, but not long ago couldn't have imagined running for 30 seconds let alone 30 minutes!!

[PatButcher Graduate in reply to seadreamer]

Well done, hope your last run goes well and you graduate with flying colours

[seadreamer Graduate in reply to PatButcher]

Thank you! Will post when done! Have been really encouraged by other peoples' posts and their achievements.

[jennyn Graduate in reply to seadreamer]

Good luck with your last run, can't wait to see your shiny new badge

[seadreamer Graduate in reply to jennyn]

Thanks - cold and gloomy here so hope I do get to achieve it today! Really appreciate the support.