People running alternate days - do you still work strictly on weeks?

[Ribena]

Hey guys - some people seem to be saying that they run on alternate days rather than 3 a week. This would give you four some weeks and three others - do you move onto the next week after having done the previous week three times, or just on a weekly basis?

[ca66ie99 Graduate]

Personally I have been completing the plan in weeks. I work shifts and would struggle to commit to a run every other day.

I think each week has been a little different, sometimes I have started the week on a Monday and finshed by Friday, then (normally due to shifts) have started as late as Wednesday and finished on Sunday. It also means at some points having two rest days between runs which I think has suited my body as there have been the occasional twinge that having two days off has been beneficial.

Hope that helps

[DeliaItaly Graduate]

I personally play it by ear. I began running Monday, Wednesday and Fridays with the weekend resting, but due to work commitments around Week 3 I began running alternate days with no "2-day breaks". I don't think it really matters as long as your body feels Ok with it. Happy Running!

[AliB1 Graduate]

There is no right or wrong answer to this it's about what works for you. Prior to graduating I did it 3 times a week as I personally needed the extra rest day once a week...Now if I get three runs I'm soooo happy but I've found doing longer runs my body needs more time to recover (but that's just me!)

[notbad Graduate]

I usually run Mon/Wed/Fri & take two days off at the weekend but have sometimes ran then to catch up if I've missed a run during the week. Like AliB I find I cope better with a longer rest.

[cranberry1]

I try to run mon, wed and fri, but that can often turn into a mon, thurs and sat.

Anyway, the short answer is that i do proper weeks

[swanscot Graduate]

I run alternate days and never follow the calendar week, so I have done the first runs of some weeks on any day of the week. I just completed week 7 today and will start week 8 on Thursday.

[TJFlute in reply to swanscot]

This is exactly what I did, and it worked well because you're still keeping a days rest between each run.

[Rollertoaster Graduate]

I run every other day and started week 1 on a Thursday, so week 2 fell the following Wednesday etc. so I guess I'm working to a six day week! I'm currently on Week 4. If I find later on that I need more rest as the runs get longer, I won't feel bad giving myself an extra rest day in between runs, I've just played it by listening to my body - which strangly seems to want to run at any opportunity!

[Stevetheb Graduate]

I'm another Mon/Wed/Friday runner... I like the longer break over the weekend.. though we do tend to do a fair bit of walking over a weekend anyway..

[hannie Graduate]

I currently have been doing Monday/Tues or Wed/ Thurs and Sunday. I've found it's worked well as some weeks I have not been able to do a Sunday run as I have been away for some weekends. I'm also finding now as I am getting into the longer runs in Week 5 I am struggling with the Sunday sessions given I have had 2 days off prior, so I may need to mix it up a bit and add a Saturday session in there some times.

I would suggest that you listen to your body, you'll know what is too much.

[Legion Graduate]

If you run alternate days rather than by calendar weeks then yes, you do the three runs and move onto the next week. This is what I was doing, which meant that if I repeated a run (which I did a couple of times) or took an extra day's rest (ditto) then I had some 'spare' days in hand. I graduated last Sunday just one day before the nine weeks was up. However, there is no reason why you have to complete c25k in nine weeks. You should follow your body, rest when you need to, repeat runs if you need to, and enjoy the journey rather than dash to the end of it.

[WillowFae Graduate]

I do alternate days. My husband has just started doing C25K too and so it works well if we just run alternate so that one of us can stay at home with the children.

[GoogleMe Graduate]

I did alternate days if I could manage it. For various reasons it took me nearly 6 weeks before I could work up to completing the three W1 runs, and then because the rest of the programme went much more smoothly and I completed each podcast successfully every time I was moving on a 'week' every six days sometimes.