Time & Distance

[pinkus]

How will i know if I am doing the 5k run in the 30 minutes as i measured the path that I run on today and its about 5k's in distance but there is no way known that I will be able to cover this distance in 30 minutes, I know its early days yet but I have my partner telling me that I should be going faster but I have enough trouble going at the pace I am doing now so I am feeling quite deflated can anyone shed some light on this for me please.....help...

[gdeann Graduate]

Pinkus, I feel your pain! Actually it should be called couch to 30 minutes continuous running but not near as catchy as c25k. I am feeling deflated as well. I am starting W9 and no way in heck am I at a 5K. My husband is close...I watch, we are paced about the same, difference is a longer stride and a good 10"extra in height. You are doing great! A wise runner will go slow at this point in the game to build stamina.

[Deryn61 Graduate]

Don't take ANY notice of anyone else telling you how fast you should be going!

If you are doing a light jog (as advised by Laura) or above, and managing the intervals but feeling you can't go faster, then that is fine.

I was no where near 5k at the end of week 9, after graduating I just built up until I was doing 5k regularly.

There are various sites that can help you work out distances for walks/runs, here's one I use before I go out on a new route

walkandramble.co.uk/map-my-...

Another idea perhaps in a few weeks time would be to see if there is a parkrun near you, parkrun.org.uk/ and either join in (its fun!) or see if you can run the course yourselves some time.

Good luck keep up the good work!

[carolinew Graduate]

If you have a smartphone (iPhone etc) you can download a number of free apps that measure your speed and distance via GPS - I use mapmyrun, but also have Runkeeper and Endomondo. It's nice to know your stats and eventually I'll get a Garmin because i'd like the heart rate stats as well. As the other ladies say, don't feel pressurised by anyone. I run with two others and one runs faster than me (but she is only 16 lol) and we both run a lot faster than the other one. But we all run for the same amount of time! Speed is something for post C25K in my mind.

[Oldgirl Graduate]

One of the worst things you could do just now is to try and go too fast for your ability, you will end up running out of steam. Take it at a pace you are comfortable with and do the times you are working on for that week. Once you get to week 9 you can start to think about how far you can run in the 30 minute duration. From there you can then build on the distance to make up to 5K. Once you are able to run non-stop 5K you can then begin to reduce the time using the C25k+ podcasts (Speed, Stamina & Stepping Stone) or by doing your own thing, there are other Apps out there too.

For measuring and mapping your routes try RunKeeper, WalkJogRun, or the one I use is GoodRunGuide, they all use Google maps and are pretty good its just finding one that you like best. Good luck.

[Fraz73 Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

Oldgirl thank you for the heads up on Good Run Guide. What a fantastic site. You can do so much with your data and I'm learning so much about my running from joining the site. Thanks again

[Oldgirl Graduate in reply to Fraz73]

You are every welcome Fraz73, I'm still finding things on it. I now can download my routes straight from Garmin FR110 onto it which is great because it then reports on HRM info. Its good value for money at only £10p.a. if I remember right.

[Fraz73 Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

Agreed; this is much better than Garmin connect which I was using up until now.

[pinkus Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

Thank you so much for all your support....yes I was starting to get a bit worried but will take your GOOD advice and just keep on doing the weeks, I am up to Wk3 R1 tommorrow morning and then after that I am treating myself to a massage, cant wait to get all my niggles massaged out. I will check out GoodRunGuide too and see what its all about. Its a long weekend this weekend in Ozzie land so looking forward to the day off. Have a great day xx

[pinkus Graduate in reply to pinkus]

Just a further thought Oldgirl....I am in South Australia, AUSTRALIA and noticed that you are in the UK....so dont think that site you have recommended to me would be any good as its probably UK based...also these times that people have completed the 5k run in I wonder if they are on the treadmill or outside....as running on the treadmill and running outside on the road or path are totally different....what do you think....ps: Have taken your advice anyway thanks for everything, I wish there was something like this site here in Australia its just such good information and support. xx

[Oldgirl Graduate in reply to pinkus]

Oh pinkus thats a shame cos GRG is a UK website, its address is goodrunguide.co.uk you could drop them an email and ask if its possible to use the site, if you can connect to it I don't see why you can't use it. Can you get Google maps in Oz, thats what they use it may present the biggest problem because if you can't map your route its of no use to you. Let me know how you get on though.