I graduated a couple of weeks ago and earlier this week I finally ran 5K. I am slow so it took me 47mins, but I did it (and in the pouring rain).
It just got me thinking and I wish this programme wasn't called C25K. People get disappointed when they get to week 9 and can't cover 5k in 30 mins. Laura keeps going on about running 5k which made me feel like a bit of a failure even though I knew it was all about running for 30 mins rather than the distance covered.
If I hadn't found this website then I would have got to the end of week 9 and felt like a failure as I couldn't do 5k in 30 mins. I know from here that a lot of people are in the same position as me.
Written by
WillowFae
Graduate
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I've always looked at it as being able to run for 30 mins - if I can get fit enough for that then the speed and distance will come later. [i'm up to 25 mins].
If you ran for 47 mins you did amazing and in the rain!
I've found the site really supportive - I keep reminding myself it's not a race! [not for me anyway!]
You have graduated and that is a fantastic achievement. Well done!
Willow Face I totally agree with you (I'm on wk9 r1) why call it C25K? Everyone posts saying its not about the time it takes, its not about distance etc etc.
The aim of the program is to get us off the sofa, switch off the TV and eventually run 5K in 30 minutes within 9 weeks!!!! So actually it is about time and distance. If that's not achievable for the average person why does the NHS set the average person up for failure?
Other than the name C25K is very catchy I can't think of any other reason for the title. I ditched Laura on my Wk 9 R1 yesterday and jogged 5k in 41 minutes and that felt like a real achievement as I would not want to graduate with out doing the distance. As for the time it took well I'll simply have to work harder on that one.
Rollertoaster is right, running for 40 mins, that great! As you've probably seen from this site, very few people, including myself, can run 5K in 30 mins at the end of week 9. The main thing to take from this is that we have all graduated.
Once you've had the time to work on your pace, just think of the distance you'll be covering in 40 mins!!!
I graduated last week and didnt make the 5K but I ran for 30 minutes wow you have done so well to get this far the distance will come in time. I am so much stronger and fitter than I ever was and going to keep on running.
Well done you Willow. I am going to try a park run with no pressure on timing just to run x If its 50 minutes well so what
xxx
When I make 5k I will be another 40+ minuter. I like to think that it's the quality that counts.
Hmmm....I really like the possibility of 3 graduations, 30 mins, 5k, 5k in 30 mins (not sure I'll ever do the 3rd, but then I am not particularly trying to...my 5Ks are generally 55-60 minutes...)
I wonder if it is all a matter of personality/perception - yes, it is called C25K, but the podcast descriptions seem pretty clear that the goal is running continuously for 30 minutes and if Laura keeps going on about 5K then I wasn't listening properly, I only heard 30 minutes. Actually, I wouldn't even have thought very much about being slow if I hadn't come on here and seen people keeping careful note of their speed and distance.
I completely disagree that the NHS sets us up for failure by providing us with these free podcasts in a more accessible style than most fitness stuff. The NHS has not exactly been helpful to me down the years and I am not an average person - sitting or lying on the sofa in the evening watching TV is something I still find difficult to achieve, I find it too exhausting and painful and really suffer the next day... but I graduated from C25K in 12 weeks and a few weeks later I did 5K for the first time... and I am still running regularly 8 months after starting the programme and although no more well overall (sigh) I must surely be fitter and have reduced my risk of various adverse outcomes.
You've done really well, you've consolidated running continuously for 30 minutes, you have graduated now you need to keep on running until you've released some endorphins and left all that calling success 'failure' stuff behind...
The only "failure" is not going out there and running!
You have done brilliantly. Well done!
I too couldn't cover 5k by graduating (I added a few mins on to each subsequent run and did it in 42 mins) but I couldnt have been more chuffed with myself for having stuck at the programme at all (after 35 years of avoiding running altogether!)
You should be very very proud
I now do parkrun now and again (a great way to challenge yourself if you can get to one) and the last one I did in 36 mins.
More to the point I now run 3 times a week for fun, including a longer run on a Sat or Sun of up to an hour and 45 mins, have lost inches of my legs, thighs and bottom, and am so much happier and confident.
Three people in work have started this programme citing me as their inspiration! Little old me !
"The only "failure" is not going out there and running!"
Couldn't have said it better myself. Since starting this I have so much more respect for those people that I see out running in the park etc - fair play to them. Anyone who can get off the sofa and run for any length of time - however short, deserves credit!
Who's failed? When I graduated, (does Laura use this term or is it just us?) I ran continuously for 30 minutes 3 times in a week. Since then I have gone on to cover 5k. It takes me about 36 minutes, but I'm still running 3/5 times a week, sometimes longer runs, sometimes speed/stamina training. The 5k is behind me now, I'm now looking forward to a 10k. And none of this would be happening if not for C25k. The programme has given me the tools, it's now up to me what I do with them, but I don't consider myself a failure at all! And nor should anyone else. It's the getting off the couch that's the important bit.
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Will I ever get to 5k by Week 9? :/
What was your 5k time on graduating?
Don't get hung up on 5k during the program.
30 mins v 5k
is it really 5K? 
