While I won't have graduated by the end of this week, I will have done W9R1 on Thursday and then on Saturday I'm doing my first Parkrun.
What I looking for advice/opinions on is whether I should do my 5-min warm-up walk before the start of the run or as the first 5 minutes of the run?
I suggest before. You'll find others doing the same.
If you did it at the beginning of the run you'll miss the feeling of a proper start and it will impact on your time. You may not feel very competitive but it's nice to feel your time is a realistic measure of progress. At week 9 you are running for 30 minutes and should manage 5k in under 35 minutes if not around 30 minutes.
Well done for completing C25k. Enjoy Parkrunning - they are great events.
Yes I'd agree definitely before, it's easy for me because I treat the walk from the bus stop as a warm up. Lots of people jog to the starting area too & there are all manner of stretching routines going on usually. Enjoy the parkrun! 
I think it's just that I'm finding myself surprisingly nervous about doing the Parkrun - although Laura told me a week or two back that I'm now a 'real' runner, it will be the first time I'll have run alongside real 'real' runners (if that makes sense!). I'm taking along one of my sons for moral support - although as he's 21, fit and expects to do it in around 24 mins, that support will probably involve him being at the finish line to cheer me on after he's already had a cuppa and a bit cake!
That sounds great pinkhat I was nervous before my first parkrun too but all that vanished once we got running. Enjoy your cuppa & cake.... And don't forget to let us know how you got on.
I haven't done a parkrun yet, but I did the Race for Life last summer. My only goal was to finish and to run all the way round. Just as I was coming back into the park for the last 500m or so, and starting to really struggle, I heard a man in the crowd tell his small son "No, darling, Mummy won't be coming past yet. These are the proper runners". It gave me the boost I needed to finish the run with my head held high and a massive smile on my face!! Enjoy the run
I agree with the others, do your walk before hand. It might help with the pre run nerves but having your son there will be great support. Parkrun is a brilliant concept.
Hi Pinkhat, you'll be fine so try not to get too nervous, I did and needed the loo which is not good when there aren't any about!!! Parkrunners are a lovely bunch of people who make everyone welcome, we always say a big hello and clap to welcome new runners. Get there a bit early and have a warm up walk and I stayed to the back of the group and got into my own stride once everyone had charged off at great speed. I then found that many were not so good at maintaining that fast speed and managed to pass a few before the 5K was over. Don't be tempted to try and keep up with really fast runners or you may run out of steam before the end.
Wishing you all the best for Saturday, congratuations on getting this far through C25K the finish line is just around the corner for you, well done.
Aw thanks, Oldgirl, didn't realise it but that's exactly the kind of encouragement I was needing. I've been told to let the organisers know I'm a first-timer and not sure how long I'm going to take. However, if I do come in miles behind everyone else, I'm a big enough girl to take it on the chin and greet anyone still waiting on me with the big smile I'll have on my face getting to the end of 5k.
I don't know if you've done this already but what I found reassuring was to go along to a run before you take part. Just habg around and chat to the people there. It will confirm what Oldgirl says about the folk who run it. It's a very warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Feel free to ignore this if you are young and/or fit!
There may be quite a few people (especially older women) for whom this may not be realistic:
"At week 9 you are running for 30 minutes and should manage 5k in under 35 minutes if not around 30 minutes."
I'm mid week 7, and very much doubt that I'll be able to do 5k in under 45 minutes (more like 50, I suspect) in two weeks' time. Not that it bothers me, now I know that's not so unusual for my age and gender.
I thought that a bit ambitious when I read it too.
It made me look at my local parkrun latest results again - I was quite pleased to see that someone has been brave enough to do a second run coming in over 50 minutes. Good for her - a good 10 to 15 minutes behind the 2nd to last ones - that takes guts.
Maybe I shouldn't wait too long before I give it a go, to keep her company! (Though with the big hill that it includes, I think it'll be nearer 60 for me - and I'm nowhere near keeping going running for that long yet!)
There's no way I'll even come close to 30 mins, not that I'm being negative or defeatist just realistic - I'm 50, at least 15kg overweight and just slowly just coming back to exercise. However, just to judge it, I've been SportsTracking my last couple of runs, including tonight's (W8R3), which was different in lots of ways - first of all it was at night (I had to work today so couldn't run my preferred first thing) & my legs felt heavy right at the start; secondly I was running in town for the first time (up to now always been in the privacy of the woods!); thirdly, it was blowing a hoolie and raining; and finally, the last 8 minutes of the run was a long slow incline into the said wind and rain. Goes without saying gave myself a pat on the back for getting out there and doing it in the first place - unbelievable in itself! Anyway, back to the stats, over the 38 minutes (which included the 5-min walks at the start and the finish) I did an average speed of 6.9km/h and covered 4.33km. While my legs were tired by the end I probably still had a good 4-5 minutes left in me. So, I reckon if I do the warm-up beforehand then run for about 40-45 mins, the finishing line will be in sight - fingers crossed.
I hope what I said wasn't off putting - that was definitely not my intention. Part of the ethos of Parkrun is that it for everyone to do in the time they are comfortable with.
Do it in whatever time suits you.
I was basing my comment on how I've managed and progressed using C25k. I do the Edinburgh Parkrun which admittedly is dead flat and did my first run at week 6 in 35 minutes and now can manage a time a bit less than 30minutes most days. (I'm 57, short, plump and never ran or did sports until now!).
Ha, ha - well that trumps my excuse of being 50, short and plump! Don't think I would have managed 5k at week 6 but that doesn't mean I'm not aiming for the illusive 30, just think it might take me a wee while. However, as C25k has already proven, anything is possible.
It didn't put me off - but I did think that it just might put someone else off, who hadn't read around a bit. When I first thought about doing c25k I read about John Bingham (aka The Penguin waddle-on.com/ ) and it encouraged me to give it a go, even though I've always been really poor at sports, and have given up a variety (eg squash, tennis, skiing, tap-dancing) in the past because I just couldn't find anyone else bad enough to do it with me! But this I can do, on my own - just very slowly!
You sound pretty fit to me! Quite amazing - good for you! Even if it was dead flat (and my local one isn't - it has a whopping steep hill in it, that goes on for quite a while) there's no way I'd go at that pace. 2.2k in 25 minutes, and it was pretty much flat, was a huge effort for me today! But we're all different, and that's just fine.
Yes - this is pretty ambitious. I'm mid-30s, and finished my first 5K (race for life) last summer in 36 minutes. This was 3 weeks after finishing week 9, and I'd repeated it a few times. I wasn't too bothered about the time - I just wanted to get round, but I was told that it was a great time for a first-timer. 30 mins isn't realistic, in my opinion.
I was really disappointed to find my local run is so much uphill, I think I'd have considered entering fairly soon but that made me reconsider. I'll have to build it up a bit more before I do. Also I need to use the app that tells me what distance I'm covering at the mo, I feel I'm running quite slow but keep forgetting to turn it on.
I would always suggest a warm up proir to the run cos you will be frustrated to see people in front of you that are slower than you if you walk the first 5 minutes of the race. Asyou get more experienced and fitter the longer you will need to warm up!! so set that alarm earlier!!!
First Parkrun: ✅ 🏃♀️❤️
W2R1 and first Parkrun.
How do you warm up and cool down at a Parkrun/race?
First ever Parkrun in the bag :)
First parkrun on International parkrun day!
