How hard should I be pushing myself?

[rayo87]

So I started the C25K today, and I was actually surprised at how easy I found it. I always considered myself to be a terrible runner, but I've seen posts on various sites by people saying they really struggled/felt sick etc after the first days of C25K. I barely even felt out of breath at any point, which was a huge surprise to me. I'm just wondering if I should be pushing myself to the point where I'm out of breath at the end of each jogging interval or what? My average walking pace was 8:10 min per km and my average jogging pace was 5:45 min per km. No idea if these are fast or slow though.

[Lifebeginsat40]

You should be running just fast enough that you can still - just about hold a conversation. You want to get in to a pace that you can sustain for 30mins not one that leaves you breathless after 60 secs.

You may want to run the last run segment faster if you WA t that 'real' workout feeling?

[RainbowC Graduate]

I'd guess that if you're not even out of breath at the end of the running sections, you might want to try going slightly faster - you're definitely not aiming to be feeling ill, but should be pushing yourself a little bit. The 'conversational pace' guideline seems to be a good one that I've seen in lots of places.

[Fingalo Graduate]

I agree with the above.

Alternatively, perhaps think about starting further up the programme?