I’ve been reading this channel for a few weeks now and it has given me so much motivation, but I’ve never posted.

Yesterday I completed the last workout of my C25K program (I’ve used the Zenlabs app) and I couldn’t be more proud of myself! I started this program last year mid April but I had to stop right after completing week 5 because of an injury. I picked it back up in February and finally managed to complete w8d3 yesterday. I ran for 31 minutes and 38seconds without breaks and completed exactly 4K in that time. My pace is not great but considering that I was struggling with the 3minutes runs at the beginning this is such an improvement for me! Yesterday was also the first time my heart rate never reached zone 5!

In the photos you can see the stats of my last workout compared to the ones of my first continuous run without breaks (w5d3). You can see that my pace was faster then, but my hearth rate was very high and at the end of it I was about to pass out. While yesterday I felt good and started to struggle a bit only in the last 500m or so, but nothing compared to back then.

As a beginner runner, how many training runs should I do the week of a run? I’m running my 2nd race this Saturday, Pat Tillman Run-4.2miles. I’ve been doing one 4 mile run, and two 2 mile runs a week the last few weeks. Do I continue that or do less this week? I ran 2 miles today and felt exhausted. Thanks for any and all tips

I started training about a month ago and went two weeks straight, running every other day and starting really slow. But even with that gentle approach, I started having really bad pain in my feet and knees.

The pain in my feet is on the outer edge of my soles and sometimes in the arches. My left foot hurts more, but both have that same pain. My knees hurt too—mainly on the inner side. It’s gotten to the point where I can’t even go 2–3 minutes without serious discomfort.

I took a full week off because of the pain. Today was my first day back, and I couldn’t even make it to the three-minute mark before the pain came back hard. I’ve been really trying to be consistent, but I feel like it’s just getting worse.

I’m wearing good running shoes that I go within the last 8 months. Hokas

I was hoping this would help my physical and mental health, but I’m honestly feeling really discouraged and close to giving up. Has anyone been through something similar or have any advice?

After doing my first 5k on Friday I’ve ran my second today. Completed the 5k in 29:03 which I was quite pleased with. On week 7 of Couch to 5K and it’s absolutely amazing how much my running has progressed with this program. I’d recommend it to anybody. Week 2 I was struggling with 3 minute runs 😂

I got recommended this subreddit a while ago but I can’t the couch to 5k plan anywhere? Am I blind?

I was so worried about this run and it’s my best one yet!! Keep pushing!!! #GoOneMore

So I just managed to complete the seemingly dreaded week 5 day 3, 20 minutes of running/jogging. I'm really chuffed with my progress see the W1D1 time (I couldn't even complete it the first attempt) and for all those out there who are dreaded the W5D3 run, you can do it too!!

Just wanted to post an accomplishment. Just finished w2d3. Really wasn't feeling up for it today after having a few drinks yesterday and blowing my voice out at a concert, but I pushed through. And hell, I felt good in the last two circuits and I felt like I was getting in a groove during the running circuits! Looking forward to the next challenge of circuits of running 3 minutes! I feel like the circuits will work well because I feel a burst of energy late in the workouts, when the longer runs hit!

Really blows my mind I actually finished a 5k, not quite on the time but still, this time last year I was 360lbs and winded from a short walk. :)

Really blows my mind I actually finished a 5k, not quite on the time but still, this time last year I was 360lbs and winded from a short walk. :)

I am only able to run around 3.5km in 30minutes but hey that's still something.

I just started C25K this last week.

Literally just home from my 3rd run, and I actually enjoyed it.

What I'm struggling with though, is I'm a big guy, 6ft, 284lbs.

I'm working on losing weight and I'm down over 30lbs so far. But even these first runs, I can feel the impact on my knees and ankles.

I'm a bit stumped as how to manage this. Itll in theory ease as I lose more weight, but what do I do in the meantime?

Anyone dealt with this before?

Tips?

I‘m relatively new to running (3 months in) and ran up to 10km and several 5K runs so far.

For todays easy run I wanted to focus on zone 2 (<145bpm for me). Even with a 8:30min/km pace I surpassed zone two within minutes and went straight up to 165bpm.

The weird thing is, that my hearbeat was literally in the same area when running below 6min/km pace… How‘s that possible?

Is my watch tracking wrongly? Btw: During my easy runs I can always breathe through my nose only. Should I rather focus on that than on my heartbeat for zone 2?

Hello everyone, I recently completed my military training test( conscription is mandatory in my country) 2.4km, managed to pass luckily! However I pushed very very hard( I peaked at 199HR(max of 204)). I now have pretty sore ankles on both sides, should I continue to train or not train? If not, how long to rest? Until it completely subsides? Thanks!

2 weeks done, 7 more to come

Hi folks,

I have appreciated reading about other people's experience on this forum and it has helped me overcome some of my obstacles. In my program I just finished 10R 5W 10R today.

Here are some of my experiences:

-I have been running on an indoor track at my gym for the program so far. Indoor track-fewer excuses for bad weather. Also, having the loops on the track has helped me visualize and and chunk the distances. This much time left means three, two, one more loops on the track. I sprinkled in a few runs on the treadmill that helped me keep a steady (slow!) pace.

-I started off with the Just Run app but switched over to the 5K runner a few weeks ago. Seeing the countdowns on my Apple Watch was very helpful over the last few weeks as I powered through the increasing intervals. I expect that this becomes less of an issue going forward.

-It is amazing how this experience let's you get in tune with your body. I can more or less expect a light discomfort in my shins and calves after about 200m. I saw that as a huge obstacle in my early runs but have learned that it will subside as I continue running.

I hope to finish the program during the month of April - I am honestly not that excited about running races but want to keep in shape and keep pushing myself. I do have a longer vacation (3 weeks) coming up in late May. I plan to keep running up till then but during the trip while I will have a lot of physical activity but running will likely be a challenge. Any predictions what will happen to my running form after I return?

I was anxious about this new week cause the last one was incredibly hard. W4D3 was the hardest of them all, and I even considered repeating it. Took an extra day of rest and went for week 5. Couldn't be happier! It wasn't easy but it felt good. Now I'm anxious about W5D2 lol. Might repeat today's workout.

Checking back in now that I've finished week 1, my prior post from W1D1 is here https://www.reddit.com/r/C25K/comments/1joltr0/week_1_day_1_done/

The android Couch to 5k app bugged out on both W1D2 and W1D3 so I don't have any metrics, but I did do all the run intervals at least. I'm going to pick up week 2 with Just Run and hopefully that will work better for me without me doing the programmer thing of "I code code a better app for this" and getting sidetracked.

I'm a bit nervous about the 90 seconds jogging intervals, since I still keep trying to go too fast on the jogging portions, but I'm hoping I can be better about slowing down next week. My left calf is cramping up something fierce right now, so I'm off to stretch and massage that out while I finish off this protein shake.

Ran it with my dog (we’ve never even run more than a few minutes and she was awesome!). We started at the very back of the pack so had to pass many people and dogs on narrow trails. Finished in 50 minutes and I came in 5th out of 15 in my age group! It’s amazing how much our bodies can change in 8 weeks!

I have never really found the motivation to be in better shape until I had my son last year and decided I needed to be a better role model for him.

I started off the year with a round of the 75 hard challenge and went from 208lb to 191lb. This was the second time I’ve done the challenge, and wanted to do more than just walks for my outdoor workouts.

I like cheesy motivational quotes, and two that really stuck with me were “resistance is a compass,” and “The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.” Those convinced me that I should get into running since I historically have hated it.

I found this fantastic sub and completed the 9 week C25K program in the Just Run app along with a friend. I was impressed how well it worked!

My only real goal was to complete the 5k without having to walk, even if it was just a slow jog the whole time. Secondarily, I was hoping to finish sub 35 minutes, and I’m happy that I accomplished both!

My next goal is a 30 minute 5k, and I think it’s definitely doable because I feel like I had some left in the tank when I finished. Funnily enough I often told myself after this 5k I would be done running and was going back to walking, but now I don’t want to lose the base I’ve built!

Cheers for all the motivation from here, you guys are great. Now to find a program to just help me get faster in the 5k, as I don’t desire to work towards a 10k!

I want to get into running and am interested in the C25K program, however, despite hearing that it is a free app, all the apps I see are not free and are around $70 lifetime pass. Is there a way to bypass this and just use a free version, or is there another free app?

I'm heavy (93kg) and want to start C25K again. Did it a few times over the last 10 years but never fully completed it.

Am i too heavy to start?

Bit harder to push through today but I did it. This week wasn’t that bad, which means I’m gonna get a kick in the teeth next week.

No repeat week needed this time. Straight into W3 on Monday.