Just about 10 minutes ago I finished the Couch to 5k program. I'm exhausted & need a shower but I'm gonna write my review first so I can cool off. Because I know you're just dying to read my review!
Overall it's a great program & perfect for someone wanting to run a 5k. The first few weeks are a good slow progression. The first week has the running time at only 1 minute each time. That was really easy for me. But eventually it builds.
At first I thought it was building too fast. I mean, at the end of the 5th week I had to run a solid 20 minutes! And that after only doing a couple 8 minute runs earlier in the week.
But I figured out why it was so difficult.
I was going too fast. The program says to not worry about pace but I kinda ignored that. But those 1 minute runs at a 10:00 pace seemed so easy. So that's when I eventually bumped it as fast as a 9:13 pace. That felt great until I got to the longer runs & suddenly I was burning out really fast. I tried slowing to a 9:31 pace but it was still too fast. Eventually I was back to the 10:00 pace again, which was still faster than I was pre-pregnancy. It just wasn't as fast as I had wanted to be.
I've wanted to get down to a 9:30 pace for a long time. It would guarantee a 5k under 30 minutes, a half marathon just over 2 hours, & a likely 4 hour 30 minute full marathon!
But I'm just going to have to be patient & slowly work my way to it.
So would I still suggest a newbie to do Couch to 5k? Absolutely! I would just suggest finding a pace right away that isn't too easy but one that isn't leaving you huffing & puffing. The ultimate goal is to run a 5k without stopping. So finish the program & then work on the pace.
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