C25K isn't working for me

[indekee]

I just hit a point where I feel like I'm gonna die if I run the whole time and it is embarassingly short, like five minutes. I tried slowing my pace and that hits my feet and legs in a totally different (uncomfortable) way and the pace is slower than a brisk walk.

This morning I finally just ignored the queues and ran as fast as I could on the straight portions of the track and walked the curves, then I ran the curves and walked the straight portions. For this I ran as hard as I could, which definitely felt harder on my leg muscles. I think those short sprints, while being fun aren't long enough to build up my breath which is where my problem is.

So, aside from just chugging s o s l o w l y through the longer jogs in C25K, what can I do to both get faster and get to the point where I can actually run for a real amount of time?

 

[abigal13]

@indekee Maybe someone said this, but it's okay not to run.

I tried C25K and got pretty far along and no matter how much I did it or how often or hard I tried I was miserable. I've had multiple leg injuries and running just wasn't therapeutic for me. There are definitely other ways to get your cardio in.

 

[markxiii]

@indekee It's uncomfortable because your joints and muscles aren't used being solicited that way. To go faster, you have to run a higher mileage, not run faster.

Although I highly disagree, sprint and Intervals are an INCREDIBLE way to build anaerobic and cardiovascular capacity.

 

[indekee]

@markxiii You disagree that intervals build capacity or you disagree with something else? Your wording confuses me.

 

[markxiii]

@indekee

I think those short sprints, while being fun aren't long enough to build up my breath which is where my problem is.

Sorry, I disagreed with this part here : "I think those short sprints, while being fun aren't long enough to build up my breath which is where my problem is." Since, from my experience, interval and sprints builds cardiovascular capability faster than long running session does.

To build cardiovascular capability you need to treat your heart like a muscle: to get more power out of your heart you need more resistence (higher heart rate).

 

[indekee]

@markxiii Ok, thanks for the claritifcation.

I like the short sprints even though I can't maintain that for very long. I may mix things up. Slow for time and short for speed and see where that gets me.

Just listening to my body tells me that the muscular effort I put into those sprints made an impression on my muscles in a way the slog jog doesn't and I figure anything that makes my muscle complain is probably going to make them stronger.

 

[markxiii]

@indekee It's normal, sprint are, by definition, not very long. However, you don't need to feel like your head is going to explode in your chest to get results. Just interval between elevated and lowered heartrate will work.
Basically, as long as there is an alternence between resistence phase and rest phase, and not one continuous and steady work that it will give better result (rushed it, will phrase it better, but class just finished)

 

[humbled1]

@indekee Don't worry about speed. C25K should really be called Couch to Run 30 minutes. My first 5K after finishing it took me almost an hour.

 

[boby777]

@humbled1 I'm agreeing here. I never got close to 5k. I could walk faster than I could run. It's pretty normal I think. Then all of a sudden I could jog and push a bit faster every week because I built up time endurance with c25k. Don't stress about time AND distance, stress about endurance time, then go for distance.

 

[chastity]

@indekee If C25K is boring and frustrating at this point you could just do different cardio for a while. Just brisk walking 3-4 times a week could build up your cardiovascular fitness and leg muscle endurance without you getting horribly out of breath. Or something else. If running sucks there might be more pleasant ways to build up endurance first.

 

[bubblegum2021]

@indekee You can't get better at running if you don't run. I have never done C25K but I know from other people that it's completely normal for people to repeat weeks until they are comfortable at the suggested pace. Sprints are good for building speed, but without any endurance, speed is pretty much useless at this point. Also, there is a good chance that your sprinting pace is actually closer to an average running pace, and that is what you need to build up to.

 

[ravenblue]

@indekee I personally didn't do great with the progression structure of C25K. I think it's great, and I've done it before, but this spring doing it again, I just couldn't. So I did my own intervals. I started with 90 second runs and walk a few minutes and then I would just alternate increasing my run time and decreasing my walk time. So like I would run 90 seconds, walk 3 mins one week. The next week I might run 90 seconds but only walk 2 minutes. Then week 3 I'd run 2 mins, walk 3 mins. And go back and forth. And I would just walk when I needed to get a 30 min workout.

It might not be common to recommend trying something else but I do think C25K has some weird jumps that make it hard to get past certain weeks and very frustrating.

 

[faithfaith]

@indekee I think you should continue c25k to build up your endurance. Then you can work on speed. Most of the joggers that past me on my jogs are jogging slightly faster than a brisk walk. But they can go for miles and still not be panting. Most people do not start out fast. They build up their mileage then they do intervals to build up speed. Check your ego at the door when it comes to endurance training. That's the only way you can improve.

 

[eyelovesjesus]

@indekee When I run, I usually need to distract myself with things that are around me! Are there any jogging/bike paths you could check out instead of being on the track all the time?

 

[folashade]

@indekee Its pretty much impossible to have good form running that slow, so don't worry about that too much. Sprinting works different energy systems than slow running, so it won't help much with your endurance. Running slow is the answer, even though it sucks. You could also try brisk walking (uphill if possible) to help build your aerobic base.

 

[johnelias3773]

@indekee I don't have any advice for you, I just want you to know you are NOT alone. I have an old ankle injury, an old knee injury, and had asthma as a kid, so I know I have to take it slow, but it was maddening for me to "jog" about as fast as I could walk, all while feeling like I was dying for air and my limbs hurt from the impact.

I gave up. I hope you have the perseverance that I did not. Hang in there, from the comments I have seen so far it seems that you need to accept being super slow until you can run without stopping for about 30 minutes, then work on speed.

Hell, I may have just become inspired enough to try it again myself......

 

[deborah137]

@indekee Speed comes from slow running. Seriously. Most of your runs should be done at a conversational pace, especially when building up a base like C25k does. If that means going at a snail's pace, so be it. When I first started running back in May my jog was barely faster than my walk.

As you build up your base, your easy runs become faster because you're getting stronger. Think about when you started weightlifting. Did you start squatting your bodyweight right at the beginning? No. You were either squatting the bar or squatting with nothing. Same thing with running. Build up slowly. Repeat C25K weeks if you have to or modify them slightly until you can keep going with the program. Most importantly, go slow - speed comes with time on the pavement/trail/track/treadmill.

Edit: Couch to 5k is kind of a misnomer. It's really more "Couch to Run 30 Minutes Without Stopping". My fastest 5k is 35:11 and that's with me feeling like I'm going to die.

 

[seekinghim26]

@indekee I ran/walked a half-marathon at around a 12:50/mile pace... This is when I was a beginning runner. I could barely run a mile without stopping before that race.

Now that I've been running consistently for a year and a half since that race, I've literally improved my mph speed by over 4 minutes... as in, I can run a consistent pace of under a 9 min mile for multiple miles now. Know how I did this? I started slow. I didn't go for milage - I went for time. If I only got 1.5 miles in half an hour, whatever, at least I got through the whole half hour! I would shorten the intervals for C25K in the beginning because I couldn't do it.

Once I got to the point where i could slow jog for 30 minutes without stopping, I started doing exercises in speed - HIIT helped a lot here imo (kinda like what you're doing) but making sure I had a balance of slow runs and HIIT is what made me be able to run a 27 min 5k. Now I do a couple shorter 1-3 mile runs a week, one HIIT session for just 20 mins and one longer run (building up for me now, but starting around 3 miles and then up a little more each week). If I'm doing one mile, I'll focus on trying to go faster each week, even if it's only a few seconds (doing these types of runs on a treadmill). If i'm going out for my long outside run, I don't time it, I just go for the milage I want to hit and if I have to walk, then so be it, nbd. All of these different techniques combined are what help me increase my speed, but at the beginning when I couldn't even run the whole straight part of the track without feeling like dying, I NEVER would have thought I'd be where I am now. We all start somewhere. Keep at it, try your best to slow down, even if it feels stupid or excruciatingly long. And if the C25K app isn't helping, just get an interval app and set it for 1 minute intervals then 1.5 and 1 then 2 and 1 (running/walking respectively) and increase slowly at your own comfort level. I did this, and it went a lot better than trying to strictly to follow the C25K app. You can do it! Good luck!

 

[indekee]

@seekinghim26 Don't suppose you could recommend an app for the intervals?

 

[seekinghim26]

@indekee Mine is just called IntervalTimer. The icon just shows 0:30 on it. It has an option for a "warm up" and "cool down" along with setting however many intervals you want to do. Probably not the best out there, but it gets the job done.