I tried Couch to 5K (C25K) multiple times. I did. I really did.
Inevitably, I would end up somewhere in the midst of pain and suffering within week 5 of the program. I couldn’t figure it out. My shins would hurt, my upper body would ache and my lung capacity appeared to keep working against me. I kept thinking to myself, maybe I was just not cut out to be a runner. NO it can’t be that. I know I’m in great shape with all the biking, hiking, walking and stairclimbing I do regularly.
One day I just put on my running shoes, left EVERYTHING else behind. No phone, no C25K app barking at me, no keys, no id, no cash, nothing.
I just ran.
I never felt so good running and I actually went farther than I had ever gone with C25K. I ran longer, my shins didn’t hurt, I wasn’t even out of breath. It was glorious. It was magical. I remember wishing that every run could be like that.
When I got home I stretched. I iced my shins (even though they didn’t hurt).
I ran again a week later, taking nothing with me. It happened again! I ran pain free and even farther than I had the first time.
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What was going on? Why the dramatic difference between C25K and the freeform running I was doing?
I attributed it to 3 things:
1. The C25K had too much starting and stopping, the intervals at which the starting and stopping were happening was too out of sync with what my body actually wanted to do. The C25K app was asking me to walk when I wanted to run and wanting me to run when I wanted to walk.
2. I spend about 50% more time in the warm up and cool down. I average at least a mile for the combined warm up and cool down, slightly more for the cooldown. Before my runs I would also do very light, very brief, “cool” stretching (aka, stretching when muscles are cold).
3. I gave my body more time to rest. In C25K, they tell you not to run on consecutive days….that’s pretty much the guideline. It’s understood that you would do 3 runs per week and it’s up to you to space that out how you want. I chose to rest longer, gave my body 5-7 days rest before I would run again, basically averaging one run a week. Maybe not all of us recover quickly enough. During this period of training and learning to run, I’m ok with giving my body a longer rest. My muscles and bones are slowly getting stronger. One day I know I won’t need 5-7 days between runs – but right now, it seems to be working.
So my best advice to everyone attempting to start running is to try different things. If C25K is working for you, GREAT. If not, try keeping the 3 things in mind — try different running intervals, extend the warm up and cool down, and give your body more chance to rest. Perhaps by changing your approach, you can make more progress to your running goals. The important thing is to keep running. Don’t be discouraged. Maybe your body is just trying to tell you it needs something different than you are giving it.
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