My Road to 5K
Created Nov 1, 2022 - Last updated: Mar 24, 2023
Currently on: Couch to 5k Completed! 🎉
I bet you’re wondering, 5K what Michael? $5000 buckaroos? 5K subscribers? A glorious 5K-res monitor? (You know what, I’ll take all of the above thanks). Alas, no, I am speaking about ‘C25K’, a running app and program designed to people from the couch (like me), to running 5 kilometres/30 minutes.
The last time I ever used to run consistently was back in my high school soccer days. Today, most of my runs don’t amount to much more than running to the front door to pickup my Amazon parcels! (that’s Prime for you).
While I’d heard about the phenomenom ‘runner’s high’, my association with running has always been more of coughing, wheezing and sore ankles. Despite being a fairly regular gym-goer, running is the one activity I’ve consistently avoided, especially as I grew up with asthma, which always seemed exercise-induced (queue flashbacks to swimming carnival days).
C25K promisess that almost anybody who sticks to the regimen will make it to 5km by the end. How is the program configured? 3 runs a week spread across 8 weeks, gradually increasing in difficulty. You don’t have to think, you simply pop some music on, find a place to run, and follow the virtual drill sergeants instructions, “start running”, “start walking”, etc. I’ve enjoyed trying different routes and exploring new places.
My first few runs, I found my shins and calves were getting incredibly sore, and felt I needed to give them time to recover. Between week two and three, I took a break for 2 weeks due to catching a flu, and having a persisting cough. I kept up walking, but was worried about how far I may have been set back. To my surprise, when beginning the third week, I felt a dramatic increase in my stamina and endurance, with the run being a breeze! By the 4th week onward, I felt myself matching the programs steady increases with more and more ease, and additionally, I started increasing my frequency at the gym lifting weights and other forms of cardio.
And with my most recent run, I completed C25K! Starting the program, I found it hard to imagine that I would actually be able to run for 30 minutes straight, but here I am, hitting the pavement (most days) down Eastern Parkway, enjoying the runner’s high, and according to my Apple Watch, I’ve managed a touch over 100 miles these past 4 months, which for me feels like a massive achievement.
Where to from here? I plan to continue running, I might give the Couch to 10k program a go, and eventually it would be amazing if I could make it a half-marathon, full marathon etc. In the mean time, I might work to increase my pace, increase my distance, and overall just keep these legs moving!
I highly recommend the program to anybody and everybody who has been looking to challenge themselves to do something that pushes them outside their comfort zone, has a whole yield of health benefits, and tests your committment and discipline.