My Experience Doing Couch25K So Far

I have just finished week 6 of Couch25K, so I thought I would share my experience so far with the whole thing. This was the third time that I had attempted it, and the first two times I didn’t even make it past week one!

I had been doing it on a treadmill at the gym and the first time I just didn’t end up going again and the second time lockdown happened so the gym obviously closed, and I’m not keen on running outside yet.

This time, however, I am finally getting somewhere! Over the first few weeks of Couch25K even 5 minutes of running feels like a long time (and tbh it still does sometimes!) but now I have managed to run 20-25 minutes without stopping, so overall it is working well for me because I definitely couldn’t do that before!

Weeks 5 and 6 seem like a massive jump, because you go from running for 8-10 minutes at the most to running for 20 minutes non-stop which I found so daunting. I did manage to do it though so the process does work and gets you closer to being able to run a 5K.

I do think I am still running really slowly though so even with only 3 weeks left I still feel like I am pretty far away from being able to run a whole 5K without stopping because I am nowhere near reaching that distance in the 25-odd minutes I have run continuously for. But then again, I have come pretty far over the last six weeks so we shall see!

I wouldn’t have said I have enjoyed Couch25K so far or that I now like running – I certainly don’t and I’m honestly not sure I ever will – but I have sort of enjoyed the process and I am pleased with how far I’ve come. I think it’s a great free program and it does work. 

From the beginning, I have had Sarah Millican as my audio trainer and I’ve always really liked her, but I have to say I now like her a little bit less just because I’ve heard her voice in my ear so much! Plus if I’m wearing headphones she is always (and I’m sure it’s the app, not specifically her) THAT much louder than whatever I’m listening to which is horrible and piercing and has actually made me jump whilst I’ve been running in the gym and I’ve let out my little standard squeak that I can’t help doing when something makes me jump!

So I think I might try one of the other trainers to see if that helps to re-inspire me and just for a change really.

A couple of weeks ago I added in some strength workouts (using Fitness Blender’s videos) again into my exercise regime and that’s really helped to break up the running a bit and help to get a bit more shape to my body again. I think I just stopped everything else I was doing so I could focus on running and really improve on that and not think about anything else, but I missed the feeling that strength training gives me and the variety of doing different types of exercise, as well as the tone lifting weights gives me, especially in my upper body.

Hopefully I’ll be back to update you soon with my progress over the next three weeks that are left in the program and will be able to tell you that I can now run a 5K with my eyes closed!!