Couch to 5K plan

The Couch to 5K plan is a plan that will allow you to run 5K (3.1 miles) in a minimum of 9 weeks!  Just Google it, and you will find all sorts of information. 

If you would like to do the Couck to 5K plan, and would like support, post here.  We are all here to support each other and hold each other accountable.  Together, we can do it!

Here is the plan:

Week 1
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk.
-Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Week 2
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk.
-Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Week 3
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
-Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
-Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
-Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
-Walk 400 yards (or 3 minutes)

Week 4
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
-Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Week 5
Workout 1:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Workout 2:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
-Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)

Workout 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.

Week 6
Workout 1:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Workout 2:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)

Workout 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 25 minutes) with no walking.

Week 7
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
Week 8
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).

Week 9
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes). 

I always add a 5-minute cool down at the end.

Happy running! 

Question!!

When using a treadmill, what number should you increase to for jogging and decrease to for the walking intervals?

Useful tool i thought i'd share: search gmaps pedometer on google...!! i just discovered it the other day, and i've mapped out a couple different routes around my neighbourhood

Good morning!  I wasn't sure people were still posting here, but you are!  I'm glad people are sticking with this!  I just started week 4 last night.  It was tough to run for 3 and 5 minutes with only a short walk (90 seconds) in between. But I did the whole thing, and I feel great!

My goal is to do a 5k on Thanksgiving!!!

Does anyone else have a goal date for finishing the program, or have plans to run a 5K anytime soon?

You guys I have been so horrible with this!  I don't know if I need to re-start this whole program or continue where I left off, but I do really need to stick with it.  I was having mosquito problems before, and then it started to cool down and then I got sick, UGH!!  Tonight I'm going to start at week 1 and see how I do.  Wish me luck!

pantera714 -- Good luck, and stay focused.  You can do it!

laschndr -- My goal is to run a 5K by next summer.  I think that any sooner would be too ambitious for me.  I am building up my stamina on the treadmill for now, but I know that once I get outside, it will be a completely different thing.  So, I am pacing myself.

lrn_298 -- I jog at 5 mph and walk at 3.5 mph.  This is what works for me.  I tried jogging at a faster pace, but I got tired quickly.  The way I figure it, I want to learn to jog first, then I will worry about increasing my speed.  There is no point in running 10 mph if I can't sustain it.

Has anyone else had problems with week 3?  I feel as though I am not ready to move on to week 4 yet because week 3 is still so difficult.  I can run for the whole 3 minutes, but I am just so tired afterwards.  So, I can't even imagine trying to run for 5!  Does anyone have any advice to get through this? 

Keep up the great work everyone!

Today I did week 2, day 2.  I did it on the treadmill today because it was raining so hard here.  Boy that was so different.  I usually go 2.3 - 2.6 miles outside and today on the treadmill I went 1.6.  I jogged at 4.5 mph and walked 3.0 mph.  I am more comfortable outside with my footing.

My goal is to run a 5K by next summer also.  I do not have a goal date to finish this program....just to finish it.  I may have to do weeks over again to build up my stamina and so I will not be hard on myself if I feel I need to for me to succeed. 

I am glad to see people posting again since I am still new here.  I sure need to post here to be accountable.......so I will be posting here on M- W- F when I am done working out so I will be sure to keep going.

Lets Keep It Up and Success to Us All

Well just a quick check in......Just completed week 2 and am feeling great.  I cut 7 minutes from my time on Monday to go the same distance.  Monday I did 2.6 miles in 42 minutes and today I did the same 2.6 miles in 35 minutes. 

 I also use the Gmaps-Pedometer.com to track my distance around my neighborhood so I can choose different ways to jog/walk without getting bored and the same routine.

I keep hearing week 3 is tough, but I am going to give a try on Monday.

Have a great weekend all

 HI All,

Well, I just found this thread today...I have been doing the coulrie-count web site for about 3 weeks.  From this forum and others, I have often heard about the couch to 5K plan a lot and how good it is.

So, today I started the first of week one.  Not too bad.  I am doing it outside and find it a good wake up. 

I am just sick of waiting to get fit...so I am doing something about it.  I always have and excuse sine there are no real gyms on the island where I live and no workout classes.  The yoga classes I used to go to are no longer...so I have do to something!

Ihope to keep intouch with you all and keep motivated and help motivate!

 

 

 

lrn_298 - When I did the treadmill, I did 4.0 mph for my walk and 5.5 mph for my jog. (The treadmill calls for a jog and run but I just put my walk as a jog and my jog as a run) ... Thanks for the tip on the site. Running outside is much more enjoyable, but it is nice to know how much difference I cover.

laschndr - we have a similar goal! There is a 5k on thanksgiving day called the "drumstick dash" that I would like to do... If I stick with the program, I think I'll be done a little bit before then, but I may end up repeating some weeks as it gets closer to the end. If I finish in the beginning of November, I plan on running 3x a week for the two weeks in between to see if I can increase my pace...

pantera - don't be so hard on yourself! Hope you are doing well on restarting the program. Keep up the great work.

jazzybaby - I find week 3 to be difficult as well, but I thought 90 seconds was bad when in Week Two... You can always repeat week three if you feel that you want to be sure that you are ready for Week Four... It's something that I am definitely considering depending on how week three goes... 

1mom2four - keep up the great work. It sounds like you are very motivated. I'm beginning to understand that the secret is motivation.

wildmangos - welcome! I also find doing the program outside to be a great wake up. Keep with the program!

 

I am going to start this week with this program.  I have no actual 5k race in mind, but I just want to get fit and be able to run for longer than 2 minutes.   I'm a little behind everyone else it seems, but yu have to start somewhere

I found the podcasts (thanks for the link!) and I'm ready to go with week one!   I'm going to start working outside, and if it gets too chilly, maybe I'll move inside later on.

I just researched this and am ready to start tomorrow morning.  I'm a little nervous, but I can't sit around and wait for the weight to just decide to go away... I need to move it around and let it know its not welcome. Workouts will be ouside until the snow starts. 

Wish me luck!

I finished week 5 yesterday and it is amazing. I can't believe i ran for 20 minutes straight. At the halfway point I was going to give up, but somehow I kept pushing myself to finish. We can really finish this program!!!

I don't have an actual 5K in mind, but I think I may look for one. I should be done in 4 weeks so we'll see how it goes. Good luck to everyone on whatever week you're on now!

Hi all!

 Chelsaw, I was wondering...did it only take the "prescribed" program length to get to the 20 minute mark of running?  It almost sound too good to be true. 

Today was Day 2 of week one, it was easier today than it was the day before.  I do run outside on the beach though.  I do believe (maybe a rationalization) that the beach makes it a bit harder to run, but I also think it cusions a bit too rather than running on a road.  True?

Caeribaeri and...oops, I forgot your name, the one previous post...I just started 3 days ago, so I think we all are "in line" together and the rest a bit ahead.  Maybe we can form a little "subgroup" and as the other questions and insights who started a bit before us!

Well, gotta go to work!

Talk to you all soon

Wow 3 new people. Welcome, I know you will like it here.

I just completed day 1, week 3. I was a bit nervous running for 3 minutes, but I did it. I use the podcasts and run the same 2.6 mile distance on the days I do the program. I am pleased to say I cut another 2 minutes off my time. I really had to push myself on the last minute of the last 3 minute time. I really wanted to slow down, but I just kept telling myself "only 1 more minute you can do it" and I did. Can't wait until Wednesdays run.

Until Wednesday when I post again...... "Have a great session and remember You can do it too!" Keep us posted here.

wildmango, yes I did it in the amount of time the program said. Well, actually, when I first started I had to take a week off after week one because I got really sick, but since then i've been doing exactly what they said. It was definitely difficult to do the 20, but somehow I manged. Oh, and running on the beach is more difficult!! That's awesome that you're doing it though.

Well i just got back from the gym! I skipped from week 1 to week 3 and successfully did the workout! i felt like i could go longer than 3 minutes, but i want to do this right and not be done by the third repetition. So, week 3 workout 2 begins Wednesday!!

I just now finished Week 1 and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Found this forum and thought I should probably join in!

I can't wait to begin Week 2. I realized that all I needed to get off my butt was some sort of schedule, like this one. It's so much easier than I thought and still a great workout! 

 Well I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, but I did day 2, week 3 and cut 1 more minute off my time.   I still find the last minute of the last 3 minute run difficult.  I am really having to push myself.  Well I will be completing week 3 tomorrow.

Until tomorrow.  Have a great workout!

Finished Week 6 today...25 minutes!!! I'm so amazed. Again, I had tp push pretty hard, but I did it and I feel so good. Hope everyone else is doing well!

Well I was unable to complete the last day of week 3.  I had some unexpected circumstances that came up for Friday and Saturday.   So that being said I will be doing week 3 over again this week.  I will be weighing in tomorrow and I will post after I complete my day 1, week 3.

It was tough last week so I feel good about doing it again this week.  Slow and Steady wins the race.  I will complete this whole "Couch to 5K" program.

chelsaw......Great job on going so long.  Keep it up!