After C25k?

[Fani]

I am new to running but I now LOVE it! Never thought I would say that. Tonight will be my last C25k run. I really enjoyed the program and am shocked to see me running 30 minutes consecutively and still ready to go more.

All that being said, I am not fast. At all. I know I can push harder but my goal was finishing, not how fast. I am going about 3 miles for my 40 minutes of run (inc 5 min warm up/cool down). I am very goal oriented. I do better when I have something I need to finish.

Where do I go from here? Do I do the 5 to 10k program by active.com? Do I redo the C25k aiming to run faster? Based on what I saw in the 5 to 10k there was pace based work.

In terms of races, I have several 5k's coming up and the women's half marathon in late September. I am doing the half with friends and we are thinking of doing jog/walk intervals mile per mile.

[Barmacral]

Personally when I finish the c25k program I'm going to jump into the bridge to 10k. It sounds to me like the half-marathon is a really good goal for you to train for, try and run as much of it as you can.

[JediJem]

Since you are already signed up for a half marathon, I'd aim at upping the distance (e.g. 5 to 10 k). Even if you are planning on walking intervals during the actual race, you'll feel far more confident and comfortable if you have some distance work under your belt.

Good luck!

[shortstuff]

It depends on your goals and what you want to get out of running. Have a longer distance race coming up or you enjoy longer distance? Work on building up to that distance. Have a 5k race coming up or you want to be faster? Maybe work on your speed.

[PicklesEBF]

Keep jogging, but turn the session into a fartlek now and then. (Google it, it's 4am and I'm tired.)

Do some sprint-hill workouts instead of a long run some days.

Work on getting your 5k under 30 minutes. (Run your normal route, just try to do it a bit faster each day.)

It honestly depends on your goals, be it faster, longer, or a combination of both. You don't have to do C25K again to be able to cover a 5k faster.

[cripz]

I'd say you have 2 main choices - up your distance (Bridge to 10k) or increase your speed. Trying to do both will give you mediocre results in both - focusing on one will give you good results in one which will help with the other.

For me, I finished C25K and then chose speed due to time commitment (couldn't see myself running for 60+ minutes multiple times a week). I've been working on doing faster miles/2 miles, and recently started doing the HIIT running that the blog talks about. I'm thinking of focusing more on HIIT and only doing longer runs every 2-3 weeks (just to keep the endurance).

but that is also just me, you might be the exact opposite and would rather do longer runs and randomly mix in an interval training day to switch it up.

[Relic]

If you really liked the C25K, but you wanted a little more endurance, you could just extend the warm up and cool down periods (double?) and focus on going faster during the workout portion. If you wanted to get faster you could repeat the program as written pushing the pace more, or after every 3rd workout you could run a set distance (200,400,800meters, accross a field...) and try to beat your previous time.