The Couch to 5k program in general might seem to good to be true – how can it be possible to go from not running at all to running 30 minutes nonstop in just 2 months? – but once again my Couch to 5k group made it across the finish line!
These three ladies came to me for a cold, rainy group run on January 3 with no recent running experience and – if I can say so – motivation that was occasionally on shaky ground. (It’s ok. I’m human, too.) Our first workouts had running intervals of 30-90 seconds, and even with long walk breaks there were moments of struggle.
The weeks went on, and these three troopers showed up for the group runs (and even completed their weekly independent workouts!). They groused and accused me of manipulating the stopwatch as I jogged each mile with them (no comment), but they sweated through every step and made it through longer and longer intervals.
We built up the short intervals to 5 minutes, then to 8 minutes, and then to 20 whole minutes nonstop. Twenty eked its way up to 22…25…27…and, after 7 weeks, 30 straight minutes of running.
At the cold, blustery, early start of the 5k, I secretly had Plans A, B, and C ready for the group.
Plan B: Run the first 30 minutes, then switch to run/walk intervals to finish the course.
Plan C: Start run/walk intervals after the first 5 minutes
But it turned out, that I didn’t need either one of those plans. They went with Plan A: RUN THE WHOLE THING. They jogged every single step of their 5k and finished in just under 45 minutes.
I was beyond proud to cross the finish line with these three ladies. Each one of them had overcome different obstacles to make it across that line, and each one was so much stronger than when they had joined the group just weeks before. After all our ups and downs (and slows and fasts), they overcame their doubts and kicked their goal’s butt.