Couch to 5K is a program I’ve touched on in previous episodes of the podcast, so you might know where I stand on it, but I wanted to give you a deeper look into it today. In a strange turn of events, it has helped me experiment and create my own running programs, so I’m diving into its history, the things I do like about it, and what to do if you’re a Couch to 5K dropout.
Couch to 5K was one of the first programs I tried when I started running in 1997, but unfortunately, it quickly became impossible for me to follow. And like many women I hear from, I eventually got super discouraged and abandoned it. So if you’ve failed at it like I did, today, I’m helping you create a running plan that feels good and is sustainable.
Tune in today as I show you why it’s not your fault if you’ve given up on Couch to 5K, and what you can do instead. The solutions I’m offering here will help you finish your first 5K and feel really good and proud of yourself, and I can’t wait for you to try them out.
If you’re just starting out on your running journey or getting back into it after some time off, I want you to sign up for my free 30-day Running Start Kit. Just click here to sign up, and make sure to share it with anyone else who could use it!
The Rebel Runner Roadmap is a 30-day online class where I teach you the fundamentals of running. This is a class where you’ll learn how to start running the right way, or how to up-level your running. From running form, strength training, stretching, to all the brain work, it’s all in there. Check it out here and get on the waiting list for the next round of enrollment …I can’t wait to see you there!
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
- The history behind Couch to 5K.
- What is missing from Couch to 5K that would make it something everyone can use.
- 4 issues with the Couch to 5K program.
- What to do if you’ve failed at Couch to 5K.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
- If you have any questions you’d like answered on the show, email me at podcast@notyouraveragerunner.com
- Join the Not Your Average Runner Private Facebook Community
- Join Run Your Best Life to get exclusive content from a podcast accessible just for members!
- Not Your Average Runner Instagram
- Peloton
- Ep #33: How to Coach Yourself
Full Episode Transcript:
First of all, you need to know it’s not your fault. There are a few issues with Couch to 5K, and this is not a slam on the plan. It is just my opinion on what’s missing to make it something that everyone can actually use. And because of these issues, you may have struggled with it or even given up.
Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’re a woman who has never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running and life coach and I teach women how to start running, feel confident, and change their lives, and now I want to help you.
Hey rebels. Did you love last week’s interview with Not Your Average Runner ambassador Sarah Clermont? Isn’t she the best? I just love her. And I’m going to be interviewing more of the ambassadors in the coming months so you can hear all of their awesome stories, so stay tuned for that.
But this week, I want to talk about Couch to 5K. Now, y’all might know my thoughts about Couch to 5K, but I actually want to give you a little bit of a history of it and the things that I do like about it, and then we’re going to talk about what to do if you have failed at it.
If you’re a Couch to 5K dropout, I’m going to help you today. So the original Couch to 5K running plan was created by a man named Josh Clark in 1996. And he was actually in his 20s back then. He wrote it to help his mom start running, and if you Google Josh Clark Couch to 5K, you can actually see a picture of his mom. She’s adorable.
But anyway, he was in his 20s and he had just started running himself and he wanted to help her do the same. And he explains Couch to 5K as a program for everyday people, written by an everyday person. And the premise is awesome.
You start out mostly walking and within nine weeks, you’re running a 5K. So it became wildly popular, as you know. He actually eventually sold it to a company called Cool Running, and then they created the app and then after that, the rest if kind of history,
According to Wikipedia, as of 2016, the Couch to 5K app has been used by over five million people. Now, I used the program before the app came out, way back in 1997 when I became a runner. So I’m not one of the five million who use the app but I’m one of the many, many millions that use the program itself.
But here is the thing, I could never get past week three because that’s when things would go from doable, manageable, to impossible for me. Suddenly I was supposed to be running for four minutes at a time. No, this is not going to happen.
And I know that Josh envisioned this as a gentle program to help people start running without injury. But what he didn’t consider, and in 1996 from a 20-something year old guy, totally get it. What he didn’t consider was that lots of people wouldn’t be able to do his progression, especially me at 100 pounds overweight.
So I was super discouraged with it and eventually I abandoned Couch to 5K, I figured things out on my own, and of course, I’ve used all my own experimentation to come up with the Rebel Runner Roadmap program, which has helped over 1000 women start running in 2020.
Just in one year, we’ve helped 1000 women. So I am deeply grateful to Josh because his program helped me see that running actually could be possible for me. I mean, that is the first step, right? Without the belief, I never would have started.
So even though I didn’t use his program to train for my first 5K, I did use it to kickstart myself, which led to creating my own process. And you know, I just realized this this morning. If Couch to 5K had worked for me, I wouldn’t be here right now talking to you because I wouldn’t have had to figure out anything for myself.
I would have just finished the plan, gone on to do more running and probably never even thought twice about it. So double thanks to Josh because in a weird way, he helped launch Not Your Average Runner. I should probably send him a thank you card.
Anyway, if you have failed at Couch to 5K like I did, I want to help you today. Maybe you didn’t make it through the program completely. Maybe you gave up at week three like I did so many times. Or maybe you lost motivation and there was nobody there to help you stay focused. Or maybe you pushed yourself through to the end and you got injured.
First of all, you need to know it’s not your fault. There are a few issues with Couch to 5K, and this is not a slam on the plan. It is just my opinion on what’s missing to make it something that everyone can actually use. And because of these issues, you may have struggled with it or even given up.
So the first problem is that Couch to 5K ramps up way too fast for most people. Most new runners need a few more, even maybe a lot more weeks to go from running a minute at a time to running four or five minutes. And Couch to 5K gives you two weeks.
Week one you’re running for a minute, and by week three, you’re supposed to be running for four minutes. And what happens when you do too much too soon is you either give up on yourself or you get injured. And both of those things result in you not running, which is the opposite of what the program is supposed to do.
Now, the next issue is that there’s no strength or flexibility component, which means if you have any muscle imbalances or weaknesses, and as you know, you’re ramping up too fast in this plan, well, if you have any issues with your body, it’s going to result in injury when you ask it to do way more than it’s ready. And again, that means not running.
And then there’s the issue of no coaching or support. Now, I’m not expecting that Josh is going to personally coach me when I’m struggling. But I do think the program needs to help runners with their mindset because running is hard. When you first start out, it’s easy to get discouraged and successful runners usually have to adjust their thinking or again, they’re going to quit.
And we do a lot of thinking adjustment here on this podcast because I think that’s like, 80% of success as a runner is what’s going on in your mind. And there’s none of that in the Couch to 5K program.
And then finally, each workout is only 30 minutes long. What? So even if you somehow manage to get to the end of the nine weeks, there’s no guarantee you’re even going to be able to run 5K in that time frame. That’s actually a tiny bit faster than a 10-minute mile, and that’s pretty fast.
So you spend the whole program with these 30-minute workouts, and then you get to the end and you’re like, I can run for 30 minutes straight but I can only go two and a half miles. Fail.
So if any of these issues have caused you to fail with Couch to 5K, we’re going to talk about how to solve them today so you can finish your first 5K and feel really good about it and really proud of yourself. Let’s dig in.
So the first thing I want you to do is figure out how long it takes you to walk 3.1 miles. That’s five kilometers. How long does it take you to walk 3.1 miles as a brisk pace? Not a shopping at the mall pace, but a brisk effort.
Now, this is going to give you an idea of how long it’s going to take you to run that distance. Because when you know your walking time, you can take 10% to 15% off of that and that’s going to be a good prediction of your running time for that distance. At least when you’re a beginner.
And that’s going to be your workout time for this program. So for example, it takes you maybe 53 minutes to walk a 5K. After eight weeks of training, you will likely be able to run that distance in, I don’t know, 45 to 47 minutes. You might be faster and that’s awesome. But let’s err on the side caution and instead of doing 30-minute workouts, you’re going to do 45-minute workouts, maybe even once a week you would do an hour.
So you’re going to do a little bit more for your first 5K training than you think you’re going to need to race day. And this is going to set you up for success. Now, the next thing I know you’re wondering is okay, well if the run-walk intervals in Couch to 5K don’t work for me, what should I do?
Here’s my advice. For your first 5K, I don’t want you to think about running the whole thing. I want you to run-walk the whole thing. And actually, you can run-walk every single race for the rest of your life if you want to. This is my method of running.
I’m not here to tell you that you should be training to do the whole thing without any walking. If that’s your ultimate goal, that’s totally cool for you. But for your first one, let’s take the pressure off and plan to run-walk it.
Now, what does this mean for you? I want you to find a ratio of running to walking that feels really good and really sustainable. Something that’s not going to stress you out, it’s going to be a little bit challenging, but you’re like, yeah, I could do that for three miles.
And maybe it’s 30 seconds of running and a minute of walking. Maybe it’s two minutes of running and 30 seconds of walking. I want you to play around with it to see what works for you. There is no wrong or right way to do this. There’s just the best way that works for you.
And if you’re at that 30 seconds of running and a minute of walking right now, I want you to be okay with that. You don’t have to try and increase the amount of running to prove anything. This is your first 5K, let’s just train to finish, train to feel good, train to feel proud.
So you’re going to figure out your ratio of running to walking, and then you’re going to train with that same ratio every week. You’re not going to increase it week after week like you do with Couch to 5K. Instead, I want you to think about getting stronger and more consistent and building endurance with the run-walk ratio that works for you right now.
And again, that ratio might change in the future when you’re on your third 5K, or your first half marathon, I don’t know. But when you’re training for your first 5K, the last thing you need to be worrying about is if you’re running enough, or if you’ll be able to do the next week’s progression.
So let’s take that off your plate for now, just focus on getting better at doing the distance. Alright, now that you have the running plan figured out, I want you to start strength training. And this doesn’t have to be – you don’t have to go out and get P90X or join a CrossFit box.
Simple strength training. A strong runner goes faster and gets less injuries. I want you to pay attention to your legs, your glutes, and your core in particular. Make sure you are stretching after each strength workout.
You can do them once a week, you can do them twice a week, I like the ones on the Peloton app. And again, Peloton is not paying me for any of this free advertising. So if you’re listening Peloton, hook me up because I talk about you all the time.
But the Peloton app has tons and tons of short bitesized strength workouts that will really help you with running and of course, cycling. But Peloton has a treadmill, and so they want you to be a strong runner as well. So they actually have strength training for runners’ workouts.
So that’s a great place to start. But you can Google strength training for runners and get tons of free workouts there. So strength training is key, one to two times per week. I want you to make sure you’re stretching after every workout. Not just your running workouts but every workout.
It’s going to make a difference in muscle soreness and just overall your body feeling okay. And then finally, I want you to work on your mindset. We’ve talked a lot about the physical stuff and that’s important, but if your brain is not on board, you will not run.
Running is 80% mental at least, maybe 90%. So you got to pay attention to your thinking and notice when it’s tending towards this is too hard for me, or I’m not making any progress, or everyone else is faster than me, or I just don’t feel like running today.
Those thoughts will take you down. They will destroy your motivation and replace it with frustration, shame, and apathy. So you got to notice them, reframe them to something that creates motivation and determination, and then you’re going to be all set.
And if you need help with that, I want you to listen to episode 33 of this podcast. It’s called How to Coach Yourself. It’s going to give you my framework for how to take your shitty thinking and turn it into helpful thinking.
If you follow everything I just explained to you, you are going to have a great training experience, I promise. It’s going to be amazing. Alright, if you’re just starting out on your running journey and you are like, I am thinking about training for a 5K, I’ve never been a runner before, I’m not sure what to do, I’m going to encourage you to sign up for my free 30-day running start training plan.
It is perfect for anybody who’s either new to running or maybe coming back into it after some time off. It’ll get you that jumpstart that you need to really embrace running as a lifestyle. And all you have to do to get it is go to notyouraveragerunner.com. The signup is right there at the top of the page.
If you know somebody who could use it, make sure to tell them about that training plan. Make sure to tell them about the free training plan at notyouraveragerunner.com. And make sure to tell them about this episode. If you know somebody who’s tried Couch to 5K 10 times and they’re like, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, send them to this episode so that they realize it’s not them.
There’s nothing wrong with them. It’s not their fault. They just didn’t have the right instructions on how to get started. Alright my friends, I love you, stay safe, get your ass out there and run and I will talk to you next week.
Oh, and one last thing. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you have to check out the Rebel Runner Roadmap. It’s a 30-day online program that will teach you exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you’ve always wanted to be. Head on over to rebelrunnerroadmap.com to join. I’d love to be a part of your journey.
Enjoy The Show?
- Don’t miss an episode, follow on Spotify and subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or RSS.
- Leave us a review in Apple Podcasts.
- Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!