WHY IS OUR COUCH TO 5K PLAN BETTER?
We’ve designed our Couch to 5K plan to be more realistic and achievable to finish for non-runners – the plan’s primary audience. Other C25K plans are too short, too aggressive or simply too difficult for new runners, leading to a high number of dropouts and injuries.
So our training team decided to analyze popular C25K training plans to see where they went wrong, using modern sport science and training monitoring techniques.
Bookmark our training plan so you can follow it throughout your training and let us know how you get on #caffeinebullettime
Here’s 6 reasons why our Couch to 5K plan is better than the rest:
1. We Adapted The Most Difficult Weeks
Lots of runners using the original C25K training plan report struggling or quitting between week 3 and week 5.
So we focused on making the progressions between these weeks smaller and more manageable.
2. We Use Smaller, More Realistic Workload Progressions
Throughout our plan the progressions from week-to-week are more consistent, removing any huge jumps between weeks.
This means that you’re more prepared for each week, less likely to get injured and more likely to stay motivated throughout the plan.
3. We Ease You Into The Plan Slowly
For some, the first few weeks can be the hardest, therefore we’ve ensured that these weeks are easier and therefore more achievable for newer runners.
4. We use a more realistic time-frame
Popular C25K training plans tend to be anywhere from 6-9 weeks long.
After designing multiple drafts for our plan, we decided 10 weeks was the best balance between being realistic and not lengthening the duration of the plan by so much, that you would have to commit to training for 3 months or more.
If you still find a particular week difficult then you can always go back and repeat it if until you’re ready to move to the next week, don’t be afraid to go through the plan at your own pace.
5. Weekly Sessions Are Identical So You Can See Your Fitness Improve Throughout The Plan, Not Just At The End
Lots of popular C25K training plans make you do 3 different runs a week.
While this can be great for variety and reduces boredom, it can make it difficult to remember what you’re supposed to be doing, but more importantly it doesn’t allow you to track improvements within each week.
Once you look back and see that on your final session of the week you added an extra 100-200 meters to the distance you covered on the first session of the same week can be the extra bit of motivation you need to get you through the plan.
Whereas, these improvements are much harder to see when your sessions are different within the same week.
6. We Listen To Your Feedback
What matters to us most is that you are improving and setting new personal bests.
So we listen to all of the feedback for our training plans and make adjustments so that you and the next person to use our plans gets the best results they can possibly get.
If you want to send us feedback then email our training team: training@caffeinebullet.com
THE CAFFEINE BULLET COUCH TO 5K PLAN
| Week | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 min run, 1:30 walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | 1 min run, 1:30 walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | Rest | 1 min run, 1:30 walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest |
| 2 | 1:30 min run, 2 min walk. Repeat x6 |
Rest | 1:30 min run, 2 min walk. Repeat x6 | Rest | Rest | 1:30 min run, 2 min walk. Repeat x6 | Rest |
| 3 | 1:30 min run, 2 min walk. Repeat x7 |
Rest | 1:30 min run, 2 min walk. Repeat x7 | Rest | Rest | 1:30 min run, 2 min walk. Repeat x8 | Rest |
| 4 | 2 min run, 2 min walk Repeat x6 | Rest | 2 min run, 2 min walk Repeat x6 | Rest | Rest | 2 min run, 2 min walk Repeat x6 | Rest |
| 5 | 1:30 min run, 1:30 min walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | 1:30 min run, 1:30 min walk. Repeat x9 |
Rest | Rest | 1:30 min run, 1:30 min walk. Repeat x10 |
Rest |
| 6 | 2 min run, 1 min walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | 2 min run, 1 min walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | Rest | 2 min run, 1 min walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest |
| 7 | 2:30 min run, 30 second walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | 2:30 min run, 30 second walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | Rest | 2:30 min run, 30 second walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest |
| 8 | 2:30 min run, 30 second walk. Repeat x10 |
Rest | 2:30 min run, 30 second walk. Repeat x10 |
Rest | Rest | 2:30 min run, 30 second walk. Repeat x10 |
Rest |
| 9 | 3 min run, 15 second walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest | 3 min run, 15 second walk. Repeat x8 | Rest | Rest | 3 min run, 15 second walk. Repeat x8 |
Rest |
| 10 | 20 min run | Rest | 25 min run | Rest | Rest | 30 min run or 5K! | Rest |
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS COUCH TO 5K PLAN
A common way new runners end up injured or in too much pain to finish their plan is because they run too fast or too hard in the running intervals of their sessions. To get better results with a much lower risk of injury we recommend running at an “easy pace” throughout this Couch to 5k plan.
Easy runs are run at conversational pace at an effort level of about 3-4/10. To find your easy pace you can start with running at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate or at a pace 5-10% slower than your marathon pace. Check out our article on easy runs to find out all you need to know about easy running.
DO I NEED TO DO A WARMUP AND COOLDOWN?
While it’s not essential, you might find it helpful to do a warmup before your run and a cooldown after your run. However, as all of the runs in this plan are easy runs, it likely won’t have a huge impact on your performance. So the decision is completely up to you.
Nevertheless, here are our recommendations for warmups and cooldowns for this plan:
WARMUP
A 2-5 minute brisk walk before your first running repetition should be enough to increase your body temperature and prepare you for your run. You can also add some dynamic stretching to your warmup.
COOLDOWN
A gentle 2-5 minute walk after your run should be enough for your cooldown so you don’t feel as stiff when you get in the car or sit down back at home. You can also add some static stretching to your cooldown if you enjoy it, but it is unlikely to give any additional benefits.