Finished my C25k and am super proud! However my heart rate usually hovers in the high 180s to the low 190s on my runs. I run a slower pace now and it’s brought it from the 200s but I worry since I see people posting theirs in the 160s. I have a higher resting heart rate normally as well. I am a healthy BMI, female 25.

On the road for work and the gym closed at 9. Figured I'd take the run outside around and set my new PR! 9 weeks ago all I wanted to do was run an entire 5k by Thanksgiving! LET'S GOOOO!!!

And I’m still sooo slow 😩 But we’re getting it done!

Hey Runners!

I finally joined you today on the journey to 5K.

I've been doing strength training in the gym for the past year and figured it was time to add some conditioning work to that to improve my stamina. I'm overweight (193cm 118kg) and never ran a day in my life. Seriously I don't run for anything, ever. So I went to the local sporting store and got a gait analysis and had my feet measured. Bought myself a pair of Brooks adrenalin GTS 25 and today I started.

Well I was going way too fast and had to catch my breath after the first interval so I had to slow down after that to a slow jog. I was struggling to find the right pace and form, not lifting my feet up high enough and realising how much the overweight impacts every step. Surprisingly 1 minute goes by pretty quickly and after slowing down my pace and focusing on my breathing, things went better. Inhaling for 3 seconds and exhaling for 3 seconds seems to work best for me so far. During the last 2 intervals I struggled quite a bit with muscle fatigue. My feet and lower legs felt sore and I think I had some lactic acid build-up. I really wanted to quit before the last interval but I managed to finish it and it was so rewarding to have finished day 1 successfully! I'm looking forward to day 2 on Thursday. In the meantime I'll continue strength training on rest days but giving the legs a pass so they can recover from the C25K days.

I'm looking forward to reaching the 5K and if you have any tips for a beginning runner then please do share them!

Managed to get out in between the rain along the promenade. Very cold but nice scenery!

I (32F) started the C25k program this past May, and I am still in awe that I went from struggling to run 5 min straight to now being able to run over an hour at a time (and at a pace I’m very proud of!!)

If you were to tell me a year ago that I should pick up running as a hobby, I would’ve laughed in your face. I’ve never done any sport growing up, have always been super sedentary and out of shape, and had always thought I’d be like that for the rest of my life. I feel so much healthier now, and for the first time in my life, I’m so proud of my body and what it’s capable of.

For anyone just starting out the C25k program, keep it up, it’s so worth it.

Feels good, ran in the cold at night today, in shorts and tee, temperature tolerance has improved.

I think i need to be moving my legs from my hips, but I don't i can do that right now or not for more than a couple steps.

Late August, I was thinking about getting into running and had no idea where to start. Scrolling through running subs, I came across the famous C25K program. I looked into it and thought: why not?

I'm 28M, 183 cm (6'0"), and currently obese. When I started, I weighed 118 kg (260 lbs).

I decided to just go for it: bought a pair of Olympikus Corre Max shoes and picked up a barely-used smartwatch (Huawei Fit 5). Everything was set, and I was hyped.

Then came Day 1, Workout 1. I finished it, threw up right at the end, hit a 190 bpm heart rate, and honestly felt like I was going to die. I got completely discouraged. But a week later, I forced myself to go back. Ever since, I stayed consistent every single week. It wasn't always strictly by the book—sometimes I had to take longer rest days because my shins were screaming at me.

I alternated between the treadmill at the gym and totally flat outdoor roads, while sticking to a diet and lifting at least 4x a week. The weeks went by, and I realized I was actually hitting the run intervals. It wasn't always pretty or perfect, but it was done.

Today was graduation day (the 30-minute continuous run). I was fasting and decided to hit the gym since it was a rest day from lifting. Stepped on the scale: 109.8 kg (242 lbs). That immediately got me hyped.

Did the 5-minute warm-up walk at 5 km/h (3.1 mph) and bumped it up to 8 km/h (5.0 mph).

The first 5 to 10 minutes were rough, but my mental cue was always: "Just 2 more minutes. I know how to do 2 minutes." Kept playing that trick on myself all the way to the 30-minute mark.

At 30 minutes, I was feeling great and riding an adrenaline high, so I thought: let's see how far I can go. Time flew, I was lost in a podcast episode, and suddenly the episode finished. I looked down at the treadmill display: 50 minutes. And everyone knows that if you run 50 minutes, you might as well run a full hour. Pushed through, got it done, and only stopped because I had somewhere to be. Did the 5-minute cool-down walk at 4 km/h (2.5 mph) with the biggest grin on my face.

Treadmill running time: 60 minutes

Speed: 8 km/h (5.0 mph / 12:00 min/mi pace)

Running distance: 8.0 km (4.97 miles)

Total distance (including warm-up and cool-down): ~8.75 km (5.44 miles)

I felt insanely proud and genuinely happy. I never in a million years imagined I could pull this off. And I didn't even step off the treadmill destroyed—quite the opposite, I had energy to spare and felt like I could've kept going! When I looked at the final numbers, I almost lost it. Pure emotion, no joke.

I've attached the photos. The watch doesn't track treadmill distance accurately (and I don't really bother calibrating it for indoor runs anyway).

Trusting the process works. It paid off way more than I ever anticipated. The pace was slow, but honestly? Screw the pace. Every single session is logged on my watch and Strava.

I used to lurk here every single day reading graduation posts and looking for motivation. If you're on Day 1 or struggling through Week 4: keep showing up.

Note: The screenshots and treadmill, and the watch data are in Portuguese, but the metrics are all standard (km and km/h).