I did a 5 mile run today!

[Petra]

I did my first real 'run' today! It was a 5 mile run which was organised in the park next door. I started with the c25k program in July this year, 'graduated' in October and decided to continue with the 'bridge to 10k' program. I've almost finished that one. I'm not a fast runner, so I'm still unable to run the 10k that you are supposed to run at the end of the 'bridge to 10k' program, but I don't mind.
I don't know today's official finish time yet, but it will be something like 1 hour and 5 minutes, which is not very fast for 5 miles (8k). In fact, I was about the last person in the group to cross the finish line. But that has some advantages, because all the people were cheering and clapping .
I've never been much of a sports person, so I've amazed myself that I've achieved this. However, I'm not sure how to continue. I don't want to spend more time on running, so covering bigger distances it not an option. Maybe for this winter I will stick to 45minute-runs (3 times a week) and try to work on my speed.

[starknut]

First of all, congratulations on doing 5 miles! Who would have thought, when you first started running, that you could do that? Amazing!

If you are able to, I recommend buying the Nike+ GPS app to help keep you motivated. It has a "challenge me" feature that can help you improve your time/distance/pace, whatever you choose. Right now, I only use it to chart my pace and distance while I'm doing C25K, but after week 9, I intend to start using it's "challenge me" to keep making improvements in my pace and distance.

Hopefully this helps!