Congratulations on getting through the first six weeks of the program. That alone is quite an accomplishment!

As far as your speed, the short answer is not to worry about it. If you take a closer look at the program, you're supposed to run for a certain amount of time OR a certain distance. You're not expected to run that distance IN that time. In truth, that would put you at a 9:40 min/mile pace, and that's probably not feasible for most folks who are just getting off the couch.

Since you're working towards a specific 5k, I'd focus on the distance side of things and ignore the time from this point on. In fact, that's exactly what I did when I completed the program. I ran the first six weeks using the time intervals, then did the last three weeks using distance. That gave me the "mileage confidence" to run the entire 5k a bit less than a month later.

There's no "right" speed for the program except for the one that keeps you being active. Don't worry about where you finish, just focus on finishing. After you have a baseline performance (Personal Record, or PR), you can start to work at improving your times. Focusing on speed right now is an invitation to injury.

Finally, you'll have good days and bad days. Some days I get out the door and I struggle to hold a 10:00 min/mile pace. Other days I can cruise around the neighborhood at 8:30 min/mile and feel like I have plenty in the tank to go even faster. Don't let one or a couple of workouts dictate how you feel about your progress. Look at the overall trend. Are you fitter than you were seven weeks ago? I'd wager yes.

Good luck with the rest of the program and with your 5k next month. Please keep us posted on how you're doing and how the race goes.

Don

For C25k, there is no "too slow" - only a pace which you are comfortable with. Speed will come later, what you're doing now is building up endurance and aerobic fitness.

I do 11:20 miles (7min kilometer) and that's what I'm happy with.

Congrats on your first 5K and I share everyone's regards about focusing on your distance and not time. The fact that you have chosen to participate is a great first step and you don't need to set yourself up for disappointment by setting unrealistic goals. Focus on finishing, irrespective of time or if you walked. Finishing is your goal on every race but especially the first one because your confidence will grow from there. Once you prove to yourself you can finish, then you can add the next step of finish...without walking, within x minutes, within the top 'y' finishers of your age group, then within the top 'x' finishers of the race. Build your goals over time and don't let yourself get disappointed. Also, you will stumble and some races will be tougher than the last or you may have to decide to run injured or with a cold, or whatever limitation you find. But racing is often more mental than physical. Set achievable goals, pursue them, achieve them, then set your next goal at a tougher level.

Good luck.

Congratulations on your progress, tragirl. I just wanted to reiterate the point that I and others made before: there's no speed you "should" be at. Your speed is your speed. After building a solid base (a few months of 20-or-so miles per week), you might consider incorporating some speed work to get faster, but don't feel like you should be faster than you are. No matter what, you're going faster than the speed of couch.

Don