// Personal website of Chris Smith

Fitness » Couch to 5K

I started doing the couch-to-5k running programme in June 2026. I finished it once before many years ago, but basically stopped running as soon as I hit 5k. This time I’m using it as a stepping stone to running some longer distances, and am going to try and go to events rather than just running for the sake of it on my own. I was aiming to complete is a 5k at the start of September, so I increased some of the runs slightly at the end of the programme to actually get me closer to that distance at my usual pace. Here’s how it went:

DayIntervalsStatus
Week 1 day 160s run, 90s walk, repeat 7 times✅ 30/06/26
Week 1 day 260s run, 90s walk, repeat 7 times✅ 02/07/26
Week 1 day 360s run, 90s walk, repeat 7 times✅ 04/07/26
Week 2 day 190s run, 2min walk, repeat 5 times✅ 06/07/26
Week 2 day 290s run, 2min walk, repeat 5 times✅ 08/07/26
Week 2 day 390s run, 2min walk, repeat 5 times✅ 10/07/26
Week 3 day 190s run, 90s walk, 3min run, 3min walk, repeat 2 times✅ 13/07/26
Week 3 day 290s run, 90s walk, 3min run, 3min walk, repeat 2 times✅ 15/07/26
Week 3 day 390s run, 90s walk, 3min run, 3min walk, repeat 2 times✅ 17/07/26
Week 4 day 13min run, 90s walk, 5min run, 2.5min walk, repeat 2 times✅ 20/07/26
Week 4 day 23min run, 90s walk, 5min run, 2.5min walk, repeat 2 times✅ 22/07/26
Week 4 day 33min run, 90s walk, 5min run, 2.5min walk, repeat 2 times✅ 24/07/26
Week 5 day 15min run, 3min walk, repeat 3 times✅ 27/07/26
Week 5 day 28min run, 5min walk, repeat 2 times✅ 29/07/26
Week 5 day 320min run✅ 31/07/26
Week 6 day 15min run, 3min walk, 8min run, 3min walk, 5min run✅ 03/08/26
Week 6 day 210min run, 3min walk, 10min run✅ 05/08/26
Week 6 day 325min run✅ 07/08/26
Week 7 day 125min run✅ 10/08/26
Week 7 day 225min run✅ 12/08/26
Week 7 day 325min run 28min run✅ 14/08/26
Week 8 day 128min run✅ 17/08/26
Week 8 day 228min run 32min run✅ 19/08/26
Week 8 day 328min run 32min run✅ 21/08/26
Week 9 day 130min run 32min run✅ 24/08/26
Week 9 day 230min run 36min run✅ 26/08/26
Week 9 day 330min run 36min run 5k run✅ 28/08/26

I was planning on finishing on a 36 minute run, which would be around 4.5k, but I was feeling good (and also didn’t plan my route very well) so I actually did a full 5k in 38:40. Success!