C25K: Couch-to-5K Running Plan and Windows Phone App

(I try to keep this a purely technical/work blog and it’s rare that I post personal things up here, but this is too good not to share).

The 1st of July is the end of the Financial Year (in Australia, at least) and I find that I have better success with changes at this time of year, rather than at the new calendar year. After hearing about the Couch-to-5K running plan from a friend and knowing that all my work travel was going to take its toll, I decided it was time I started exercising again.

I got excited and started early and now I’m halfway through week two. What I like so far about this running plan:

1. It’s quick. 5 minute warm-up, 20 minutes walking/running, 5 minute cool-down = 30 minutes (+ stretching/changing).
2. It’s simple. 3 sessions a week (every second day), don’t need to measure distances – just run for the durations at a pace where you still have enough breath to talk.
3. It’s free. No gym/club membership fees.
4. No special equipment / location required. All you need is a change of clothes and a pair of runners. At home, I can run around the oval. When I’m travelling I can do it on the treadmill if I don’t want to venture out into traffic.

Windows Phone App

Perhaps the thing that has helped motivate me the most, is the awesome Windows Phone app from Six Bars called Total C25K (free) & Total C25K Premium ($1.49 currently).

The main screen shows you your progress and the workout screen shows you how much time is left on the current interval and in total.

The other thing that makes it a great app is the voice cues. You can be playing your workout playlist and when you reach the next interval, it will briefly pause your music, say ‘walk’, ‘run’, ‘half-way’ and then un-pause your music.

Once you pair this app with a nice set of headphones like these Motorola S10-HD Bluetooth Stereo ones, you really can’t go wrong.