Taking a week off from couch to 5k

Question

There's a related question here: Is it really necessary take one entire week to rest from running? but it seems like that person was already a seasoned runner.

I'm going from almost zero physical exertion for the past 4-5 years and I'm in week 4 of the c25k app. There's some stuff I have to deal with this week and I'd like to take a week off to focus on it before getting back to running. I don't want to lose the progress I've made over the past 3 weeks so is it okay to take a break? I'm relatively fit so I don't have any health issues or anything and I'm doing it purely as a hobby type thing.

Answer 1

Life happens to all of us, so if you have to take a break, do it. You have little to lose by taking a week off from a running perspective. Just make sure you have a reasonable plan to resume and maintain your fitness. I've found that with running, consistency is key for progress. If you let one week off become 2 and then 3, it will be much harder to get back out there. An alternative would be to put your specific training plan on hold for a week, but still do whatever running works for you. If you can squeeze 1 workout in during the week, that may make it easier to resume your plan right where you left off.

Answer 2

From my experience, yes, you should be fine, but you're going to have to gauge it for yourself. Try for week 5 once you start back up, but keep in mind the week 4 goals, and switch to them if you find that week 5 is too challenging.