Review: Peloton 5K Go The Distance

I wanted to get back into running, so I decided to sign up for Peloton’s 5K Go the Distance program. I have access to really nice Woodway treadmills in the gym. My sister-in-law said they were the best and I thought, “Why don’t I use them?” I’ve been running for a really long time with six marathons under my belt, but I got away from running during the Pandemic in favor of Peloton cycling. I don’t think of myself as a runner exactly, but I do think of myself as someone who could go for a jog at any point without too much worry. But as a I did less and less running, that was becoming a little less true. So, I thought a program would get me back on track.

I was in good cardio shape so I didn’t need something as graduated as a Couch to 5K program. The 5K GTD program consists of four classes a week for six weeks. Four instructors are featured each week: Susie, Becs, Marcel, and Jon (“Your boy Hoskey”). For the first five weeks, the classes are a Run/Walk with Susie, Race Prep with Becs, Endurance Run with Marcel, and Walk/Easy Run with Jon. The last week is a Run/Walk with Susie, Shakeout jog with Jon, and a warm-up/5K time trial with Becs as a combo 2-class session.

The class format and schedule is awesome. I really liked the four class types and thought it worked well as a weekly repeat. One week, I switched the class order of 3 & 4 by skipping a class and doing it later in the week. This counted as a “missed” class in the program, which can impact your badge at the end. I don’t care about the badges, especially since I don’t even see them as I don’t have a Peloton tread.

The instructors are really good, although I have some personal opinion pros/cons.

Susie is fantastic- I love her music, her stories, and her coaching style. Her music is up-tempo/EDM/pop/remixes/and some rock (she loves the Foo Fighters, I think?). I have done long runs with her and there is no downside to her.

Becs is another great coach. She has a weird habit of having a little exhalational laugh when she’s said absolutely nothing funny. But unlike Robin’s completely fake laugh (seriously, what is she laughing at?), Becs laugh isn’t grating although I still don’t know what is causing it. Another nice thing is that this program is pre-kid Becs. Apparently in more recent classes, she talks a lot about her kid now and the inspiration she draws from her. I like the running-focused stories and, understandably, I think this is seen more in pre-kid Becs than post-kid. Becs music is similar to Susie’s, which I enjoy.

Marcel. Oh, Marcel. I love her running stories and her story of sticking with it and becoming a runner is cool and well-told. She also has great class layouts. But she has a verbal tic that I cannot stand and ultimately by mid-week 3, I would listen to other music and close-caption her class so I could follow her cues. The tic goes back to her Army days and the Army (and Marines) use of “Hoo-ah” to indicate understanding/you get me/motivation/everything under the sun. Now, Marcel’s sounds more like “Hoo-uhawll” and I.cannot.not.handle.it. This is a me problem, I know. But I have always hated Hoo-ah because I think it sounds so idiotic. And she says it all the time. I know she was in the Army and that’s great. It’s miles better than when Alex T. leaned hard into a “military background” which consisted of going to a military prep high school. He wasn’t even in the military!! I just don’t need the military in my workout life. Although weirdly, I like bootcamp-style formats although don’t yell at me, hahah. Or say Hooah.

Marcel’s music was also not for me. I think she has other great playlists but in these endurance classes, she had songs that were less upbeat and I love uptempo, even for chill, steady state runs. The slower tempo is hard to feel energized by. She had a few good songs, but most were kind of yacht rock/mellow/R&B that just felt too slow. They’re good songs, but not on a workout playlist. So, another reason to listen to my own music and follow her prompts through the displayed paces and captions.

“Your boy Hoskey” rounded up the week with a walk class that turned into an easy run for the last three weeks. He has big golden retriever energy. He dances on the treadmill and strikes me as someone who if you put in a room with lots of mirrors, a water bottle, and a treadmill to play on, he’d amuse himself for hours without a hint of boredom. His classes were pretty straight-forward and added a needed fourth session to the week. He was also very Motown/yacht rock-y which is too mellow for me, but was ok for the slower runs. But if I was able to put other music on speakers, I would have. I also liked how he really talked up his co-instructors and his respect for them was evident.

Overall, the classes are quite good. For Becs classes, there are intervals that you run at your 5k pace. Admittedly, I picked a goal pace that truly is over 5k pace for me at this point in time. This was fine for weeks 1-3 when the intervals were short. But week 4, the intervals went from 2-4 min on/1-2 off to running 20 straight minutes at 5k pace. This was not possible for me and the pace that I chose. But at the same time, I’m glad I ran the shorter intervals at the faster pace. I guess what I’m saying is that the sudden jump from short-ish intervals to a 20 minute challenge seemed a little unattainable. But, my pace selection was definitely the main problem.

Finally, I loved the final class structure. It was a 45 minute 5k trial. I had no idea how that would work and thought I’d run until 5k and then walk the rest. No! It’s structured as a progressive start so that everyone ends together. It starts off with a warm-up jog and then Becs tells people when to start their 5k based on their mile times, e.g. 12 min/mi, 11 min/mi…6min/mi. It’s such a cool way to do it and have everyone taking the class finish together. I know I’m just alone on my treadmill, but I loved feeling like I was finishing the program with everyone else who has taken it. Yes, that’s a little bit of Peloton community cheesiness but hey, I love it!