It works.
On the topic of the 5k training program I'm doing, I did 37m 50s today, and that was with a 5 minute warm-up "slow jog". Obviously not great, but not bad where I'm at. I'm dropping the weight I put on after my last injury, which will of course help. I was at 242 when I had to stop running, am at 254 now. For reference, I was 215 when I could do 2 miles in 13 minutes. I'm shooting for 210 or under before I start picking up much strength training again. My knee is going to do a lot better if I can get my weight back down and I'm not as into picking up heavy things as I used to be.