Loungers on the run: Couch to 5k to marathon and beyond

olddognotricks · 27-01-2014 5:06pm

To all of you starting out well done and keep going!!
I am running now twice a week with a group of ladies since Oct sometime and before that followed the C25k but found going out with a few others really spurred me on to finish and now running 5k 2-3 times a week. Did just over 6k at the weekend and have signed up for an 8k next month!!!:)
Some of the evenings have been miserable out but once your off its grand
I have to say I love it now and was never ever into running before...
Go go Go!!!!

murria · 27-01-2014 8:29pm

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

My friend who is a bit of a seasoned runner used to tell me, Eamon Coughlan's advice is: As slow as you can, for as long as you can.

I used to jog slower than I walked! But I still managed to jog every step of the10k of the mini marathon last year

There are really tough days, and days you'd rather wash your floors than go out! But if you manage to stick with it, it's a great achievement.

Fair play to everyone giving it a go.. "It doesn't matter how slow you are going, you are still lapping those who are sitting on the couch"!

Hi, my first post in this thread. Thank you so much for this advice Big Bag of Chips, it made such a difference. This time last week I was talking myself out of starting week 4, I never thought I would be able to run for five minutes, but I slowed down and tomorrow is day three of week 4!! I'm so chuffed with myself.

I'm running with my husband before we go to work in the mornings, out in the cold and the rain but we are motivating each other and our dog gets an extra run each day too. We both feel great and we're sleeping like babies.

Big Bag of Chips · 28-01-2014 11:12am

You're welcome murria! We found as the weeks went on, we were just automatically speeding up. And sometimes we'd start off fast, not intentionally(!) and a few minutes in realise we were getting tired, so instead of stopping we'd just slow ourselves right down again and keep going. One day there was a man walking a little bit ahead of us, and it took ages for us to catch up with him and pass him! I'd say when we did eventually pass him he was wondering "Why do they even bother?"

Keep it up. I genuinely never thought I'd jog the whole mini marathon. But I did! The feeling of achievement is great, and having the encouragement of people around you is wonderful too.

olddognotricks · 28-01-2014 5:29pm

Going for a run tonight -I can see blue sky yipee!! Should't be like it was last nite anyway....Jeez soon I will be running in the daylight!!!!:eek:

sullivlo · 28-01-2014 6:42pm

Week 5 day 2 for me today. The 8 minute run.

Enjoyed it! It wasn't tough and (dare I say it) I am looking forward to the 10 minute run!!

maguic24 · 29-01-2014 3:21pm

Dortilolma wrote: »

I've tried running at gyms but find I never get that awesome feeling afterwards which I think has something to do with fresh air. I also find it ridiculously boring.

I'm ok with running in some drizzle but the cold winds are very off putting.

Hopefully the weather eases up a bit and the ongoing running can commence.

I can't run on a treadmill. I run for a minute and get fed up. I would rather run outside in the cold and the wet. Nothing compares to the great outdoors.

Big Bag of Chips · 29-01-2014 3:30pm

I remember when I started out my cousin told me "The first 2 miles are the hardest. Once you get past that it starts getting easy."

I nearly collapsed at the thought of jogging 2 miles. I honestly thought I'd never get there... But I did. And she was right. Once you get past a certain point it's as easy to keep going as it is to stop.

When we were supposed to do 15 minutes we might decide at 15 minutes we were feeling comfortable and able to keep going, so would go to the 3km mark.. which could have been 21-22 minutes. Then the next day out we might aim for 3km again, rather than the time.

One day, after completing our first 5k fun run, we decided we'd do 6k... We ended up doing 7.5 and stopped only because we wanted to save the 10k for the mini marathon, and didn't want to be getting too close!

Some days we could have done 8, the next we'd struggle do to 3! But we weren't put off, we knew we could do it, so didn't pressure ourselves or be too hard on ourselves if we couldn't manage it one day.

olddognotricks · 29-01-2014 4:23pm

Hi all, ran last night, was cold but dry, felt great afterwards, nothing beats that feeling once I've showered after and into clean trackies and hoodie, its like my body is happy with itself!!! Aiming for an 8k event next month, bit nervous about it but have hit 6.3k recently so hopefully can get there...

sullivlo · 30-01-2014 8:08pm

End of week 5 today. Two 8 minute runs. Increased the speed to 7.2 instead of 7. Survived.

Trying to work out (ha!) a schedule for the gym for the next few days. It's 6 nations weekend and my mums birthday so I need to be a) near a tv and b) at home. I'm thinking early mornings.

maguic24 · 30-01-2014 8:21pm

Just back from a 5k. Feel fantastic!!

SarahBeep! · 31-01-2014 8:19am

maguic24 wrote: »

I can't run on a treadmill. I run for a minute and get fed up. I would rather run outside in the cold and the wet. Nothing compares to the great outdoors.

I'm totally with you here. If I go out when it's cold and wet coming home, showering and putting PJs on is the best reward!

Damn this thread with it's guiltspiration! I havn't ran since December but I'm going to start tonight barring any odd circumstances.

maguic24 · 31-01-2014 9:45am

SarahBeep! wrote: »

I'm totally with you here. If I go out when it's cold and wet coming home, showering and putting PJs on is the best reward!

Damn this thread with it's guiltspiration! I havn't ran since December but I'm going to start tonight barring any odd circumstances.

If you were waiting for the weather to pick up in Ireland, you'd be waiting a long time. :P

I used to be like 'No I can't go for a run now, it's raining out, I might get a cold etc etc'. Really I was just using it as an excuse to not go running!! Once you get back into running it becomes addictive.

coffee_cake · 31-01-2014 10:42am

I like the treadmill, watch the tv screen, put on music, zone out

DOn't have to worry about running into people or crossing roads or whatever :P

Back in action, did 5.5km yesterday! Signing up for 10k in april. Erp

sullivlo · 31-01-2014 10:48am

bluewolf wrote: »

I like the treadmill, watch the tv screen, put on music, zone out
DOn't have to worry about running into people or crossing roads or whatever :P

Back in action, did 5.5km yesterday! Signing up for 10k in april. Erp

The gym tv was broken yesterday. I was pretty bored. Spent time watching other peoples legs and trying to figure out their speed in relation to each other.

coffee_cake · 31-01-2014 10:50am

I will admit I have watched a lot of nutribullet ads and I watch that rte junior thing with the little animals as kids :pac:
If it's broken which is rare I probably watch the guys doing pull ups very jealously!

rainbow kirby · 31-01-2014 11:01am

No individual TVs in my gym, a couple of big shared ones though. Usually showing music videos, which I find intensely boring, so I usually take one of the treadmills with a view of plain wall if I can. I'll then put some really wanky prog metal or a good podcast on.

/weird

Buying new runners this weekend, because I've strung the last pair out for way too long, and I've been lifting in them too which is terrible for them. Hard part is (a) finding a non-extortionate price and (b) deciding exactly what I want to get!

sullivlo · 31-01-2014 11:57am

rainbow kirby wrote: »

No individual TVs in my gym, a couple of big shared ones though. Usually showing music videos, which I find intensely boring, so I usually take one of the treadmills with a view of plain wall if I can. I'll then put some really wanky prog metal or a good podcast on.

/weird

Buying new runners this weekend, because I've strung the last pair out for way too long, and I've been lifting in them too which is terrible for them. Hard part is (a) finding a non-extortionate price and (b) deciding exactly what I want to get!

Oh we don't have individual ones either!

I'm on the hunt for new runners too. Try Lovell rugby. Good deals (online) or the nike outlet!

SarahBeep! · 31-01-2014 11:26pm

maguic24 wrote: »

If you were waiting for the weather to pick up in Ireland, you'd be waiting a long time. :P

I used to be like 'No I can't go for a run now, it's raining out, I might get a cold etc etc'. Really I was just using it as an excuse to not go running!! Once you get back into running it becomes addictive.

I'm n England which isn't much better! Plan was to have one drink after work and come home, have a nap then run. Nope! Pub, thai food now bed!
Tomorrow. I promise...

sullivlo · 01-02-2014 1:52pm

Started week six.

Ouch.

First 10 min run was ok. Second sucked. Will repeat this day a few times I think.

On the upside am down another 1.8 kg!

Big Bag of Chips · 01-02-2014 3:40pm

sullivlo wrote: »

First 10 min run was ok. Second sucked.

We noticed this once we got further into the course, and more comfortable jogging. If we stopped to do the walking bit in the middle, we very very often found we lost our rhythm and couldn't start back up again!

It was around that point that we started doing our own thing! Leaving out the walking bit and aiming for maybe 3km, or 3.5 etc. No matter how long it we ran for. We did the same route every day so knew our markers every 500 metres. We'd keep telling each other "just another half", and we'd manage another half a km!

sullivlo · 01-02-2014 3:59pm

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

We noticed this once we got further into the course, and more comfortable jogging. If we stopped to do the walking bit in the middle, we very very often found we lost our rhythm and couldn't start back up again!

It was around that point that we started doing our own thing! Leaving out the walking bit and aiming for maybe 3km, or 3.5 etc. No matter how long it we ran for. We did the same route every day so knew our markers every 500 metres. We'd keep telling each other "just another half", and we'd manage another half a km!

Yeah I'm finding that the rest/break is what kills me. Maybe I'll go for the 15 min or something next week. Like I was grand for the first 10 mins. It was the slowing down that killed me.

coffee_cake · 01-02-2014 7:05pm

I find that stopping in the first half hour is a killer. If I stop, it sucks it all out of me and I can't go back again. Better to even slow down if necessary but not stop.
That's great you're at that stage already

sullivlo · 01-02-2014 7:23pm

bluewolf wrote: »

I find that stopping in the first half hour is a killer. If I stop, it sucks it all out of me and I can't go back again. Better to even slow down if necessary but not stop.
That's great you're at that stage already

Well I kept running even though I was wrecked. I just drastically reduced the speed at which I was moving!! But genuinely, I cannot explain just how unfit I am. This is major, major progress for me.

Semele · 01-02-2014 9:52pm

I've just tried to go to the gym, only to be told it's about to close. At 8pm! It never occurred to me it would close earlier than usual on weekends. What about those of us who have no social life and would like to accomplish something of an evening before sitting down with a bottle of wine??

I think I've been spoiled by years of 24-hr budget gyms! Admittedly my last one was unstaffed and turned into something more akin to an old skool gay pick-up joint after a certain hour, but that was all part of the charm. Stupid small town. I'll have to go in the morning instead, which will entirely disrupt my planned day of lounging, with a little napping thrown in.

Well done everyone who's still at it!

Candy_Girl · 03-02-2014 12:44am

Got the runners back on at the start of January, have to say I was surprised at how much I missed it! I had to stop running for nearly four months due to a strained thigh muscle, apparently I was over doing it :cool:

I'm running 5k comfortably three times a week at the moment and looking at stepping it up in distance this month. I'll have to get back into using the app, not too sure what week I should be on though..

Well done to everyone still going strong and to all the newbies

Has anyone signed up for any events yet? I believe the Flora Mini Marathon opens up on the 19th of February :-)

rainbow kirby · 03-02-2014 12:50am

No straight running events entered because I'm only building back up at the moment, but am signed up for the London Triathlon Olympic distance (1,500m swim/40km cycle/10km run) in August.

Am trying to pick a few other events too along the way - possibles for me include the Sport Relief 25 mile cycle in March, an aquathon at London Fields Lido in late March/early April (500m swim/5km run), the Great East Swim 2 mile in June, maybe a sprint triathlon (750m swim/20km cycle/5km run) around that time too, the Great London Swim at the end of August, possibly one more swim in September and possibly entering the ballot for the Great North Run again.

Big Bag of Chips · 03-02-2014 12:53am

Jaysus!!! I'm out of breath just reading that!!!!!

rainbow kirby · 03-02-2014 1:02am

Not planning on doing all of them! I'll most likely cherry pick from that list. There's at least one of those events which clashes with the possibility of fecking off to Spain or something for my 30th birthday.

Candy_Girl · 03-02-2014 1:34pm

rainbow kirby wrote: »

No straight running events entered because I'm only building back up at the moment, but am signed up for the London Triathlon Olympic distance (1,500m swim/40km cycle/10km run) in August.

Am trying to pick a few other events too along the way - possibles for me include the Sport Relief 25 mile cycle in March, an aquathon at London Fields Lido in late March/early April (500m swim/5km run), the Great East Swim 2 mile in June, maybe a sprint triathlon (750m swim/20km cycle/5km run) around that time too, the Great London Swim at the end of August, possibly one more swim in September and possibly entering the ballot for the Great North Run again.

Wow you must be in good shape, I'm knackered just thinking about doing one of them

fair play.

I had planned on going out this morning but I'll probably end up the other side of the island in that wind! Maybe it will die down later..

sullivlo · 03-02-2014 9:08pm

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

We noticed this once we got further into the course, and more comfortable jogging. If we stopped to do the walking bit in the middle, we very very often found we lost our rhythm and couldn't start back up again!

It was around that point that we started doing our own thing! Leaving out the walking bit and aiming for maybe 3km, or 3.5 etc. No matter how long it we ran for. We did the same route every day so knew our markers every 500 metres. We'd keep telling each other "just another half", and we'd manage another half a km!

I did this today. Instead of turning on the app I just started to run and ran for 15 mins. Will build on that and see how I get on.

Loungers on the run: Couch to 5k to marathon and beyond

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