Couch to 5k thread

Monife

eefums wrote: »

hey,
i dont think you really need fuel as its jsut 30 minutes and fairly moderate excercise it snot like a marathon or anything where u need to carb load and all that, spesh if ur on a diet, you will find your pace will be very slow at first and will probably presume you could walk faster than what ur running (i am still at this pace at week 8)
as far as the stretches i jsut do the basics too. as for finding the sides of your feet hurt u may need to get ur gait analysed and get some new runners.
and as for the lenght of time before running that you shold the usual is about 1-2 hours
i come home from work and head str8 out the door, back in half an hour so i usually dont eat from lunhctime or maybe a small snack in between at 3, but thats the thing abotuhtis program its so easy to fit into your lifestyle its only 30 minutes as i keep saying to myself since i have started theres no excuses to say you cant get out cos who doesnt have 30 minutes?
hope some of this helps:)

That's brilliant. You're a great help. Oh god I really hope my runners are ok, I am only after getting them, had to save for them too, 65 euro (damn recession). I read about that gait thing today too and thought, damn, why didn't I look this up before I bought the new runners (2 weeks ago). Hoping the OH can break them in and they will be ok. Will start posting on here next week, when I start. Thanks again.

eager tortoise

Week 6 day 3 complete and I am proud as punch; feel like I'm finally getting to the stage where people (my friends and family - everyone knows I'm doing c25k as I thought it might make me less likely to throw in the towel!) are getting impressed when they hear how far I can go! I remember reading this thread a few weeks back and feeling so envious of people on week 6/7, thinking 'they're basically finished...I'm never in a million years going to get past week 2/3'. I'm so happy that I've reached a point where I'm seeing such a great result after only 6 weeks' commitment...5k seems so entirely possible now. It's within my grasp and I'm not letting up

Welcome Monife and anyone else starting...you will 100% get there; only 6 weeks ago I felt like throwing up after 60 secs of running but it passes very quickly and it now comes so much easier

Also Monife it may be just me but I always feel more energetic when I have eaten something substantial before going out (like a couple of hours or so before). Maybe it's psychological - I just don't like feeling like I'm running on empty! Definitely do not go out hungry. Also I try and drink a little extra water when I know I'll be going for a run. I think it helps

Also thanks Elsy for gait analysis report! Does not sound half as intimidating as the name suggests

Confused2011

I did week 6 day 3 on Friday! I got on great it's so hard to believe that after 6 weeks running for 25 minutes is possible! I have to thank every one here for the motivation too!

I was very worried about going from the Threadmill to the road as I did all my training so far on the Threadmill! Went out tonight with my OH for a short jog and I managed 20 minutes (stopped as we were aproaching town centre and I'm still uncomfortable being seen). My OH is a runner and he said he was surprised by my pace so I was delighted with that as I thought I was running like a snail! So overall a great weekend thanks to c25k!

Hennybug

Week 5 Day 3 done this morning, couldn't believe i could keep going for 20 minutes, although the last 3/4 i was going so slow i was almost in reverse Delighted to have gotten this far and i'm now actually looking forward to my runs

lour26

Week 4 day 1 tonight and im scared :eek:
Struggled a bit with week 3 but once I got to the end I could of kept going.. just the first 3min run killed me.

Moman

lour26 wrote: »

Week 4 day 1 tonight and im scared :eek:
Struggled a bit with week 3 but once I got to the end I could of kept going.. just the first 3min run killed me.

Me too
Wk4 Day 1 tonight, trying not to think about it too much

Mumontherun

I completed Week 5 Day 3 today. I took a 2 min walk break at 10 mins though I then finished it and even did an extra minute or two. Should I move onto Week 6, or repeat Day 3 of Week 5 ??

elsy

W8 d1 done had to take a few extra days rest at the end of week 7 had a sore heel and even though I only took 4 days off I actually missed it feel so great right now. I actually found today much easier than week 7. I think I know were I went wrong o only took 1 rest day after the operation transformation 5k I think I probably needed a day or 2 more that and bad runners.

RayCun

mumontherun wrote: »

I completed Week 5 Day 3 today. I took a 2 min walk break at 10 mins though I then finished it and even did an extra minute or two. Should I move onto Week 6, or repeat Day 3 of Week 5 ??

Why not give week 6 a go? What can it hurt?
If you feel like you need to stop, try slowing down instead...

noddyname

W2 D1 this morning, and glad to report it wasn't too bad - getting very inspired by the posters who have reached Week 5 and 6, I can't wait until I get to that stage , until then I'm taking it one run at a time!

Moman

Completed Wk4 D1 last night - great to think im close to halfway!

lour26

Moman wrote: »

Completed Wk4 D1 last night - great to think im close to halfway!

Me too, thought the second 5 minute run was going to kill me coz I was kinda going up a hill but felt amazing afterwards :D:D

eefums

Hey all,
So week 8 d1 down, it went fine, as usual after not having run for a few days i felt like I could have kept goin for a good while, but also gladly stopped after the 28mins. Still finding it hard to believe I got this far, I was saying to the oh last night that I remember when I first started here and there was a few people saying they were on week 8 and week 9 adn I was so envious and thought that I would never get there. Still cant believe I am here.
For all those of you struggling with weeks 5 and 6, jsut keep fightin adn try to get through, as I keep sayin if I can do it, anyone can. I was always the non athletic type, im overweight, I have big jugs and used teh excuse that I wasnt designed to run, but look at me go now?
Hang in there and keeep on runnin! :pac:

Wantobe

W7D2. Still can't quite believe that I can run for 25 minutes.

elsy

Hi guys w8 d2 done I am so proud of myself because I did this run outside all of my long runs have been on a treadmill so feeling really proud of myself that I ran 28 mins outside! Eefums your gas with your big jugs shes so right though anyone struggling hang in there I too never was athletic and am over weight hopefully not for too much longer!

noddyname

Well done elsy! I'm one of those now looking at how far ahead you are and hoping that I'll be able to keep going and someday get there!

W2 D2 finished tonight and looking forward to Friday's run already.

Moman

Wk4 day2 yesterday, finished it ok
Still not sure about next weeks 20 min run!

leggit

Starting the final week on Monday and haven't had any injuries whatsoever.

Go to play pitch and putt yesterday and I strain a hamstring! That's what I get for not stretching!!!

needaname

Moman wrote: »

Wk4 day2 yesterday, finished it ok
Still not sure about next weeks 20 min run!

I felt exactly the same and I did it so don't worry you will be well able for it by that stage

Just finished w6d3 very slowly.... it was a struggle but at least I did it

elsy

W8 d3 done! Was running outside and really enjoying it at the end of the 28 mins I felt good so kept running I completed 5k in 39 mins 32 seconds even tackled a hill when running delighted cause thats almost 5mins off my time at the operation transformation 5k!

Monife

Hi everyone, back again.

Going to start W1D1 tomorrow. Just wondering, do you have to have a proper rest day (like no exercise) in between or would it be ok to walk between those days? When I am being good, I like to get a walk in at least 6 out of 7 days.

Ramette

ah yeah walking on 'rest' days is fine, i have been walking on my rest days and no adverse effects

Monife

Monife wrote: »

Hi everyone, back again.

Going to start W1D1 tomorrow. Just wondering, do you have to have a proper rest day (like no exercise) in between or would it be ok to walk between those days? When I am being good, I like to get a walk in at least 6 out of 7 days.

Walking is ok, I do a bit of weights in between and make sure to do more fuller leg stretches

Moman

Wk4 complete!
And can't wait to start next week, still finding each one tough to finish, but realise I'm fine after 15 mins of stopping.

Wantobe

W7D3 this morning. Found it tougher than D1 or D2 but I added in some uphill to try to build my endurance. Was overtaken at one stage by a much shorter woman and I had to laugh as I thought my speed was okay and she didn't look all that fast!:D

As usual, I cannot believe I will be able to go from 25 to 28 minutes but I've felt like that all the way through so won't be negative about it.

Monife

W1D1 just finished. As I have never run in my life and am very overweight, it was tough. But I am glad to announce that I finished it, and even did an extra minute run because there was still some way to go before I got home.

Delighted and feel great (although legs are like jelly), 30 minutes of that felt way more productive than an hour walk.

Well done to everyone, can't wait to get where you guys are

eager tortoise

Started on week 7 tonight, about 5 days late! Just had a busy week so was actually a little scared to get out and try and do 25 mins again. Got there in the end, despite a stitch in the middle that I thought was going to scupper my chances of finishing but I just slowed down so that I was going super-slow, almost as though it was a just a sort of a bouncy walk and then felt fine again after another min or two. Was glad I didn't just give up when I got to the end and realised I had managed 25 mins. Yippee!

Going to try and be more regular with the runs in future -just so that I don't actually fear getting out there again and talk myself into thinking I might not be able to do what I did the last time!

Does anyone else find any kind of mental block post-week5?
I did the 20 min run and was amazed, but since then I've kept stopping in my runs. Only for 10 seconds - 30seconds, but I want to be just able to keep running all in one go.

I've done w7d3 tonight

twowheelsonly

elsy wrote: »

W8 d3 done! Was running outside and really enjoying it at the end of the 28 mins I felt good so kept running I completed 5k in 39 mins 32 seconds even tackled a hill when running delighted cause thats almost 5mins off my time at the operation transformation 5k!

39 mins.....Hating you!!!

W6 D3 today, First 25 min run. Did it and delighted with myself as I wasn't even going to go out. 3.9km approx (3.97 on mapmyrun so I round it down a little), I'm quite happy with that as I still feel that I'm running quite slowly so that should help towards my target of a sub-30 5k for the start of the summer and hopefully 25/26 min by mid summer or so. Strange run - felt great at 10 mins, like s*&te at 15 but determined to finish once I hit 20. Finished quite tired at 25 mins but was ready to go again a few mins later!!!

bluewolf wrote: »

Does anyone else find any kind of mental block post-week5?
I did the 20 min run and was amazed, but since then I've kept stopping in my runs. Only for 10 seconds - 30seconds, but I want to be just able to keep running all in one go.

I've done w7d3 tonight

I was like that last week/earlier this week. Took a few seconds out as well during the 2nd 10 min run and had to fight a savage mental battle during the previous days 8 min run. Don't know what it is but a friend said that he had the same problem when he did it.

RayCun

There aren't many details available yet, but this might be a good target for some of you coming to the end of your 5k plan.
There's also a 5k in Portlaoise on the 17th of March, and in Dublin on the 20th.
There's another 5k in Dublin at the end of May.