Couch to 5k thread

Mr Slow

elsy wrote: »

So w2 d2 done! I slowed down the treadmill a little and it was grand no feeling sick even ran 2 mins for the last interval feel great now actually looking forward to day 3.

Well done!

Mumontherun

elsy wrote: »

Ive just started this too like you CeNedra having 2 babies within 2 and half years has taking its toll on the owl figure. Mumontherun can I ask where you got the cuffed tracksuit bottoms ive been looking for these and can only find mens. Goodluck everyone hopefully by the summer we'll all be well able for nice summer evening runs!

www.littlewoods.ie I got them from their Autum/Winter catalogue I know their Spring/Summer has just launched, but I'm sure you can them in that too. I got Nike, great fit, really comfy

torregolf

Yipee, started today - things are looking up, (except for the weight loss)

rainbow kirby

Nice to see so many of you starting out with this - this just might be the start of a beautiful adventure

I started running in July 2008 with Couch to 5k, and haven't looked back since. Third marathon coming up in March.

Also, for those of ye who are new around here - welcome to A/R/T. We don't (always) bite!

leggit

Starting this early tomorrow morning for the second time! I didn't get lazy the last time I just ended up messing up my ankle a bit It's all good now though

For everyone that's interested, there is an excellent app for the iphone/itouch called "321run Lite". It has a number of programmes in it, including a couch to 30 minute program which is basically the same thing as c25k.

The best thing about this app is that you can put your own music playlist in before you run and a voice will speak over your music as when to "run" or "walk" as well as various other commands for it's more advanced programmes (20 minutes to 1 hour programme, Running faster programme, First half marathon programme)

....and it's FREE!

P.S. RunKeeper Pro is also free for the month of January, very handy if you have an iphone, just as good if you have an itouch. good for tracking runs, calories, etc...

Wish me luck for the morning!

maria74

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leggit wrote: »

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Wish me luck for the morning!

Best of Luck! Love the name!

Twee.

Have a very chesty cough on me so I didn't go out yesterday Might be better for tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. I may do an extra day of Week 1 to get myself back into it.

Tiriel

Twee. wrote: »

Have a very chesty cough on me so I didn't go out yesterday Might be better for tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest. I may do an extra day of Week 1 to get myself back into it.

I got sick too and it's so annoying! I'll be repeating a week 1 day too just to make sure I'm able to move on.. but move on I shall!:D

menoscemo

mrslow wrote: »

With regard to the 50 year old poster, I ran 10 miles yesterday with a 56 year old man who started running 3 years ago and has completed 2 marathons since!

Get stuck in, improvements come in leaps!

Chinguetti quit after 5:pac:

vic20

torregolf wrote: »

Yo Yo dieter Number 1 would like to know what age you all are - this sounds great and I could start tomorrow but I'm nearly 50 - yes or no?

Start off slow & then slow down
I started the C25K program last July at the ripe old age of 47. Have completed three 5K races since. Not going to break any records but have not been this fit since my school years.

Mr Slow

menoscemo wrote: »

Chinguetti quit after 5:pac:

I was talking about the younger 50 odd year old;)

CeNedra

Supposed to be running this evening but have spent the day in bed. I'm sick as a dog ..... the key for me is get better and get running as soon as I can. I really hope I'll be back in the gym Thursday!
I ran Sunday outside and I enjoyed it. I am using the c25k app on iphone and find it good, only cost a couple of euro.
I really like hearing the stories from people who did the program and are now running regularly. It is great boost for somebody at the start like me. Keeps me determined to keep going!!

maria74

It is amazing how many people started with C25K and are still running. Whoever designed this simple yet extremely effective programme deserves a huge thanks from all of us who have benefitted from it. It is far from rocket science and I remember questioning it many times (especially before the 20 min run) but it worked!:D

pokermonkey

Guys, I'm beginning to fear my weight is going to start to hamper my future runs. I've lost a couple of lbs, but today on my 2.25mile run, my feet were in bits. I'm going to continue on the last 3 weeks of the course, but I might try and stick to the grass, even though its stupidly monotonous as I'm end up doing a couple of laps of the park!

Another thing, I see my avg Hr is dropping by about 1 or 2 bpm through every run, but I still seem to be in zone 4 or 5 for most of my runs. I don't feel like I'm struggling (breathing) but would i be better dropping my pace right down and try and get into zone 3/4? I'm currently running about 9:45 a mile.

cheers in advance.

RayCun

What kind of runners are you wearing? Where did you get them, and how old are they?
Weight is going to put more strain your legs, and running on grass will help. I wouldn't worry about your heart rate so long as you can maintain the pace for the time/distance set in the programme (and you aren't about to have a heart attack!)

elsy

I am pumped seriously just finished w2 d3 and I actually enjoyed it usually when im on my walking interval I do feel like crying when the seconds are getting close to running interval but today I found myself been like yea only 10 seconds till running time!! As my next run is the start of week 3 I decided on my last interval to see if I could run 3 mins and I did it! Bring on week 3!!!!

spareman

Ive been following the NHS couch to 5k podcast, When I started first I was getting pains in the calf area of my legs, somebody recommended to use deep heat before I start my workout and this has helped greatly up to now.

Last night I was doing run 2 of week 5 and after the first 8 min run my legs were killing me, I could barely walk, I pushed on as much as I could and ran the 2nd 8 mins at a really slow pace through the pain, then the 5 min warm down walk really hurt my legs, I wanted to stop but forced my way through it.

Problem is run 3 is a 20 min run tommorrow and I am not looking forward to it at all, Is there anything I can do to avoid so much pain, I dont want to fail.

Ive long tried to become active and lose weight/get fit but have failed many times in the past and I know if I don't complete this programme it will be another set back for me.

Should I maybe drop back and complete week 4 again before moving on?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

timeforachange

spareman wrote: »

Ive been following the NHS couch to 5k podcast, When I started first I was getting pains in the calf area of my legs, somebody recommended to use deep heat before I start my workout and this has helped greatly up to now.

Last night I was doing run 2 of week 5 and after the first 8 min run my legs were killing me, I could barely walk, I pushed on as much as I could and ran the 2nd 8 mins at a really slow pace through the pain, then the 5 min warm down walk really hurt my legs, I wanted to stop but forced my way through it.

Problem is run 3 is a 20 min run tommorrow and I am not looking forward to it at all, Is there anything I can do to avoid so much pain, I dont want to fail.

Ive long tried to become active and lose weight/get fit but have failed many times in the past and I know if I don't complete this programme it will be another set back for me.

Should I maybe drop back and complete week 4 again before moving on?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Just be careful about pushing yourself too far. I know we all need to be pushed out of our comfort zone but you need to be careful not to hurt yourself or you'll have to stop the running for a while.
My advice is start the 20 min run and take it at a slow pace and see how it goes. For my first 20 min run I actually didn't make myself do the whole thing because in my head I didn't think I could. I ran 10 minutes, then took a minute break for a drink of water and then ran another 10 minutes. You could try something similar if you need to but looking back on it I realise now I could have done it if I had put my mind to it as I am on week 8 now and thats 28 minute runs!

timeforachange

I wanted to ask what people think the next step after C25K is? Do most people move on to bridge to 10K? And if so do you start off at the start of that programme or jump in at a certain week?

Im thinking that I will try to work on getting my 5K up to 30 minutes maybe before moving on to 10K as my running is very slow. Just curious as to what options are out there, as I feel like I may not keep my running up if I don't have a programme to follow!!

RayCun

I just kept going with three runs a week, gradually increasing the distance. Think about entering some races, to give you targets to aim for (and because they're a lot of fun)

At this stage there's not much point in worrying about speed, you'll get faster anyway just from getting stronger. But if you like, you could do one shorter run a week, warm up for a few minutes, run faster for a mile/ten minutes, then warm down again. Or do some strides - run a mile or so to warm up, run faster for about 15 seconds (not all-out sprinting, about 80% speed), then easy until your breathing is back to normal, and repeat two or three times.

But really, keep running, gradually run longer, and you'll get faster automatically.

timeforachange

RayCun wrote: »

I just kept going with three runs a week, gradually increasing the distance. Think about entering some races, to give you targets to aim for (and because they're a lot of fun)

At this stage there's not much point in worrying about speed, you'll get faster anyway just from getting stronger. But if you like, you could do one shorter run a week, warm up for a few minutes, run faster for a mile/ten minutes, then warm down again. Or do some strides - run a mile or so to warm up, run faster for about 15 seconds (not all-out sprinting, about 80% speed), then easy until your breathing is back to normal, and repeat two or three times.

But really, keep running, gradually run longer, and you'll get faster automatically.

Great advice! I think Im definitely going to try keep up my 30 min runs a week because they can always be fit in. I'll hopefully try to get them longer and maybe get to a point where I have one run a week thats much longer but I guess thats a few months away at least lol Thanks for the advice

kagni

timeforachange wrote: »

Great advice! I think Im definitely going to try keep up my 30 min runs a week because they can always be fit in. I'll hopefully try to get them longer and maybe get to a point where I have one run a week thats much longer but I guess thats a few months away at least lol Thanks for the advice

I finished C25K before Christmas and am sticking with two 3 mile runs a week and am working on getting my weekend run up to 5 miles, I'm increasing it by half a mile a week, it took me this long (I'm 40+) to start running so no use in rushing things now.:)

At that stage I should be able to start one of the Novice Half Marathon plans that are available on the net.
Here's a couple, I'm not sure which one I'll follow yet...
http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/half_marathon.html
http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm

Retail Hell

I started running / walking 5 k a day for the last 2 weeks after giving up smoking after 17 years, to find this thread and a group of people who are using a structured running system is fantastic and gives me hope of continuing to meet my goals today time 38.14 for 5 k.

thats down from 44.44 from the first day i did it this year.

best of luck to everyone, for those of us crawling along remember to learn to walk, before running.

frag420

just finished week two day two, calves a bit sore but felt good afterwards.

I was a bit aprehensive about going out as it was cold but after a short warm up I was grand.

Had brown pasta, some paste sauce and chicken afterwards. Hope this is ok for eating??

Roll on day three on fri

frAg

jhynes2009

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading the posts here and on the Food Diary forum for C25K and have felt such inspiration from all your posts, really you are all fantastic for getting out there and doing it and it has been such a motivator reading all your stories that I have just completed W1D1:)

I feel great now and delighted that I could do it and looking forward to W1D2 already. Hopefully I won't be in too much pain tomorrow :rolleyes:

I just want to say a big Thank You to all of you for the great inspiration to get up and get out there! I feel alot better about it now! This will be the beginning of a new me!

I have been wanting to get fit and loose weight for some time now and I am feeling really positive about this program! I will continue to post here as I progress through C25K!!

BrianJD

Hi everyone

I started and did the first 3 or 4 weeks of this last summer but then i broke a few ribs in my first game of soccer in 10 years and I never continued with the plan.

Started reading this thread last night and i have decided that I'm def gonna complete this 5k. Week1Day1 today was good, I really felt that I wanted to go on but I've been having problems with a bulging disc and it was that what caused me the most discomfort.

As alot of people are starting this at the moment, as a carrot on a stick i wonder would it be a good idea for a spreadsheet put together so everybody can see your progress and you may not skip a session without feeling guilty!

You would log your run via this thread. Maybe i'm talking rubbish

Best of luck to everyone!

RayCun

how about this?

Name|Week1|Week2|W3|W4|W5|W6|W7|W8|W9|W10
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0


Put in your name and put in the number of runs you've done that week

BrianJD

RayCun wrote: »

how about this?

Name|Week1|Week2|W3|W4|W5|W6|W7|W8|W9|W10
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0
(name)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0


Put in your name and put in the number of runs you've done that week

Put much better than i way I was trying to describe it. How would we be able to change the data? Obviously it's up to everybody to not cheat themselves and falsify info. I personally find I work better with something like this.

tinyfox

I'm currently on week 1 day 2 part 2, an ex smoker of 16 years on nearly 30 a day i'm taking it a bit slow. This week is definitely much easier then last week so i'm ready to move on to week 2, just hope I wont have to repeat each week!!

I love the idea of a spreadsheet on here, it would be great to keep me motivated.

Best of luck to everyone here

Twee.

Did my third run for Week 1 today and I was a bit slower than usual, but I'm putting it down to having a cold and getting over a chesty cough. I'm gonna do one more from Week 1 and then move on. No muscle pain since the first run, thank god!