C25k complete novice

confusedeire

Never manged 2k before never mind 5k so this is all new to me.

I started c25k last week and last night done the 1st day of week 2 I'm over 16st in weight 5ft 9"and my knees where a bit sore this morning. There were fine all last week

Is this normal? Will they get more used to it? I know my weight is not ideal for this. I'm working on getting the weight down but if I have to stop the c25k it will make the weight loss harder.

Just wondering if anyone else who done c25k had the same issue

Ososlo

Well done for getting started! I did C25k a few years ago from a background of smoking and drinking so I know where you're coming from having never run before in your life!
I didn't get sore knees but I'd say once you keep working on getting the weight down, there'll be less pressure on them. Maybe try running on grass for a while to ease the impact on your knees. It would be normal enough to get a few aches when you start off. If you have actual pain then don't force it. Make sure you're taking a day or preferably two between runs. Ensure the pace you're running for the 'run' bits is really slow and try to run relaxed. Don't run all-out.
Keep up the log. It'll be great for motivation. I'll be following with interest!

pconn062

Is this a training log or do you want me to move it onto the main forum?

confusedeire

pconn062 wrote: »

Is this a training log or do you want me to move it onto the main forum?

It wasn't going to be a log but thinking about it a log would probably help me a lot.. You can leave it in logs thanks

confusedeire

Double post

confusedeire

Just completed day 2 of week 2 found it easy enough still feeling in my knees i was going to do it last night but my knees felt a bit raw. So I gave myself 2 days off instead.

I'm covering 3.5km in 28mins so I'll have to extend the route slightly to cover the 30mins

confusedeire

today I had the confidence to do the run out in the daylight for the first time without feeling like a large wobbly lump of sweaty jelly. was always waiting for dark. amazing the difference you feel each time you go out.

I took a different route today. i was doing a 3.5k circuit but i found i was rushing the last stretch trying to finish on time. so today i ran down a road for 15mins and then back. it was 3.2km in all completed in 30mins.. also i decided to slow my pace at the start because it was downhill so managed the same pace coming back up.

slowing the pace slightly, I think helped the pains in my knees. but tomorrow will tell more. also I was never out of breath the whole time. two weeks ago on the first run I was nearly gagging after 15mins.

I found a heart rate strap and watch the other day that I bought in either lidl or aldi years ago so I thought id try it. kept a hearth rate of 130 for running and 110 for walking. hope that's not to high

looking forward to week 3 day 1. hardest part now is trying to take the rest days

edit: most surprising thing about the run uphill was quite enjoyable on way back. I found it more comfortable and wanting to push harder but I held myself back. Strange

confusedeire

OK done a bad thing tonight I was working out my training schedule for next week so my work wont impact it. and I needed to Day 1 today. only done Week 2 day 3 yesterday at noon.

I was feeling good all day today so decided to give it ago there 34hrs after last run. I took my time and managed the 3min runs fairly easy. Covered 3.2km in 31mins. felt I was able for more pace but worked hard to slow myself down.

going for my next run monday.

its so hard to hold yourself back when you feel you can do so much more.

really looking forward to be allowed to do the 5min runs next week.

confusedeire

well I wasn't feeling 100% today and was thinking of putting off the run but decided to go anyway. I also changed runners to more supportive ones but I think there's a blister coming on now. I prefer the older ones I was wearing.

I found it way harder tonight compared to Saturday. every step was a struggle. my eating wasn't great yesterday and I had very little water today so I hope that that's the issue. tomorrow onwards I'm going to focus on my eating and hopefully the next run will be OK. or I'm going to have to repeat a couple of days.

I'm feeling very disappointed after tonight but I'm not giving up yet

not sure will I do the next run Wednesday night or Thursday morning yet. working shift work really screws with a routine.

confusedeire

after a disastrous run the last time I headed out half hearted. wasn't looking forward to it at all. I came home after a long 12hr shift and decided to just do it. I wore my original trainers and after 10mins i started getting into it. the Nike trainers i have are definitely more suited for me rather than the asics it felt a lot more natural and comfortable

I did find it tough but walked and ran a bit faster tonight. I'm trying to decide if Ill repeat a day of week 3 or to chance week four.

Ill let you know how i get on

Murph_D

Blisters can be a problem - could be the socks or could be the shoes. Everyone is different and but I find good socks to be the key for blister avoidance. Go r me that means avoiding cotton. I have a few pairs of 1000 Mile (expensive, long runs/races only) and a good few cheaper Nike Dri-fit as well as the Lidl socks, which are usually excellent value and good for everyday training.

confusedeire

Murph_D wrote: »

Blisters can be a problem - could be the socks or could be the shoes. Everyone is different and but I find good socks to be the key for blister avoidance. Go r me that means avoiding cotton. I have a few pairs of 1000 Mile (expensive, long runs/races only) and a good few cheaper Nike Dri-fit as well as the Lidl socks, which are usually excellent value and good for everyday training.

I think the shoes were my main issue I have very broad feet. but I do need to get a couple of pairs of decent socks.

Shuttle666

Well done on your progress so far confusedeire, don't know where you are based, but if your are anywhere near west Dublin / M50, another free Couch 2 5K session starts 22 Sept. Sessions are Mon Wed and Sat am - choice of am or pm on Mon or Wed which is why I thought it might appeal with shift. You are doing great on your own, but sometimes group support helps.

zsha

Well done so far you're doing brilliantly.....I did this last yr and damaged my knees so plz be careful, when your knees r sore stop don't force them.....I went back out and started early this year in a field. Like that couldn't run without gasping....took it really slow and plenty rest days in between, I actually got a foam roller and rolled on it to stretch my I.t band, my knees never once got sore this time. Make sure u stretch before and after..... I did my first 5k for darkness into light during the year and then kept up the training and completed hell & Back there in June just gone....it's amazing feeling and you are absolutely brilliant for doing it.....it really clears the head and focuses you too...well done

confusedeire

Shuttle666 wrote: »

Well done on your progress so far confusedeire, don't know where you are based, but if your are anywhere near west Dublin / M50, another free Couch 2 5K session starts 22 Sept. Sessions are Mon Wed and Sat am - choice of am or pm on Mon or Wed which is why I thought it might appeal with shift. You are doing great on your own, but sometimes group support helps.

I'm from cork there's a few beginners groups down here to but I like the time on my own doing it. I'm hoping when I get to 5K to run with a couple of the neighbours who completed the C25k only a couple of weeks ago.

confusedeire

zsha wrote: »

Well done so far you're doing brilliantly.....I did this last yr and damaged my knees so plz be careful, when your knees r sore stop don't force them.....I went back out and started early this year in a field. Like that couldn't run without gasping....took it really slow and plenty rest days in between, I actually got a foam roller and rolled on it to stretch my I.t band, my knees never once got sore this time. Make sure u stretch before and after..... I did my first 5k for darkness into light during the year and then kept up the training and completed hell & Back there in June just gone....it's amazing feeling and you are absolutely brilliant for doing it.....it really clears the head and focuses you too...well done

I'm taking it slow to try and prevent injury. I think my knees were just trying to get used to it. if I think its getting to much I take an extra day off. I'm doing a bit of cycling aswell only short distances on off days just to keep loose.

I only bought a foam roller during the week. Man does that hurt...

I think Week 4 will tell a lot. I will find the 5mins tough

zsha

You'll be so surprised at how much you can do....the best piece of advice I got was to slow down...go slow slow slow work on speed later. Also I found my throat and mouth use to get so so dry. Chew gum!! Its my god send and I never chew it normally!!!
Yeah that roller is v v sore but def worth it I swear by it.
Well done again keep up the good work

confusedeire

after a long 12hr night shift I just completed Week 4 day 1. it went well and I'm happy enough although I'm keeping myself going at a very slow pace to try and prevent injury.

I only noticed today as I'm jogging that i seem to be curling my toes and clinching them. i tried to keep them straightish but had no joy. anyone else do this?

the 2nd 5min run i really felt it in my thighs its my first time feeling it there. glad I'm back to enjoying it. last week was tough.

confusedeire

completed week 4 day 2 tonight happy enough with it. I was feeling sick during the start but it wore off as I kept going. I covered a little extra ground @ 3.6km and didn't feel any extra strain.

hoping to do day 3 Wednesday night.

confusedeire

well week 4 is now complete and the dreaded week 5 is coming up. I need to take a few days off now as I wont get time for the next 3 days so hoping to go for Week 5 Day 1 on Sunday. hope it wont set me back

other that that its going OK

zsha

Wow you're flying through v well done. That's great. How long are wk 5 runs? Isn't it a great feeling each day you complete and see how far you've come from day one....well done

confusedeire

zsha wrote: »

Wow you're flying through v well done. That's great. How long are wk 5 runs? Isn't it a great feeling each day you complete and see how far you've come from day one....well done

week 5 has the 20min continuous run on the last day. it really is a fantastic feeling when you complete each week and thinking of the first day when a 60second run seamed impossible

zsha

When you run that 20 mins you will feel like you're on top of the world! That last 5 mins is torture but you can do it and you will do it!!! Keep up the great work

SeanPuddin

As long as you keep it slow and steady you'll have no bother with the 20 minutes. It's all in the head! Who knows you might even keep going. Good luck...

confusedeire

well 3 5min runs complete and felt so good after the 3rd run I kept going all the way through the warm down. so thats 2 5min runs and a 10min run. I would have kept going but I was at home.

still dreading day 3.

zsha

You can do anything you put your mind to and just remember to go slow, if you feel it's too much slow right down....I was told you should be able to say the alphabet or talk when running, otherwise you are going too fast!! I also find running to music for the long runs great. Good luck

confusedeire

day 2 complete. had no motivation heading out but I said Id go anyway. as I was doing the 5min warm up walk I felt myself getting more into it.

so I headed in to the first 8min run slow and steady. completed that and started my 5min walk which I thought was a bit boring and was delighted to hear the next 8min run was starting.

happy out doing the the last 8min I was told to start my cool down i kept running for the whole cool down and for a couple of minutes after that so now Im looking forward to my 20min run the next night

oh ya forgot the bad part about tonight.... getting passed 3 times by my neighbour.

good thing they didn't notice who I was

confusedeire

well the day I've being dreading for the last two weeks was today... had to run for 20mins continuously.

didn't want to even go out but i said I'd give it a shot if I failed I failed and I'd just try again. my head wasn't in it I started the 5 min warm up. 1 minute in I realised I forgot my Hi-vis. I'm not going back to get it.

so I had to come up with a new route that was all footpath and well lit. my 5min warm up is finished I now had to start jogging. slow and heavily I carried on.

5 mins in I was telling myself its not worth it. 10mins in I wanted to walk for a bit. 15mins i realised there was only 5mins remaining. I think I'll go faster. I made it to 20mins couldn't believe it. I'm now half a mile from home Ill keep running i said even got faster... over 25mins of continuous running... only 5 weeks in.

what am I going to achieve in another 5 weeks

Ososlo

confusedeire wrote: »

5 mins in I was telling myself its not worth it. 10mins in I wanted to walk for a bit. 15mins i realised there was only 5mins remaining. I think I'll go faster. I made it to 20mins couldn't believe it. I'm now half a mile from home Ill keep running i said even got faster... over 25mins of continuous running... only 5 weeks in.

what am I going to achieve in another 5 weeks

that's absolutely fantastic! Congrats on getting over that major milestone.
You should sign yourself up for a 5k race when you're finished the programme. If you have a Parkrun near you that would be ideal.
It's amazing what you can achieve alright.... once you want to do it enough!

confusedeire

Ososlo wrote: »

that's absolutely fantastic! Congrats on getting over that major milestone.
You should sign yourself up for a 5k race when you're finished the programme. If you have a Parkrun near you that would be ideal.
It's amazing what you can achieve alright.... once you want to do it enough!

its going better than I expected.And i must say it is quite enjoyable once your out there. just trying to get out is a problem...

I'm hoping to do run in the dark in November all going well in cork

Ososlo

confusedeire wrote: »

its going better than I expected.And i must say it is quite enjoyable once your out there. just trying to get out is a problem...

I'm hoping to do run in the dark in November all going well in cork

Great idea for November. Good to set yourself a goal like that. It'll make you stick with it having something to work towards.

zsha

Well done, great job. The "darkness into light" run was the first I did and like that, when you put your mind to it and set yourself a goal you'll follow through.
Well done, its an amazing feeling, no stopping you now!!

confusedeire

I was a little bit stiff after last Friday and I didn't have the best diet during the weekend so I found tonight to be a bit difficult had indigestion the whole way.

I'm back to eating healthy for the next 3 weeks so it should make the next 3 weeks a bit easier.

I'm gone from using C25k free app now for the longer running sessions as I find the NHS pod-cast better in keeping me informed along the way on distance and time. plus I like the encouragement I get along the way the the NHS lady

Ososlo

confusedeire wrote: »

I was a little bit stiff after last Friday and I didn't have the best diet during the weekend so I found tonight to be a bit difficult had indigestion the whole way.

I'm back to eating healthy for the next 3 weeks so it should make the next 3 weeks a bit easier.

I'm gone from using C25k free app now for the longer running sessions as I find the NHS pod-cast better in keeping me informed along the way on distance and time. plus I like the encouragement I get along the way the the NHS lady

Ah good old Laura. Give her my best:D Couldn't have done it without her!
You're doing great. Keep it up!

confusedeire

had to take an extra day off the running I was feeling drained. took a bit of time getting into it tonight. I found it hard to get a bit of rythem.

my pace is getting better I'm still holding myself back because I don't want to tire myself out and leaving myself unable to finish. I will also have to extend my route to accommodate my faster pace I'm nearly covering 4km in the 30mins so I'm hoping I'm on track for 5K in a couple of weeks

zsha

You're doing brilliantly but the biggest thing I was advised was to just go slow.....work on the pace after.
You're right to take the extra day off too.....well done, love reading your reports
Congrats

confusedeire

zsha wrote: »

You're doing brilliantly but the biggest thing I was advised was to just go slow.....work on the pace after.
You're right to take the extra day off too.....well done, love reading your reports
Congrats

I'm definitely going slow I'm constantly holding myself back. I'm not interested in how long it takes me to do 5k all I'm interested in is completing 5k.

Its well worth doing a log as it's the best motivation to head out again. Thanks for the support

confusedeire

man I wasn't in the form for tonight. but sure it has to be done. it was wet and miserable and Laura told me it was a 25min run. stupid NHS woman

first 5mins of running I felt very stiff and after that it was fine by the time the 25mins was up I was glad to be able to walk. I wasn't out of breath or anything but my body was just tired after a few 12hr work days on my feet.

I'm glad its done now and it wasn't as bad as I expected.

3 25min runs next week hope they go as well as tonight did

zsha

It is hard when you work shift work, I work mainly evenings and nights, so just go with your body you'll know yourself.....I think at this stage of the programme I started to plan routes rather than follow strictly to the programme.....each wk increase by another half km. When came to the final day, it was a sunday morn, had good breakfast and went out, had my distance app on.....the big block around me I was determined to conquer So my mind was fixed on succeeding....out I went towards the last km I started to talk to myself, you can do it, its the home stretch, keep going, it can be done If anybody heard me :D
But I did it and it actually ended up been 5.5km so needless to say I was thrilled but when I went back to do the last day of the programme then it just seemed so much easier.....keep going, you are doing brilliantly

confusedeire

I'm getting there now. today was another 25min run. it went well and I'm not exhausted after it.

I'm half tempted to cut week 7 to 2 runs only and move on to week 8 but I've come this far now so I'll stick with the programme.

I think my friends are sick of me going on about it and how easy it is to do.

I'm looking forward to finishing this and moving on to increasing distances

SeanPuddin

Good going confused, I found the "Bridge to 10K" pretty good, a follow on of the C25K. Keep it up you are flying it.

confusedeire

went out again tonight and found it comfortable I ended being back at home before the 25mins was up. the next day I'm going to have to extend the route.

its all starting to come together now

zsha

That's great keep it up

confusedeire

Ran last night in the rain and wind. It went good but the last 5 mins got very though. When I got home I realised I was carrying nearly an extra stone with the wet clothes. Gonna have 2 get rain gear.

Happy with progress this week managed 4km at 8min/km

zsha

Brilliant, well done, I think aldi have running gear in at the min. Lidl either do or is going to have shortly too. I found the lidl running gear great tbh and for the price you cant go wrong. Also the running socks in lidl, I swear by. They are so good, I used them in Hell & Back and even still they kept my feet warm, even though I was wading through ice cold water!! Def recommend those

confusedeire

zsha wrote: »

Brilliant, well done, I think aldi have running gear in at the min. Lidl either do or is going to have shortly too. I found the lidl running gear great tbh and for the price you cant go wrong. Also the running socks in lidl, I swear by. They are so good, I used them in Hell & Back and even still they kept my feet warm, even though I was wading through ice cold water!! Def recommend those

i bough the sock and base layers from lidl last week. and i found them very good especially the base layer i was out last night and the wind was belting off me and i felt no wind chill on my body but my face was freezing.

i think aldi have them this week or next but i will be getting stuff

zsha

Heatons sports do v good base layer stuff also, so reasonable. Def worth it for winter time

confusedeire

well I'm nearly there 1 week to go I'm at 4.4Km now so hope to be able for the 5K next week right on schedule. 9 weeks to 5k

tonight went well I was slow to start but when I warmed up after 10mins it got a lot easier. the colder evening don't help but got some base layers in lidl the other day and I must say there fantastic. aldi are getting in gear 2mrw so I must pick up a rain coat. this running lark is expensive

confusedeire

small set back with week 8 didn't have time nor energy due to work to complete a full run but managed 3km last night just before dinner just to keep sum bit of routine

zsha

That's still good, once you keep at it and just don't stop altogether, it is hard to find time sometimes, you're doing brilliantly still keep it up

confusedeire

had a bad week with work so didn't get to do my routine and my momentum in c25k was lapsing so i said im going to complete 5k no longer how long it took me tonight.

went at a nice slow pace wasnt even breaking a sweat. 2.5km done still feeling good. then 3.5km done it lashed rain. i was 200m from home but another 1.5km left so i went for it. got soaked to the bone but after a nice hot shower now and it was definitely worth it.

pace was 9min /km. took 45min to complete.

now to bring the time down