C25k - just did my first run!!!

Morning all. I went out yesterday just to see how long I could run for (24 mins btw), no pressure to finish week whatever, and I had so much more fun.

Hunter, that's ace that you take your dog, we're hoping to look for a dog at the end of this year as a family pet and a running buddy for me. Have you seen Cani-cross? Looks like loads of fun. Apparently you can take dogs on Parkruns as well.

HearMyRoar, I've given up on a couple of runs, it's an awful feeling isn't it? Don't be too downhearted though, I've often heard that sometimes the hardest part of a run is getting out the front door and you did that part- next time will be better, I'm sure :)

Morning runners! Thanks for the tip NoBusiness. W2R2 was much better yesterday at a slightly slower pace. I'm trying to make my last 90sec run as good as my first by going very very slowly.

Roar - I think it's really easy to lose momentum in the early days and setbacks are just that - but all part of the journey. Just start where you feel comfortable and go from there. It's is very hard on a lack of sleep so you have my sympathy...

Did I mention I am running with my dog? Not sure he is thanking me for it but he gets a pitiful lack of walks since ds2 arrived. He is 6 so I figure that's about my age in dog years. If I can do it so can he!

W2R3 tomorrow.

Hi guys, glad to hear people are doing well. My ankle has recovered from my rubbish running injury. Did my w1r2 at 6am Sunday morning, it was hard but good. Unfortunately didn't get a chance to run again until this morning and it was a bit of a disaster. Just didn't get into it and ended up giving in half way through so feeling a bit dispirited.

I am going to blame a cold and dd's complete failure sleep last night which mean I am rather exhausted. Think I might do week 1 again as I just don't feel even close to being ready for week 2 yet.

Terrys - that's very inspiring. Well done you. Couch to half-marathon in six months!

Meebles, no shouting from me. If you've got a cold and feel rubbish, stay in. I didn't, and ended up having a week off running. You'll get back to it. We will shout at you if you don't, though .

Hunter, my philosophy is, you can't go too slow. As long as I'm actually making running type motions and not walking, that's fine. I daren't up the pace in case I run out of steam. It's working so far.

Sounds like everyone's doing well, and well done Terrys!

I have managed a fluke injury which I'm being a bit of a wuss about - I tripped over standing up, stubbed my toenail into the carpet and now it's black and blue and very sore. Also have a humungous cold which I have used as a great excuse to not go running recently.....yes, do shout at me!

hi c25k-ers! I just wanted to say hi and well done, is awesome to start running, I did my first c25k day on 1st October and yesterday I completed a half marathon in 2 hours and 8 minutes! I'm not showing off (much ) but if anyone had told me 6 months ago that I would've done that I'd have laughed at them!

Oh and I've lost about half a stone too. Good luck everybody.

W2R1 for me this morning. The step up to 90 second runs was tough for me and I wanted to stop twice, mostly because I couldn't get my breathing in a comfortable pattern.

But I kept going :) And I don't ache as much either.

Will try and adjust pace on Weds, think I set off a bit too quickly.

Thanks, NoBusiness, I was really down about it yesterday. I think I'm just going to go back to week 6 and build up again. I've got another 3 weeks-ish until the local parkrun starts and there's an 8k race near me in July that looks good for a first timer. Every finisher gets a bag of potatoes- can you tell I live in a rural area?

Just done the first wk4 run. Up to five minute runs now, and I'm
running more than walking. I went a new route for the first time, down a trail to a river and alongside it for a while, so that was nice. I also got "crotched" by a passing (friendly!) dog, so I feel I've had an authentic running experience now. I'm still going at snail's pace but I'm managing the runs so that's all I care about. I think I can walk faster though .

Eau, I read your post on the other site and just wanted to say chin up - you've had a lot thrown at you so you need to cut yourself some slack. You will graduate, even if it takes a bit longer. I think you've done amazingly well to keep going so far and you know you can keep going. (((((()))))))

Aw good stuff just been out and done my final week two run with dd , very cold but done

Sorry, Noyou, I should have read that a bit more closely. I've just done wk 3 and there's actually only four - yes, four! 90s run, 90s walk, 3min run, 3 min walk and repeat that cycle. So once you've done the first three min walk, you know you've only got to run twice again. If you want to know in future by the way, on the NHS choices site there is a page here with a description of each week and what it entails. Having said that, I've just looked up week four and now I'm slightly scared!

The second run of this week was really hard for me because I was dog tired before I went out. For the first time my legs felt heavy and I did feel it in my muscles the following day. I did r3 today but also for the first time I went out in the morning, just after 8pm, and I had gone to bed early (for me) last night. In comparison to the first run of the week when I finished ages earlier than I had in previous weeks, I ended at the same point as in week two, so even though I thought I was going quite slowly I had obviously picked up the pace again quite a bit. I got to wear my new waterproof jacket too even though it didn't rain, shock, and it was very good; clearly the breathable label wasn't lying. I think I might have to try and get out in the mornings more often. It was easy today as ds had an inset day so there was no pressure of school run and /or work. And I'm a third of the way through, yay!

Eau, sorry to hear your dd is still unwell. You will get to do the graduation run!

Flisspaps I haven't any experience of metatarsalitis but I'd think if you have pain after walking for a mile you might want to get some advice before starting running. Hope it works out for you.

Hello eightytwenty. I dream of being able to do 5k in 38 minutes. I reckon if I can ever make it to running 5k [dreams] it will take me about an hour or more!

Hunter well done on completing week one.

Hearmyroar, hope your ankle is better.

I think there are six. There's a description of each week here, it doesn't say how many but you could work it out by the timings. I'm sure there'll be a description on another site if you google. Am slightly too tired and drunk to do it myself

In other news, DD2 is still ill and I'm planning my graduation run for this time next year.

sorry i didn't make myself clear i ment in the run how many ninety second runs if you see what i mean.

Well, I did my third run this morning after all. I got up early and went before dh left. It was a bit snowy but I was ok with my hat and gloves :)

I worked out on google maps that I am covering 1.8 miles at my current pace, in 30 minutes.

Getting that up to 3 miles in the same timeframe seems a bit daunting...

Still, I am enjoying myself. So far!

You can run every other day if you like but don't miss a rest day. Even if you feel fine, your muscles need time to repair to prevent injury. It is very tempting though!

Noyou there's three runs per week in NHS Choices.

W5R3 is a big step! But it is more of a psychological step than a physical one. Physically your body will be ready because the programme is designed to build up your muscles and endurance. You just have to believe you can do it :)

On no Thistle, I just looked ahead to W5R3 to see what you were dreading...

Why oh why did I do that? Just can't envisage that being me in 4 weeks' time

I finished week 4 today. Felt quite good although I was strangely feeling stiff in my glutes (stiff arse )for much of the run. It eased a bit when I went off the tarmac onto a dirt track, and then came back again when I went back onto tarmac.

Dreaded week 5 run 3 coming up!

oh its so tempting to miss a rest day, must be focussed though surprised i am not aching today, well done all

anyone following the nhs choices know how many running episodes there are in week three as with week two it didn't say so only found out when it finally finished helps me focus to know.

Thanks meebles and noyou. Feeling a bit better this morning as my ankle in't as bad as I feared. Hoping it will be ok for running on by saturday or sunday :)

Hi again eighty!

It is not any sort of official training program but I am thinking that when I get to the end of the C25K program I am going to start it again, but instead of following it with walk/run segments, I will try to do it with jog/run segments - ie when it tells you to walk you jog at an easy pace, and then run at a faster pace for the run segments.

There are also some techniques you can think about to quicken pace - rather than trying to move your legs quicker, think about lengthening your stride. Also to 'cycle through' each stride - push off each stride a little stronger and you will feel your knee bend up further behind you, which again makes it easier to lengthen your stride and also propels you forward faster.

I hope I have explained this properly as I have got it secondhand from my friend who is a runner.

rest, ice, compress, elevate? not syre really tbh. prob depends on what you've done to it...

I've just done w1r2 almost couldn't bear to take my new trainers out of the box! After all your good advice, I opened the post to find a cheque from my mum - random gift from gps! so I went shopping....a bra next I think though!!