C25K newbies support thread

Hi all, I've started c25 on a treadmill. does anyone have any tips for treadmill running?

I use the next lamppost technique and just keep going to next strava 0.5k in my headphones too some days it flows others it's a real battle internally in my mind to keep going but it does feel good when you finish I try smiling to myself when it feels tough and that helps too! I always find the 10-15min bit hard my legs go like treacle but I plod on and it gets easier

Thanks for the hip flexor info Biking, my ache is fine when running too but can be really sore when walking - particularly when I first get up . . . may go and see a physio about it. I really don't want to take time out of running, but don't want it to get worse . . .

The hardest bit is mentally believing you can go further I found, but you can!

V wise words Biking - I find setting myself small goals helps, ie "I'll just run to that lampost and then see how I feel" - I mostly find that I can easily keep going, it is just a mental issue not a physical one. My dh is doing a mad 5000km cycle race this year so I also think that well, if he can do that then I can learn to run 5km!

W3 R1 done. Tried a new route and it was very stop start with traffic but when I actually got onto the right path its awesome and I'll be running there from now on. I'll see how the other two go but I may need to repeat this week.That's ok though!

The hardest bit is mentally believing you can go further I found, but you can!

EXACTLY! The toughest bit for me is always the first 5 minutes when I'm debating whether I can actually do this. Then I get distracted and notice some time later that I'm still running .

Waiting, congrats. I repeated runs quite a few times at the hard bits & just went to the next bit when I felt ready.

That's brill arch and waiting, the hardest bit is mentally believing you can go further I found, but you can! arch I have constant achy hip flexor top of leg in groin, I find icing with frozen peas after run helps and stretching it before running and after. Google hip flexor stretches for ideas may help. Ironically it doesn't hurt once I get warmed up running but does when I stop?!

Welcome minnow and island. I just managed to complete W7R1, 25 minutes which was a total of 3.3k. I Guess at that rate I might be able to do 5k in around 35 minutes if I ever get there! The last couple of minutes was hard, I'm starting to reach a point of difficulty in the programme now.

W7R3 done! I ran for 28 mins, much cooler today so the run was great, I loved it. However I think I've got groin strain (oo err missus). I have an bad 'pulling' ache down the inside of my left thigh. Does this mean I need to stop for a week and rest it?

Hello Island and Minnow I've only been running for a few weeks too but this thread is so supportive!

I have stupidly small feet and had to get kids trainers! This did mean that they were only £27 however. I know they won't last as long but at that price that's OK.

WK 2 day 3 done today. Thighs are really heavy as I also did Body Pump yesterday.

arch I used to cycle when I lived/ worked in a desert environment but that was a few years ago. I'm back in the UK now being all sensible with mortgage and kids

Welcome island I got my running trainers from new balance website because they do a half size and wider women's shoe which I like. I keep looking when the sale is on and they were £35 for pair of neutral runners I have had a good read about mixed advice on running gait analysis /wet foot test basically try a few shoes to see what's comfortable. My DH was sold shoes after a gait analysis and thinks they have made his knee worse he's not sure if they are trying to "correct" his roll in. I think it's important to gets good technique early on. I suffered horrid neck pain which was fixed with a simple tweak to my arm position which also speeded me up which wasn't why I did it and yes do some knee strengthen exercises if you haven't done much before and there's a weakness. Gd luck.

Thank you for the kind words on my 40min Parkrun. I was disappointed with the time as I had to stop and walk more than I'd hoped, I was hoping to SMASH my PB of 36mins but came no where close. It was horribly hot though, interested to hear about your desert runs Biking, glad it's not just me that struggles in the heat.

Minnow welcome to the addictive world of c25k , I completely second what Empress has to say re getting proper trainers, also it may be worth getting orthotics this kind of thing. I had bad back problems which a Podiatrist said was to do with my feet being rubbish and rolling in, causing knee/hip and back issues. I got some a week or 2 ago and they have helped I think.

Island welcome and congratulations! Get thee to the running shop and see what they recommend - running is fantastic and almost free but it can easily bugger you up if you run in unsupportive shoes Wiggle are good these for instance start at 65 quid but see what the shop suggest for you. I agree it is a lot of money to start off with (especially if you're not sure you'll enjoy running) but worth the investment if you can manage it to reduce chances of injury.

Thank you Empress that sounds like good advice!

Hi all - I have been lurking on this thread for a while but I finally signed up with a group C25K and went for my first run last Wednesday. We did 3.29km which is almost exactly 2 miles.
I was surprised that I managed it - having done no running before.
I went out for another run on Friday evening. It was wet and cold so I cut out a bit of the original route so it was probably nearer 1.5 miles.
I am going out tomorrow evening with three people who are also signed up to the group (and my one 2 DDs want to 'go for a run' in the morning but that will be a very short jog around the block).

I am sure I need to buy some proper running trainers but money is really tight. There is a running shop fairly locally but I am a bit wary of going in for advice as I have no real idea of what running trainers are likely to cost and looking online there seem to be prices right up to hundreds of pounds. What trainers have others bought in the early days?

Welcome to the thread, Minnow!

No, don't just rest and carry on. The thing that mainly fixed my knee pain (and that lots of people told me would fix it!) was new trainers.

If you go to a running shop (Runners Need, Up & Running, etc), they'll do gait analysis for you, which involves videoing you running on a treadmill & advising you on what kind of trainers to get.

I did that, and I started doing regular knee-strengthening exercises (lunges, squats, planking) and it's all made a huge difference. I was doing all my running on roads before, too, so now I vary it with grass, dirt paths etc.

Hope that all helps & good luck!

Hello I'm so pleased I've found this thread. I've just attempted W2R2 and my knees are on fire!! Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I've never done ANY exercise until now, aside from walks with the pram. Is it just my body protesting, or is my running style/trainers/etc causing this pain? Should just rest a few days and then carry on?

Empress I use map my run but it seems to cut in and talk at random intervals... 0.4 km, 1.2 km and so on. Bit strange. I tried Strava but it didn't talk to me! I'll have to check in settings.

Hope it doesn't scare you gd luck

I've found the voice bit in MapMyRun now so I'll try it out next time .

I like being talked too in strava I used the Michael Johnson voice on the NHS app as all the others were too soft or waffley I need a serious "get on with" voice to motivate me

I use MapMyRun at the moment, which also breaks it down into splits, but I don't know whether it talks - must check!

You have to hit the start button on strava then in the top RHS is a settings cog where you can choose how often it cuts in. My DH showed me then you hit the starting button again and it says "starting run" in a serious voice and Off you go. The first "start" button is looking for the GPS signal then second button starts recording I love being able to look back over my stats to see my progress on the little graphs and it's free. And I SO need the every half km cutting in to motivate me

I didn't know you could do that with Strava, Biking. Sounds tempting.

I used the NHS app with an iphone6 and it was ok but once past the week where u run for 20mins solid I switched to using Strava and set it to cut in every 0.5k with time etc and I just walked a min when I needed I play music at same time no problem with a Strava.

Thanks Empress yes - ZenLabs is the one I'm using now, and it skipped a stage this morning... I don't know if it only happens if I have the phone in a pocket on my outfit, and if I was to use my phone-holder-arm-thing, then maybe it wouldn't work - it's like it thinks something has touched it to move on, iyswim?
I was going to buy the ZenLab app to see if it was better. I don't think it is my phone, as I had an older handset last year and it still used to happen.
The NHS one used to never get beyond Week 3, so I stopped using that one?
Thanks though for sharing!