The new couch to 5k thread......

Well done Jack and Rita, what a fantastic achievement and for such a good cause too.

Zen - sorry, you are being optimistic, Rawb's music gets progressively worse, W1 is his inspirational climax IMO.

Here's Rawb - really wish I hadn't looked. Hopefully the mental image of him in his too short shorts will distract me from the discomfort of the increasing running intervals.
Definitely nearly time for my own running tracks I think.

I have various routes depending on how the fancy takes me . Some have houses and sometimes there's fields. No hills though (due to flatness of Bedfordshire) which was not good in the hill of St Albans today).

One more question about the nike thingy vulgar - do you need to have your ipod with you when you are running or can it "catch up" when you get back? Don't really want to takr the ipod touch out running with me.

Well done Rita, great stuff. Can't believe you're going for a 10k, gives me hope (have just done w3r1!)

Thanks Jack for the extra info on swallowing sick

Nappy, sorry to hear it didn't go so well for you, hope things pick up

Canella - I am so jealous that you run through forests and fields, you get no sympathy from me that you can't find the extra mile I run through a housing estate Not a bad one, but still, it ain't forests and fields

btw, I also think Rawb has a beard......

oh i must have no imagination cause i'd never thought of what rawb looked like except that he had a permatan and white teeth!!

well done jack and rita - so fecking proud of you!!! you must be so fecking proud of yourselves!!!

nappy - whats going on this week - you've not had a good few days! maybe just go stick to doing week 6 runs then try again on your own?

i felt poorly for most of last week (not swine flu!!) but def back to normal so going to attempt a 25 min run tom! main prob i have is running out of route! i like to run in a circle that takes me away from my house, through the forest and fields then straight back to my house! but its only 1.68 miles and i can run it in less than 20 mins! but if i keep going then i'll be back in the village and looking like a beetroot while trying to talk in a foreign language is not a good plan!!

will have to really think where else i can go!! need to get an extra mile somehwere!

Well done rita!

I must be so slow if you walked and still beat me
I wasn't actually sick, but had to swallow it back down and spit a lot, and the blubbing was round the corner....so that's ok, I got my medal and goodie bag.
The wind was the killer, for the first k it was head on the whole way, and the worst was running with other people. Every time I got my speed up some dizzy bint stopped in front of me, a lot of times ot take phone calls and I had to body swerve, and then had to get my pace back.

Def going to keep running, maybe not 10k as the training would take longer and I barely have time for it as it is, but will do short runs in week and long runs at weekend for sure.
Might take a week off though

Well done Jack

I did my race in 35 min and a bit ( not sure exactly how much as not sure when I went through the start line e IYKWIM).

It was dry most if the race but I had forgotten how many hills there are on the course. Had to walk a couple of times which I felt a bit with myself for but was better than having to stop.

Did an e cellent sprint at the end if I say so myself . Am going to sign up for a 10k race in October. Although this may be mad.

WoooHooooooo Jack, well done you!

Sound like a nightmare, standing around in the rain and all, so double well-done to you.

Not so good about throwing up and blubbing, but they will be forgotten, the run won't! And do you still get a medal?? You'll look at that and grin for ages

So, the question is - are you going to keep the running up??

I did it! No stopping, 5k, in 39mins and 56 seconds. And then I crossed the line and threw up and 5 minutes later burst into tears double
As a plus that is fairly conclusive evidence that I pushed my self as far as possible. I took some sudafed before the race as I was a bit bunged up and I was ok but am starting to sniffle again now.
We had torrential wind and rain before the race, and the course had cars on it so we did our warm up and then had to stand in the rain for 20 minutes while they sorted it! That was not good. But it tailed off and the sun came out while we were running.
Will stop banging on now, but I am soooo chuffed with myself! 10 weeks ago I could never have dreamed of running 5k! and now I have done it!

Hoo-rah!

And I totally agree that Rawb wears small shorts, and I reckon no top with a small water/rucksack on his back. The loser

Montifer - I think I thought about it too much, but I also suspect he's the kind of guy who wears running shorts that are slightly too short, you know?

Week 2 music was boring, am hoping w3 is better, but I'm not too optimistic. I'm already planning what my running playlist is going to be, DH is insistent I download the Rocky theme music

Good luck Jack and Rita, hope you enjoy your RFL. Both of you have been a huge inspiration for me to get going and keep going, look forward to hearing how you got on.

Just done W4 R1, 5 mins is a bit of a shock to the system, had a bit of a beetroot face by the end. I'm sure by run 3 it'll be OK again, hope so, W5 looks like a bit of a killer!

Zen , I've never considered Rawb running down palm lined boulevards before, think I'm starting to feel a bit of resentment now. What with th running location envy and the worsening music quality I can fully understand why a lot of people seem to part company with him by W6. However, he must be heartily congratulated for getting so many of us off the couch and upto the 20 min running stage. Good luck for W3.

Rita - you do not have to have the special shoes for the Nike sensor. you can buy a little neoprene sleeve that sits on top of your laces and the sensor sits inside. Costs about a fiver from Amazon.

I'm thinking about doing a 5k in the autumn (not ready for 10k for a while I think)

Have found my race number

Think I am ready for tomorrow. Am going to have an early night and hope for a dry and not too hot day in St Albans for tomorrow.

Hope your race goes well JackBauer

Do you have to have special shoes for the Nike thingy or does it work with whatever you have? Am tempted to get one to go with my iPod touch but not if ihave to get new shoes.

Am thinking about doing a 10k in the autumn...

Jack - i did buy some cheap make-up and am "helping" Dh with the bottle of vodka he bought.

I really hope your cold doesn't get worse! good luck!!!

I am impressed Vulgar, no booze or fags or cheap makeup? Or toblerones?! That's dedication!

I have a cold starting which I am really cros about, am going to load up on water and sudafed today and tomorrow morning so that I can breathe through race!

Super, I had no idea how far/fast I was going until about your stage. I signed for RFL as an incentive so that I wouldn't just stop when it got hard!

BTW -good luck for this weekend Jack and rita

Hello everyone, good to see you are all doing so well. It seems to be up and down for most of us for one reason and another.

I have been on holiday for 2 weeks and just before I went I tripped over my own foot and twisted my knee (but not badly.) how stupid and embaressing. Well i got back up as it was only 3 mins into my run and did about 2k.

first day of hols got up early, ran along the beach, loving it 'cos it was so beautiful. Managed to do about 5k -felt fantastic although aches and pains.

Next day, knee huge. decided to stop for hols but we walked a hell of a lot anyway.

At airport on the way home treated myself to Nike sensor to plug into ipod and clip on to laces. I hope you are all impressed, I spent the last of my holiday money on this rather than big bottle of gin.

I've done 2 runs so far, one with the sensor but I was fretting that it wasn't working so I only managed a shameful 1.13k in 20 mins plus I had Ds on his bike and he kept bothering me.

I'm feeling bothered by my lack of progress and all the stupid aches and pains. . . grrr!

Aww, Jack!! It truly does make a difference reading about how well you are all doing!

It has only just dawned on me that a lot of you are doing the RFL, and that this is why you are doing the C25K, duh!! I started it because I couldn't keep up with my 5 year in the park, which was quite depressing. I have no idea how fast I am going or really how far I have run (I am just dictated to by Rawb!) but I am really proud that I've stuck with it to week 6 .

Good luck with your RFL Rita and Jack, am sure you'll both be brilliant...are you going to keep up the running when it's over??!!

God, well done Rita! Have been holding off ont eh 3.1 miles until sunday.
I have never run with water and my mum says not to do it on sunday. I am worried it will mess with breathing etc as I am not used to having it. Does it make that much difference? I do sometimes have a dry mouth but not desperate for water.

Well done Zen. I always found it great to be able to see my progress. Was just talking to my mum and she was saying that after my wk1r1, which I did at her house, when I couldn't breathe afterwards, collapsed on her floor and thought I was actually dying, to be able to run over 2 miles, for 28 minutes, in 10 weeks, without stopping is a massive achievement. And do you know what? She is right!
So all you lurkers on this thread, I will repeat what I have said before.
I couldn't run up my own stairs at home, I couldn't walk to school and back for 10 minutes pushing a buggy without being out of breath, I was a size 22 and desperately unfit.
And now, I reckon I can run this 5k without stopping (although am still mega nervous) so what have you got to lose!