Starting Couch to 5k next week ( 17th May) and looking for company :)

I wear my marks and sparks bras - one at a time and they seem to do the trick with my 32GGs!

Can someone please tell me that week 4 is not as scary as it looks. Please, I have really struggled with week 3 and week 4 looks like hell. But then I thought 3 mins was going to be tough and I did it.

I see further up the thread people talking about sports bras. I'm a 36G and wear 2 at the same time - that seems to hold me down nicely. :)

I use his podcasts, yes! I don't find him too annoying but he doesn't say much yet. Does he talk more in the later weeks?

Well done Shaz! I must say that the first week of 60s runs virtually did for me, as I didn't realise that 60s could last so long! Awful. BUt it has got progressively easier and now I am on Week 5. I did the 5 mins runs today and on Thurs am leaping to 8 mins! Very exciting. Annoying tho Robert is, I do find his podcasts helpful. Have you tried them?

Anyone else about?

Woo hoo! Did the second one today. It felt harder than the first, but 60 seconds seems quite short now! Looking forward to number 3 already. :)

I hope I feel the same way about it when I go back to work .

Hello, hello, hello. Just got back from hols in sunny France, and very pleased to see you've all been keeping up the good work, despite the grimbo UK weather (yes, France was very sunny, thank you, isn't my tan lovely?).

Sorry to hear RL is giving you grief MABS and Fi; hope things pick up for you.

Well, I haven't been a complete potato; I managed a total of three runs while I was away. The first one wasn't a great success because dh and I got carried away and set off on a circuit which turned out to be seriously hilly and about 8k long. It turned into a lovely walk, though......

Then we found a lovely lake with a flat 1k circuit around it, and had a couple of great runs; firstly with my sister and BIL (who are in training for a 10k), then later in the week the whole flipping family wanted to get in on the act, so there were loads of adults and kids all loping round this lake, with varying degrees of success. I managed about 20 minutes each time, but to be honest my commitment was taking a bit of a holiday too, and I was lugging far too much wine and BBQ food. As usual, DS (10) and DD1 (9) showed me up something rotten; while I was puffing along, DS was doing football warm-ups alongside me, running backwards and leaping over rocks while barely breaking sweat. I sat and ate an ice lolly while he completed 7 circuits. Grrr.

The good news is my knee is completely better, which means I'm back on the programme from tomorrow. I need to get back to 25 minutes as a minimum if I'm going to lose that new camembert tyre I seem to have acquired. No excuses now - MrsDepp's holiday is O-V-E-R!

Hello everyone

Fi, so sorry to hear about your dad. Hope he is now getting the right treatment and will feel better soon. MABS, I am so sorry to hear about the accident. Just what you don't need, I'm sure, what with your son's surgery coming up. Take it easy and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Welcome Shaz, good to have you on board.

I have been on holiday in rainy Devon for the last week and have managed to stick with Robert whilst I was away. I did my 3 Week 4 runs, albeit very slowly. I tried to do week 5 run 1 this am but it didn't load correctly on my ipod so I ended up doing week 4 again. I am going to have another go in a minute to see if I can do week 5 this week. I am a bit daunted by the 20 min run. I have found 5 to be plenty. However, 4 weeks ago I found 1 to be virtually undoable, so it does work.

Will report back once I have had a go. Might even enjoy it this time. Here's hoping.

well done shaz10 the hardest bit is getting started.. i did something similar on my first run too so you're not alone with that one!

Well, I did my very first one! It wasn't too bad and my back seems to be holding up ok.
During the first run a load of traffic went past when he told me to walk, and I missed what he said and kept running! I was really struggling and wondering how long 60 seconds really was, and in the end began to walk. I then heard him say 'run now!!!" Fortunately I recovered quickly and listened harder next time.

so sorry fibytheicysea

oh my MABS very lucky. sounds really scary
unfortunately my dad relapsed this evening.. suddenly went downhill and has just gone off in ambulance to be admitted to hospital. This lot of pneumonia is a nasty bugger to shift.

very hard for you Fibytheicysea :(

Car lost control on braking, smashed right into front of us, our car shunted into row of parked cars. 3 cars written off :( i was very very lucky!

nobiggy well done! this bout of pneumonia has been the 4th since last october quite worrying he gets it so easily and each time it's getting harder for him to recover. he has primary progressive MS too which is hard.

MABS that's awful! What happened?

FiByTheIcySea glad your dad's getting better, I have a couple of cousins who seem to get pneumonia every couple of years.

Did w5r1 this morning. And I think I'll stick with r1 for a little while . It seems hard, but when I think back to w1 and w2, I'm doing it ladies, I'm doing it!

Slow still, but above 4mph throughout. Covered about 1.1 miles over the three runs.

Off out for the day now, next run on Monday, all being well.

MABS oh no! :( poor you. i hope you're not in too much pain and the bones heal quickly.

sorry everyone i've not been around much. waveshello to all
my dad is on the mend and ds's birthday all over for another year. weather still awful here, fgs this is supposed to be august! where has the summer gone?

I'm about to start wk7.. a bit late. Completed wk6run3 yesterday eve.. the 25min one!!! in the pouring rain wearing dh's breatheable rain jacket. I can only run in the evenings as dh is away to work before 6am & have to wait for him to be home to look after dc's. I am stunned that i ran for 25min (albeit slowly).. 7wks ago i totally struggled with 60secs.

wk4 was a really tough one for me but after that it started to feel less hard even though the running times increase.. so go for it everyone.. you'll surprise yourselves

food n eating wise i have just carried on as normal.. didn't know it might cause any problems! dh & i eat dinner early with the kids at about 5/5.30pm. dd usually asleep first & i'm still bf which has helped the weightloss I think. DS has only just turned 4yrs, is a very early riser so by 7.30pm he's more than happy to head to bed! I head out for my run when they're both tucked up and fast asleep. I do make sure to drink plenty of water though as don't want to get dehydrated because of bf.

i ok except for cracked sternum and 2 ribs :(

So sorry to hear that MABS. You feeling ok?

apologies for my silence, I was in a car accident early last week so now won't be able to do anything for 6-8 weeks :(

Just wanted to mark my place. You are all doing brill. I started ages ago and managed 4 mins. Did some more yesterday and managed 6m my hips are screaming today. Hoping to try again soon.

I haven't decided if I'm better eating before a run or waiting until after. I don't drink enough, I know that.

Week 4 is 3, 5, 3, 5. I was at the idea, but I've done 4 now, not getting easier, but getting a little faster.

20 minutes though.

buzzybb... I don't feel good running in the morning but I do feel better afterwards!! I can't move without eating and I can't run with a full tum. It is all so hard to co-ordinate (or maybe make excuses for) .

ow, nobiggy - I felt like that about three minutes coming in to week three. Now I'm panicking about week four since you mention there is a five minute run!!!! As for 20 mins !!!

Kiwibella I also prefer to go in the morning I feel I have more energy for the day, I am wondering if I felt ill because I had eaten during the day, I have digestive issues it is slow so maybe that is it. I usually have an oat and fruit smoothie in the morning and go out then that may be it, will do week 2 again I think esp as that last 90 sec run was so awful.
Good to know some one else feels better for going out early at least now I say it is not just me

I'm continuing week 4 runs, the 3 mins and 5 mins, because have you seen week 5? There's a 20 minute run in there for goodness sake!

Mornings work for me. Evenings too busy with feeding people and kid wrangling.

this thread has dropped off my list! I'm still having a go at week three. I found it ok Lou - there are only two long runs on this session but I got very disheartened the first time I ran this podcast because his voice comes on during the second three minute run except it's only to tell you that you still have a minute to go. I was so disappointed!! It's taking me about two weeks on each week because I can't manage to get out regularly with the kids about.

Because of this I vary the times that I can run - tho I won't run in the middle of the day. Buzzybb, it's interesting that you felt ill after your run. I am more comfortable running later in the day HOWEVER I feel more motivated for the day if I run in the morning. It's strange, isn't it!