Anyone else doing Couch to 5k?

[ExcusesHalfTruthsFortifiedWine]

Fancy some chat/support/motivation??

I have just finished my first week. I am a sloth. I don’t “do” exercise I loathe it. But there is baby weight to shift (not sure you can call it baby weight 15 months down the line but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) and my sister is getting married early next year so thought I’d better do something.

And...I am loving it! I can hardly believe it! I’m actually looking forward to getting out tomorrow night to start week 2. I’ve found myself googling Park runs tonight!

It’s tough though. Find myself begging for Sarah Millican to come back and tell me it’s time to walk again

That's how I started 5 years ago.... c25k to parkrun to half marathons to full marathons!

Loved every minute

But I'm 50 soon and lifestyle is also changing, so I ran my last ( probably) Half Marathon yesterday, and I'm switching down to 5 and 10k's again

Love running!!! Glad you found something for you!

Am on week six. I got to week five last year then stopped and picked up from week four last month. Am now doubling up, so did Day two of week six today and will do it again on Weds before moving to day three. I want to do the 10k vitality run next May.

Is this going to make me super thin? If I cut out wine and McDs?

Anon your post is fab! The actual thought of me running even 5k is hilarious right now but stories like that fill me with hope!

I'm not doing it now but it's how I started too, it's great and parkrun is fantastic. I started parkruns before c25k and walked loads and built up to running it all (then 10ks/halfs) Good luck!

I'm on it again now - well, not right now as I'm recovering from minor surgery, so back on to finish week 4 next week. Or if that's too hard after a couple of weeks downtime, rewind to week 3.

I've done it before about five years ago, got all the way to running a 10k (badly! 71 minutes) and then stopped because I had hated doing it. Going to try and keep going this time...

I did it last spring for 2 weeks and loved it. Even though I hated running before and am 2 stone overweight. I had to stop because I got plantar fascilitis (first time ever and was wearing new, decent trainers). Would love to start again because I found it empowering, but am afraid the PF will come back.

I did it and ran my second half marathon on Sunday! It's addictive and has helped in losing three and a half stone.

I just finished week 5. I actually can’t believe how quickly my fitness has improved, I ran 3k on Sunday, there’s absolutely no way I’d have been able to do that a few weeks ago!

I did C25k about 5 years ago. I'd finally stopped limping from SPD that lingered for months after birth and was huffing and puffing everywhere.

I remember the elation after completing the first 8 minute burst of running; that was my longest block of running ever! I was hopeless at school.

Within a year I'd run my first half marathon!

Parkrun is great. I rarely get the chance to do the 5ks, but the DCs do the juniors and I help out. It's really motivating.

Week 4 day 2 tonight

My only issue is, running is so fucking dull.

I quite like the early weeks when it’s mixed up in small slots. These longer runs are fucking boring. Never mind when I get to longerones still

See lots of people have said that to me a lot running being dull. I have two very small children at home. I think I enjoy the solitude of it! Earphones in, Spotify on. It’s great!

When I first did it I used a music thing that'd pick tracks that were at your running cadence, which was excellent - I always knew that if I was on "blood makes noise" by Suzanne Vega I was going at the right speed, if it switched down to Sisters of Mercy then I needed to up my game again :D

Once I got the hang of my preferred cadence I switched over to podcasts, which I find more distracting than music so it makes the run a bit easier.

When I first did it I used a music thing that'd pick tracks that were at your running cadence, which was excellent - I always knew that if I was on "blood makes noise" by Suzanne Vega I was going at the right speed, if it switched down to Sisters of Mercy then I needed to up my game again :D

Once I got the hang of my preferred cadence I switched over to podcasts, which I find more distracting than music so it makes the run a bit easier.

When I first did it I used a music thing that'd pick tracks that were at your running cadence, which was excellent - I always knew that if I was on "blood makes noise" by Suzanne Vega I was going at the right speed, if it switched down to Sisters of Mercy then I needed to up my game again :D

Once I got the hang of my preferred cadence I switched over to podcasts, which I find more distracting than music so it makes the run a bit easier.

Oh! Whoops. Silly browser pretended it hadn't posted.

Knowledgeable running people, what do you wear to run in winter? So far I’ve been in leggings and a tshirt, but now I’m dreading the start of the run because I know I’ll be cold! But If I wear a jumper I’ll be far too warm a few minutes in. Am I missing something?

There's a very active C25K thread here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/exercise/3210164-C25K

lots of people doing it at the moment, sharing experiences and cheering each other on.

In terms of cold weather running gear, I find it's important to have warm ears and hands, so add gloves and headband. As it gets cooler, you could change to a long sleeve shirt, or add a baselayer, wear performance sleeves, or get a light jacket which you can tie round your waist when you're nicely warmed up.

I've done it and just started parkruns. Not perfect yet, can't deal with hilly courses but worth it!

Oh fab thanks Stella I’ll go over there

Agree about winter weather (which I live running in! Hate running in the heat). I normally have a base layer and then gloves and headband over ears.

Hate waterproof running jackets as I just get too hot and sweaty. I tend just to wear a long sleeve thermally type top if very cold.

Actually, I think it's quite a good idea to have a parallel thread in 'chat' (idc in 90 days, as there's no need for two permanent threads)

Because of 'imposter syndrome' (maybe) - or perhaps it was just me who was really trepidatious about venturing into the Exercise topic for the first time. It was the same when I bought my first pair of proper running tights - I thought everyone was thinking 'why's she in them, she's not a runner'. That was when I was doing C25K in 2016.

Somewhere btw there's a really heartening thread about how C25K made a difference to those who did it. If I find it, I link it here.

This is the thread I was thinking of:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/exercise/3233879-what-effect-did-c25k-have-on-you

I started it in April and it is amazing how quickly you up your game to do longer runs. I couldn’t run 1min to begin with but by week 8 30 mins was quite comfortable.
Still don’t enjoy actual running but love the feeling after.
Good luck xx