The Couch to 5k 2011 thread :0)

[dobby2001]

Thought i would start a new thread so al those wanting to start or return to running in 2011 had somewhere to post

I have NEVER tried running before so very very nervous about starting, but thought couch to 5k sounded a good method of getting into it.

I am off to bluewater tomorrow to buy running shoes - any recommendations???

Wow, everyone is doing really well and good luck dickcheese for your first run.

I did W5 run 1 tonight and managed 3x 5 min runs so feeling very very good. However, too scared to go up to the 8 min run next so I'm going to repeat run 1 again then do run 2 twice before attemtping the 20 min run on run 3....eeek I'm not ready!

With all the running I've got less time to post though. Rather - have you gone? Tell us how it went.

Thanks Cubscout, yes. It was fine, did it all, although my running trousers kept sliding down. They are made of like swimming costume material and they kept trying to skid off!!!!

So, I'm onto week 5 on Sunday and I think that is 3x 5mins. I think that will be ok. Then it's the 8 mins, then it's the big 2 0.
< trembles >

Can I join? Just signed up for Race For Life in June. I have never done anything like this before, so will be reading eagerly for tips!

You've all been busy!

I'm going out this morning, first time this year. Going to see if I can do a week 9 after a month off. I'm taking Laura from the NHS instead of Rawbert. Hope he won't mind :)

30 minutes, 2.04 miles. Slow, hard work. I need to get back to going regularly.

So ... just back from W4D3 and very pleased (touched with a slight twinge of smugness) that I managed both of the 5 min runs without stopping. I can't tell you how happy it has made me

Marnie, I'm glad the Wood Lock is working for you. I've been taking ibruprofen before going out and it seems to be making a big difference too.

Well done to all of us who are still going. DH reminded me this morning that this is the hardest time of the year to go running - much nicer and easier in the summer.

Keep on plodding!

Good to see we're all making progress and the overall mood is upbeat. Woo hoo! (high fives everyone!)
Finished week 3 this morning and off to start week4 tomorrow when all sane people are nursing their hangovers and can't see me!

Feeling stupidly upbeat and up for it!

Been up since 4 am. Plucking up the energy to go out. Tired and knackered no longer in irritatingly good mood. Grump grump grump!

Yorkshire. Yorkshire. Yorkshire.

What are you like?!

Have you been running yet?
I am onto week 5 later which is 3 x 5 min runs. But then after that is a steep incline on expectation.

< Piste passes tea >
< But takes a massive slug from a gin bottle >

Thanks, MarniesMummy I have ordered some Woodlock. My leg is still really sore. Im feeling fed up, I wanted to go and to w2r3 today, but I think I will end up doing more damage if I do...Im going to try to get it better, then start with w3 and see how I go. I feel a bit like I'm on a standstill at the moment Must have been hideously unfit to keep getting all these aches and pains...

MM- get rest and plenty of it there's no point in injuring yourself, I don't think it's a matter of fitness either. Do the programme at your own speed, there's no shame in it < bug hug>

Piste- yeah I've hawled ass this morning feel achy but good. Only thing is that I was attacked savagely by a dog! (kind of) It was being walked by a little old lady ran after me and nearly bit me! It was one of the little west highland terriers and the old lady did call it off. I screamed like a girl though . Pass that gin bottle over here!

Omigod. The perils of being a runner!

Passes Yorkshire the gin.

Redid W2r3 today and went much better. lovely day for it - cold , clear and sunny.

W3R3 done.
Week 4 on tuesday. I listened to the podcast for week4 and thought my way through it and somehow I feel like it's something I can do. Here's hoping I'm right!
My calf behaved, twinged a bit here and there but didn't grumble like on w3r2 so progress is being made.

Rather - Are you passing that bottle on to me? I'm on a rest day now!

Yorkshire - You're spot on. Can I declare that I am at the stage where I love going out to do my runs and I've realised that nothing except injury can stop me. So all I need to do is keep myself fit and I can achieve my running goals! I tell you it's a damn fine place to be!

On that note, this is the warm up that I now do before donning my coat and doing the walking warm up. I think I was a little sceptical as despite it being a running club warm up, they demonstrator in one of the videos makes a mistake in one of the warm ups (which though they point it out to you and tell you what he should have done) which made me think? Why haven't you changed the video, do you know what you're doing? That said my calf is taking me round and beahving beautifully so I think on balance they probably do.

ILoveTiffany - sadly my breathing is rubbish. It turns out you have to be quite fit to breathe properly and when I say fit, I mean fit on the inside, and sadly I'm a zillion miles from that. I listened to Laura and thought 'that's nice'. Hopefully with the regular use of my powerbreathe (I'm picking up from the Post Office tomorrow) I'll soon be able to attempt what she says as opposed to panting like an exhausted dog on a hot day!

Can't believe you're having to dodge dogs Yorkshire, it's bad enough having to dodge their excrement all over the pavement!

Good luck and good running to everyone who's out tonight!

And yeah! We are getting there aren't we? (Even if I'm still technically plodding)

Cracks open a new bottle of gin for Marnie!

Week5 Run1 done.
I am going to get DH to measure my distance because the GPS on my app says I went 4.6 miles. I am having to go further but that seems daft. It was three lots of 5 min runs which were ok although I am a plodding sort of runner not stylish in anyway!

Have measured it on the computer and it says 2.2 miles which seems much more likely!

thanks Marnie!! i'm finding it easier as i move up the weeks strangely. w3r1 just done and enjoyed it?!!

for some reason i'm always a bit achey on one side of the body....ankle,knee and shoulder on right side. nothing major,just a bit achey.

Yay! Rather. That's rather good and thanks for the gin.

ILoveTiffany I've no idea what that is except an excuse for a good long soak in the bath!

Helloooooo all. Hope you've all had fabby weekends .

So I did W3R3 yesterday. In the interests of research I ran to Central Park. I didn't actually dare to go in the Park where the good runners go, but ran along the side of the Park, which is great because you aren't stopping for traffic lights every few blocks (I wish I could run/walk at the pace of the lights, so they would all be green as I got to each crossing. Having said that, it's nice to have a reason to stop for a rest when they are red ). I also didn't fancy dodging the women in fur coats and stilettos (sp?) on the snowy paths.

All the real runners wear those skin tight compression tights thingies. Some, like DH, who has bought himself a pair to make him look like a real runner, wear shorts over the top. I am considering trying to wrestle myself into his (they have been washed since he last wore them) to see if they miraculously turn me into Paula Radcliffe. They also wear lots of Nike/North Face fleece type things which look expensive. They also wear fleece head bands, maybe to keep their ears warm? I, in contrast, wear DH's berghaus fleece hat, (teenage) DS1's outgrown school hoody, DS1's gloves from his "I want to be a soldier and everything has to be army green" phase and baggy tracky bottoms. I'm not painting a very flattering picture am I?

Week 4 tomorrow morning - eek!

By the way, sybil, I was fascinated at the idea of swimming while wearing an MP3 player. What a cool idea!

Ratherbe, I've tracked my run and it's 1.8 miles, so 2.2 sounds about right. Have you tried www.mapmyrun.com?

When we go to New York in the summer I shall take my things and go running in Central Park just for the people watching! DD has those compression tights for rowing, I have some cheap running leggings in a material like swimming costumes but they keep trying to slide off

And thank you - I shall try that website!

Oh, I'm preening! Went out yeaterday intending to do week 5 run 1 again and when I got to the 5 min mark thought I would just try for the 8 and not feel bad if I didn't make it. But I did . Can't believe it! I almost feel like a real runner.

I've noticed distances increacing too - yeaterday I did 2.5 miles all in.

I wish I could be running in Central Park...rather envious Midtowner and Ratherbe. But we are going to Southern Spain in Feb for a few days and I am really lookin forward to running in the warm

Good luck everyone this week.

Thanks for that description, Midtowner, I loved it! I think you probably look daring and brilliantly kooky in your get up, since you haven't got the uniform the others wear

I am still resting my leg, which is still sore, I am going to go out on Wednesday and might try to do half the runs, to see how I go. I am really scared that if I stop for too long I will never start again...I have form for that, you see.
Instead of going running today I have finished doing my tax return and filed it online, I am very glad that job is done for another year

If we are describing running outfits, I am in a bobbly old pair of what I think might be described as "yoga pants", a very very old grey cotton t shirt and an amusing fleece jacket which is emblazoned with a geeky gaming logo, which DH got from his super geeky workplace....I accessorise with wooly gloves, grey roots and of course the obligatory snotty nose!

Its a lovely day here today, hope it's the same for all of you that are going out this morning!