The Couch to 5k 2011 - Part 3 : Keep Holding My Hand So We Don’t get Separated!

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

Yet more space for us to talk about our progress on the Couch to 5K programme, the stuff we wear and the music we listen to! New runners are warmly welcomed - come and give it a whirl, you know you want to! There has been a lot of success on this thread, both in the UK and internationally, moral support is abundant, and there is always a kick up the arse for anyone who needs one!

If we stick together we will enjoy success, I thought song lyrics were appropriate so in the words of Gwen Stefani..

Run, running all the time
Running to the future
With you right by my side
Me, I'm the one you chose
Out of all the people
You wanted me the most

Running, running, as fast as we can
As fast as we can
Do you think you'll make it?
Do you think we'll make it?
We're running, keep holding my hand
It's so we don't get separated

Be, be the one I need
Be the one I trust most
Don't stop inspiring me...

Good luck everyone x

Linzer - bargain running shirt! Glad your DVD has arrived, mine might come on Monday, so will open it in secret so they don't all guffaw loudly at me. Shame your Tesco is so far, hope they have got them in - I would offer to post some to you but it would probably be cheaper to have lipo and a tummy tuck, they are so heavy! But am happy to if you can't get hold of any :)

My legs today feel quite stiff and normally after running I don't ache at all so I am filled with trepidation at the thought of doing Shred AND running. It might be the death of me.

Hi All,

Last night I just nip off down the pub with DH for a swift half or several and you've all been oogling dishy men and not one murmur of anything running orientated. I am jealous shocked!

Pistey if you use 2.5kg weights at madboxercise then my feeble ol' soup tins will be too light for you to Shred with I reckon. You must take your running stuff to US.

Whoknows I am very relieved about the hairband . Which area are you going to in Scotland? It is great for holidays and next weeks the kids will be all back in school. Runningwise does it help to think the faster you go the more of Bear's banoffee pie you can eat?

Sweaty I think I will hide in Pistey's case and come out for cocktails too - it looks fab and it would be lovely to meet up in RL. Bite the bullet and take your first run in your new sneakers - it won't get any easier if you put it off...

Linzer half an hour for the kids in school will be fine as you only need 20 minutes

Sybil serious commiserations on the laptop and enjoy your hols.

I have completed my 10K programme!! I did my last 10k run earlier this afternoon. It was pretty slow again as it involved Hills but i don't care. I know I just have to be patient and it will come. I am now going to maintain the running and throw myself into No More Trouble Zones to improve my all over muscle tone. Since I have been focusing on running and fitting Jillian in as best I can I have noticed some reduction in strength and flexibility. So I am going to improve that gain.

Really I ought to stop chatting and go as I am going Out this evening with DH to our 'social event of the year' and I need to take up my dress and try to be glamorous, beautiful and ladylike get organised.

MN has been a huge revelation to me and I can't even remember how I found it. I think I need to do some more exploring as I don't know what a couple of things on The List are

Slow cooker - will do more in the winter as I think it seems a winter warmer thing to do
Babyliss Big Hair - do I need one? I don't faff with my hair to much so I can stay in bed longer
Book swapping - no not me, I hoard them
Flylady - have read it and fainted too, started to declutter
Curly girl - investigation required
Oil cleansing method - investigation required
C25K - check
Shred - definite lifechanging BIG check
Judgeypants - check
Nice ham - check

Lovely dress Jelli, hope you have a great night!

on finishing the 10k! Well done, fandabidozi!

Well done on finishing the 10k programme, Jelli - that's fantastic. Hope you have a lovely time this evening; you will certainly stun them in that dress.

Bear Thank you, that's a lovely offer but yes, the postage would no doubt be extortionate and would pay for a few sessions with a personal trainer. If all else fails, I'll be able to get some from Amazon - even if they're not proper purple ones (in which case I'll sulk).

Right, I shall do this list now too:

Slow cooker - check (I had to go to Tesco in Bratislava for it: such dedication)
Babyliss Big Hair - check (tis fab)
Book swapping - check
Flylady - check (although have fallen off the wagon recently)
Curly girl - not yet convinced (I'm still getting used to the novelty of having straightish hair)
Oil cleansing method - haven't heard of it
C25K - check
Shred - almost
Judgeypants - check
Nice ham - do I have to buy it or just know what it is?

Ah, good old Cliff. I've just been reading an interview with him in Saga magazine and have been lying about my age.

Jelli - we're off to Loch Lomond, we go every year with my parents, always the same week (timeshare), the week was picked deliberately because of the "they've gone back to school we haven't" thing as it made it cheaper, and it is a big bonus when we go for days out. Well done on finishing the 10k programme, have a good night out.

I've found my old weights, sadly they are turquoise, they are 1kg , will have to see how I get on. I have also got a set of dumbbells, which are adjustable, but they have metal handles which might get slippery (wouldn't know, never used them).

Linzer - you could always go to Tesco in Bratislava for your weights, give you an excuse to get over there again. Do you get clubcard points over there?

Yes, I also thought of that WhoKnows - they sadly don't have much in the way of British food there, but the entire non-food (homeware/stationery/electrical appliances) section is proper British stuff so they may well have the weights.

Told DH of my plans to buy weights at Tesco here. He didn't seem keen as he said I could buy them in Austria and ignored my comment about them probably not being purple. He has also vetoed my idea of carrying them back in my hand luggage as he doesn't think heavy metal objects would be allowed (I must concede that he may have a point). He asked whether buying the weights is in any way related to MN, but to his credit didn't pull his usual face when I admitted it was.

Have just been to a car boot sale and you'll never guess what I bought. Well you will, as you know me quite well by now and it wasn't nail varnish ......

a set of 6 hand weights in a case for just two English pounds! The 0.5kg ones are PINK!, the 1 kg are TEAM PURPLE and the heavy 1.5kg ones are the same minty green as my nail varnish!

Bargainous x eleventy million!

So now I have NO excuse left now re. Shred. Apart from the DVD not being here yet. Also I had to leave them with the lady and go back for them at the end as they were too heavy to carry round [weakling emoticon]

My running pal who was with me had a face like this when I told her what I was we were going to do ....

They look like this, but colours so important are prettier in real life. Might be worth watching if Epsom is near you southerners shandy drinkers.

at Linzer's DH and his knowing look.

WhoKnows - . Have a great holiday - I'm homesick after listening to that and reading the Scottish thread. :( Time for a wee journey north of the border I think for me.

I'm not really here today as I'm dissertation-writing. But, here's a bit of inspiration. Some people I know met him while he was in NY, I wish I could have too. Amazing!

Aww, thank you Bear. We go there every year and I never tire of the view of Ben Lomond over the Loch. My mum is from the area, so although I've been brought up in southern England, I've always spent time up there visiting family and so on. Just a pity it's such a long drive from here (Hampshire). The Scottish thread was nice too. Well done on the car boot sale challenge!

Sweaty, Sweaty, Sweaty SWEATY SWEATY!!! I'm coming!!!!!!!!
We are leaving tomorrow morning. I have packed running stuff but can't guarantee anything

Jelli - well done on 10K programme - you go girl! And totally gorgeous dress!

Bear - hooray for the weights and double hooray that they are purple!!

at Linzer's DH's expression - I just got that right now!!

WhoKnows - enjoy your holiday!

We are away for two weeks - please don't forget me

Waiting for you with open arms pistey. Apart from having to go to work I am pretty free most of the time you are here (the thing I thought I might have to do has bene postponed - yippee!), so we might be able to squeeze in a run as well as drinky-poos (but not at the same time ). I will ask DH for some running tips for Washington (he used to live there).

Loving Linzer's DH's expression - it made me laugh out loud when I read the post last night, provoking the look from my loved ones too

Bear - well done on the weights.

Sybil - should we delay the start of shred? Wouldn't want you to miss out!

Whoknows - have a great holiday!

Jelli - well done on finishing your 10k programme.

We hiked 7.5 miles yesterday and I jogged on some of the flat bits. Am hoping to go out tonight after I finish my dissertation (700 words to go aaaaargh) but it has been raining since the middle of the night so not sure if i will. DH has kindly taken DSs out so I can get off mumsnet on with my work, so has first dibs on going out this evening if he decides he needs a run/cycle.

PUH-LEEEEEASE give me a collective kick up the rear end so I can get on and finish this wretched dissertation. It's been 4 years since I started my Masters, and I've run out of steam .

How could we possibly forget you Pistey, our Head Girl? Hope there will be an update from you Sex In The City girls during the next couple of weeks with all your antics and bargainous purchases. Just for ....

Have a fabulous time, and say hi to sweaty!

Is there anybody not going away in the next two weeks on here? I fear I will be talking to myself!

PS Found - she was great at explaining what's what in normal people's speak re. Shred. Worth watching for the totally unco-ordinated like moi.

Finish it. NOW. Or I will be forced to come out there and buy up US supplies of OPI and kick it for YOU! (enough, or too much?)

sweaty yyyyyy to delaying the start of Shred for sybil

Hope you have lots of fun with Pistey, tis very exciting!

Bear I'll still be here! (Not that I'm at home atm, of course.) In fact, I'll probably be online even more often after next Saturday, when we're flying back home, so you certainly won't be talking to yourself. What a bargain re the weights; I want a set with pink and purple ones now too.

sweaty Good luck with finishing your dissertation. What subject is it in?

Pistey Have a wonderful time - and make sure you use that running gear! Am v. envious; DD1 was born in the USA and we keep saying that we'll take her over to see where she was born, but will probably leave it until the DC are a bit older.

I was too lazy to go out this morning, but am planning on going out tomorrow if I can get up. Am hoping to fit in three more runs before we fly home, so it will definitely have been worth bringing my running gear. I've probably bought twice as much again, but I just can't resist a bargain.

I'll be here till the end of this week too, and provided we get 3G reception on holiday I'll be checking in whilst away the week after.

Looking at this weeks calendar it's going to be a struggle to fit 3 runs in, will aim for Monday night, Weds night and Friday morning. If I put it on here you lot can nag me about it!

Oh jolly good Linzer and WhoKnows, we can keep nag each other going. I'm doing M/W/F this week too - following week am running solo again and you know how me no likey. But I will try to do it.

Those weights are really good, have got them out of the box thing now, they look as if they are these ones, but Linzer that would be 6kg extra for you to carry home.

Looks like all three of us are running tomorrow then? Will report back if I survive.

Ooh, had forgotten about Argos - we do actually have one of those here. However, 6 kg might be just a little too much to take home... Shame that Argos don't deliver abroad!

Well, I've been out for my run. Disappointingly slower than last time despite the fact that I didn't need to retie my shoelaces. I am also starting to get slightly fed up with hills. Good luck with your runs Boris and WhoKnows - I can nag if required.

I'm back. I was rubbish. Going to lick my wounds.:(

Aw.... Bear ((((((hug for you))))))
Sorry you had a bad time this morning. You know that for every good run there is a bad one. Well that certainly seems how it works for me. It will be better another time. Pistey Promise. So chin up chick. X

I'm not in manhattan just at London city. We've managed to slide into the BA lounge so all is good except I cannot see a plane big enough to get us over the Atlantic.... I know the plane isn't big but these are all tiny

Aww bear, sorry to hear that. You were better than me, I just stayed in bed but I will go out tonight. No excuses!

Pistey - maybe you will change planes in Ireland???

Linzer - well done for going for a run. I'm doing an MBA through the Open University (which is why it's taking so long). I started on a whim after a chat with a friend who was also doing one. Once I reached the point of no return half way point I had to grit my teeth and just get it finished.

My DVD arrived last night . I told DH what it was and how we were all going to do it together. He didn't look at me as if I were bonkers . And then he said he might shred with me too .

Have a wonderful week everyone!

sweaty That's great that your DH is so positive. I can't imagine mine wanting to shred with me (thank goodness), although he has been very supportive of this whole running lark. Having said that, it did take him a while to recover from the price of my running shoes and he told me quite sternly that I wasn't allowed to give up after a few weeks - I think he was quite surprised that I finished the programme.
Well done on the MBA; it sounds like you're almost at the finishing line (not very witty pun intended).

Pistey Hope a decent sized plane turned up in the end! I always find those huge planes quite scary looking; I'm not sure why, as the flight is much smoother than in smaller ones. The worst were the tiny ones between Washington and PA; on our first flight, the pilot only managed to take off after he'd got all the men to go and sit near the front to balance out the plane a bit.

Bear Sorry to hear about your run, but I'm sure the next one will be better - if we didn't have bad runs, then we wouldn't appreciate the good ones as much (well, that's what I always tell myself).

I'm not really enjoying my runs that much at the moment; I think I've been spoilt by the seaside and lakeside ones I did on holiday, as I'm getting a bit bored running round a housing estate where all the houses look the same. I suppose I could go down to the seafront, but the walk back would be 30 minutes uphill - and at the moment, it's all I can do to walk the few minutes back home without collapsing.

Hello, thought I'd join you all. I have read some of the older threads and can't believe how many of you have gone from non-runners to runners since January - very inspirational. I'm a powerwalker and do this in the park for an hour three times a week but for the he'll of it I tried jogging for 30 seconds today and it was hellish!! And my bottom kept galloping up and down completely independently of the rest of my body - does anyone know if they make a bra for bottoms?!

I start my NHS C25K podcast run on Saturday. Eeeeek! I'll read your first thread as motivation and try and keep up with this thread. Will let you know how I do on Saturday.