Couch to 5k 2011 Part Four: Post even if you haven't run!

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Yet more space for us to talk about our progress on the Couch to 5K programme, the stuff we wear, the music we listen to, the gadgets we use and our nail varnish.

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!

Some of us are on our second time round now, so don't worry that you will be behind, just jump in whatever stage you are at.

Pistey as I'm running and shredding and swimming I'm undecided yet whether I'll go strict low carb or whether I'll just cut my carbs right down.With my activity level,where I can see going without cakes,crisps,sweets,potatoes,bread,pasta etc as quite acceptable,I'm not entirely sure about cutting back fruit and veg as that seems more extreme than I was anticipating.The jury is out at present,but at the moment I'm cutting back on the obvious carb load till I've done some reading.I'd be sad for energy levels to drop as they've increased massively doing c25k.How are you doing?Did your energy levels rebuild as you got used to low carb?

Well done on your run Kristina

WhoKnows some days its like that isn't it?I find if its a shorter incline at the end its not too bad (grit my teeth and GO),but I prefer a shallow sustained uphill to be at the beginning!Did you purple your nails?I have a french manicure on fingers and deep wine on toes.

My new Nike running shoes arrived today (kiss,kiss DH).Want to try them out tomorrow pm if I've got time,but off for my mile swim in the am.How can I remain so chubbly with all this exercise?I think age plays cruel games with the body - I'm so sure its harder to lose weight post 40,but I'm pleasantly surprised at how readily the old bod still responds to clawing back the fitness of my glory days!!!!!

WhoKnows when you swim do you do it for relaxation or training?Do you proper train or just plod up and down (like me)?

Happy running all!!!!!

Countess my finger nails are sporting this <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=2.bp.blogspot.com/_5ZNvkL6oMMc/S8ALiO_z-lI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/n1Do4JksltY/s1600/Rimmel%2Bpompous%2Bflash.jpg&imgrefurl=thatleanne.blogspot.com/2010/04/yay-for-cheap-drugstore-finds-rimmel.html&h=924&w=1590&sz=160&tbnid=arAdmAkwlDjrIM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=133&prev=/search%3Fq%3Drimmel%2Bpompous%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=rimmel+pompous&docid=b_zubaDNnmS-OM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UjjITvqQG8e_8wPGhPl6&ved=0CEMQ9QEwAw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pompous. As for the swimming, I haven't been apart from with the DCs for about 3 years so might take a while to get back into it. My technique is poor, I can't do breaststroke properly as it give me sciatica, but I have been watching my DCs swimming lessons very carefully for tips on front crawl which, again, I don't do very well. Main problem I have with it though is boredom, struggle to do more than 20 mins because of that.

WhoKnows that nailvarnish is bootiful.I love the Rimmel 60 seconds stuff,but most of mine is old and gloopy now (bit like me )

I mainly swim breastsroke as no breathing issues with that so I find it easy.But I must try to alternate my plod with some faster lengths of front and back crawl and maybe even do some float work.I love the boredom,myself.Its the whole brain switch off thing I love (same with running).It's all quiet in my head and I don't have to talk to anyone or be nice to any bugger.I'm a miserable antisocial sod really!I go to a lovely happy clappy place where no one shouts MUM at me every 60 seconds....

Thank you, I do like my Rimmels. I have found that getting a fast drying top coat has made a huge difference to my manicure habits, can do base coat, 2 layers of colour, top coat and be touch dry in 15 mins, fantastic.

Swimming - I plod up and down thinking, need to go and do this, do that, sort dinner, pick up X on the way home, blah blah blah, not very good at zoning out. Spas are a complete waste of money for me for exactly the same reason. It affects my running too, if I get into that frame of mind I will drop a circuit of the playing field to get back quicker, music helps, but can't really justify a wet Ipod thing.

Afternoon All,

What a beautiful day here. I've just come back from my measured 3 miler and my time was ok, not my best but not my worst either so that is fine.

I did 4 of the circuits from NMTZ yesteday and I did the one with squats in it. I remember thinking to myself "Don't phone it in JelliBelli, go deeper" so I did and this morning my glutes can certainly feel it - ouch! They are a bit sore and found running a bit painful to begin with. They seem ok to sit on though perhaps i should do some more of that!

I had a minor setback on the nail front yesterday whilst laying the fire. I have taken the tip off one of my newly regrown nails so its shorter again, grrr.
.
I need to dash as one of the Jellicats is desperate for my attention and is busy trying to climb into my armpit!

Morning all! It's a lovely day here too.

I posted earlier in the week, but the server ate my post and I was rushing off to work so didn't get round to re-posting.

My plan for today is a long-ish run around the park, followed by a mani/pedi. I'm just having a coffee before I go, and will report back and catch up properly later.

A coffee, run and mani/pedi sounds like bliss, Shredded (yes, I seem to have forgotten what running is actually like so even that sounds like bliss).

I did go ice skating this afternoon so at least I've been out in the fresh air, but it doesn't feel like proper exercise (although the fact that I'm a bit wobbly and have DD2 hanging on to me a lot of time means I'm not exactly speeding round the rink).

Nail-wise, I am still sporting a now very chipped No. 7 Oyster but just haven't had the time to apply any new polish. Work seems to have taken over my life recently. However, I'm wondering about going out for a run before my doctor's appointment on Friday just to check the state of my knee and to know exactly what to complain about if it's still hurting.

Oh skating, I haven't been yet this winter. I bought some skates last year and went a few times (one of the rinks near my house is free if you have skates, so I went enough for the skates to pay for themselves). I can only push off on one leg, so apparently I look very odd on the ice and DCs, who have ice hockey boots and whizz around like maniacs, refuse to skate with me. I keep meaning to book a lesson or two to sort myself out.

I am back from my run. Super-warm today here so I was a bit over-dressed in leggings, shorts over the top to cover holes, tee short and long sleeved top tied around my waist for the way home.

Walk to the park - 1.6 k, 96 calories, 22 mins
Run in the park - 12.36k, 936 calories 1 hour 28 (I collapsed in a heap stopped after 10k for a couple of minutes breather, but had set myself the goal of doing 12 today. The extra .36 was listening to the end of the song on my ipod)
Walk home - 2.32k 187 calories 34 mins - stopped for coffee on the way.

DH has been patiently waiting for me to come home so we can go to the supermarket, so I need to hop in the shower. I will catch up with everyone's news properly later.

You're going to waste away burning that number of calories, Shredded! I hope you have a few this evening to make up for it. I am seriously impressed and at the amount of running you're doing.

I could probably do with a few skating lessons myself as I'm regularly overtaken by toddlers whizzing round the rink. And some of the teenagers are seriously scary. I'm still a slightly more confident skater than the DC but I don't know how long that will continue now that DD2 and DS have started lessons.

Not much danger of that (wasting away) Linzer . I anticipated the calorie burn by eating and drinking far too much last night . But have been relatively restrained since I got back today:

1 banana
1 skim latte
1 toasted muffin with home made smoked trout pate (low fat cream cheese and sour cream)
1 small (DH cut it - mine would have been bigger) slice banana cake
1 cup of tea
1 glass of tomato juice

(not all at once)

Hi, can i join you all.

I was reasonably fit until 2 months ago then i sprained my ankle and everythinfs gone a bit tits up since then, eating like a pig, having the odd fag .

so i went back to the gym this week, did one combat session and one gym session and am still in pain 2 days on!
Ive never been a runner, never really knew how IYKWIM so have downloaded the couch to 5k podcasts and am starting tomorrow.

So no piggy eating, no fags, just starting from scratch.

Wish me luck

Sorry, can i just ask, is there anything in particular i should be wearing at this time of year?
And does the podcast tell you whether you should be running on the flat and how long fir etc?

Hello Mosschops welcome to the thread.
If you're running in daytime, leggings or some sort of jogging bottoms plus a long sleeved top, cotton or breathable if you've got it for the gym. For the first week you are only running for one minute at a time so probably won't get too hot, so if you've only got short sleeved tops maybe bung on a lightweight hoody or similar too. Sports bra, hair tied back, trainers. if you are running early or late in the day something bright/white/hi-vis is a good idea.

The podcasts tell you when to run and when to walk, I should try and find a level route to start with, the route I started with is about 2 miles. If you are using the NHS choices version it doesn't tell you when you are half way so you don't know when to turn back, I wore my watch and turned back after 15 mins.

Good luck, look forward to hearing how you get on.

The 15 mins includes the 5 min warm up BTW

Welcome mosschops!

As far as gear is concerned, make sure you have decent trainers (sounds like you might already have if you are a gym-goer).

Good luck. C25K was life-changing for me. This time last year I couldn't run for a bus. Today I ran 7 and a half miles. I'm tons fitter, and although I haven't lost much weight, DH says I'm trimmer. And I made some lovely MN friends as well [soppy emoticon].

I would love to be able to run but I really can't! I go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week and have toned up a lot so am fit but running is very, very hard.

I have an android phone, is the C25K available on that? I was having a look at it today but there are so many versions, a few free ones which are hopeless, but I don't know which one I should buy.

I'm not sure where would be the best place to run either, preferably where I wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb but also not too secluded as I'd be scared! Sounds like loads of reasons not to take part but I really would like to be able to run. I might see if I can get DH to take up running with me, we can get super fit together!

kid - I couldn't run either before C25K.

I used to go out early in the morning to avoid seeing people . I live in the middle of a big city, so it's impossible to be alone.

The thing with C25K is that to start with you can pretend you are just having a brisk walk .

I like the sound of brisk walking instead of running
I convinced myself I could run down my street the other day (I had to get home quickly as I had to collect DD from school) but I nearly died! I didn't even make it down the whole road. I could hardly breath as I crawled into the car.

Since going to the gym, I find that I recover from exercise quicker. Back in the beginning, it would take my breathing ages to return to normal. But now, on my way out of the gym, I'm fine.

Is there a particular one I should download onto my android phone? Or would it be better to do it on an ipod?

Hey Shredded you haven't eaten much since you got back (not compared with what I would've eaten) I would say you were very restrained! Well done on the 12.36km - impressive!

Welcome Mosschops and to you too Kid

I wasn't at all fit before I had my renaissance in January. I started with 30 Day shred in January, moved on to other Jillian DVDs before starting C25K at the end of April. I have NEVER been a runner and would prefer to wait for the next bus, as it were. By August I could run 6 miles/10km - happily. Go for it, stick with the programme, keep posting here and you'll be fine.

If you are well endowed invest in a good sports bra (available more cheaply on eBay). I put my enthusiasm to run down to having a good bra and (well they've got smaller now but) I had G sized puppies to hold down.

Don't worry about what you look like. Anyone who sees you and doesn't run will be feeling guilty and possibly envious, and anyone who sees you and does run will be thinking "good for her". I know I do.

I can't help with with the down loads as I used the Bupaplan and a watch (sorry a bit low tech!).

Jelli - you talk a lot of sense about what other people think. I do the "good for you" thing as well, and try to smile encouragingly at other runners.

Don't worry, I have an enormous pan of chilli on the stove and a huge potato baking in the over . DH is munching on pistachio nuts, but I have held back this evening. I'm distracting myself from his munching by taking notes on Freud and humour - my new OU course started 3 weeks ago

Welcome Kid, the others speak a lot of sense about what you can do, I would add that you can run as slowly as you like at first and improve speed later, I started by jogging at barely faster than walking speed. I'm not sure abou Android apps, I did it with the NHS choices podcasts on an IPod shuffle.

Hello kid, I have an android phone - I downloaded the podcast www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/couch-5K-running-plan.aspx straight onto my phone, and invested in some headphones with ear hooks, as the android ones kept falling out.

I am on W7 now, it's taken me ages to get this far as I keep missing weeks due to travelling for work or just a bit of laziness here and there. But overall I have stuck to it, and can, amazingly, run for 25 mins now. But I could not run for a minute to begin with. The programme builds up your running speeds at a really good pace, so it is very doable, and it's a great sense of acheivement to get to the end of a week and move onto the next.

Good luck with it.

that link doesn't seem to work. I tried searching for it from my phone but didn't come up with anything. What should i search for on google?

Kid try the link now I think Vanimal just muddled herself with her typing

Thanks, just downloaded it so I'm a step closer to actually doing it.
It won't be tonight as I've been to the gym. I think I'll give it a go on Wednesday and take dc to the park at the same time. I'll definitely feel like a right wally running around the park, but it will be worth it in the long run