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.

But Nell even if Molly was your personal trainer and dietician you would still need to wear your trainers and take them running and not just admire them as you pass by on the way to get more chocolate (Do you need more nagging????)

Hi All,

I've been a bit slack since Sunday as I haven't run since. I did manage to get a quick (L1) shred in this morning instead of staying in bed for a bit longer before work but I will try to get out and run in the morning tomorrow as I need to get a firm grip of myself !! Although I have just realised I have nothing to listen to my iPod with as DH and DS have both stolen taken their earphones back. I guess I need some of my own again to replace my broken ones.... Is it possible to run without music? I suspect I'll be listen to the sound of Huffing and Puffing while I run but lets hope Whinging and Moaning don't get up in time to come with me.

Sounds like some good progress has been made - well done everyone.

Jelli, you are doing so well with me. Keep going. You're like a little Gentle Jillian. It's sort of working in that I think about going now as opposed to dismissing it out of hand.

at Whinging and Moaning. I've got some of those too, and they also have nicked taken back their earphones and everyody knows you CANNOT possily go outside with all your running gear on and NO MUSIC. Your legs simply would not work. Would they?

I've got a day off today so after I've caught up on MN tackled the mountain of washing, ironing, housework and Trinity of Moaning, Whinging and Greetin' who are all off today grr, I'm going to run make things that I have pinned on Pinterest but not cakes.

Happy running everyone!

PS Jelli you need to get a grip of yourself. Slacker.

Shredded hope tomorrow goes well!

molly well done with 4/5 times a week - I hope for that when I graduate from THE PLAN.

maybe are you on Wk 7 now? Hows it going?

Jelli I'm hoping to get Shredding too soon!

Bafanga where are you up to now?

Hi Everyone else!!! Hope you're all enjoying your running (and thinking about running )

Done Wk7 R2 today - a bit easier than R1 but then didn't do yoga beforehand.I think I've proven to myself that I'm going to keep this lark up so when the money tree sprouts new leaves I reckon it's time to treat myself to some running shoes.Up till now I've been in some as new trainers from the charity shop for £3.75

Good luck shredded, we are all behind you!

Well it turns out you can run without something to listen too but as I am still spooked by weird cycle path cycleman, remember him? I ran near the roads today as it was only just getting light and I could hear the traffic noise. I think I prefer the sound of nature but will have to be braver to enjoy it .

This morning I stayed in bed longer than i intended so only ran for ~22 minutes instead of the half hour I was hoping for. Hey ho, another day on Sunday as tomorrow is 6W6P morning, before I get my hair cut and coloured - I am hoping for inspiration to tone up further and take more care of my bod!!! (Some hope!)

Nell I should have a bit more time to investigate Pinterthingy in the next week or so - I am intrigued.

Hope everyone manges a good long weekend run, including you Nell

Thank you for your good wishes. I am fuelling up with porridge and coffee.

just pulled my running tights on and discovered a HOLE in them.

Week 3 run 3 completed. And I really enjoyed it today. Felt like I could run forever and my legs felt strong. Feel quite excited about next week and having longer chunks of running to get in to.

I am finding this really easy to stick to. It doesn't seem to take much time out of my day and it doesn't feel like a hard slog.

Well done Prince, it's a good feeling when you get a run like that. I agree about it being easy to fit in to the day, much easier than say going to the gym, definitely one of the things I like about it.

Jelli - yes, I enjoyed my music free run the other night, was definitely easier to get a steady pace going.

Shredded - good luck with the run today.

Shredded hope you've had a fab day today! I hope you solved your holey tights crisis .

I did manage 6W6P this morning but I got up later than I had planned (see a pattern emerging yet?) as I had a caffeinated tea last night at 6pm and couldn't get to sleep till about 3am it was OK i filled my time MNing and playing pointless games online . But i am now sporting my new 'do' so am feeling inspired to do more exercise and eat less cheese more heathily.

Planning a longer run tomorrow - may be brave enough for the 6 miler if it is dry but no promises...

I survived!

31.41, so didn't break the wretched 30 min barrier. But according to magic sums they do to take into account advanced age like mine, I actually did it in 29.47 . I was 3075th overall, 175th in my age group out of 5347 runners altogether.

And it was actually fun!

That's brilliant, Shredded - well done! Hope you managed to sort out the hole crisis beforehand.

Jelli Good luck if you decide to go for the 6 miler tomorrow!

Nell Must admit I do like the design of the no. 7 bottles (and haven't had any problems so far, although that may be because I haven't quite got halfway down the VV yet) - so much so that I splashed out on another six while we were in London. (But they were 3 for 2 and I had two 5 pound vouchers, so really it would have been rude not to).

We're back home from my ILs a day earlier than planned as I forgot DS's inhalers and he was really badly affected by the dust/cats/combination of both, so I may be able to go out for a run tomorrow after all. Or otherwise Monday. Then again, Tuesday may be better as I'll have finished my work by then and Monday mornings are short enough as it is with DS's speech therapy.

Yay! Congratulations shredded, well done you old gimmer!

Linzer, good girl, glad to see you are making the most of your retail opportunities and to be perfectly frank, it would have been a waste of money if you hadn't used your Boots vouchers.

Anyway, your nails will look lovely as you're running along and that will make you happy and then you will go faster.

Good luck with your six miler tomorrow Jelli!

Well done shredded

Well done shredded. Looks fun. I'm fast getting addicted to races. It's like PRSP but x100. I ran in our wee parkrun this am - 5k in 30.38. Edging closer to my much vaunted sub 30 minutes. Dd1 has secondary school transfer exams 3 out of the next 4 Saturday mornings so won't be doing parkrun until December. Maybe that'll be the day??? I'm doing 10k in a fortnight though.

Love the idea of being a personal trainer but really haven't got the abs to be the new Gillian. In fact don't appear to have any abs at all.

Today's diet advice - don't eat a big takeaway curry the night before an early morning run. Really thought I was going to puke about halfway round. I'm at work tonight and v bored. But running with the club in the morning. Should be fun. Unless the sadist coach wants to do hills again...

Oh and the hole crisis was solved by wearing shorts on top of tights, as it was too jolly cold for shorts by themselves. It will be further resolved by a shopping jaunt in the next few days

Linzer - hope DS feels better soon, and that you get out at some point this week.

Nell - logic sounds perfick to me.

Jelli - go for it tomorrow and report back!

Well done those of you who are doing or have just done runs!!!!

Think it'll be a while before I partake.I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that my little excursions are so slow that its a bit of a p* take to call them runs really.I have a worked out 3 mile route to try when I'm up to 30 mins but I suspect it'll take quite a bit of extra practise to actually complete the route in that time!Never mind - its certainly better than just sitting on my bum!

molly, sorry I didn't see your post before. I can see how racing can be addictive

DH has signed up for a 15K in December, and I am seriously thinking about a 10K followed by a half marathon

No madder than me shredded

How reassured you might be by that statement is arguable!!!

Very reassured that I'm not the only one molly

I'm back!

It is a glorious morning here so I decided to go for it. Which was slightly rash as I have only run that distance twice and the last time was a couple of months a little while ago. Anyway I finished in 1:13 which was a little slower than I would like but overall a good run, but it did measure in at 10.2km.

As I say, the weather and scenery were fabulous, I even thought of you all as I ran down the hill looking at the valley before me with the village huddled next to the sparkling river all surrounded by the stunning colours in the autumn trees in the sunlight and wished I could put a photo up that wouldn't identify where i am . Anyway it looked fab, i didn't miss music but I did miss DH's company and I didn't notice any wildlife at all. Oh yes I ran all the way and I even managed to enjoy myself WHILE i was running after i had completed the mostly uphill first 2.5 miles.

Am tempted by you talk of PRSP x100 Molly - yikes!

Well done jelli! That sounds wonderful!

Just been out for my first run since London and my knee started hurting after about 3 km. It's a bit worrying as it's never actually hurt while I've been running before, only afterwards. I've got my annual medical next week so I'll ask the doctor about it then, but I'm slightly concerned about the way it's getting worse, esp. as I'm having plenty of rest in between runs.

Well done on your run Jelli, it sounded fab.

Very impressed at you even thinking about a half-marathon, Shredded.

Nell Your logic makes perfect sense to me. I am sure the lilac varnish I was sporting today (perfectly coordinated with my berry-coloured top) helped me to carry on going even when I was tempted to give up.

Ironically, I didn't find the running too difficult after my knee started hurting (well, apart from my knee obviously) - I didn't feel out of breath or too tired, although I'd found the first half of my run quite hard work. Mind you, my knee was probably taking my mind off everything else. No PRSP today; just feeling a bit fed up.

Sorry about your knee Linzer. When I went to my bad back strengthening class the other night I found they had changed the times round and I was actually at a class for dodgy knees (bad back one was afterwards) so I stayed and did the knee stuff, there were lots of very good exercises for strengthening knees, maybe you need some of those, I would take a bit of medical advice first though. Interestingly there were a lot of parallels in both classes with the stuff that DS has to do as part of his OT programme for strengthening his core.

I am thinking of buying one of these wobble boards for DS and I to do some core / knee stuff on.

Thanks, WhoKnows. I'm hobbling about at the moment and going downstairs is quite painful; it probably wasn't the best idea to carry on running after my knee started hurting (although it didn't really hurt to start with, it was just a bit uncomfortable).

I'm wondering if doing the Shred barefoot was what started it all off, even if it was only for a few days. I managed to run for nearly six months without any problems so it's very frustrating for this to happen now. Yes, knee strengthening exercises would probably be a good idea - will see what the doctor says next week.