Couch to 5k 2011: Part 5 - Polished and Ready to Run

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Yet more space for us to talk about our progress on the Couch to 5K programme, the clothes 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! Although this thread has been going for a year now some of us are re-doing the Couch to 5K, some of us are relatively new, some are doing half marathons already, we are a good mix and would love to hear from anyone who would like to run with us. Just jump in whatever stage you are at.

Just got back from run 2 of week 4 and did slightly better. I ran the first 3 min and the 5 min runs, but I had to walk a tiny bit (I counted to 5) during the second 3 min run and the second 5 mins run. Though I got further than last time without walking (ie I didnt pause the Ipod so I could walk for longer before the first 5 min run and I ran the whole 5 mins this time) so it must be some improvment though I changed my route and the hills weren't quite as steep.

The one thing that kept me going through the first 5 min run was that I wanted to come back on here afterwards to tell you I did it, but I didnt. I think I will be repeating this week :( Im not going to do week 5 if I cant do week 4.

Have got my running club tomorrow night so will see how that goes. Im going more for the social aspect (as Ive not lived here long and need to make some friends and meet some new people) and the view to carry on my running with them once Im up to running 30 mins non-stop. My plan is to go to the club when they meet on Tues and Thurs evenings and to run on my own on Sundays. Though have got the C25K to do first.

Hope everyone is doing well with their runs. Its getting addictive this running malarky and I enjoy it too NeilsBoar

w5r2 which depsite being 2x 8 minute runs was SO much easier than w5r1 - I find the stop start iness of the earlier weeks more tiring than just keeping going (although you do need those weeks to build up some stamina ). Quite looking forward to r5 now .

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes thanks for the tips about nailvarnish, I will give it a try, four days sounds brilliant to me, I like painting my nails but usually they last a few hours before chipping sets in.

I did week6 R1 last night, after doing the 20 mins run in week 5 run 3 three times (the podcasts for weeks 1+2 didn't download properly and wouldn't work), and it was strange to go back to stopping and starting. Funnily enough, my legs feel more tired this morning than after the 20 mins runs, I think the stopping and starting is more tiring than a continuous run because you think more about time passing (with longer runs I just start forgetting the time and the time passes quickly). The running is getting addictive.

Don't feel like going to work today. The kids and DH are going out for the day because their school is shut for voting day, and it doesn't feel fair!

Good luck everybody with your runs and don't give up!

I feel shattered just reading your posts Neil, I am v impressed with your training.i did lol at you wearing your tri suit in the pool though - sorry!

FB - there is nothing wrong with repeating runs. I need to feel comfortable with a run before I move onto the next one, so sometimes I have repeated the same run three times. I want running to be a lifestyle change so it doesn't matter if I take 9 months to do 5k rather than 9 weeks. As my parents would have said 'it's not a race', unless of course you are actually running in a race

I agree that the stop start thing is harder than continuous running.

I managed 2 x 8 minutes last night, I really surprised myself

Ishall and another thanks for telling us that the stopping and starting is more tiring than the longer runs. I know Im not going to be doing week 5 next week so I am tempted to do my last run on week 4 as a long run just to see how long I can run for. Instead of listening to Laura I will put on some music and just run. What do we think? Im going to repeat week 4 next week anyway and I wont run any longer than what I can handle and will do the 5 min walk at each side of the run, it will just be to see how long I can actually run for without stopping.

Also do you take a drink out with you? Ive been taking a running bottle of water, but Laura has given me the impression that you only really need to have a drink once you've finished your run.

x posts there ILike Im not racing anybody either and it doesn't matter how long it takes. Id like to be a good runner by next winter though so if I cant get out for a few days it doesn't matter. Once Im up to running 5K I may start racing myself, by either trying to beat my best time or by trying to run further, but for now its just building myself up to it :)

another I have the same problem with my nails - despite applying a base coat, two coats of polish and a top coat, it's rare for them to last longer than a day without chipping. I had them done by a beautician friend a couple of months ago and they didn't last much longer, which was reassuring and frustrating at the same time!

FB I've never taken water out with me; I usually just have a drink when I come back. I seem to remember someone saying on this thread ages and ages ago that you don't really need to take water out with you unless you're running for an hour or more.

Am up to Week 8 now and ran for 25 minutes yesterday following my adapted NHS/Bupa plan. I must admit that I'm concentrating on speed as much as anything at the moment as I really want to beat my time in last year's race, although I still have around 6 weeks before this year's town run. DH has helpfully announced that he's going to be in Prague that weekend, so I've arranged for the children to go over to the neighbours' - I'm not sure whether they'll all be coming to watch (the wife is running too). The DDs have decided to enter the children's race 2.5 hours after the main race, so I really need to get out with them and start training, as I have the feeling that expecting them suddenly to run 1.5k might come as a bit of a shock to the system for them.

ILike to be fair, I was already doing 40-60 miles per week on the bike just commuting and getting around so I've only added 3 runs, 2 swims and 1 long bike ride per week (actually that still sounds like a lot!) I'm sleeping well though (when not rudely awakened by DS)

Fart what I've found, subjectively, is that the stopping and starting runs had more impact on my overall fitness than the long runs; once I've got W8 done then I think I'll go back to stop start runs to try and improve my fitness further - but it would explain why you find them tiring. As for water, I tend to take water with on anything over 30 mins - under that I don't bother. Over 60 mins and I like to take something with some calories in, not necessarily a sports drink; I use diluted fruit juice.

Afternoon all,

I agree that the stop start runs are harder too, when I got past week 5 it seemed like a real breakthrough. When I got past week 9 I hadn't reached 5k in 30 mins, so I did weeks 2 to 5 again to try and improve my speed and it really helped.

Well, sad news for me. My pelvic floor has headed south to such an extent that my GP has told me no more running and I have been referred for surgery . I have had a few problems since the birth of DS, and was told a few years ago that I would almost certainly need surgery at some point. Things have been gradually getting worse over the last month and noticeably worse over the last couple of days, so I am hanging up my sports bra for now. I'm going to really miss it, but I will keep lurking on this thread and pop in now and then with some words of wisdom about nail varnish. Looking on the bright side, a friend had similar last summer and has run two half marathons in the last couple of months, so hopefully I will get back to it at some point, in the meantime I will live vicariously via this thread!

Oh no whoknows hope that you make a speedy recovery and you are out running again ASAP.

Do you have to eat like a horse to fuel all of the running/swimming/cycling?

How does the stop start running improve your fitness?

Sorry to hear that whoknows, but it is a positive step that you are getting referred. Fingers crossed it is soon so your running bra doesn't gather too much dust.

whoknows sorry to hear that. Hope you recover quickly. Any wisdoms about nail varnish tips or anything else are very welcome in the meantime.

NeilsB I am in awe!

Iliketomoveit I have heard that the stop and starting stuff improves fitness/speed, but I would like to know why too. Back in the last decade, in what feels like another place and time and universe, when I was a sporty teenager and on the running squad of my secondary school, we used to do lots of interval training and sprints, but nobody ever knew why. I have always tended to take the line that the only logical thing to do when training was to run until you were too knackered to go any further.

I never take a drink with me on runs, because I hate having to carry anything, and I don't go for long runs anyway.

Anyway, I am alone at home, with a good hour of peace and quiet before the kids and DH come home, I am going to do a bit of online window shopping for running gear - now I am in week 6 I think it time to upgrade from my baggy tracksuit bottoms and T-shirts into something a bit more stylish. Have my eye on a pair of Nike loose cotton track pants, but at £28 they are way more than I would usually pay for anything like this.

Oh dear whoknows that's not good; still at least hopefully you'll be able to get back to it. In the meantime you could always take up cycling and/or swimming and then when you get back to it you could do a triathlon!

ILike well, I've been trying to lose quite a bit of weight, I have gone from a 40, at best, inch waist down to a 32 inch waist; I still have somewhere between 6 and 12 pounds to lose I think. According to fatsecret, which I'm using to track calories, I use between 2700 and 3900 calories a day and I'm eating around 1000 less than that and its quite a bit of food - I usually get to the end of dinner and tot it up and find out I 'have' to have some post dinner snacks It is actually a bit daunting how much I'm going to have to eat when I want to stop losing weight!

I've no idea why stop-start works; but interval training has been around for a long time and there was a load of stuff in the media about high intensity interval training being ridiculously efficient at building fitness - see here

Anyway was out again today, only 30 mins on the bike, failed to get a swim in due to failing to take any money/wallet with (or rather thinking I had as I found some in my bag later) and taking calls from work. Did do another 4k run (W7R3), did it on grass this time as I'd been feeling some soreness in my shins again - unfortunately I found some boggy bits and my lovely, pretty trainers are now brown And it added about 4 or 5 seconds per km to my run, either that or its the last run of the week and I need some rest days (tomorrow and Saturday).

I am doing a lot at the moment; my first triathlon is in 10 days now!!! What I'm starting to think about now is what to do after that...

Thanks everyone. Swimming definitely has to be on the agenda, cycling is going to have to wait. I'm in two minds about the pilates, will have to ring up the teacher for a chat I think.

That's another depressing thing, I won't be able to justify eating as much with no running to use up the calories. Never mind.

Hello, can I join this thread? I used to do a lot of sport - then I had children! Would run 10k three times a week to keep fit for weekends of road cycling, mountain biking and mountain climbing.

DD (DC2 and last) is 6 months old and I did w4 r2 this morning. I've been managing a c25k week in a week so far, but usually have to do at least one run a week with DD in her buggy. Beginning to feel a bit fitter, only 4 months left to get back into work clothes.

Welcome BRS, sounds like you know what you are doing already, unlike me who is clueless and just manages to shuffle along

I use this and my finger nails don't chip for at least 3-4 days, tis pricey but lasts for ages and does the trick

Thats some impressive weight loss NeilB , well done you. DH is a runner and mostly runs cross country to keep the injuries at bay. As soon as he runs on roads for an extended period he gets sore ankles.

MadameB - I have been wearing Next's own brand (NX) of sports wear and so far I have been impressed, however I don't have any proper sports brands to compare them to.

Ive just come back from my first meeting at my running group and I really enjoyed it. We walked/jogged a mile. It was really fun and I was a little disappointed when we had come back to the clubhouse as that meant the running was over. The group wasn't as busy as usual tonight because some people were part of a off-road running group and they had gone out into the countryside (Im not sure where) to run quite far. I think most people run for about 30 mins then go back to the clubhouse where they have a drink and biscuits.

The lady telling us what to do was giving us some advice about some daily exercise to help strengthen the knees. She said to stand with feet hip width apart and just bend the knees 30 times. Also another exercise to stand again in same position, feet hip width apart and to raise onto the balls of the feet 20 times. She said she was given these to do by a physiotherapist when she first started running to help stop the knees becoming painfull as apparently the muscle needs building up a bit.

So now my plan is to go out sat to see how far I can run without stopping, just out of interest and also to see my improvement in a few weeks, then to start week 4 again next week and to go to my club on a Thursday evening. So I will be running Mon, Wed morning, Thurs Evening and Sats from now on. Is that OK do we think?

Madame I got my clothes from Sports Direct. Cant remember what I paid for the leggings, but it was £6 for the hi-viz pink top.

the running club sound lovely FB. I have no idea about the amount of runs you are planning. I think everyone is different and as long as you don't start getting aches and pains then you should be ok.

I have read the link (thanks neilB) but I am still none the wiser. I am running on a treadmill so I'm running at a constant pace, however I still find it harder to do short bursts

This has nothing to do with running, but I am just watching a programme about a giant snake and it is bloody massive

Ilike you really made me laugh with your giant snake :).

Ilike and FartB thanks for the tips about shops - I went into my local Next today but they didn't do sports clothing in that branch, but Sports Direct was great! Got some grey trousers for £6 and a bright florescent orange T-shirt for £7, perfect both of them. I thought the brightness of the orange could deflect from the post-run redness of my face. Tried then out just now on W6 R2, and I feel that maybe maybe I have managed to sneak my way into the ranks of proper runners!

Whoknows I did pilates for a while and really liked it, but for me it had a lot to do with the instructor - there was this great lady doing it, very funny with a wonderful soft voice, but then she left and her replacement and I didn't gel, so I stopped going.

BikeSkiRun welcome!

I am off to have a sitdown now and see whether I can find any giant snakes on TV. Enjoy your weekend everybody.

The snake comment was a bit random wasn't it?!

madamB - I bought my stuff from Next online, seems I probably should have mentioned that

I have news. I ran 20 minutes non stop last night. 20 minutes. Non stop. I am not sure how I managed it, but I did. I could just about run for a minute a couple of months ago

yey well done ILike Im testing myself today to see how long I can run for non-stop (obviously after a 5 min warm up walk) then to repeat week 4 next week.

I did 13 minutes I would have been upset if I had done less than 8, but wanted to do 10. Got to 9 and decided to go for 12 then at 12 went a bit longer. I am so pleased with myself. Then again when I got to 10 I was coming to a hill so I turned round in order to make it easier for myself.

Its probably about right as C25K suggests running 30 mins by 9 weeks and as I am about to start week 4 again Im not quite half way there so Im doing ok I think.

In all honesty I might have managed a bit longer if I had someone there encouraging me, pushing me. Though as I didnt I decided to stop at 13 as I had past the time I wanted to get to before I left the house. I found the worst bit was between 2 and 5 mins. I think thats because I knew I still had quite a way to go, but once I got to 5 I was half way there. By the time I had finished running (including my 5 min walk before running 13 mins) I had covered 1.74 miles. So all in all a good run.

Well done FB

I am terrible for clock watching when running. So last night I said that I wouldn't look at the clock until 4 songs had passed, which by then at least 12 minutes would have passed. Luckily those 4 songs were 14 minutes in total, which felt like a nice surprise!

I would have turned around if there was a hill looming too

I only managed 18 minutes of W5r3 as a Big Hill appeared in front of me . Will redo on Monday but with a different route

I have not been logging in for a little while as I felt like a fraud as I have barely run for a few weeks. I had a throat infection (which I didn't feel I'll with but there was definitely an infection there, which also gave me a tight, phlegmy chest, sorry if tmi!) and a forced changed to my routine and longer days which meant exercising was difficult at all, let alone running in all that weather. Anyway back to normal (ha ha) now......

I have done a couple of days of Jillian and had my first run for two weeks today - it was hard work and I chose a flat, shallow hulled run! My legs were heavy, and my head wasn't much into it but I did a 'there and back' run and I was slow out and respectable (for me) coming back, so overall I am quite happy about it.

Moveit that's the sort of deal I broker in my head too!

Welcome to anyone new