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.

So, I started my speed training this morning (while ds was having a nap)

I was making it up as I went along really. I started off with a brisk walk warm up, then ran 5 mins at a slightly faster pace than normal. Then done a minute of close to flat out running as my fat little legs could manage, a minute walk, a minute flat out etc etc. Done that for about 6 repetitions then finished off with a 5 minute jog at my usual pace (which felt really slow) and a 5 minute brisk walk.

I was paranoid that the builders next door were going to arrive and point and laugh at the red faced sweaty bird on the treadmill. Luckily they were late today.

Neil that is amazing! Well done! Re. week 8 of Laura - I did Run 1 of week 8 last night, and the music is dreadful (after week 7, where the music seemed OK overall), so you have clearly not missed anything. I am going to switch to my own playlists from now on.

Hello to new people and returnees - great to see all these people on the thread, must be spring in the air!

Ilike Good luck with your speed training. Just to let you know - I had a great evening out, came home at 2.30, AND the nailpolish still looked great! More importantly, it survived making pancakes on Sunday morning, doing the weeks' wash, and then what seemed like an endless afternoon chaperoning a manic and adrenalised DD through her dance exams followed by a trip to the park, and when I sat down on Sunday night to catch up with my missed episodes of 'The Bridge' I could only find one chip on it that needed touching up. It is magic stuff, and I am a complete convert.

I have just come back from doing week 5 run 2 and I can certainly feel the progress. After I had finished my second 8 min run I felt like I hadnt pushed myself enough so I ran a third time for 8 mins (after the 5 min walk inbetween).

Run 3 next, but Im doing that with the running club on Thurs night then to week 6 next week, bring it on!!!!!

Hi all

Well done fb I thought it was a hell of an achievement running 8 mins without stopping. Very of running club as I have no such option.

Madamebutterfly good to hear you enjoyed the night out and

Iliketo well done on speed training, sounds hard!

Well w6r2 done today, two 10 min runs and I was knackered but just kept thinking that if I did a single 20 min run last week then I can sure as hell do this!

Saying that, day 3 on Friday will be a 22 min run and I'm scared!!!

FB I'm at pretty much the same stage as you. Did week5 run 2 this morning and though I thought it was OK - I didn't feel compelled to run another 8 mins! Mind you we walked the kids from school a couple of miles yesterday to see the queen and spend hours standing around so I felt like i'd done a marathon by the time I got home!

Nervous about 20 min run on Friday but oddly keen to try.I too plan to switch to something with better music once I've done week 6 or 7 then after week 9 (assuming I get that far!) go back and do interval training using the earlier weeks again.

Lupus - if you can do the 20 min run at the end of week 5 you must be able to do 22 mins.

Did w4 run 2 today. It was a killer. If it wasn't for a fortuitous Jaykay on my iPod I may have cut short the 2nd 5 min run.

I was genuinely out of breath and sweaty/puce which felt good, as normally I don't have the willpower to get beyond 'puffed'

Please tell me it gets easier! I'm signed up for a race for life in July with fitter friends, and my gloaty sister who's 15 years older than me and takes great delight in her prowess

at competative siblings gnomeland. My sister does triathlons and I have held of telling her I'd started running to avoid the inevitable (unfavorable) comparisons.

I should have done w3r2 yesterday but DH wasn't home so I couldn't go. And we have visitors so I didn't get the chance today either, and it's rained so all paths have turned to mud which I don't much fancy. It's looking like Friday will be my first chance . I really don't want to loose momentum.

my sister ran the London marathon this year aged 51 and for her fiftieth birthday climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. I gave up competing the sibling race some time ago!

Ooh so there's time for me yet then. I decided the other day that I was going to do the great north run before Im 40 (Im 33). Im really considering it the time after this next one. Ive always fancied it so Im going to do it. Never fancied the marathon, but I suppose you should never say never. Id love to climb Kilimanjaro, I dont think it counts doing the Kilimanjaro program on a tredmill at the gym though.

itcouldbe I bet you find it easy.

gnome I had to repeat week 4 as I didnt manage to do the first 2 runs and yes it does get easier. As I said on my last post I did run2 of week 5 and an extra 8 min run. And to think during my first ever run (run 1 week 1) I thought about giving up and going home part way through. Keep at it.

Hope everyone continues to run.

kewcumber

maybe I should. I think I get very self-conscious. I have lots of friends who are also very sporty and in the past I have tended to rebel against it.

I need to get over myself really and stop thinking about other people and remember everybody starts somewhere!

gnome it really does get easier! And - it gets soooo much easier when you start using your own playlists.

OK, so no pretense at modesty from me - I am very pleased with myself - today I used my Nike+ Fitness app on my ipod for the first time, and I ran for 30.12 mins, pace 5.28 min/km, a total of 5.53 km. Only problem is that I have not calibrated the speed/distance on the Nike+, so this could all be completely inaccurate.

I never thought I would be running 30 mins without collapsing. I still find the first 5 mins really difficult though.

gnome school put me off sports, as I was never really any good at anything - I could muster just barely average as a swimmer, playing tennis and some of the distance runs, but for everything else I was one of those who didn't get picked for teams until last... Thankfully they never did cycling at school or I might have been put off that too. I'm trying not to compare myself with other people too much now, I guess being older gives you a bit more confidence in yourself...

another well done on the long run, decent pace too and you never know with the calibration it may be even faster

kew I was nervous about the 20 min run - in the end it was actually ok, my only problem was because I'd been using distance round a track rather than the podcasts I got quite bored so had to start taking music out after that.

Anyway, I had planned to start doing warm up run, intervals, cool down run twice a week with a long cycle/run on Sunday. So on Tuesday I went out and did 2.5k and part way round my right calf felt a bit tight/sore - I carried on and did 4 mins of Tabata method, but by the end I knew I'd injured myself

Have been ice-ing and resting since and it seems ok but a little stiff today so I did 1 km in the pool before work including some interval work in the middle - instead of the run I planned for the afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to run again on Sunday.

I feel a little unfocused at the moment; preparing for my first triathlon I had a plan of C25K runs, cycle rides and swims and would tick them off as I approached 'D-Day'. The 'anal' part of me wants a new plan/goal...

Neilsboar I know what you mean about following a plan, I find it much easier to stick to exercising when I have a plan to follow, sometimes I have a wobble when I am just exercising ....

Stick with it everyone wondering if they can cope. You CAN do it, sure it can be tough, but you can follow the programme and finis it. It feels fab when you do.

I started the c25k programme over a year ago but went to the gym for the first time yesterday and used a treadmill for the first time (barring using one at the shoe shop for gait analysis). How peculiar, I am not sure if I am a fan as it must be hugely tedious but can see they have a place. I shall return I think.....

Happy running everyone and keep going!

Ahem...

I did it!!

22 mins and I didn't die!!!

Apparently I ran 2.12 miles in that time so am thinking I might get to 5k in 30 mins by the end of it.

This is the longest I've stuck with the programme in over 2 years of trying, on and off.

Neils I can understand what you mean about new goals, hope you find one soon.

Jelli I have free unlimited gym access here at work but only went once ages ago as I got bored to tears, much prefer the open air but yes treadmills do definitely have a place.

I have free unlimited gym access here at work

FB nothing to he jealous of as the same rights to the gym apply to the students. The thought of them laughing at me while I turn an attractive shade of purple on the treadmill is so not worth it.

Id love to have access to a gym, but can't afford it. Although if I was in a gym, would i be running? I doubt it, Id be on the cross trainer most of the time.

Anyway well done itcould

Ive actually been looking today at 5K to 10K plans, Im just over half way the C25K. I think Im just going to add and extra 5 mins to my runs every so often (weekly or fortnightly maybe). Though I think I need to get to 30 mins first, Im getting a bit ahead of myself Ive even looked into the great north run

I used the gym that we have unlimited free access to through DHs job but as I say it's the first time I've used it . but I think I will go back, unfortunately it is a way away so I have to be in the right area at the right time to make use of it....

No running for me today, but I did get Ripped with Jillian instead so not completely hopeless. I plan to run tomorrow though.

FartBlossom I used this Bupa plan to convert to 10k. I did it straight after their 5k plan and just did week 3 for the first three weeks as it seemed like a backward step otherwise. I just used a stopwatch and walkjogrun to monitor progress as I am low tech!

I did it!!! Week 5 run 3 20 minutes running non stop.
I cannot believe I am now fit enough to do that and not die
Afterwards! I found the first 5 minutes the worst thought I wasn't going to be able to do it, but by half way through I knew I could. Felling very pleased with myself.
kewcumber how did you get on?
I am in awe of so many on this thread!

Thanks for the link jellibelli I will definately look at that. Just been comparing week 1 of that compared to week 6 of C25K, I think I might do week 6 and then start the Bupa 10K one. Surely if I can run non-stop for 20 mins it wont be too bad running 15, but timing myself. Im just scared of timing myself as when I tried a program a couple of years ago I was timing myself and the time really dragged for the 3 min runs (I didnt get any farther then ) and thats what I blame for giving up so early.

Just been out for the day, I live in the country so I looked at the millage in the car when I turned off the dual carriageway into the country road and compared it to where I start running after my 5 min walking warm up. It is 3.2 miles so to run there and back is a little over 10K so thats my goal. I can't wait.

No running today, but out tomorrow for week 5 run 3, a little nervous and still haven't decided if Im going to listen to Laura or my playlist and time myself.

Well done PopPig The rest is easy :) So Im telling myself anyway.

Just a 3miler for me today. The sun is shining and the garden jobs are waiting so I can't linger! Lovely day but an unsatisfying run, I borrowed DHs mp3 player and couldnt change tracks very easily, the ear buds kept falling out, it weighed down that pocket and made me feel wonky, I was in to wind on the way out AND back , and it was hard work and I was slow. Hey ho! Another day on Tuesday......

Well done PopPig!

Jelli I don't know about you, but I find the ones like that (headwinds, rain etc.) are the ones that feel best afterwards, i.e., the sense of achievement for having got to the end...

Good luck FB

Going our for about 5k later, assuming my calf holds up, I thought I'd got over it, but picked DS up onto my shoulders a bit enthusiastically yesterday and could feel it still wasn't 100%...

I got bored of my interval/speed training and did 22 minutes instead this morning. It felt easier than my last 22 mins, I felt I probably had a couple of more minutes in me, I kept the same pace for the whole run and i recovered quicker when I was doing the warm down. So, 3x 25 mins this week.

Happy running

Morning all, lots of good running on this thread this week!

DH and I did our half marathons yesterday. We had to get up at 5.00 to get to the start for 6.00 for bag drop etc, and had to be in our starting corrals by 6.20. Then 40 mins of faffing before we could start. I should have used the 40 mins to go to the loo, because once we started I had to stop and get in a long queue at mile 1, which meant I was even further back than where I'd started .

It was a really nice course, not as hilly as where we usually run (so we managed the hills without a problem), and a very flat last stretch down to the beach. DH finished in 1.45 and change, having set himself the goal of under 2 hours - woo hoo! I finished in 2.42 and change, with the goal of under 2.45. Fortunately DH bumped into a friend and hung out with him for 45 mins while waiting for old slowcoach . I got horrible cramps in my calves at mile 12, and ran through them, and again at the finish, where I employed mind over matter to stop me falling over. It was really hot by then. Quite a few of the regular posters on the New York Road Runners FB page have also posted about cramps and wondering if it was a result of the heat, so I feel in good company .

It was really well organised with water and gatorade stations very mile, which was great for keeping me going (I kept telling myself that I'd stop for a breather at the next water station instead of giving up when I felt like stopping, particularly towards the end). Because of the heat, and because I was so undertrained I did stop at each station and have both gatorade and water which - along with some sports gels every 45 mins or so - kept me going.

Bizarrely I now feel really motivated to improve my speed (have been trying without success, mainly as I haven't been trying that hard). So I'm going to go back to the half marathon training plan I followed for my January half and try it again.

And - fame at last - I made it into one of the pictures on the NYRR website. Sadly it's of my behind crossing the finish line. Luckily I'm partially obscured by someone even fatter than me .

jelli I need some Jillian advice. I've just bought 6W6P - how often should I be doing it to get results?