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Original poster

Couch to 5K- the first day of the rest of your life :)

999 replies

cinnamongreyhound · 07/03/2013 08:23

Come and join us if you're thinking about starting, have started or have finished and are loving running! Lots of support, advice and general cheering on for everyone. Find the old thread here.

OP posts:
SarahWithAFringeOnTop · 13/04/2013 15:15

I know just what you mean about "felling" your knee pennygallops and FHTM - I can feel one of mine too, just inside and slightly above the knee. I keep hoping it will go away...

Went out this morning - it was a lovely morning and I think I got the best of the day because it's trying to rain now Sad Hope it will be better tomorrow. It is just so nice to be able to go out without hat, gloves, buff wrapped round my nose and mouth... Smile

dementedma · 13/04/2013 15:50

Started R25K again and done W1R2 today. I use the NHS podcast on my iPod but now I have an iPhone 4. How can I use the programme with my own music?

jchocchip · 13/04/2013 20:43

another slow parkrun for me today. Lovely sunny morning for it though...

jchocchip · 13/04/2013 20:44

I think you need an app that lets you play your own music. I only used the nhs podcasts.

fromheretomaternity · 13/04/2013 21:14

I have the zenlabs app and I can listen to my own music. Though I realise now what a poor selection of music I have - so am sometimes listening to the radio instead - Today Programme a few times now!

toriap2 · 14/04/2013 07:58

I have just done my first run and am feeling good.

JH1967 · 14/04/2013 11:23

Well done toriap2

I finished week 2 yesterday, so start week 3 tomorrow, it will be my first run in the morning before work as I have been off for Easter holidays. Should be ok though.

toriap2 · 14/04/2013 14:43

Well done! I hope it goes well. I am looking forward to my next run

Original poster
cinnamongreyhound · 14/04/2013 19:30

Well done toriap2 and welcome!!

Well Ive been out and done 7 1/2 min tonight. Wasn't as painful as Friday and I'm not in agony now which is much better! Will have a go at a bit longer assuming I'm not in too much pain tomorrow. Last day of holiday tomorrow, so will be swimming in the morning, crazy golf in Yarmouth and then home. Will try to run I were home at a decent time :)

OP posts:
pennygallops · 14/04/2013 20:52

Welcome toriap2 and well done JH1967.

Good to hear your injury is on the mend cinnamon. I haven't been for a run today, I've had my MIL and dad over for lunch. I'm going out tomorrow.

UmBongo · 14/04/2013 22:57

Well done cinnamon I am pleased you are starting to get out again. I have done w2r3 tonight. Very windy, but warmer than last week.

BIWI · 14/04/2013 23:29

Off out tomorrow, hopefully, for Week 9/Run 1. My first 30 minute run!

olrojo · 15/04/2013 13:29

I'm thinking of doing thec25k. It's been 7 years and four children since I ran that far but I need to get fit. My question is - how do you time it without constantly looking at a watch or is a good sports watch just part of it?!

BIWI · 15/04/2013 14:11

Download Get Running, a free C25K app. It tells you when to start running and gives you times as you run/when to stop.

NurseEzzzaChapel · 15/04/2013 14:19

Thanks everyone for your congrats and encouragement. Smile

olrojo, the NHS Podcast is free to download. I started using that. The coach is called Laura and she tells you when to run and when to walk, so all you need is a decent pair of runners and an mp3 player. At week 3 I started making my own playlists using songs that were the right length so I could listen to my own music but still knew when to run and when to walk (my phone is prehistoric so I can?t download any of the couch to 5k apps that tell you when to run and when to walk while letting you listen to your own music, but if you have a smartphone of some kind you can probably get an app for it). Do jump in and have a go. I honestly couldn?t run 200 metres when I started this and now (on my good days) I can run for 5k.

Well done for starting toriap2! JH1967, fromheretomaternity, dementedma, UmBongo and BIWI well done on your runs and of course to all you fellow graduates whose ranks I have just joined. Smile These threads are keeping me going.

Just back from my first postgraduate run! I only managed to get out and run once last week and I think it?s because I?m pushing myself to do better and better each time and losing the fun of it. So today I left my watch at home and put my iPod on shuffle so that I couldn?t be tempted to time my run and just tried to make it to that tree I noted last Wednesday.

There were points when I thought I was going to give up early, but remembered posts on here about how fitness levels are often higher than the mind thinks they are so pushed through it. I started off by focussing on some of the reasons I was out there in the first place: good for physical and mental health and because I?m really enjoying the changing shape of my body that the running is helping with. Like others I haven?t found the running has done much to help with weight loss, but I?m doing something else for that anyway, but I have noticed that my legs and bum are a much better shape since I started the running. I think I?ve gone from a vaguely female blob to what I like to think of as a bronze statue wearing a very thickly padded catsuit. Grin Okay, so I?m not quite that ripped underneath the flubber but it?s definitely shaping up. I keep poking myself in the gut because that used to be squishy all the way, but now the squishy layer is sitting on top of some muscle. Grin So I kept distracting myself from thinking about the discomfort of the running and soon enough I was at that tree I was aiming for! Grin

Next goals: 1) try and run all the way to that tree again and 2) try to enjoy the running again after this recent blip.

BIWI · 15/04/2013 14:32

Yes, if you have Get Running, you can still listen to your own music. The voice-over comes over the music to tell you the times.

Just done my first run of week 9 today! Not quite 5K. I also downloaded Map My Run, which tells me that I ran 4.44K today, with a pace of 6.48. By my calculations, I need to run 32.5 minutes to reach the 5K. (Or to run the 30 minutes faster Grin)

Shewhojuggles · 15/04/2013 15:32

Well done BIWI - week 9 Grin

Hi toriap2 well done on your first run. I found this group recently too. I'm going for W2R2 later and cant wait! The sun is shining here and i ran on saturday without gloves for the first time since last October Smile

I also follow the weight loss threads and have looked into my local park run which i'm going to aim for in a few weeks. I'm using the NHS podcasts (on iPhone) because i find Laura motivational but i also run the Sports Tracker app in the background so i know how far i have run and the time. I downloaded Runkeeper app too which allows you to listen to your music and maps time/distance but it doesnt tell me when to run/walk which i like about the NHS one. Once I'm running continuously I'll probably play my music and run Sports Tracker in the background still (you can set it to interrupt the music at lap intervals - mile markers - and it tells you time/pace etc).

NurseEzza really hope it starts to get enjoyable again for you.

Hope you are feeling ok cinnamon and not doing too much?

dementedma · 15/04/2013 21:19

W1R3 completed in the pissing rain with a lot of shin pain. Got good trainers so don't know what the problem is.

Original poster
cinnamongreyhound · 15/04/2013 23:11

I second everyone else really olrojo, used nhs podcasts and an app called 5k runner, which you can use your own music. Ran it along side runkeeper for distance and speed, mine was set to 5 min intervals so every 5 mins she told me distance and pace. Once I was on 30 mins solid just used my music on shuffle and runkeeper. Now I run with my friend a lot I use endomondo as she does and that's good too.

Well done NurseEzzzaChapel, sounds like you've found a way through to the next step of enjoyin running because you enjoy running. I found it hard to stop running for a goal and just to run but its great now I can!

Well done BIWI that's faster than my first 5k, good pace :)

I'm doing ok thanks for asking Shewhojuggles. Been out for 13 mins tonight. Was fine to start with but was getting sorer, got lots of waking tomorrow so didn't want to push it. GPS crapped out so no idea of pace but not too painful now so all getting there. May have said already my club have a handicapped 5 k weds evening, not sure if I should/will attempt it. See how tomorrow goes I guess, was training last time that did in me in when I knew I shouldn't really have gone, hmmmmmm what to do!

OP posts:
Original poster
cinnamongreyhound · 15/04/2013 23:13

Well done dementedma for going in the rain! No idea about shin pain I'm afraid so can't give any advice. Have you looked it up at all?

OP posts:
dementedmom · 16/04/2013 09:35

Shin splints? I suffered with this but I did run in the wrong shoes when running late trying to get somewhere, so that caused mine (and it is absolute AGONY! Never again will I run in the wrong shoes!)

BIWI · 16/04/2013 12:11

dementedma - what surface have you been running on? I had this when I reached the longer runs - 20 minutes - and I had been mostly running on the pavement. I switched to running in the park so I can run mostly on grass/muddy paths now, as there is less impact.

I still get a little pain but nothing like I used to.

Did you have your gait analysed when you bought your shoes?

fromheretomaternity · 16/04/2013 20:45

Demented yes definitely sounds like shin splints, I had it once, it's agony. I can't really add to the advice except to say it's not just having good shoes, it's the right ones for you, so if you haven't done gait analysis it's worth it.

Cinnamon sounds very frustrating, hope your recovery continues!

I was out this morning before work for W3D2 wearing my brand new knee brace - I found it made a huge difference. It keeps the knee really warm (my knees hate the cold) and supported. It didn't hurt on the way round and has been mostly fine all day. I'm still going to try to see a physio to get some advice, but I'm much more hopeful now.

I am really enjoying going out in the mornings rather than evenings, it's a great way to start the day (and there is that feeling of smugness that I am up and out before the rest of the household is even awake!)

SarahWithAFringeOnTop · 16/04/2013 20:58

Wow, you have all been busy! I second the advice about gait analysis dementedma - hope you get it sorted soon, that's no fun Sad Can you find somewhere else to run? Where I live it's all pavements, there isn't anywhere else, but hopefully you can find a park or something.

NurseEzzza, do you mean you're developing abs? (Insert impressed smiley here) Mine doesn't feel any different though I think my legs and bum are firmer. Doesn't seem to have had any effect on my middle though Sad But still, it was great being out tonight - I've got some new tracks to listen to so managed a full 40 minutes - and then I found I'd done about 5.5K so I thought I would carry on and see if I could do 6K. Which I could, though I may regret it tomorrow! Still slow though, it took me about 43 minutes so I've a way to go to get 5K in under 30 minutes. Something to aim for!

Shewhojuggles · 16/04/2013 21:30

I was going to ask the same thing re running surface. I run on the prom at the beach or on the pavement which i know is not helping the shin pain i get occasionally. Resting between runs and building up my distance over time seems to be helping. Also trying to consciously strike with heel first and try to make lighter steps - if that makes sense? What surface are you running on cinnamon - would a softer one help you ease back into it? It must be really frustrating wanting to run?