Couch to 5k- We do run run run, we do run run!

[cinnamongreyhound]

A thread for anyone thinking of starting, doing or completed the c25k plan!

The last thread had so many new people starting and working through the plan it was lovely. As well as those who had finished and working towards faster times or greater distances. Everyone welcome no matter age, fitness or ability.

Join us for lots of support, advice and gentle butt kicking of required

Old Thread

*Ellie"

I had to stand on one leg for the "gait" analysis, and then 30 secs or so to test out the pair I fancied after walking round the shop in them.

How much have you got to spend? Sports direct, upstairs in ours, with the running stuff, not all the trainers, had a mat you took your shoes off for, stood on, and it looked at if you rolled your feet inwards or outwards when standing (heat sensitive mat, like a kids thermometer), and then labeled all the shoes as under pronated / balanced/ over pronated. If I'd know about that before spending £ on trainers, I'd have been very tempted. If you do go they DIY route, size up by AT LEAST half a size - ideally a whole size.

Congratulations to all finishers! Very proud to have you join the C25k alumni! I went out this morning and seem to have my mojo back. Did 4.25k in my 30 mms out. Not getting any faster but I wore my trainers very loose and numb feet only arrived on the home straight. I was pleased as l so didn't want to go out today. off to Edinburgh for the weekend so no runs until Monday. I will be too busy harry festival fun!

Well done to all finishers, have one on me at the party tonight!!
And hello to all starters.

I've got Saturday and Monday to do, then I've graduated.

Yesterday was so hot wasn't it - craziness. Not so bad today.

[snailemoticon]

Well - I've sort of done w6 r2 :( Was back in my lovely woody park after the treadmill and it felt really strange, - the terrain was bumpy of course, and although I've got used to it over the past couple of months, obviously twice on the treadmill had lulled me into security So ....I did the 22 minutes but did stop three times for about 15 seconds, so I think I'll redo it on Sunday. Still v proud though!

Evening all! W3r1 just completed tonight, I still feel SO unfit and out of puffs, but I like the advice above to slow down as much as poss if need be! ! Isn't it strange that you can move faster with a brisk walk, and with less exertion, why is that?! My run is slower than my walk I am sure, but it is so much harder!
Sadly however my feet are REALLY sore, the tops of them, like strained muscles across the tops of each arch; I googled some special foot stretches but they are still really throbbing and I am scared that they will be so stiff and sore tmrw!

Well done to everyone finishing the 9 weeks you are very inspiring!! Truthfully, were you very unfit when you started?!

Hello all, I followed all your advice and pushed on with the programme this morning -round the park in the thunder- and it was a little easier than I was anticipating. I kept remembering what you said about the last few seconds adding the most fitness, it was a great motivator, thank you .

I also did the stretches at the end, thanks again for linking to those, and it's helped with the stiffness a bit as has the Deep Heat . I don't feel injured, just really sore and stiff from using muscles which had been hibernating, so am going to press on.

Well done to all those up thread who are graduating and being speedy, and to us newbie puffers and achers!

well done finishers and happy graduation

EeTracey you just a run ahead of me, like BakingTins, so we should be graduating in a few weeks Did w6r1 today and enjoyed being out again after a two day break - especially in cooler weather.

Graduation party time! Pom bear anyone?

I have nearly empty wine, healthy crunchy stuff and unhealthy stuff to dip into..

My legs are aching tonight so am refusing to do any more up and downstairs for packing. It can wait until the last minute tomorrow. Also on strike for taxi driving which has had the surprise result of DS1 getting his push bike out

Did you get out today nextphase? It wouldn't be a graduation party without my chimp-bashing pacesetter!

laurapashley I was very unfit. I was out of puff running for a bus and climbing two flights of stairs at work had me red in the face and breathless.
Still can't run fast but have built lots of stamina and that has to be good for heart health even if I'll never compete in the next olympics!

Laura re my level of fitness before,

I've always tried but rarely stuck at anything. Bits of yoga, bits of weight training, but since mid 2012 I just got very fed up about it and did nothing beyond a family 4 mile hike most Sundays. No real cardio for years, no plans to follow like this one. I noticed this week our hike was much easier. I like how running makes it easier to judge improvement, a bit further, a bit faster, less strain to get up a hill etc. continually measuring against previous runs, though I don't log in detail, just a mental review.

I wasn't very fit before and hadn't done anything since having the children (dc1 is 4 next week). I had done a couple of years of martial arts before my first pregnancy, so was fitter then.

I started c25k the week after my dad died of a heart attack at the age of 63. He had just retired. It gave me a serious kick up the backside, obviously.

elliemummaroos I did my own research on line with my first pair. Found a website that told you to wet your foot and step on a piece of paper. They then showed three foot prints and mine matched one. This then said which shoes I should by and I went off looking for that type. Found my saucony pro grid 4 on amazon for £37. I had my gait analysed this time initial run on treadmill filmed, followed by several more 1-2min runs in different shoes. I paid £67 for a pair in the sale that suited, rest were £100. He did say I'd done a good job in choosing my previous shoes and one of the pairs he suggested the next model up of the same shoes :)

Well done EeTraceyLuv, LizzieVereker and everyone graduating!!

LauraPashley I walked at least 3 miles a day but other than that did nothing and was almost 15st so really not that fit!

Send that over here watching I've got toberlone (400g down to £1 with supermarket price reduction and vouchers)

Took the afternoon off work (well, one of the girls working for me came out with the classic "I hope you don't think I'm being rude, but I think you should take the afternoon off, you look shattered" So I did!) so the jobs got done the next level of candy crush finished at last, and I've been out for a run. Another 30 min 4.5km run/5.7km over the 42 mins. For the first time ever I actually had to stop, as the undergrowth has been cut back, and I got tangled in a load of clover! Will you send over more or am I going to have to return the bottle?

Have a lovely trip.

Fitness wise, before I started, I couldn't run, not even for chocolate or wine, but could swim a km, walk several miles with the kids in pushchair / bike. My fitness has improved massively over the program - I get 40 mins max in the pool when swimming, and have gone from 40-50 lengths over the 9 weeks - been swimming 1/week for years. Still not covering 5km in 30 mins, but am running for 30 mins, which I never beleived I'd be able to do. C25k is amazing at the way it pushes you slowly to keep you improving.

Quick post as just watching 8 out of 10 cats does countdown!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Way to go watchingout and the others at he graduation party!! Where better place to offer round the Pom Bears - love it!!!

Feel free to finish the wine - I have felt the need of ice. In the Smirnoff.
Great result on getting the afternoon to yourself. Bizarrely, the undergrowth has also been cut back here too since Wednesday. Bit of a shame, as I had been using the bramble excuse for a slow-down on the narrow part.

DS1 is now home and is demo-ing his new sound system. He has chosen to play the Chain very loud. Which was on my playlist this morning Also had Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing. Cos I love the line " I believe in miracles" Seems quite apt atm.

Whats on your playlist(s)?

I had a funny playlist moment the other day when "crash" started at the same time as my 1st run ("you're going too fast, don't slow down you're going to crash" ). I have a mixture of feel good 90s stuff, some cheesey pop and some more dancey stuff like Calvin Harris.

Good to hear people were not all in shape when they started! Dh has helpfully just commented (3weeks in ) oh of course you need arch support. Thanks for that! All being well next pay cheque I will go for gait analysis. It is miles away, the shop I mean. The joys of living in the sticks!

Congratulations to everyone who has just graduated!

Enjoy your . I'm just about to open a bottle, so I'll raise a glass to you.

W7R1 done this evening, so another 25 minutes done and dusted. Not easy tonight, I was tired, hungry and low on energy. I will learn my lesson from that and make sure I have enough fuel on board before the next run. I had to recover with half a bag of jelly babies and a snooze on the sofa!

Congrats graduates!

I did w8r3 last night and my zenlabs app says oven ow graduated. Should I be doing 3 week 9 runs before I graduate? What has everyone else done? Think I'm going to do 3 w9 runs and then graduate. Had to stop for a minute last night on
The TM as the humidity in my garage was off the scale.

I agree with whoever said its crazy that you can walk faster for longer than you can run.

Oven ow????!! Sorry for chatting shit there. Should read I have.

Done w7r2 tonight. My friend managed to get her app to track our distance. Do you start your distance from when you start the warm up walk or when you start to jog?

Anyhow, only did 2.45 miles. We stopped the app after our jog and didn't include the warm down walk in our miles. It said we did 5 miles per hour.

Think I am best to stop thinking about how far I am doing and just concentrate on keeping one foot in front of the other as again found it hard tonight. My friend had to keep on encouraging me as I wanted (begged) to stop at 20 mintes .

Congratulations to all graduates

I include my distance in my warm up and cool down walks. Don't know if that's right though?

Tomorrow is the start of...I don't know. Haven't decided on a new programme yet. I'm back home now (2 day running break) so have lost my human running companion (my stepdad) and have regained my canine one. Back to hills! I'm going to run a 5k route tomorrow (early) which includes a big hill in the middle. I think I'm just going to do that until after holiday in a fortnight's time (flat French campsite!), then might look at a 10k programme.

I'm already looking ahead to dark nights and mornings though. They are the only times I can run. I think I'll have to run into town (very small town!) and just run round the streets. None of my other routes will be lit. Although I could use the football field on training nights as it's floodlit. What are you all planning for winter, or is that too depressing to think about? Sorry!

Well done graduates. I am on w7 run 1 and struggling a bit ie using a long descent to make sure I finish the full 25min (iit then takes about 15 minutes to climb back home and feels like cheating).
My dp has just started and is on his 3rd run now. He is very tall and thin an ideal runners physique and has gained about 5lbs since starting which cheers me up as have seen precious little loss (but no gain), and tone certainly better.

Haven't thought about winter yet. I am struggling with summer holidays and chicken pox as I usually run back from nursery hence this week has been a bit of a right off.

Hi again,

Chatty lot, aren't you?
Thanks for the warm welcome! I wish I had found you before actually.
Also, am late for the graduation party, but perhaps someone might join me for a cheeky glass of something tonight?

I'll try to catch up properly over the weekend!

We had chicken pox over my first four weeks, jussey. Hope it's all over for you now! I was glad of my 40 minutes out of the house - the only break I got!