Couch to 5 K Its not about Speed (5!)

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So, we seem to have filled up the 4th thread. Anyone want to join me here?

Hi, can I join in? I finished W3r3 this morning and am surprised that even though I fear the beginning of each new week I'm surprised that at the end of each run I'm wanting to go a bit further. Although, each week I have struggled a bit with the second run but then pick it up again on the third.

I had a question, what do each of you do on your rest days? I do every mon, weds and Fri with two days off at the weekend but don't do any exercise at all on the rest days. I just wonder if three days a week is enough to improve my fitness and tone up a bit.

Hi, can I join too?

I've been lurking and reading for a while. I got up to w4r2 then had 2 weeks off with a horrible cold and not being able to breathe properly. I repeated week 3 and have just finished week 4 today! I'm loving Laura, but don't have any music, I run on a treadmill as I'm about 5 stone overweight and too embarrassed to be seen outside so I watch something on the iPad to stop me clock watching and distract myself a bit - it seems to help!

I'm slightly scared about week 5, especially run 3 so I thought it might be a good time to join! I'm very slow, but figure that with all the weight I'm carrying I'm working extra hard!

teaspoons no I don't really do explicit exercise on the other days. Until you have built up the stamina your muscles need the break to recover and avoid injury. I cycle to work every day 20mins (reasonable speed, not just dawdling), do yoga on a non-running evening but that's just luck of where it falls in the schedule, could be a running day.
Then running has made massive improvement to my fitness, I've been cycling all my life and doing yoga for longer than I'd like to admit (I should be better at it by now). But its the running that has ended me getting breathless going up hills.

Glowwine thanks for the advice! I did manage the second run of week 3, but am repeating the whole week to see if my leg falls off (i might be one of the zombies) . So today is the interesting run on Friday, about 9:45 on the local park area. Lots of teens drinking ?? On the grass because more hardened alchies had nabbed the benches. I thought some one might chase me, but too drunk (them. Not me)
bramshott i wore the leg sleeve, but it chafed a lot.
Just completed run 1 wk 3. Was ok apart from pain in heel, which was probably due to over tight sore laces.

Hi all, can I check in just for thinking about doing the Couch to 5k? I've been keeping my weight in check on and off for two years by doing the 5:2 diet, but am coming under increasing family pressure to stop as it makes me so grumpy. I'd love to take up running, have always thought it must be so liberating to run and not feel knackered after the first 30 seconds. So...I've been researching this and am tempted to jump on board. However, I do have some worries and was hoping someone might share their experiences and advice.
I'm prone to having good intentions but making excuses not to actually carry through. How do I actually go for that first run?
Secondly, it's all well and good in the summer, nice light evenings and mornings, but what about the Winter. Let alone the fact that this will make it harder to leave the warm house, I'm worried that running in the dark is just not safe.
Reading this, I don't sound terrible committed and very lazy, but I'm really not. If I can get past the nerves of something new and get excited about it, I do give things a good go! Can anybody motivate me please?

Doris it's only three times a week. In winter do one of those at the weekend, try to get out before dark one day (or fluoresce up!) and go to a gym for the last one - something like that? By the time winter comes you'll love it so much you'll find your own way to arrange it. In fact running is the "easiest" exercise I've done as it starts from your front door, no booking classes or driving etc.
To do the first run - well why not tell yourself you'll try week 1? You could start tomorrow

Thanks Iggi. Yes, weekend maybe. Early morning not so easy as I have two young dc who believe morning starts at 6am as it is. But I agree...cross that bridge when I get there. I just need to get my head in the right place now and not give myself an out.

Doris, getting your head in the right place is definitely the place to start. I had the app for a couple of months before I was ready to commit to it properly, stuff going on at home put me all over the place but as soon as that was sorted I did the first run and haven't missed one yet. Just back in from w4r1 which I didn't think I would get to. Your dcs sound like mine, 1 is 5 and the other is 19 months the and they're both up before the birds but I don't have a job to get to in the morning and with school holidays I can squeeze it in before dp goes out to work, term time might end up a bit different.

I'm not thinking about getting out in the winter yet, I'm hoping by then my stamina will have improved enough that the weather shouldn't be too much of a factor in putting me off, I've already done a few rainy days and they weren't really any worse. As for making myself get out there in the morning, I just don't really allow myself to make excuses, I set the alarm and go because I know I'm making progress and want to see what I can manage next whether it's getting to the end of the next run a bit more comfortably or covering a little more distance. I do know I'm getting better as my recovery time has more than halved since week one and that feels pretty good.

Good luck! Don't push too hard, it took me three weeks to get my pace just right that I wasn't overdoing it.

DottiestDoris Go for it! Yes you ought to plan it a bit when you might be able to fit your runs in, so that you don't fail at the first hurdle.

First time I think I started in the summer holidays, in the summer, I had the app and the running shoes ready since spring! But once I started I kept with it, and you can too!
At the start you really only need 30mins or less from leaving our house - most apps tell you the total workout time including warm up and cool down.
At the beginning I managed to do one run on Sat during the day, one on Monday after dropping DD off at nursery (not working Mondays) and then another on a Weds or Thu evenings, after DH had come home from work. The only problem with evenings I found was that if I didn't dash out at 5 or 6 then it got really late as you really need to wait at least an hour after eating a meal. But I used to meet a lot more runners in the evening at 8pm than I do now at 6am, so that seems to suit lots of people.
Get your family on board to watch the kids, especially if they want you to find an alternative to 5:2 (but be aware that running might not have the same effect, but I'll be great for your fitness)

My first year of running, by the time winter came I was so fired up and proud of having kept it up that I ran though all the winter including ice and snow. Then you juggle your days to fit running into daylight hours, as early mornings or late evenings get a bit cold...
Right now I run early morning, 3 weekdays, I have to be back by 7am when DH leave the house. One of my kids still wakes up at 6 too but can occupy themselves now till I get back and daddy makes them breakfast.

To keep going in the long term: find an event to aim for, a reason to keep it up - I think next year is Sport Relief year again, you should be able to find a 'Sport Relief Mile' event near you in March (you can do 1-3-5 miles I think). And Race for Life is in early summer too, they have lots of races all over the place.

Good luck and come back here see find plenty of people who are in the same boat. Missing a run is not the end of the world either, you just pick up where you left of or repeat a day / week until you feel comfortable to move on.

Thank you WhereAre and GlowWine. Both your posts are very helpful. I'm going to go out tonight for the first run as it's that which is my biggest hurdle. I'm not going to give myself time to think about it, just do it! It's running through the groups of kids who seem to congregate on the green outside our house which is giving me the biggest fear. If I can do it once, I can do it again!

Doris good for you! I only started with it 8 days ago and finished W2R2 this morning. My breathing is getting easier but it still feels like a slog at times.

Good luck Doris!

Doris the kids outside your house will only ever see you walking. Anyone else you might meet will no doubt be impressed. I have been known to totally not notice and ignore friends who I passed as I was concentrating on keeping going. If you're really uncomfortable catching someone's eye you could wear sunglasses or a cap with a shade. I usually manage a little smile these days or a breathless'hi' luckily not many people about at 6.30, only DD's best friend's mum walking to her job at the hospital, and we have a tendency to nearly bump into each other always round the same blind corner

So...I picked the kids up from nursery after work, bathed them and changed into my running gear before reading them two stories and putting them to bed at 7pm. By 7:30 dh was still not back from work, despite his promises. By 7:45 I was in my Pjs making dinner. No time to run then cook. So then I thought, well why not enjoy it...usually I'd be on a restricted 500 calorie day. So had a glass or three of cheap bubbly. Not the best start. Not dh's fault, emergency at work, but one of the reasons that I'm wondering if this is for me...

Not likely to be another emergency at work tomorrow is there though?
Stop trying to sabotage it!

Ha, you say that. But he's a self employed tradesman. Happens ALL THE TIME. Evenings, weekends... But I get your point.

Doris your time will come! And if you can't manage 3 days a week then see if you can get two? Any chance of dropping the kids off earlier or picking them up later, and squeezing in 45 'free' minutes out of your day that way?

Well, I bit the bullet. Kids stirred at 6 this morning and I asked dh to get them up while I went out for half an hour. And I did it! It was a bit of an experiment tbh as I've done various bits and bobs fitness wise over the years, just not since dc. So I went just to see what I could do and managed to fairly easily run the route I plotted yesterday without walking - just over 1.5 miles. I know this isn't c25k but I want to see where to start. What I want to take from the concept is that it's ok to walk during the run and that I have to go out three days a week. Discipline!

DottiestDoris Well done!! The start is made.

Well done Doris.

I did w4r2 today and really struggled. I managed OK on Monday but today I really felt like my legs were too heavy and I finished all Bar the last 10 seconds of the final run. So annoyed for not being able to manage that last tiny bit but I had nothing left. Also had a near miss in the middle with a bin lorry that stopped and flung it's door wide open as I was passing. It missed me but I did hit the hedge and it put me off my stride a bit.

Just to point out I didn't realise there was only 10 seconds left, I would have forced myself had I known, it was only once I started to walk that I checked.

How maddening, whereare. I had one of those grim for no real reason runs yesterday. I did get through it, but every step was a leaden, aching torment. Still, in a way I feel more pleased when I get through the bad ones than the easy ones, as by definition they're harder work!

Hmm I can see a theme here - I did my usual not very good Wednesday run today! Walked one minute in the middle after the crest of the hill and still completed my 5k in 30.40 though, so can't have been that bad and the result cheered me up no end despite feeling crap for most of it!

But then disaster struck, and I kind of fell down the stairs at home. Missed the last step and twisted my foot, not my ankle though, and the rest of me is totally unharmed. I'm positive that nothing is broken etc, but walking is quite painful now, even though I have no bruise or swelling to show for it at the moment. We shall see how this develops...

I think week 4 has defeated me, I'm just getting worse. Struggled through again today. I did this week's route backwards this morning and had underestimated how many declines I had been doing on this route, found out today doing them in reverse. I think next week I'll be doing week 4 over again, I can't see me doing a 20 min run this day next week.

GlowWine how's the foot?

Im a couple of runs behind where I should be, had babysitting issues for the little one so haven't managed 3 runs a week, more like 2 because I can't face running en DH gets home from work, I'm too tired! Also getting to grips with new diet..

Just don't W5R2 today and it was ok! 2 lots of 8 minutes!! My next run is on wed but I'm scared of failing the 20mins and am debating repeating today's run. Those of you who have done it...how hard was it if you did run2 ok? It seems a huge jump up?!