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

[addictedtosugar]

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

Hi everyone, special hello to those in week 3 which is where I am too. I'll do r3 twice, once tomorrow and once on sat so I can then slip back into my mon-wed-fri routine, and always start a new week on Monday. In theory at least .

scaryg yes I tend to run in the mornings before dh leaves the house, settled on that a year or two ago, when avoiding the summer heat. And it's great to have been out and be showered and ready before the kids get out of bed! But not so nice when it gets dark again in the mornings.

knitted well done on starting. Go for it, if I can do it (currently re-starting after 6months off after 4years running) then anyone can! Do it at your pace, repeat days or weeks until you feel ready to move on. I was 40+ when I started the first time and had never done any sports all my life! I really was running 5k inside 30mins after 3months or so.

I had a really bad run yesterday - for only the second time ever I didn't make it to the end. At one point I was running behind a woman walking and I just couldn't catch her/overtake her - so I was running at an uncomfortable pace for me and it was too much.
I'm also nervous as very sadly a runner not far from me was killed in an accident, running on similar paths to me. I'm very sad for him and his family, and somehow apprehensive that I'm in more danger now, though I know that part doesn't make sense.

Oh Iggi what a terrible thing to happen.I am stating the obvious can you run another route at all? glowwine I have just finished week3run2
Working long hours today so will do week3run3 tomorrow.

Hi all. I've done week 4 r2. Found the jump from week 3 to 4 was much more frightening thinking about it than actually doing it. I'm aiming for doing a parkrun by the time I'm 40 in October. I have very wide feet and need new trainers - anyone got a recommendation?

Just did week 3 run3. Quite enjoyed it and more importantly my knee is ok. I am defintintely finding it easier to run in the mornings than the evenings which surprises me as I am not a morning person and last time round I did all my runs in the evening. So far all my runs have been in nice weather which realy helps too.

Stunts that is awesome- well done!

Re shoes... I went into a proper running shop and they put me on a treadmill and filmed my feet (a bit embarrassing but helpful!) and I have weird feet that underpronate so found a pair of shoes that fit well and they really do make a difference to my running ((I did find them quite a bit cheaper on Amazon afterwards so might be worth shopping around but I suppose you pay for the advice too!)

Iggi what a terrible, and frightening thing to happen.

I'm going for w6r3... Tomorrow! Going to get up early and do it. Today is for holiday relaxing! Good luck all and run like the wind, bullseye! (No I'm not on the wine already. Promise!)

I really need to get some better shoes. I have running shoes, but I didn't have a foot assessment or anything. I do worry it's a bit of a rip off, but certainly I'd like some advice about the best type.
Sorry to have been negative last night, I suppose there are dangers in everything - it is certainly dangerous for me to stay at my current weight and not take exercise. I could avoid that type of route but it has no cars on it, so it's an assessment of risk - run on quiet route with danger of bikes, or on pavements with danger of cars. I've been more worried about muggers than accidents, up till now!

Well although I have ran over 5k by accident the other night I'm going back to wk7r3 tonight. My legs are still achey from my accidental run but I have downed some ibuprofen and will give it a go later.

Good to hear others getting into it.

"I have ran over 5k by accident" I just have to admire that stunts!

I had a painful back and ate too much before I went to run today, so I skipped a bit, but felt good nevertheless. I thought I could at least walk but now I´m happy I went out. And I did run most of the time I was told :) w2r2 today :)

Iggy - I went into a running shop on Sat and was impressed with the service from the nice young man there who had me running on a treadmill and took pics of my feet in a range of shoes. I came out with a pair called "Sequence Boost" which are very comfy and so much more supportive than the old general trainers I was running in before.

W2R2 this morning and it was not too bad (though those last couple of 90 second stints feel a bit eternal)! Covered 2.6 miles which is over 4km I think.

Guess what??! I've bought a treadmill. Arrived today so did wk7r3 on it with a 3.5% incline. Bloody hell it was hard, harder than my accidental 5.5k along the v flat canal. How does that work eh? God I looked like a Ribena berry at the end.

Figured it would motivate me to run in the winter and cheaper than the gym ??. In the long run, I hope anyway

Kids are having fun on it too.

And fiery don't worry about walking some of it. At least you are out there and you can repeat weeks as often as you need to. It's not a race it's about building stamina! So Laura keeps saying and she's ace.

Hi goingtobefree and wiifit! Did w3R3 today, with the first two run segments on a slight incline, I try to vary my routes. ouch ouch my shins and the tendons round my ankles? Don't recall this from last time but I suppose I was a stone lighter... Anyway will repeat it one extra time on sat and move on to w4 on Monday. Yes it reads scary written down and I bet it will bucket it down as well, I've been far too lucky with the weather so far!

To the posters who know how far they have been running, do you have a separate app for tracking distance (such as mapmyrun) or does your c25k have this built in? Mine doesn't.

I've done w3r2 tonight. I've looked ahead to w4 and there's quite a jump in the running segments

I'm only a fair weather runner so I hope the weather stays dry for my next run on Saturday or Sunday

Swingingballs my C25k app doesn't measure distance. Don't think any of them do as they don't have GPS.

I have just downloaded Strava, has GPS and measures distance, time and calories burnt, love it. I keep it running alongside my C25K app, but beware that's how I accidentally ran 5.5k in 36 mins as I inadvertently switched off my C25K app when I pressed 'go' on Strava. Won't make that mistake again!

Haha IDoAll I don't think I'll be making any mistakes like that. I'm constantly checking my phone, seeing how long I've got left

I use MapMy. You can put a delay on the start so you can press go Nd then get Laura started and set off.

It has distance, height gain and calories.

I use map my run too. It runs along side c25k app. Re c25k app I do prefer the original one I was using as the NHS one doesn't seem to let me shuffle my music but I LOVE Laura and today she told me I am a runner... Yahoo! Went out super early to avoid the heat and managed my 3rd French run, w6r3. Took the 25mins verrrrrry slowly but did it and feel great for having done it. Glad too because my previous run was awful so it was good to manage a full one successfully after that!

Stunts.... A treadmill?! Wow! That is proper dedication! Good luck with it, don't know where I would put one in my house!

Well it's in my bedroom at the moment Apple. It folds up quite easily behind the laundry basket when not in use. It's very good, as good as one at the gym, was £180.

Trouble is sounds like a herd of elephants are running upstairs when I'm on it. Worried the ceilings going to cave in

And fantastic dedication while you are in France. I went away last bank hol weekend, took my trainers but they didn't once make it out of my bag

Congratulations apple So glad it went well. (Envying you that French sunshine - we're off for a weekend in the Scottish highlands and the forecast says it's going to chuck down. So if I run at all I'll be encased in soggy plastic.)

I use Endomondo :)

Idoall that's the best bit! long sandy Beaches at low tide all over UK and in Germany I've done, Scottish hills in rain so hard I had to stop to wipe my eyes. Yes it takes a bit of dedication but it feels so good even though I don't enjoy running most of the time and I'm definitely not addicted!

Re GPS: I use an old-fashioned GPS watch by Garmin, and then download to my pc. my phone is much more recent and just handles the music and C25K app, i used to carry a tiny mp3 player. Regarding running in your hols: I now have tracks all over Europe stored on Google maps ...

Finished week 6 this morning.
It was tough going but the weather was lovely which helped after all the rain recently.
I listen to Laura on my iPod but use Total c25k on my windows phone to map the run and track length and times etc. Today I covered 4.64km and my projected 5km time was under 40minutes for the first time. All in all I'm have a good birthday.

Week 1 run 3 for me today. I have finished C25K before, but lost motivation and put on a shed load of weight. Ate well today too, so feeling positive.