Those who competed C25K / went from unfit to a runner- I have some ques

[Boringusername444]

I find it’s my breathing that I struggle with. It makes me want to stop. So far I am doing 8 mins of running before needing a rest.
Did you feel this too? If so when or how does the breathing part get better?
At the moment I just can’t imagine ever being able to run a long distance without stopping to walk parts of it.

How do you keep motivated when running alone? I find I do well in the running group I go to once a week but on my own it’s so easy to stop.

And any success stories of how you struggled with a few mins running and one day it finally clicked and you never stopped?

Done my 17 minutes of 25 today as had to cut it short due to pain in my foot. I have plantar fasciitis flaring up and I’m really worried I’m going to do some lasting damage like I did to myself before.

I’m so annoyed. I’ve just started to get myself on track and this happens. Not happy!

25 minutes nailed tonight and no foot pain. Weird!

I thought I couldn't run at all. Turns out I just had awful technique. I saw this YouTube clip yesterday, corrected my technique and ran for half an hour and didn't feel fit to drop. Here it is:

I did post this in a thread I started, it has been such a revelation. But it has really made me excited. I can actually build from here. I think the running coach on this clip is lovely, it makes me want to visit Japan. From looking at this I watched more clips about natural running techniques and barefoot running. What he said really seems to concur with other people too.

I could not run at all. Not even 100 meters. At school, I was always competing for the second to last place. I am now always in the first 1/3 in any race I've participated in, including half marathon.

But C25K didn't work for me. I never improved. I needed to find a speed I could keep for a few K , no walking. Sure, at first the tempo was slower than walking speed, but once I got the endurance, I could start working on that.

Slowrun that’s a very interesting video and I’m definitely trying that technique tonight!

thenewwaver, thanks, I thought so too. I just absolutely bowled over I can actually run! Just recovering from having cancer treatment and felt so unfit but did not want to go for the burn whilst recovering. This is ideal.

I’m sort of doing half of it anyway, but I’ve been pushing myself a bit recently and now have made my knee sore- I think in trying to speed up I’ve lost track of landing on the balls of my feet. Definitely will try this tonight.

Hope you are recovering well

Thanks. So far, so good ! This article about some of the science behind the technique is also interesting, I think.

www.championseverywhere.com/niko-niko-pace-gentle-path-success/

Thanks. Did you run before your treatment and have to stop, or are you new to it?

I’m new (started as absolute non-exerciser in January) so it’s taken this long really to build up fitness and stamina, I haven’t really considered technique. Now I’m doing 10km regularly I am feeling the burden of poor technique- I feel like fitness wise i could run further but I’m scared to push on in case I end up injuring myself!

I'm new to running. Cross country at school used to half kill me yet I could cycle for miles! That always put me off running. I just thought I couldn't do it because I knew I was fit enough to cycle. However after straining my piriformis muscle cycling has been out for the last few years.

And I did my second, ever, 30 minute run without stopping, today!

Amazing! I was so unfit at school, literally never exercised as an adult and even now sometimes when I’m running (not do much this week as I’ve struggled with stitch and knees!) I almost have to pinch myself that it’s really me! It’s changed my life!

I'm feeling like that too. My weight has gone up in the last decade and the strained piriformis gave me sciatica which was quite debilitating. Walking any distance was an issue for a while. Many exercises just seemed to worsen it. However I bought an electric muscle stimulator belt and set it to work on my stomach muscles which has seemed to help. From there I started walking most days and recently started doing this easy 30 minute aerobic routine mostly everyday:

(I liked it because it said 'low impact! and is just 20 minutes!). This is along with some exercises the hospital gave me after a mastectomy. Now I've added the running! It's made me feel really empowered!

Sorry, the aerobic routine is 20 minutes, I meant to type.

When i started running I found the breakthrough was when i could run and keep going. As others have said - start slower so you don't get in oxygen debt.

The way I did this was the usual run, walk, run walk. But I used my phone to see what sort of pace I was doing. I realised that the first bit was faster than the last bit. So i used the pace thing on Strava to start off, and stick to, the pace that I ended up with on the previous run (including the walking sections).

It worked! Having a device showing me I was going too fast was much better than relying on my gut feel. Once I could run for 20 minutes without stopping it opened things up and i have since sped up - doing park run. Then I changed focus to longer distance (to burn fat) so last year did a 10k, this weekend a half marathon!

Worth a go. Don't compare pace to others, just to yourself to get a pace you can sustain.