C25k get your encouragement here.

[StripyHorse]

As the last thread has been going so well, with graduates aplenty, here's a new thread for encouragement. Everyone is welcome!

@IveSeenThings These (and the top hat goes with them) are the ones I have ordered - haven't got them yet so can't comment on how they work but at that price it seemed worth a try!

www.decathlon.co.uk/run-warm-tights-id_8552601.html

Sorry, missing "t" in my post - I don't really run in a top hat...

@UnaOfStormhold

Sorry, missing "t" in my post - I don't really run in a top hat...

🤣

I've stop started c25k a few times. I'm quite active in my daily life, walking gardening etc but not done structured strenuous excersize for months. This time I jumped straight to week 4 with the BBC app using Sarah Milligan narrating. First run Wednesday and she gave stitch tip just after getting a stitch so useful. Today no Stitch, glorious crisp sunny autumnal morning. I feel great. I do keep expecting Sarah to make a joke or tell me to eat lots of cake at the end though.

I clicked on the link wanting to find out what a running outfit looks like when it has a matching top hat... I feel gutted it was a typo.

I graduated last week, but with no fanfare. I am the world's slowest (if not fattest and oldest) jogger so wasn't even near 4k, let alone 5k. Today was my third jog since graduation, and I am aiming to increase the gradually distance using similar approach of the programme of increasing a couple of minutes every third day. We shall see. I suspect will never see 5k, but maybe will settle into this as a form of exercise. (I did a 10k walk yesterday which would not have been possible a few months ago, so it is definitely improving my stamina).

It's our graduation day today 😁, going to go out after work. DH and I would really like DS to continue his running, and as he responds so well to a prescribed course, DH has devised a twice-weekly schedule that should see him improve his speed to aim for a 30min 5k by December. I've only managed a 30min 5k a few times, so I'm quite interested in this too 😂. We've suggested he runs on Tuesdays after school (when his sister does another sport), and a Saturday morning. We'll see...It's going to be much tougher as the weather gets worse and the days get shorter ☹️, hopefully he'll be happy to go on the treadmill as well.

Warmer leggings - I don't generally find I need to change my clothes most of the year (except wearing shorts in the height of summer), once I'm 5 mins into running, I've warmed up. But I do wear gloves and my ear muff in winter, and I wear a long sleeved tech top over a tight vest. If properly cold (icy, in which case I will often nix the running as too dangerous on slippy roads), I've been known to wear a padded gilet, but that's annoying if you then get warm enough and can't tie round your waist. A sweatshirt works though.

I have a few pairs of the Sweaty Betty double sided leggings, they've a bit thicker than normal leggings, so might be worth a look (I only buy during sales, full price are crazy!)?

And I wish there had been a top hat for running 😁

Congratulations notaflyingmonkey - bugger 5k honestly, it's a massive achievement to run continuously for 30 minutes, and ultimately the aim of the programme. I guess Couch to 30 mins just didn't sound snappy enough .

Well done Kashtan, that's my run later on this morning. I'm considering adding a hilly bit to my route (and hoping it falls in one of the walking bits!).

Well why not indeed?

It’s really good to find threads like these and read about everyone’s successes. I’m a first time couch to 5K and I’m due to do Wk6 run 3 tomorrow. I am a very slow , very heavy footed runner, ( when I run up behind people on the pavement they start to move to the side waaaaay before I arrive, then I overtake excruciatingly slowly..) but I have loved the structure of the programme. I’ve not done regular exercise for years and it’s making a difference to how I feel. I’m trying not to look to far ahead as the weeks to come always seem a bit impossible. I’m nervous about the long run tomorrow as I don’t want to fail, but I’m hoping that staying even slower than normal will make it ok. I think I will miss the interval runs so the idea of using them to try and run faster after week 9 is interesting.

I’m running the same route every time at the moment to try and help with pacing , I don’t think I will be anywhere near 5K at the end but running 30mins 3 times a week would be amazing and I could hopefully work on distance. The photo is the view at the end of my cool down walk - the route I take is along a seafront and it’s so pretty it lifts me every time - but it’s short drive away so it means I need about 45-50mins in the morning before I get back to shower and change which will be harder when work starts later this week. My reward if I get to week 9 will be new trainers as mine are on their way out.

Cathpot that view is gorgeous!

I did my run - 2.5 minutes running up hill right at the beginning of my first 5 minute run which felt later on like it might have been a mistake... but I finished.

I've been following the previous thread but not posted before. I've been plodding through and got up to Week 6 Run 2 this morning, which was the first one I really struggled to finish. I forced myself to keep going but it was the worst run yet and I feel generally rubbish about it :( So disappointing after last week's high of the 20 min run - this one should have been easier as it was the same amount of running time but with a break in the middle!

Gecko85, I was surprised how heavy my legs felt (granted the hill didn't help!) on my run today and I've read lots of warnings about how week 6 can catch you out so thought I was pacing myself about right.

I guess it's still a longer active time if you include the walks so maybe we need to think about it as a stage in building stamina. Or maybe just a bad run! Next one will be better - well done for finishing even when you found it tough.

Gecko what about repeating the run? I’m at the same point as you and I did run 2 twice because we’d had a boozy weekend and I just wasn’t up for run 3 yesterday . I’ve repeated lots of run 2s because I really want this to be sustainable and long term- giving myself permission to repeat runs until I’m ready to move on means so far I’m not dreading it. I don’t care when I get to the end I just want to still be enjoying it!

Definitely do an easier one from a previous week if you found it hard. The main thing is getting out the door to run- you don't have to be breaking new ground all of the time. And it's still good for your running. I've done it a few times if I'm not feeling great rather than miss going altogether.

I've just stumbled across this thread, and would like to jump on please?

With my BMI of 41 and a variety of physical issues (including metalwork holding my leg together) I started C25K with little optimism...but my 13 year old wanted to up her fitness for football after several weeks of minimal activity so said I'd keep her company if we could do laps of the park because then I wouldn't worry about losing sight of her!

This morning I completed W5R1 and for the first time since I started I wasn't begging Laura to tell me to walk. I know this is where the duration really starts stepping up because I looked ahead on the app so hoping that my normally unreliable lower body is capable of plodding my way through to the end of the week. My smartwatch tracks me at a max speed of 7.7 kph...which I'm fairly certain normal people can walk faster than but I'm determined to try and improve my health so my plodding version of running/jogging will have to do.

Only 'meh' moments so far...being dumped by DD because her fitness was back to normal so she says and this morning having a gazelle like young woman glide past me seemingly not even breathing heavily as though I was stood still.

Reading the updates is an excellent virtual kick up the backside for me to get up at 6am for the next run on Thursday.

I finished C25K last week and wasn’t sure how to keep motivated. So I signed up for race at your pace in the hope this will give me a little encouragement.

@Gecko85
I’ve just done W6R2 and I’ve really struggled. It’s been my worst one. I couldn’t catch my breath in the first run (barely jogging) section and in the second my legs were so heavy. I just dragged myself round. It’s the first one I’ve done in the evening as opposed to the morning, and I think I was dehydrated too. Slightly apprehensive about run3 now.

I'm sorry you found it tough too @daisypond although in a weird way I'm glad it's not just me! @Cathpot I haven't had to repeat any runs yet, but I'm in two minds whether to repeat W6R2 or push on to the next one on flatter ground. Either way I'll take a couple of rest days as my knee is pretty sore.

We He did it! We graduated today, and had sped up again, managing a couple of km under 7mins! So so proud of him! This week completely 'clicked' for him, he got his pacing right (even though we kept speeding up), his breathing right, light feet. He did forget to go for a wee before we left (despite me checking if he'd been 🙄), so we had a quick jungle wee stop, but hurrah! Hope parkrun can start up again soon, and I'll try to get him to go to a few.

Well done to the newcomers, wherever you are in the programme, you're doing brilliantly, just do what's right for you. DS definitely had plenty of bad runs (first ones of the week were generally worst), and as an on/off 'runner', I can say that my worst runs are often followed by an amazing one, or sometimes when you think you've had a terrible run, when you look back at your stats, you can see you started off too fast, or were dehydrated, or slept badly the night before.

Sorry I can't see the post now, but someone mentioned being quite heavy footed, DS started off like that (actually, he was worse as he was scuffing quite a bit), and he was finding his legs were hurting from half way round. I realised when I ran like that it really hurt my legs too! Years ago I read advice about channeling your inner dressage pony when running, slowing down and keeping feet light. Not sure if that helps anyone, but it definitely helps me when legs are feeling heavy.

Bon courage C25kers! You're all amazing!

@daisypond I've only done one evening run and I thought it was going to finish me off! Mornings are much better for me, maybe that's why you found W6R2 much more difficult than you were expecting...although we'll see what I think next week! Hopefully R3 will be better for you 🤞🏻

@EmmaStone well done!

Well done, EmmaStone, that's really inspiring! I'm definitely going to channel my inner dressage pony next time, because I had a distinctly rubbish run today - my calves were hurting a lot by halfway through. I definitely didn't get enough sleep last night (or enough water during the day) so I'm sure I'm mostly to blame.

On the other hand ... I've just done W5R3!! It was mostly OK, but I took it incredibly slowly - I found it hard to pace myself because I haven't run that far in one go before. In retrospect, I think I could probably have pushed myself a bit more. I also changed from my usual route (there and back) to a circuit, because I didn't want to be stopping to turn round halfway. Unfortunately, I didn't think it through properly and ended up with a long uphill section between minutes 15 and 19, just as I was getting quite tired! Still, I managed to finish it and am feeling both proud and relieved - it's definitely more of a psychological barrier than a physical one for me.

Having a glass of prosecco now to celebrate....

Great work EmmaStone and youngStone. I hadn't been aware of having an inner dressage pony but that's a great image!

And well done Mackerella on W5R3. I think a lot of the middle and end of C25k is about learning to pace yourself. Though since graduation I have been doing lots of runs at a steady pace while I work to build up distance - my understanding is that the best way to get faster is, counter-intuitively, to do lots of long slow runs to build up stamina.

Daisy dehydration causes all sorts of problems, but luckily it's easy to fix. Good drinking in the 24 hours before your next run should see you flying along!

Well done to emmastone! Also thank you for the dressage image- I was trying to keep it in mind today. Just finished wrk 6 run 3, my first 25 mins (possibly ever!) . Went incredibly slowly so it was actually fine- getting the pacing right is tricky. When there are no walk breaks I worry that I will go too fast and then not be able to finish. It’s possible my brisk walk section today was the fastest bit!

Congratulations *EmmaStone" family!

Welcome JustCallMeGriffin - keep on keeping on, sounds like you're doing great.

It looks like a lot of us are having a tricky time during week 6 which mirrors everything I've read about it! We're still doing it though - go us!

Well done @EmmaStone - and I love the dressage pony imagery. I'll certainly use that on my next run

So, yesterday I did another accidental 5k! I meant to do a very hilly 3.5k, finished the hills and was at 3.6k so decided to round it up to 4k. Next time I looked I was at 4.3k and felt in the zone, so kept going.

Honestly, I can't believe I have now run 5k twice! I'm very slow, but don't care, I've done it!

To those who are in the w5-w6 bit, just keep going and trust the programme - it really does work. It is hard work, but you can certainly do it!