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!

I love the idea of doing an accidental 5k run 😃 I am so impressed at that.

2nd run without my little running buddy (13 yo DD) - she has lost her motivation. I must admit though I prefer running with company. I am not sure she will be as keen to join me anyway when school starts on Monday.

Run 2 of week 6 completed. I am slightly dreading the next run (but also looking forward to the feeling of having done it). It's strange thinking I have just got straight runs left now (unless I repeat runs for DD).

Hopping back in - I was on last thread but new thread coincided with a busy few weeks with zero running!

I swithered over whether to redo W4 but decided just to jump in where I left off and was amazed to do W5R3 the other day! I couldn't stop grinning I listened to an absolutely PANTS playlist and I think my incredulity at the shite music choices spurred me on!

W6R1 today was tough; legs like lead, but finished. I listened to Joe Buxton podcast and was laughing too much then crying too much to breathe properly (ep126 where he talks about losing his mum during lockdown...)

Dreading r2 going on the other experiences...

Anyone found a decent playlist?

Nice to see you again Look.

Music wise I like jazz and latin so I quickly realised most of the running playlists weren't going to suit my taste. So I just added a whole load of my favourites onto a playlist, and skipped (and later edited out) anything that didn't work for me. Dave Brubeck's Take 5 was an early deletion; a great piece but not good to run to! After a few weeks I'd settled down to a nice playlist that I like and which seems comfortable to run to.

Week 6 was when I really felt I was starting to be a runner - something about shifting onto solid runs makes a difference, and at 25 minutes it suddenly seems a lot more believable that you can add the extra 5 minutes needed to complete the programme. Sure you'll both be fine @LookDontTeuch and @StripyHorse!

Imagine trying to run to most jazz!!

Thanks for the leggings link Una the top hat comment three me for a moment

Congratulations to the EmmaStone household- amazing job!

As I predicted, term starts, I'm exhausted, and the idea of getting up at 5:30 to fit a run in doesn't appeal... I think I'm going to repeat a run, rather than push on, so I know it's doable, but maintains fitness IYSWIM. It will be cold and dark, and even though I'm enjoying running (well, almost) I like my bed far more

I was thinking on my run I need some music. What player do you use?

W5R2 done 😁

It wasn't pleasant getting up in the dark and starting off in the rain but it's in the back, I didn't collapse and now I can get DD2 ready for her first day back at school.

Love the idea of an accidental 5k TeamEponine. I think I need to pla out my route better because 3k isn't long enough anymore and I have to pace up and down my street to finish the warm down.

Well done StripyHorse. You're a week ahead of me so I'm hoping to trail in your success.

Here's a shot of my halfway point in the park from this morning. No time for photos on my next run though!

Keep going everyone

*in the bag (sodding phone!)

bramblecrumble now you may question my taste but I have got tunes that keep me going:

Things like

Jamiroquai - canned heat
The clash - rock the casbah
U2 - I will follow and discotheque
Lenny Kravitz - are you gonna go my way
Major Lazer - light it up
The bangles - hazy shade of winter
NERD - she wants to move
Nick Brewer - talk to me
DJ Fresh - how love begins
Muse - supermassive black hole
Sigala - give me your love
Pat Benatar - love is a battlefield
Black crowds - remedy
Young MC - know how
Plan B - the recluse

My Spotify still has adverts which is really annoying but still not sure about paying £10 a month to have premium.

I was amazed how quickly my 3k and 4k routes stopped being the right distance -now even doing some of my "in the distant future" >6k routes to have scope to fit in the warm up and cool down walks.

Well done Justcallmegriffin, sometimes the runs that are hardest to start turn out the best, or at least the most needed!

What a lovely view @JustCallMeGriffin well done getting the run done so early (that's what I need to work on!). Hope your DD has a good day at school.

My play list is a bit of a random selection of songs for DD and I that have around 120 Bpm. This website is really useful, you can enter your running pace and suggests tracks with a suitable BPM. jog.fm/workout-songs/at/120/bpm.120?order=desc&sort=popularity

Well, I got up at 5:30, and actually ran! It was drizzly and dark, but warmer than 5pm last night
I did W4R4, and went a different way (so I could see!). Shorter grass was much better

@Bramblecrumble in order to have music while running, I think you need to use the C25K app on a phone...but I'm using the podcast on an old iPod shuffle, so I have to put up with their music (not actually as awful as I thought it would be, I'm quite partial to some of them now). In the future, when I've graduated (did you see that? "When" not "if"! ) I will probably run to Muse, Killers, Led Zeppelin, La Roux, David Bowie.

Thank you @UnaOfStormhold and @StripyHorse. This park started my C25K journey, but now running multiple laps isn't working as well motivation wise for longer running duration so I've ditched the car to the park and included it in my 3k loop for the run...I timed it's inclusion well this morning so it was the 5 minute walk - convenient for photo taking!

I'm definitely going to be planning a 4k route for Saturday morning though to make sure I have enough space for the warm up/cool down too.

Well done @IveSeenThings for getting up at 5.30am and completing your run. I'm happy that not commuting to work means 6am is the earliest I need to get up and still have everyone where they need to be.

Onwards to W5R5 and my first hopefully uninterrupted 20 minute run!

I did Week6Run3! After the disastrous Run 2, I was apprehensive and wondered about repeating it, but as I did technically get round Run 2, even though it was hard, I thought I’d press on and see I managed. I went very slowly. A Japanese slow runner would have beaten me, I’m sure. I went in the morning again and made sure I was hydrated properly. I think mornings do suit me better, but I’m not going to be keen to go out in the dark but I suppose it can’t be avoided as autumn creeps in. I feel confident that I will finish the programme now, which is quite something. Some inspiring stories from everyone!

20mins? That seems so much further than W4 where 5mins is the longest. Your park looks lovely though, and I must say (having only been an indoor exerciser previously) it's the being outdoors that has made me feel happy about going each time. What a difference six months of covid makes in attitude! Just experiencing fresh air, a breeze, and birdsong has been lovely. I live in a concrete jungle (well, ok, a big British city ) and that time in the park has felt really precious, particularly as the time I'm going there's usually only me and a couple of dog walkers (just me this morning), whereas in the day the park has been utterly heaving. It feels pretty special.

Give it another six weeks and frosty grass, biting wind, and I'll not be so appreciative I'm sure.

Just repeated week 4 - I previously got to week 6 but mentally found it hard and couldn’t bring myself to move to week 7, then gave up for a few weeks... hoping to make it to week 7 this time! I am running on a treadmill as I live in Middle East and too hot to run outside at the moment.
Hoping once the weather is cooler it will be easier to run for longer periods as there will be something to look at!! Is anyone else doing any running on a treadmill?

Well done, Griffin, LookDontTeuch, Stripy, daisypond, IveSeenThings and everyone else who's still going despite the start of term and the weather turning dull!

I'm supposed to do W6R1 this evening (if my cold doesn't get any worse - I think I'll just go slowly). It's great that so many of us are around weeks 5 and 6!

I'veSeen: I'm also using the podcast rather than the app, and am also getting quite fond of some of the songs. They give me terrible earworms for hours afterwards, though! And DH keeps muttering darkly about "Julie", which I think is a reference to a song later on in the programme...

@IveSeenThings the 20 mins is what made me wonder if I could do week 5...but if you check the app it does build you up during week 5 to tackle that. Run 2 was this morning and it was two sets of 8 minute runs with a 5 minute walk separating them...run 3 just makes that walk a run. It remains to be seen if my body can bridge that gap. I agree with getting outside, at the moment even the rain isn't as off putting as you'd think...but not sure how I'll feel in November!

@mackerella best of luck for your run later, hope you feel better soon

mackerella I have the "Summer Love" song as an earworm I miss the one from a few weeks ago about the long distance relationship. But I would prefer my own music really.
@FrequentFlyer96 - very sensible to run inside! I cannot imagine how hot it must be there. At least on a treadmill you can catch up on funny programmes / documentaries etc. Is it adjustable to allow for hills?

Mapmyrun (web version) is quite a good place to start route planning and you can track along on your phone as you go. (I now use Strava or garmin but they require subscription/watch puchase whereas mapmyrun is free).

W5R3 is where you start to reap the benefits of all the training you have done in previous weeks, take it steadily and you will amaze yourself!

Haha, the long distance relationship was one of my favourite ones - I thought it sounded a bit like the Ben Folds Five . I'm not so keen on the driving guitar rock they always seem to bring out for the last five minutes, but I do appreciate that it probably makes you run faster.

I'm going to stick with the podcasts for now - I'm not sure that any of the things I normally listen to (lots of classical, some jazz and Latin, folk, 80s and 90s hits and weird indie stuff) would be good for running . But I don't really want to listen to things that are more straightforward pop/rock tracks either . Do any of you listen to audiobooks or podcasts and find that to be ok?

I listen to podcasts. I much prefer them, but I don’t necessarily absorb every word.

W6 R2 done - it was fine, but I'm noticing I've got some inner ankle pain, not when running but walking and afterwards.

I might have to give myself a few days off as I've been pretty much every 2 days up to now. I'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow.

I don't think it helps that apart from the running I'm so sedentary, squashed behind my desk at home all day (which is why I started C25K). It's really feast or famine!

Sorry for a horrible question, but has anyone had upset stomach after a run? I've just done week 8 run 3 and had stomach ache like I needed to go for the last few mins of the run, went to the loo and had bad cramps and quite an upset stomach. Is it because I'm running longer now and working my insides?

Yes! I had that after I think my long run at the end of W5 - felt a bit crampy towards the end but it passed, and then had to do quite a quick step to the loo when I got home!

I believe it is a "thing", and yes, might be our insides getting a good jiggle about.

Thank you @sleepyhead I thought I'd heard something about needing a poo when running but it's not happened to me until today, I usually run in the morning after only a light breakfast, I didn't have the healthiest lunch today so maybe that was what caused it, I'll stick to mornings!