Current couch to 5k friends?

[PurpleDaisies]

I’ve done this before but due to getting covid and an injury, I’m having another go to get back into running. Just done my first run (I thought week 4 might be roughly the right place to start) and remembered why I both love and hate running!

Anyone else interested in some motivational chat? I’m guessing lots might start in Jan but I’m trying to get ahead of the game!

Hello everyone I came on to say keep going! I started couch to 5km about a year ago. I couldn’t run for three minutes when I started. It took me way longer rubs nine weeks as I had to repeat quite a lot of the longer run weeks and had a few weeks off for illness etc but the day i finally managed to run 5km without stopping is one I will never ever forget!! I now run two to three times a week and am aiming to reduce my time to under 25 minutes. It took me 47 minutes the first time I did it. I’m now at 28 mins.

Thank you @Haggisfish3. Really great to hear a success story.

I forced myself out and wasn’t really feeling it until I got going and…5.2km in 30 minutes! I’ve looked at my stats and 5km came up in 28mins 42. Can’t believe it. I thought I’d gone off a bit fast and would run out of puff but was still feeling good at 20 minutes. Had to push at the end to finish but massively pleased with getting under the 30 minute mark. Now I know I can do it I think I’ll focus on 5km feeling more comfortable and then start building the distance.

Feeling very proud of myself.

@PurpleDaisies

Everyone’s welcome *@RichardMarxisinnocent*. It sounds like you’re doing really well.

There are a lot of trees down here and it was definitely the right decision to take an extra rest day today. I’m supposed to be doing week 9 run 1 today but I’m not feeling very motivated. Caffeine first and we’ll see!

Thank you @PurpleDaisies! I've been for a second W6R3 run this afternoon. It felt a bit harder than the first with 2 or 3 patches of feeling like I was running through treacle, but I did the whole run, was able to increase my pace for the last 60 seconds, and was surprised but pleased to find my average pace was faster than the last run. I wonder if the breeze blew me along a bit quicker than usual??!

Well done on your run! 5k in 28 minutes is brilliant!

Thank you @Haggisfish3, it's so good to hear how successful people are doing this.

Well done @PurpleDaisies massive achievement!

I’ve been out this morning and completed week 6 run 3… the one I’ve been putting off. It was chucking it down but not cold at all so I actually really enjoyed it despite getting wet feet!
On to week 7. Can’t believe I’ve made it this far, really impressed with my motivation.

Well done @WeAllLikeVindaloo !
Wk7R3 this morning, I managed to time it really well and missed heavy downpours. Plus I followed a different route that had a steep uphill in the 5 minute warmup then pretty much downhill the whole run. Life changing!

You lot are so good at inspiring me to keep going! Now that the runs are all longer I'm often a bit more reluctant to get out the door in the mornings. Just finished W7R3: Denise Lewis says I'm a proper runner now (mind you, I'm pretty sure last week she asked me if I felt like a proper runner which I assumed at the time meant she thought I was one already, but now I'm thinking maybe she didn't).

Does anyone else overthink the commentary or is it just me?!

@januarysnowdrop you’re smashing it!

Sanjeev told me yesterday that I should treat myself to a banana and some water 🙄

Since when was a banana a treat? I like it when Denise tells me to have a bath afterwards. That really is a treat!

Everyone is doing so well. I’m trying not to talk myself out of running today. I’ve decided to try a hilly route which ends up in a really nice bit of countryside. Just going to try and enjoy it and not think about how far or how fast I ended up going. Only two left but I think I’ll be consolidating running 5k over different terrain comfortably before focussing on increasing the distance.

Is anyone managing three times as week? I’ve only done two pretty much the whole way through.

When I started I aimed at every other day with an extra rest day after the 3rd run. But since all this awful weather we’re having it’s just been as and when. I’d like to get back running 3 times a week though, I feel more motivated when I do.

I’ve been out today (week 9 run 2) and my goodness it was hard. I hadn’t realised that my route was essentially massive hill after massive hill. 112m elevation gain apparently. It felt like more!

I covered less distance this time but I’m counting it as a win for perseverance. Last official run on Thursday.

Hills make it so hard!! I run almost exclusively on the flat. Well done everyone!

Iv downloaded the app and will be starting it tomorrow morning.
I'll need to buy a decent sports bra, leggings this weekend which will hopefully motivate me further to stick to my training and healthy eating🤔

Go for it @Hexagonmum! I don't always feel great after every single run but I'd say I do more often than not. We will cheer you on.

I bought myself some waterproof thermal leggings when I started out & very nice they are too.

@WeAllLikeVindaloo A banana and a glass of water?! That's marvellous: I hope you went wild & followed his advice. Although in a way there's something really rather sweet about this whole C25K world where a banana, a glass of water & a hot shower are considered a treat.

Week 7 run 1 done! A bit slower pace than my wind assisted week 6 run 3, but I felt more comfortable. After months of it being pitch dark for my whole run, it was so lovely that it got light as I was running and I arrived home in proper daylight.

Well done @RichardMarxisinnocent
I did my first run of week 7 last night, found it much more challenging than w6r3 for some reason. These last couple of weeks are gonna be just as tough as the first couple I think!

Thank you @WeAllLikeVindaloo, well done to you too. This was my 3rd 25 minute run, and they've been very variable in how hard I've found them. I still can't actually believe that I've run a whole 25 minutes non stop! In week 1, I struggled massively just to get to the end of each 60 second run, I felt on the verge of collapse after about 30 seconds! Although looking back, I suspect I may have been trying to run too quickly as I hadn't read any of the advice about running really really slowly.

Hi all, what do you listen on? I’ve had trouble with earphones falling out. And also where do you put your phone? I had an arm Velcro thing but my phone doesn’t fit anymore.

I took an extra rest day today-felt a bit non specifically rubbish and since I’ve only got one to go, I want it to be a good one.

Some great runs from @RichardMarxisinnocent, @WeAllLikeVindaloo and possibly others I’ve missed too. Well done. We’re all so close to the end now.

@Turtles4543 I just use my iPhone headphones and put the phone in my leggings pocket. I’ve got some ones from sweaty Betty (sale) that I love. I find if I put it in my waterproof jacket pocket, if bounces up and down in an annoying way.

@Turtles4543 I picked these up and the ‘fins’ keep them in your ears pretty good x

www.argos.co.uk/product/8154343?clickPR=plp:8:21

I use bone conducting headphones by shockz. And carry phone in a small running bag round my waist.

I treated myself to some aftershocz headphones after a recommendation from a serious runner: they weren't cheap but I love the fact that they don't go in your ears at all (I've never been very keen on earphones). They're a bit weird in combination with a woolly hat but my hair is growing back pretty well now so hopefully I'll be abandoning the hats fairly soon. Phone just goes in my jacket pocket mostly, although I do have a pocket in my leggings & I tried it in there once which worked okay as well. I'm starting radiotherapy today so I'm going to have two rest days (did W8R1 yesterday) & hoping to go to the ParkRun on Saturday. I've been warned I might get knackered on radiotherapy so I may have to abandon the running for a bit but I do hope not! I'll try going really slowly & see how I get on.

@januarysnowdrop all the best for your radiotherapy, hope it doesn’t wipe you out too much. You got this 💪🏼

Sending good wishes for the radiotherapy too @januarysnowdrop

I’m officially done! Week 9 run 3 this morning and it was a weird one. Four season in half an hour. Going up the hill at the start, it hailed and snowed. Appropriately, at the end the sun came out and the birds started singing. It was great! Feeling on a massive high at the moment. I even managed an extra 1.5km on the end after the cool down walk.

I’m planning on keeping running regularly and increasing very gradually so I’ll hang around this thread for all the lovely chat and encouragement. Now I need to decide what my reward for finishing will be. It won’t be a banana, that’s for sure!