Couch to 5K - to infinity and beyond...

[cinnamongreyhound]

A new thread for those of us who started in January 2012 and anyone starting now. Everyone welcome for support, encouragement and occasional arse kicking :)

We'll done penny great times and lovely to do it together :)

Well done Ezzza, don't worry too much about speed a slow jog is good :)

Fantastic frenchfancy and shame on miserable runkeeper . Everyone is worried about w5r3 but everyone who's been on the thread has done it first attempt, you'll be great!!

Fab time pennygallops! Well done jchocchip :). We passed the people doing the test run of the park run on our way back from our run today they were all very smiley. Lots of runs in that sentance!! Felt like a really fast run today but my endomono messed up and only logged 7k when its usually 9.5k so speeds were accurate as time was right

Thanks for the support everyone. Ive done wk1 r1 and felt better than I thought I would. I'm hoping to do day on, day off this week and then I will see how I am doing before
I've roped in a friend to do the run with me but he doesn't live local, so we are texting support on occasion.
I may be able to borrow a sports watch, are they any good? I've never used one before.
Everyone sounds to be doing v well, mighty impressed!!

Depends on the model squeeky and whether you are motivated by its features. I have a cheap hrm and like to see calories burned for mfp and stopwatch to keep at eye on my time at parkrun. Some watches do gps but a free app on a smartphone does that too. Let us know if you use it how you get on.

I've done it! 20 minutes non-stop. I never thought it possible.

The first 5 minutes were the worst, after that I got into a rhythm. I can run!!!

Well done frenchfancy! That's fantastic! Once you've done that, you can manage all the rest too You can call yourself a runner now!

...but presumably even runners have bad days? Just been out for mine and had to slow to a walk two-thirds of the way through Also my stupid phone started skipping tracks which really threw me off... I made my own playlist as I'd got bored with Robert Ullrey's podcasts, but maybe I should have stuck with them as they mostly seemed to play OK. Anyone got any advice? Did I pick tracks of the wrong tempo and pace myself wrong? Is it all in my head and I just can't run without something to listen to? Does everyone get od days when their body just won't cooperate?
Think I'm having a major wobble! this is the first time I've not successfully completed a run during the entire C25K and in the few weeks since W9

sarah sorry can't help as I've only used the NHS podcasts and never had problems with jumping. But thanks for the kind words.

Wow, congratulations french. When I get to that week I will do as you did and build up by running over into the walking bits. You're an inspiration!

Well done frenchfancy, knew you'd do it :)

I think some days are not so good and runs are harder, can be more dehydrated, tired, hormones fluctuating, eaten at wrong time or just one of those things! It could be you went off to fast but I think you'd know if that was the case SarahWithAFringeOnTop. There is also a lot in your head when it comes to running so perhaps the songs skipping did throw you and put you off your stride or made you feel you'd gone further than you had or you concentrated more on how difficult the run was than your music. You'll be fine, try to go out with a positive outlook on your next run and don't leave it too long

Well done french That is the milestone.

sarah Yes I have the odd run when I have to slow down. It could be anything, the weather, a cold or something. Your next run will be better.

Well done on the pb pennygallops, and well done frenchfancy on the 20 minute run. I?ll try to remember your post when it comes around for me.

I did w3r2 today. A little better than w3r1 but the 3 minute runs are still tough. But as long as I can manage to run for all of the running bits I?m happy.

(P.S. change of name but I think you all still know who I am!)

W2R1 completed :)

Woohoooo! I've now had an entire week of running 5km!! Im going the 10km programme but was a little ahead of the game and pushed on. I have another week of 5km before going further towards the 10. Only downside is I'm incredibly slow. Takes me 40 minutes at the moment.

Well done everyone making progress!

I've been to training tonight, we did hills again and it was hard! One of the ladies I was running with said she thinks I am strong enough to run a half marathon with not too much extra training. There is one close to me, I've been umming and arhing for the last month weather to enter the 10K or half marathon and done neither so far. The furthest I've run is 8.5 miles and a half is 13 miles so what do you all think? Opinions really appreciated, have only been doing more than 5k since December but now regularly run 6 miles on a Saturday.

Good evening everyone and well done to you all, whether its Wk1 or 10k or more. We are all runners!

cinnamon I think you could do it, you're regularly running 8.5 miles. As long as you have the time to train for the extra distance you'll be able to do it.

I've actually been wondering about the next challenge for myself. Did 10k again today in about an hour, so I can run for an hour. So do I now try to run further or faster? I'd like to break the 27 min mark on the park run - just once! With work work and family, I don't have a great deal of spare time, so I won't be training for a marathon just yet.

Most people I've spoken to have said 2x 4-5 miles during the week and a 10 mile weekend run is enough training for a half marathon. There are lots of speed programs online if you find one you like you're away :). I improved speed by interval training with my club mostly.

It really is an inspiration reading the posts of you "old timers". It keeps me going so a big well done to you all .

Phew... ran again tonight and did manage the full 30 min (I'm not really measuring distance atm, I'm not very fast!) so still not sure what happened the other day. It does bring home to me though how much of it is in my head, not my legs IYSWIM. I was quite afraid I wouldn't manage the full 30 min again and would have to stop and wouldn't be able to manage the full whack ever again, then I thought how ridiculous that was and gave myself a stern talking to. So I went out with the attitude of "I won't let this beat me" and, despite my £%^&* stupid phone skipping all the tracks again, did manage to plod on until the end. It was a bit difficult to know when the end was but fortunately I'd looked at the time just as I started and passed the church clock with about five minutes to go!

So what I have learned tonight is, the thing you really have to train to do this is not your legs or lungs, but your brain! Please somebody remind me of that next time I wobble...

Yay! Well done for getting back out SarahWithAFringeOnTop! A friend said to me once you can run for 30 mins the rest is all in your head you can go as far as you want to :)

Went out with my friend last night who is doing a triathlon and was her first time putting two events together so after her hour bike ride we cut the run shorter than I would have liked but still good. She's doing 75 swim, 25k bike, 5k run in that order in may. On the plus side she did say she'd do the half marathon with me so getting closer to clicking that enter button!

Woohoo! W3R3 done!

I?m on a bit of a holiday at the moment as my Uni course has finished and I?m just waiting for my flight home, so I?ve got a little bit of time on my hands. Morning routine on run days is cuppa tea and light breakfast then read through some of the previous c25k threads for motivation (which really works!) for a couple of hours then get out there and run. All the talk on the previous threads about running to your own music made me want to have a go at making my own playlist to run to, but I don?t have a smart phone or an iPod touch so can?t use one of those fancy apps. Instead, I went through the week 3 NHS podcast and took down the exact timings for when to start running and when to start walking and went through my iTunes library to find tracks that fit as I want to run and walk the exact amount of time I would have if I were listening to Laura. In case anyone is interested, here is my week 3 playlist:

Lucille ? Little Richard (2m27s) warm up walk
I'm In the Mood for Love - Jools Holland and Jamiroquai (3m12s) warm up walk
Shout ? The Beatles (1m31s) run
Norwegian Wood ? The Beatles (1m59s) walk
Back Porch ? The Presidents Of The United States Of America (3m00s) run
México Insurgente ? Ismael Serrano (3m07s) walk
Kick Out The Jams ? The Presidents Of The United States Of America (1m26s) run ? 4 secs short so I just kept running for a few seconds into the next song
P.S. I Love You ? The Beatles (2m06s) walk
I'm Still Running Standing ? Elton John (3m03s) run
Dreaming Of You ? The Coral (2m21s) warm down walk
Rock Me ? ABBA (3m07s) warm down walk

The Beatles featuring heavily in my list came as no surprise as I lurve The Beatles and they have a lot of nice short songs, but it wasn?t until I?d finished my list that I realised of the 4 running songs 2 of them were PUSA songs. I think they will be featuring heavily in my running from now on as the beat was just right for my pace. I?m not a huge Elton John fan, but the lyrics seemed to keep me going on the last run and the pace was about right. I think I ran a little faster on today?s 3 minute runs because boy was I glad when the next song came on. After a hundred yards of gasping for breath and forcing myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other on the warm down walk I even managed a little strut in time to the music on the way home.

It was definitely easier to run to my own music and I got much further this week. So I?m now listening to the week 4 podcast just in case Laura has some advice I don?t want to miss out on and then I?ll be making up a week 4 playlist to run to on Friday. Goodness me but isn?t the week 4 music on the podcast dire!

Ezzza you obviously have too much time on your hands I need to get some music sorted out too.

I've just done Wk6 r1. A new pain has appeared at the top of my leg going into my groin I finished but I found it hard.

W2R2 completed. Getting there, slowly but surely. I ran to The Killers today.

Loving that playlist Ezza ! I am doing the nhs podcast with Laura (or Emma?!) so am going with cheesy motivational music, it does make me smile as I am running along!

I did week4 run 3 on Monday. Normally at the gym I do my running after 1 or 2 excercise classes, but monday was an extra session as I am on half term this week so hadnt done a class beforehand. And I found it easy ! Couldnt believe it when I had finished! I really ramped up the speed at the end as well. I honestly cannot believe how much better at running I have become in a month!

So its week 5 run 1 tonight, am not too worried about this one, not sure how they are expecting me to do 20 minutes non stop in 2 runs time though, eeeek!