Who's with me for couch to 5k?!

[Badgoushk]

I'm going to start Couch to 5k when my new trainers arrive (today/tomorrow/weekend) and wondered if anyone wants to start too and we can have a little support group going?

I'm 39, 2 stone overweight, haven't done any running for over 10 years and even then I couldn't run 5k without walking. I have 2 young children and want to shape up. I currently swim twice a week and walk a lot (9,000 steps a day). But I'm still pretty unfit. I need to get my heart rate up!

So who is going to join me?! You need to be able to commit to 3 runs a week (30 minutes) for 9 weeks. Have a google of couch to 5k to see what it involves if you're not sure. I'll be using an app on my phone.

Who's in?!

Evening all! I didn't have the best weekend food-wise or in terms of exercise. I ran on Saturday morning & found it hard going, then had an afternoon tea out with lots of drinks, which ran on all evening. Then on Sunday I had the kids all day on my own & had to drive in the evening, so no exercise & less than 4K steps

So today I have been getting back on track; didn't even bother to weigh myself in case I got dispirited.

I did W9 R2 tonight (2nd last on app) & found it easy so I ran a bit further - probably fuelled by all the calories I ate over the weekend 🙊

It's my best time & distance so far. I'd like to shave a few minutes off it, but am pretty pleased.

Hoping everyone else is doing ok?

You three are inspirational - well done! I finished W1 today. But I'm not even trying on the food front just yet. Impossible on a stressful 'holiday' to diet as well.

Well done Prosecco, graduation run fir you next time then !

Edd I think you're doing brilliantly in the circumstances.

DH back today after hurting his shoulder. First time today running on solid surfaces and I was thinking I might have to see GP as was getting worse but actually we set off after another couple of runners and didn't quite realise how fast they were going - can see how you could run faster on something like Park run!

After another 3 weeks off due to illness I finally got back to running last week and managed w7d1 (20 mins run). It was hard. Today I did w7d2 25 mins run and I think I may have died a little bit! So hard! However did it so yay me. However now I can barely walk due to a pain in my hip! I'm so frustrated. I've had so many injuries and illnesses since I started this programme in April! I was determined to complete the 5k during the summer hols so really hoping this injury clears quickly!

Well done everyone!

Prosecco we had matching weekends! I didn't eat a lot at any one go. But I was constantly picking. And I really did hurt something so I didn't really want to run over the weekend. Back on track now- long walk yesterday and then W8R2 today. I had to pause very briefly twice- once for shoelaces and once for sweat but I paused the app and it was maybe 30 seconds all in. Ran at 8.5 all the way and 8.8 for the last 8 minutes. Actually felt good. Doable. Maybe just having a couple of days off made the difference. Right back on MFP this week too.

Well done everyone! I waa supposed to do W7R1 but I'm in bed already with a raging sore throat :0( It's been a week since my last run and I'm worried about becoming deconditioned!!

Bad luck Badgoushk. I guess you can always repeat a day, but it must be really frustrating. I did W2R1 today. Much harder than W1! But it does make me feel good 😊

Can't decide between MFP, Noom, 3S, or what for when I get back. Its all too much - I just want a magic wand! Waaah.

You poor thing Badgoushk Hope you feel better very soon I think we all worry about being deconditikned but suspect in reality it takes longer than we think to make vety much of a difference.

We'll done Edd Don't want to make things more complicated by throwing another into the ring but I use Nutracheck. It costs £30 for the app a year but I find it quick and easy to use as it has loads of UK stuff on. It does crash a lot but i'm prepared tk put up with that.

Is that a calorie counting thing?

Yes it is. I think the NHS might recommend it but not sure. I read about it on here.

Screen shot. It has a bar code reader and easy to set up and use recipes so fir my breakfast I have set up apple and cinnamon porridge plus added the milk for my teas so just go into recipes at the bottom, select apple oats then add it to breakfast and job done.

I like it because it has clear portion sizes for a lit of things eg. For things like pasta, rice, potatoes and veg it gives small, medium and large , or you can input a weight. It's helped me with portion size over time. I find it easier to use than MFP.

Ok thanks for the tip! I'm not sure I can cope with counting calories but I'll check it out :)

I thought they were all calorie counters in your first post (not very awake yet !). Not heard of Noom. My advice is don't over think it, chose the one that you feel will be the most sustainable and fits in with the way your brain works. You can always change after a bit.

I used to work in research so having data from Fitbit re calories out and data from Nutracheck re calories out works well for my particular mindset.

Yeah. I've done MFP before, but not long term. we'll see!

Maybe 3S might be worth a shot then so you feel you are starting a fresh? I find virtual gastric band app works when I actually listen to it to throw another into the mix.

Mirabelle how accurate do you find the calories out on your Fitbit? I've googled this but not found anything that useful. Example- Yesterday I wandered round a shopping mall for 2 hours, went for a (admittedly very hilly) walk with the pram for 75 minutes then did a rework of W4 (3mins and 5mins running) at 10kmph. I was up and down the stairs, putting stuff away so on my feet a lot of the rest of the day. End of day count was 18,000 steps, 13km and 3,000 calories. I'm confident enough of the first 2 figures but 3,000 calories?! That seems ridiculously high.

I've switched from a Flex 2 to a Charge 2 recently . The Flex 2 was really pretty accurate as when I used that to work out a 7k deficit I was losing an average of 2lb a week.

The Charge 2 however is very different and I don't trust it yet. I've read that it can take a bit of time to settle down and it is better than it was. I'm a bit worried about this week as trying to eat at maintenence as best I can and wish i'd bought my flex 2 wit me.

Ii've read varying things on this from very accurate to is 20% over. I think the consensus is it is good at tracking heart rate at lower levels but not at the higher levels which can lead to overestimation of calories burned.

We're supposed to be running this morning. A slug is more active than the pair of us at the moment !!

Thanks for the info. Will check which Fitbit I actually have.

I am the same. It's almost like being a teenager when you had to study for an exam and pontificated and footered about doing anything rather than start studying. I will have to do the final W8 run either tonight or tomorrow afternoon....

That's the one . Then as with revision I cracked at thd point not doing it got more stressful and we got absolutely saturated. Everyone else was taking shelter u def bridges and trees and there were DH and Iike two panting drowned rats ! No personal bests were set today.

Hi all, just had this post pop up again and wanted to see how you're all getting on! Well done on sticking with it!!! You must all be a so proud! Try not to worry about illness. Just get out again when you can and if you need to repeat a week do. It's more important to build than push yourself and give up!

I've stuck at my half marathon training. I've just finished week 9 which meant tonight I ran for two hours covering over 11 miles! Can't actually believe it!

Good to hear from everyone! It was very rainy in Edinburgh over the last 24hrs, so I went out after the kids went to bed, at 9pm. And ran 5K in 36min 38s, pace 7'17", so a little faster. And that's me finished week 9 & the whole programme!

Hope you don't mind me hanging around?

Wow! Bambisims and Prosecco! Awesome. 😁🙌

Bambisims, running for 2 hours, wow! Good advice on the building not pushing.

Congratulations Prosecco , you've done it and that's a good 5k time I'm staying put too. Apparently it can be easy to lose focus without the program to stick to so great we can all support each other.

I can definitely agree it has been very rainy in Edinburgh, I have never been so wet in my life as after running this morning ! Lovely city, I'll be sorry to leave.

Prosecco you must hang around!! Massive congratulations on your achievement. Think back just a few weeks and look how far you've come.

Well done to all the 5K-ers. It's great reading about your progress and a half-marathon runner too - wow! That's really inspiring.

I've done week 3 this week and am starting week 4 tonight. I prefer running in the morning but I had a long walk last night with my DF and we ended up sharing a bottle of wine en route. It was lovely as a one-off but I have been known to have a bottle 3 or 4 times a week and how I'm feeling this morning (sore head and sluggish) is a reminder that it needs to stay a one-off.

I am please that I've lost 2 pounds from last week. I've just been using the Fitbit app to log my food but have to admit to struggling with the low carb-high protein ratios suggested for weight loss.

Im glad that you enjoyed Edinburgh *Mirabelle", shame about the weather. I'm having dinner there tomorrow and then away to take in the Festival buzz. I suspect I will have a few drinks there but hopefully not go too daft so I can run on Sunday.