Starting my running journey whilst morbidly obese

[Frustratedandworried]

Today I start my running journey in an attempt to become healthier and set a better example to my kids.

Start weight: 239lb
Current weight: 222lb
Height 5ft 4

I am super unfit, I pant and sweat walking up stairs, and currently cant run at all so its going to be quite the journey.

Today I walked the 5k route I intend to be able to run at some point. It was a steady paced walk, I sweated lots and it took me an hour I came home and cried then realised its 5k more than I did yesterday so pace shouldnt matter!

If anyone else wants to join me and start walking / jogging / running please say hello and keep me company

Who cares how fast you went? Well done! Gotta start somewhere!

Well done! That's a great distance to have done. Don't worry about going red and sweaty, I've always gone the colour of beetroot and sweated buckets and I'm smaller than you are. It's part of exercising. Just make sure you have comfortable clothes that will wick the sweat away.

Get yourself a great playlist and get yourself going.

Hi OP, I'm exactly the same weight as you, and 1 inch shorter!
The last couple of weeks I've been doing a 1.5 mile walk every morning, takes me about 35 mins, so you're doing well!
I've been having problems with my knee, so have been building up slowly!
Now that my knee feels a lot better I get pains at the back of my ankle.! It feels that my body is finding new ways to inflict pain on me!
I'm going for a walk soon, don't think I'll manage 5k, but I want to try for a longer walk than usual!

And yes agree with PP. I'm a size 8 and I still turn beet red and sweat rivulets whenever I exercise. Even if it's only for 15 minutes.

It's all about heart rate, not necessarily speed! Get yourself a heart rate watch if you have the cash and you can see when you're in optimal cardio mode etc

I'm toying with starting C25k. My daughter started it 2 months ago and is now running tks every other day.
I think your walk a100k in a month idea is fantastic and I think I'll start with that.

You done fantastic! Keep in your mind with the c25k that you can repeat sessions until your confident to continue or you struggled too much the next week go back. I suffer from nerve damage and managed to get up to 28minutes running- I've currently hurt my hip so resting then going back to a much earlier week.

Well bloody done.

Whenever I see a bigger person running I always think 'good on you' it's hard to start and is a challenge but you are clearly motivated.

Download the Strava app if you haven't already - the basic app is free and it rewards you for the tiniest efforts such as knocking a second or two off your 5k route and you can really see your progress at the time.

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It's worth knowing that, despite its name, couch25k is more about time than distance - most people don't run 5k in the 30 minute final runs. It's great practice walking 5k but if you are doing run walk over a full 5k you'll be doing a lot more running than if you were doing the app (week 1 has 7x 1 minute-long runs). Totally your choice, and serious respect for getting up and going no matter what you do!

Brilliant-well done! I started with c25k and now running is massive part of my life.
Sorry if I sound patronising but remember to ignore the ‘calories burned’ bit on your app. It’s easy to eat back more than you’ve burned anyway and apps tend to over estimate.
When I was losing weight I’d allow myself an extra 50 calories per mile-so 150 for a 5k which isn’t much but otherwise there’s no point (If weight loss is your aim) hope that makes sense

Well done OP! I can't run due to pelvic floor issues but have been walking and the change in my overall fitness has been great. You won't regret it!

Some encouraging posts on here.

Una I don't understand your post. Are you saying do something else rather than couch25k or stick with it?

God well done OP. I am a runner and I am overweight. At the beginning I couldn’t run for a minute and now I can easily do 5k. I am very slow but I run and I end up very red and sweaty. I really take pleasure in the fact that I can run - and sometimes even in the run itself

My tips - a fuck off sports bra and a very slow pace. If you think you can’t go on, slow down. Good luck op 👍🏻

5k in an hour is bloody good going!

I’m about 2 st overweight- I’ve been walking for a while now and 5k is a fast, comfortable pace. 5.5k is as fast as I can hold for longer than 30mins. That gets me sweaty and my heart rate quite high.

Well done! I restarted c25k at the beginning of 2019 and it had been a life changer for me no enjoy running now, and go out 4 times a week and run 5-10k a time. I still run slowly, but I can run for a good stretch of time and that was what I was aiming for :)

Ok @Frustratedandworried I did my 5km walk today! I’m now lying on the ground like an asthmatic hippopotamus wheezing.

Not going to lie, I didn’t want to do it and only did as I had written on here yesterday that I would. Running that same distance seems impossible. I can’t even believe I managed to walk it.

Have to go, I need to barf up a lung.

HotCrossBungle as I understood it OP was planning to do walk run walk over a 5k route instead of following the C25k plan - and I was saying that while she should feel free to do that, it would probably be harder work than C25k.

Well done. It looks like you're making some good progress.

I'm in a similar position. I started 3 weeks ago at 232lbs and could only manage 2.5k with a break in the middle. I did 4k without stopping last night.

If you already have a Samsung Watch then the Samsung Health app is really good for tracking runs (and your weight and food intake if you like). It can sync with Strava and MyFitnessPal too.
I would recommend strata because it's quite motivational when you get kudos from other people when you go out and run, and you can see how other people do on the same sections on your route.

I used the C25K app without headphones. I just held my phone and glanced at it occasionally. There's a clear visual guide too.
Well done making a start and good luck.

Well done 👍 I help run c25k and we have lots of larger Ladies who think they can’t do it and do. I would just say to build up slowly and don’t overdo it, tempting as it maybe.

If you want to start jogging a bit then lampost to lampost is an ideal start, but make sure you stretch well and if you need to have a rest day from running. Its really easy to injure yourself if you go mad in the first few weeks. Not only do your muscles need to get strong, your ligaments and bones need to get used to the new stresses placed upon them .

Well done OP. Brilliant start.

I did roughly the same thing a few years ago. It took me three years to finally run (jog) a 5k.

Don’t worry about how long it takes, every day is an achievement in itself.

Make sure you have good running shoes, and allow yourself a day off if you ache. Keep it up, but remember you aren’t a machine.

I am MUCH heavier than you and the same height. I'm doing couch to 5k too, I'm on week 8 of 9 and I love it. I run for 28 minutes and then walk the rest of the 5k route home. Well done on getting started. Good luck!

Frustratedandworried the hardest part is getting started, well done you! I'd also say that starting with walking and building up to jogging and running when you've lost some more weight will be great. You'll be putting a lot less pressure on your joints and muscles that way, and will be a lot less likely to injure yourself.

So glad there are so many of us here! Hope you've recovered @FollowYourOwnNorthStar

I was a tad stiff this morning so stretched lots and had a hot bath... feeling ready for tomorrows 5k walk but have to take my daughter so it will be leisurely but still 5k.

Friday I'm pumped for....attempting a jog / faster walk ...but that may change as things go on.

My pelvic floor has always been fairly intact however I have recently had a hysterectomy inc cervix removal so worried about damaging stuff there so taking it slow and steady. Will weigh myself every monday and post here then too

THE PLAN HAS CHANGED

I am child free so will be doing my first jog attempt today. To be clear I'm not jogging the 5k, I can barely jog to my fridge , but will be slow jogging 3 very short flat parts of the 5k just to see how it feels

Good luck for anyone else walking / jogging / running today

Still alive. I think

I've done my first walk in a while today so can I join you ladies in your journey. I'm 227lbs and 5.4 but I can't run due to having had a hip replacement last year but can walk. Just done 2.2k this morning and will take the dog out later to do some more. Trying to log what I eat again also as that's one of the few things that works for me.
My problem is cooking at home and having 3 teens that are looking for cooked meals while off school. Trying not to feed them junk so end up home cooking loads and eating it with them.