I started C25K tonight! Any tips or advice for a beginner?

AshleyNicolePedigo

I started couch to 5k today. I don't know if I'll ever be a runner really. It's something I've always wanted to beable to do but 1. maybe tmi but my tata's are huge! G size bra. But I'm gonna keep at it. Hope tomorrow is easier! I'm just feeling really proud that I finished the first day! I'm also quite overweight. I have about 60 pounds to lose. I'm already 13 pounds down from going to the gym 6 days a week for the last month and a half. I have built up some endurance on the elliptical and other cardio machines. Just really wanted to try running. Any tips for someone just beginning to do any kind of running?

thebuz

Walk the walk portions as fast as you can and run the run intervals very slowly. We all have a tendency to want to run fast and we burn out before the intervals are finished. All of your focus should be on completing the run segments and not on how fast you do them. The speed comes later but in the beginning it's all about building up endurance. If you are struggling for breath while running then keep slowing down. I promise you that no matter how slow it feels like you may be running that you have room to slow down more. :-) This was the biggest lesson I learned from the program.

The second thing I would say is to not let the increases in following weeks freak you out. Always try the next run before deciding in your head that you can't do it. Running is 90% mental and your body almost always can do more than your mind will let you believe.

Happy running!

kar328

Get fitted for a good sports bra or wear two - when the girls aren't moving all over, you'll be more comfortable and do better. Don't worry about being perfect, you'll have days where one of the workouts just doesn't go right. I never worried about the schedule, I repeated days when I needed to and usually did the program twice a week as I have a weird night shift schedule and a M/W/F plan was out of the question. Go slow like the advice given above.

Besides the sports bra, get fitted for shoes in a running store. It made a world of difference. I've since gotten cold weather clothes and compression leggings - I found I'd rather go outside in bad weather, than on a treadmill.

Enjoy it. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I could run a mile, let alone 3.1. I did a 5K last year, but made a lot of newbie mistakes. I did another this year and did so much better, enjoyed it more and hit all my goals - run all of it, come in under 40 mins and not be last. I'm amazed every time I run and find myself liking it and not praying for a quick death

Almost forgot - there's a great C25K group on here with lots of experienced posters.

Ishii19

Definitely join the c25k group - I just graduated last week and the people there are so supportive - plus if you just read the daily check in thread you'll have an answer to any questions before they even come up also the biggest hurdle to get over is that running is more a mind game than anything else - just tell yourself the minute (or three minutes or six or thirty - whatever running interval you're on) will end soon just like all minutes do and you CAN keep running through it no matter how hard your instinct tells you to quit early! That muscle (overcoming the mind game) grows as you flex it regularly just like any other muscle. Good luck! Happy running

Ishii19

Oh yeah and I got a big cup size too do a little core work a couple times a week and then when you run remind yourself to have good posture and engage your core - this can save your back and an added bonus is its hard to run too fast when you focus on posture (you will hear ten thousand times as an answer to a running question "slow down" - and it's true!)

Edie30

thebuz wrote: »

Walk the walk portions as fast as you can and run the run intervals very slowly. We all have a tendency to want to run fast and we burn out before the intervals are finished. All of your focus should be on completing the run segments and not on how fast you do them. The speed comes later but in the beginning it's all about building up endurance. If you are struggling for breath while running then keep slowing down. I promise you that no matter how slow it feels like you may be running that you have room to slow down more. :-) This was the biggest lesson I learned from the program.

The second thing I would say is to not let the increases in following weeks freak you out. Always try the next run before deciding in your head that you can't do it. Running is 90% mental and your body almost always can do more than your mind will let you believe.

Happy running!

This :-)

Laughter_Girl

Great advice thus far. I would like to add that you should register for your first 5K a couple of months from now. I stayed motivated during my C25K training because I was planning to complete a 5K with a friend. We encouraged each other along the way, and completed our first 5K together.

Wishing you all the best!!!

bwogilvie

thebuz wrote: »

Walk the walk portions as fast as you can and run the run intervals very slowly. We all have a tendency to want to run fast and we burn out before the intervals are finished. All of your focus should be on completing the run segments and not on how fast you do them. The speed comes later but in the beginning it's all about building up endurance.

This is great advice. "Start out slow, then ease off," as many people have advised beginning runners. During your running intervals, you should be going fast enough that you can't sing, but slow enough that you can still talk in complete sentences. If you can't do that, ease off. On the other hand, if you can sing an aria, speed up.

Kalikel

I'm exactly a week ahead of you, OP.

All the runners say Go Slow. So I was all, "Okay, I'm going to go slowly." I'm big on following good advice. Run at talking pace. Shoulders loose. Hands not flopping in front me. Head up.

Wth? As if I could go fast! Like that's possible! No, it isn't. I suppose there are people who could run and run and run and do it really fast and end up over-exerting themselves. NOT ME.

This "having to hold myself back" thing has not been a problem. By the end of the last burst, I'm calling the app lady a b¡tch and sweating and huffing and puffing and thinking, "I am crazy. I'm not a runner. Who am I kidding? I need to stop this."

Slowing myself down - not the problem.

Flopping hands, yes. Didn't think they'd flop in front of me, but they do. So I work on not doing that.

I have been keeping my head kind of down because we have a LOT of frogs here. I see at least dozen of them every time I do 3 miles. I don't want to crush a frog! Frogs are our friends and weren't put here to be crushed by fat old women pretending to be runners! ... Well, now my neck hurts. Watching the ground is easier when you walk.

So that's my advice - the only thing I've learned the hard way so far. Don't look down a lot. Because ouch.

Edie30

HAAAAA I think I just weed in my pants laughing!!! God you're toooo funny :-)

AshleyNicolePedigo

Thank you all so much for the advice. I think it will all really help me out. I just joined the c25k group. Already seen lots of answers to more questions so thanks for posting that for me to find!! Tomorrow is day 2! and Kalikel, oh god. HILARIOUS!!!! Thank you everyone for your posts!!!