Going from Walking to c25k - Advice please!

Ninkyou

Let me preface by saying, I'm only on day 36 of my journey to a new lifestyle. On July 6th, I decided to take walking as a serious form of exercise and challenged myself to walk 2 miles everyday at my local park (which has some handy dandy mile markers!). I'd walk to the 1 mile marker and all the way back to the park entrance. It was very hard for me (going from basically no fitness) and I was also suffering from some severe leg pain (which I did see my doctor about). I've been consistently keeping up the 2 mile walk all the way up to this past Friday (July 12). After reading a few other threads relating to shin splints and such, it seemed alot of advice stemmed from perhaps a need for new shoes, or changing strides. I'm not sure how to change my stride, so I took the first advice, and after I finished my 2 miles, went out at bought myself some new shoes, Nike Cross-trainers. They're much flatter than my other Nike shoes! And they have polka-dots! Hehe. So anyway, of course I was looking forward to Saturday's walk after that. So yesterday (Saturday), on advice from my doctor, I took some Excedrin, laced up my new shoes and headed to the park. The difference was amazing. The shoes, are quite obviously different. I can feel every rock I step on (lol!). Anyhow, I made it all the way to mile marker and had ZERO leg pain. It was seriously fabulous. So I challenged myself to go to the next marker before heading back. 1 1/8 mile marker and then all the way back with no pain. So yea, I'm a pretty happy camper. Today I challenged myself again and made it to 1 1/2 miles (and all the way back!), with still no leg pain and I feel freaking fantastic.

Now, this leads me to my need for advice. I'd really like to do c25k at some point. Whether it's sooner or later, I don't know. My question is, should I stay the course with walking the 1.5 miles for a time before attempting c25k? If so, for how long would you recommend before attempting it? What I don't want, is to push myself too much, too soon and end up with leg pain again, or something else of that nature. I DO want to challenge myself, but not if it's going to cause too much strain on my body. I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

So yeah, any advice or tips, or anything really would be extremely appreciated! And thanks for reading so far (lol!)

Flab2fitfi

I would try and walk for 30 - 40 mins first as that's normally how much each session will take you. Once you can walk that for two weeks I would then say start the C25K. If you are also being hit by summer heat the extra few weeks might give it chance to cool down.

Also when you start don't worry if you have to repeat weeks as most people do. Maybe also sign up for 5k that is about 8 weeks into your training as it gives you a goal to aim towards.

astronautof

There's a "pre-c25k" program that you could try. Here's the website I pulled it from: http://coacheaglesgirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/pre-c25k.html?showComment=1311479143490#c4716189152904783728

PRE-C25K SCHEDULE

Week 1 - 3 times per week
Warm-up with a brisk 5 minute walk. Stretch. Then alternate 15 seconds of jogging with 2 minutes and 15 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes (you will have done 8 repetitions of this). Cool-down with a 5 minute walk. Stretch.

Week 2 - 3 times per week
Warm-up with a brisk 5 minute walk. Stretch. Then alternate 30 seconds of jogging with 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes (you will have done 8 repetitions of this). Cool-down with a 5 minute walk. Stretch.

Week 3 - 3 times per week
Warm-up with a brisk 5 minute walk. Stretch. Then alternate 45 seconds of jogging with 1 minute and 45 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes (you will have done 8 repetitions of this). Cool-down with a 5 minute walk. Stretch.

DavidKBrewer

I would say just give week 1 a try and see how you feel. It's a bunch of 60 second jogs and 90 second walks. If you get pains after doing that a few times then you may need to walk more for a while, but it's hard to say how you'll progress unless you give it a try first.

My one suggestion is to not push yourself much at all when doing couch to 5K. The first time I tried it, I quit by the end of week 3 mainly because I was really trying to run hard on my runs. You may need to go so slow that someone walking may keep up with you, which sounds silly, but it's more about getting your body used to the impacts of running and building endurance. After you are used to running you can work on speeding up.

So just take it slow and I'm sure you'll be fine.

froeschli

C25k is a 30 minute program, so being able to walk for 30 minutes is a good idea. Since you walk 3 miles, I'd say you're pretty much there anyways. But you only just started a week ago, so in my (non medical) opinion, I'd stick with walking for another week, and then try a session of c25k. If you feel it pushes you, but not to puking point, stick with it. If its too hard, keep walking for another week.
I'd get some runners too, in the beginning cross trainers may be fine, but later on you'll need proper running shoes.
As for changing your stride, think more, quicker steps, not longer ones. Your foot is supposed to touch the ground below you, not in front (that's for running anyways). But as mentioned above, run sloooooooowly.

parmoute

If you've been walking every day already, I don't see why you can't add in the C25K now -- especially since you've gotten new shoes already. I think what I would do is go out for your walk every day same as now but every other day (or every two days to start) I would see how far into the C25K you can get.

Or, if you want to find out what your current fitness level is before starting the structured program, just challenge yourself to job 1/8 of a mile on your next walk. Then see if you can do 1/8 of a mile on each leg of the walk the next day, etc. If you can cover that distance, you can do the C25K.

On the days you run instead of walk, use the extra time you have to stretch after!! Since you're legs have been taking a beating lately from not having the right shoes, you'll want to make sure you're extra nice to them as a new runner. Even with good shoes, you can still get shin splints and generally tight/sore muscles.

Good luck!

cwolfman13

The "C" in C25k stands for "couch." These programs are designed with that in mind and start you off slow and build up to a 5K run. All of them that I've seen have you do 3x weekly and you don't run the whole thing...you do a lot of walking and then interval runs and then weeks into the program you actually jog the whole thing. Just do c25k and follow the plan.

OddballExtreme

I had tried the C25K, but I have to start all over again. I haven't really been exercising as of late because I've been feeling fatigued and odd in my body. I have a possible thyroid condition, but I won't know that until some tests are run this week. My thing is I'm not on the couch as much anymore, but I would like to be able to jog correctly.

RCottonRPh

I just started a C25K program, after having walked 3 miles 3-4 times weekly for about 3 months. I think it's good to have a good foundation of walking before you attempt C25K. I am doing a conservative version of the C25K program...one that is 7 months total. However, the first month is all waking, so I am skipping that part. People would argue against taking so long, but I have been out of shape my whole life and I want to be careful and not put myself at higher risk for injuries that would take me out of the game altogether. My advice is to ease into it and listen to your body.

dcmitchell01

I'm doing C25K right now, and am in week 2. Just as your new shoes have helped with walking, I would also highly recommend getting some good running shoes. Running shoes are differently structured than crosstrainers. I had issues with the bottom of my feet hurting. I suspected it was the shoes I was running in, and went to a track/running specialty shop. The guy in there knew a lot about running mechanics, and actually looked at my shoes, watched me walk and recommended shoes that had support to fit my stride. It has made a world of difference!!!

Also, when you start to run, hang in there, keep doing it, and press through the sweat and breathlessness. It takes a little mental toughness for me sometimes! Good luck!!!!

Ninkyou

If you've been walking every day already, I don't see why you can't add in the C25K now -- especially since you've gotten new shoes already. I think what I would do is go out for your walk every day same as now but every other day (or every two days to start) I would see how far into the C25K you can get.

Or, if you want to find out what your current fitness level is before starting the structured program, just challenge yourself to job 1/8 of a mile on your next walk. Then see if you can do 1/8 of a mile on each leg of the walk the next day, etc. If you can cover that distance, you can do the C25K.

On the days you run instead of walk, use the extra time you have to stretch after!! Since you're legs have been taking a beating lately from not having the right shoes, you'll want to make sure you're extra nice to them as a new runner. Even with good shoes, you can still get shin splints and generally tight/sore muscles.

Good luck!

That's a great idea about the 1/8 mile... I may try doing that!

Thanks so much guys for all of the advice!

dcmitchell01

Oh, and get a smart phone app that does C25K - there are a few free ones. The app will watch the time, and tell you when to start running, and when to walk. For me that is super helpful, because if I have to watch the time for myself, I tend to get engrossed in that and lose track of what I need to be doing - concentrating on breathing and stride and getting better.

kaustin515

I am in Week 7 of C25K (actually restarting week 7 tonight) and I am still in disbelief I've made it this far. I had been going to the gym and slowly worked myself up from 7 to 45 minutes on the elliptical. That gave me the confidence to try C25K. It was very tough and challenging but I just told myself no backing out. I love the walk breaks and relied on them at first to catch my breath or just kind of recooperate at first. At any rate I am so glad I am doing it. My advice is like the others. I suffered terrible knee pain. Running at 200lbs on my knees was painful. I also suffered shin splints initially. I asked some of my runner friends for advice and signed up for a 5K in October to give me a goal to work towards. The best advice I got was to go get fitted for a proper pair of running shoes and get good socks. I went to an actual running store and they had me run on a treadmill (which I'd never done before, I run outdoors) for 15 seconds and recorded my stride. Then we went over the video so they could see my strike and how I lift off the ground (don't know the proper term for this). Based on that the guy helping me sent me with a shoe fitter and explained to her what I needed. Then I tried on and ran (outside the store) in probably 6-8 pair of shoes before I picked the pair I liked best. It made a huge difference for me. Also I found out that I needed a size bigger than I was wearing because of swelling. I did all this after two weeks of sticking with the program as a treat to myself. My second advice is to run slooooooow. I read somewhere to run at a conversational pace. So if I seem like I'm exceptionally out of breath I'll slow down and sing with my music until I can do it fairly easily and then try to maintain that pace. There were a few times I've had to walk out the end of a run session but I stick with it. And in the 7 weeks I've been doing it this is the first week I'm repeating but there were times I wanted to but I just told myself to try the next week and if I really couldn't do it then I was fine with starting the previous week over again. Getting started is the hardest part and you will feel so good at the end of each workout from just pride of doing it. And I was such a couch potato and had started and stopped the program before. This time I'm serious about it and actually look forward to my run nights because I still can't believe I can actually run! And by run I mean a pack of snails going through peanut butter are faster but it's running for me and I'm proud! So best wishes to you and if you want to add me I'll happily cheer you along the way!

DavidKBrewer

Oh, and get a smart phone app that does C25K - there are a few free ones. The app will watch the time, and tell you when to start running, and when to walk. For me that is super helpful, because if I have to watch the time for myself, I tend to get engrossed in that and lose track of what I need to be doing - concentrating on breathing and stride and getting better.

This.

One of the reasons I quit the first time was because I was constantly checking my watch; waiting for the walking part to come.

When I just had music to listen to and an audible cue to tell me when to stop running, I could just focus on the important things like trying not to throw up or pass out.

MaureenH39

I walked 2 miles a day for about 2-2.5 months and then decided to try C25K. I did week 5 day 2 today and it is going really well so far! Best wishes if you decide to try it :flowerforyou:

pianolover2012

Oh, and get a smart phone app that does C25K - there are a few free ones. The app will watch the time, and tell you when to start running, and when to walk. For me that is super helpful, because if I have to watch the time for myself, I tend to get engrossed in that and lose track of what I need to be doing - concentrating on breathing and stride and getting better.

This.

One of the reasons I quit the first time was because I was constantly checking my watch; waiting for the walking part to come.

When I just had music to listen to and an audible cue to tell me when to stop running, I could just focus on the important things like trying not to throw up or pass out.

Love it!!