How are you getting on with C25K?

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  • beerfoamy
    beerfoamy Posts: 1,521 Member
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    beerfoamy wrote: »
    Started week 7, first 25min run yesterday. all at 8.5km/h and hit 4km in 32 mins (5min warm up, 25 run, 2 cool down)

    Learnt the hard way I am not good with eating before a run. Had protein shake and banana about an hour and a half before running. Last 8 minutes were NOT fun, had to cut cool down short.

    So think tomorrows 25 mins will be much nicer! On treadmill again though. Weather has not been friendly this past week.

    Still finding the boredom thing the worst. If I cover the clock it helps, along with keep telling myself, 'bored not tired, bored not tired'. My legs never really hurt during/after which is good. :smiley:

    Some of the others have tried audio books/ podcasts as a distraction. Might help with the boredom.

    I do keep thinking I'll try this. But at the same time, I am worried about getting stitch if I am not singing along under my breath....

    I am probably going back a few weeks to accompany my gf who got injured, so I may try audiobooks for the shorter runs and see what happens. Maybe my breathing will take care of itself now I have been doing it a bit longer :)
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
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    beerfoamy wrote: »
    I do keep thinking I'll try this. But at the same time, I am worried about getting stitch if I am not singing along under my breath....

    I worried the same about stopping singing, but I have done the odd segment without singing under my breath now and managed just fine. Time to try without the crutch lol
  • beerfoamy
    beerfoamy Posts: 1,521 Member
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    It will have to be tried! :)
  • MegansMom2011
    MegansMom2011 Posts: 356 Member
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    Halfway through! Just finished week 4, day 3! I want to thank all of you for motivating me and holding me accountable this far. And a special shout out to @tinkerbellang83 for creating this group, befriending me, inviting me to the group, and going about the same rate as me in the app. I'm sure we'd be running buddies if we lived near each other! I value your support more than you know! Cheers to @tinkerbellang83!
  • TheGaudyMagpie
    TheGaudyMagpie Posts: 282 Member
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    beerfoamy wrote: »
    Started week 7, first 25min run yesterday. all at 8.5km/h and hit 4km in 32 mins (5min warm up, 25 run, 2 cool down)

    Learnt the hard way I am not good with eating before a run. Had protein shake and banana about an hour and a half before running. Last 8 minutes were NOT fun, had to cut cool down short.

    So think tomorrows 25 mins will be much nicer! On treadmill again though. Weather has not been friendly this past week.

    Still finding the boredom thing the worst. If I cover the clock it helps, along with keep telling myself, 'bored not tired, bored not tired'. My legs never really hurt during/after which is good. :smiley:

    I have to eat before I run or my legs feel really tired and heavy. However, I do something carby, and about two hours before. Usually one of those hard oat-based granola bars (Nature Valley). I find if I give myself some carbs/quick fuel, my workouts are more effective. Also, when the body burns through the glucose stores and starts burning protein, one of the byproducts is ammonia. It's not harmful or anything, but if you find yourself smelling like catbox, increasing carbs before the run will help with that. If it were me, I'd keep the banana (except not really, because I don't like bananas) and ditch the protein shake (but take it after). I tend to go to ammonia smell pretty quickly if the workout is challenging, so that's another reason for the carbs before.

    I alternate between podcasts and music, depending on my mood. The podcasts really help with boredom. I thought it might affect pace/breathing, but it doesn't seem to. I started about where you are because I had the same problem. It's gotten better though (I've graduated but I'm doing 32 minutes as a transition to the 10K program). As I got more conditioned, I could get outside my head more and that's helped with the boredom. Right now I am listening to Lore, but there are a lot of great free podcasts out there. My one obstacle is that I can't find an app that plays episodes in order.

    It did get easier for me at this point, so I hope it does for you too!
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
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    Halfway through! Just finished week 4, day 3! I want to thank all of you for motivating me and holding me accountable this far. And a special shout out to @tinkerbellang83 for creating this group, befriending me, inviting me to the group, and going about the same rate as me in the app. I'm sure we'd be running buddies if we lived near each other! I value your support more than you know! Cheers to @tinkerbellang83!

    Aww thanks @MegansMom2011
  • beerfoamy
    beerfoamy Posts: 1,521 Member
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    @TheGaudyMagpie - thanks for the tips :) Have never experienced the ammonia smell!

    I am probably going to give it a rest for a week or so as I have an achy ball of foot which isn't helped by running. May just do 2 of the days in a week or something, give myself a break.
  • rianneonamission
    rianneonamission Posts: 854 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Did week 4 day 3 this morning as I originally skipped that day a few weeks ago. I last went for a run on Wednesday, so it's been almost a week. And because I am on holiday (and I am not in a flat area) I thought it would be a good opportunity to use that skipped day to try out the terrain here. I intend to do wk 6 day 2 tomorrow, which is where I am at, and then do wk 6 day 3 on Friday and wk 7 day 1 on Sunday.
  • MegansMom2011
    MegansMom2011 Posts: 356 Member
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    What exercises do you all do on your rest days or in-between-run days? Have any of you done the sit up challenge or squat challenge?
  • beerfoamy
    beerfoamy Posts: 1,521 Member
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    I swim Mon to Fri, play squash once or twice a week, BodyCombat and BodyPump on a Thurs, PoundFit or Combat on Saturday, Pilates Sunday and have a weights routine for Tues and Sundays.

    C25K runs usually happen Sunday, Tues and Fri. :smiley:

    I am doing the plank challenge for the 5th month? think it's the 5th. That one is fun.
    Not done sit up or squats challenge. That might kill me!
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
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    I have kind of dropped down the intensity of my other exercises whilst I am doing C25K, I am just doing some resistance band work, low impact cardio and some walking on the other days. When I started I was still doing strength training 3 times per week, low impact cardio, a bit of pilates and walking, but it was a bit too much.

    When I have finished the program and I am happy with it, I think I am going to run Tues & Thurs and go back to my 3 days split strength training.
  • TheGaudyMagpie
    TheGaudyMagpie Posts: 282 Member
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    Right now I only do the running, with walking or hiking on off days. I have some health issues and I was worried about fatigue. As it turns out, it looks like I still sent my thyroid into shock, which happens sometimes with thyroid disease and intense exercise, so I'm glad I was conservative about it. I do sometimes do sets of push ups at home when I think about it.

    I will probably add a TRX class and some additional strength training over the next few weeks, but I'm trying to figure out where to fit it (I have a teenager not quite old enough to drive so I have to also consider her schedule).
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
    edited June 2017
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    My repeat of Week 4 Day 1 was far more successful than my first attempt, I did all but the last 30 seconds of the last run as I ran out of route lol just paced around the apartment complex and did some yoga for my cooldown, so will need to extend my area a bit for next run. My legs are recovering far quicker after the runs and no puffy knees so definitely think repeating Week 3 & 4 was the right choice. I've a new personal best pace of 15:01 mins per mile too. Still room for improvement so we'll see how I get on the rest of the week before I decide whether to take the plunge into Week 5.
  • TheGaudyMagpie
    TheGaudyMagpie Posts: 282 Member
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    I'm reducing one of my migraine preventive meds because the iron seems to have fixed my remaining headaches (I regularly have a nerve treatment that takes care of most of them). Unfortunately there are withdrawal symptoms, which are basically flu-type symptoms, with the primary symptom being nausea.

    I missed running yesterday because I felt so awful and now as the day has gone on I'm feeling pretty yucky again. I just don't really want to put things on hold for longer. I keep going back and forth on whether to run. Usually even if I feel bad I'm OK once I get going.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
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    @TheGaudyMagpie hope you're feeling better soon, definitely don't push yourself if you're not feeling up to it. Maybe take a gentle walk instead to get some fresh air and stay a little active?
  • MegansMom2011
    MegansMom2011 Posts: 356 Member
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    Thanks for all your responses. I was trying to make sure I worked out every day, but my C25K wasn't syncing up with that since that was the only exercise I've been doing. Then I thought I was supposed to actually completely rest on my off days, and then I'd be gaining/maintaining instead of losing for the week. I'm going to try your ideas instead of abstaining from exercise on my in between run days. Hopefully I'll get the scale to move some more. Even if I walk every day on my off days, it's better than being on the couch!
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
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    @MegansMom2011 Don't forget that you might be retaining water from the change to your workouts - don't panic too much if the scale isn't moving too much.
  • Steve25k
    Steve25k Posts: 125 Member
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    It was week 6 day 3 was yesterday for me and that marked the end of the run/walk interval weeks, there's no more walking from here on in.

    Tomorrow is the first of the 25 minute runs. I'm covering about 4km during my runs so I think I probably need to run for about 35 minutes to get to 5km so I'm a few weeks away still.

    When I ran on the treadmill I busied myself trying to work out how to translate my pace into speed and then working out how far I'll have run in 5 minutes, how long it'll take me to get to the next km milestone.

    When I get to the end of this in a couple of weeks I'm going to join my local park run and then move onto the 10K programme. Is anyone else thinking of moving to the 10k stage?
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,136 Member
    edited June 2017
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    Steve25k wrote: »
    It was week 6 day 3 was yesterday for me and that marked the end of the run/walk interval weeks, there's no more walking from here on in.

    Tomorrow is the first of the 25 minute runs. I'm covering about 4km during my runs so I think I probably need to run for about 35 minutes to get to 5km so I'm a few weeks away still.

    When I ran on the treadmill I busied myself trying to work out how to translate my pace into speed and then working out how far I'll have run in 5 minutes, how long it'll take me to get to the next km milestone.

    When I get to the end of this in a couple of weeks I'm going to join my local park run and then move onto the 10K programme. Is anyone else thinking of moving to the 10k stage?

    I can't even contemplate getting to the no interval stage at this point, well done! lol
  • TheGaudyMagpie
    TheGaudyMagpie Posts: 282 Member
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    Steve25k wrote: »
    When I get to the end of this in a couple of weeks I'm going to join my local park run and then move onto the 10K programme. Is anyone else thinking of moving to the 10k stage?

    Yes. I'm done with C25K and currently running 32 minutes and doing 2.8 miles (My 5K race time on May 28 was 35:41). I will continue to increase time and mileage to get to 5K and then start a bridge program within the next couple of weeks. I am using the Run Double app which has a 10K program. I signed up for a very challenging 10K at the end of September (1200 ft elevation gain).

    I went back to my normal med dose. I realized that this is really not the right time for it and I'll revisit it in a few months. The med only has some mild side effects, but one is water retention and that was bugging me. But it's really not a big deal in the grand scheme and not worth disrupting my schedule right now.