Couch to 5k starting 7/15

PixieGoddess

Finished W1 (Round2) this weekend! And more importantly, I feel ready to move on to Week 2 tonight! :drinker: (I want a dancing smiley or a cheerleader smiling or something! The only celebrating smiley they have is the drinker, and I want my smileys to celebrate!!)

The larger size earpiece for the left ear and putting my hair in a high ponytail really helped; after adjusting the headphones during my warm-up, the left one only fell out once (about halfway through workout) and the right one stayed in place! I also found an old mp3 player that I had stopped using b/c of its small memory space: I put weeks 1-3 podcasts on it (that's all that fits!) and used it. It's about half the size of my regular one, and I didn't have to mess with an armband (it doesn't have one) so I just stuffed it into my sports bra :laugh: Also, now I can leave my regular one in my purse, and not always be looking for it :grumble:

PixieGoddess

Did W2D1 last night...with a VERY strong headwind So it was somewhat painful, but not too bad; doable. But I definitely noticed that I was slower and much more out of breath by the end than I was with Week 1 this weekend. But that's how we improve right? I also noticed that I had some crazy Einstein-lookin hair by the end, with all that wind blowing it around. (I wanted to put a smiley here, but they're all bald....poor smileys )

I used Gmaps Pedometer (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/) to map my approximate route, and I'm walking/running about 2.28 miles, already up from the approximate 2.16mi from where I was turning around during Week 1 :bigsmile: YAY! The program works! :laugh:

PixieGoddess

I feel all alone on here.... That's ok, I'll talk to myself and pretend others read it, just like in my blog! :bigsmile:

So I did W2D2 this morning, since I have plans for this evening. Still not doing as good as I'd like to be, and didn't run as far this time, but I blame that on running at a different time of day and without eating first. However, I did manage to keep my pace a little more consistent, b/c I ended the podcast closer to where I started than I ever have before. (I always turn around at the midpoint of the podcast workout, so getting a little closer to my starting point means that my return pace was a little closer to my start pace, probably b/c I was running slower, as mentioned.)

Chani56

You're doing a great job Pixie!

Sorry I've seemed to abandon you...too much drama going on with the family :ohwell: It's totally thrown me off my routine and I'm struggling to stay motivated. I haven't gone out since Saturday. :frown: I've been going on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I missed Tuesday cuz I was up late Monday night helping my sister clean her house to prepare for her baby which is due in less than 2 weeks. I just couldn't get out of bed Tuesday morning. I should have gone Tuesday night but I ended up plopped on the couch with my husband catching up on all the shows on our DVR. I justified it by telling myself we don't watch TV together very often. Lame excuse, I know. We stayed up so late watching TV I couldn't roll my lazy butt out of bed yesterday morning either. Last night's excuse was that it was still 105 degrees at 8:45 PM and I hadn't yet downloaded the next podcast. Weak! So I downloaded the podcast but stayed up late rearranging my playlists and syncing the silly iPod...overslept this morning too. Now I should go tonight but we have another heat advisory and...see how the excuses just seem to pile up. I need to just suck it up and DO IT!!!

I'm kind of dreading it. It's become painfully obvious (quite literally) that I need new shoes. I can't get out to buy them until tomorrow night. Maybe I should just pick it back up on Saturday...Gah!!!

See what I'm doing now? Nope, no, no way. NO EXCUSES! I HAVE TO RUN TONIGHT! PLEASE help me hold myself accountable to my run tonight. Feel free to spam my e-mail if I don't post about completing W3D1 before midnight MST?:sad:

thankyou4thevenom

I was just checking to see of anyone was doing this. I want to start it soon, in fact I want to finish it on Halloween week. Good to see that it is achievable.

I need to get some running shoes. I don't own any trainers and running in Vans would be a very bad idea. I've seen a pair I want but they are slightly out of my price range (£125).

Chani56

Only made it about half way through. 9:00 and it's still 103 degrees out...between the heat and my lousy shoes I just couldn't make the 3 min jog. Walked the rest of the way. At least I did that much. I'm not going to count it as a complete W3D1. I'll get new shoes tomorrow and rock it Saturday morning! I CAN DO IT!!!

Good luck anyamalfoy! I think it is absolutely doable by Halloween. My 5k will be Sept 25th.

PixieGoddess

Once again, ran this morning b/c plans this evening. I officially hate morning runs, at least if I have to go to work that day. I can't eat beforehand, I usually only get about a glass of water down before leaving, and so my performance sucks. Add in the effin sprinklers, and there goes my enjoyment of the run! :grumble: (Which is wierd to hear me say at all, since I absolutely friggin hated running until I started this! :laugh: ) I'm hoping that maybe I'll get an extra day of Week2 in on Saturday evening before starting Week3 on Monday. I can't wait til it cools down enough that I can run in the afternoon - it'll be SOOO much nicer! :ohwell:

@Chani - Better to wait than to get blisters and then be outta comission for days while you heal! I know what you mean by excuses though: I haven't done any workouts except C25K in weeks! I was determined to add some strength training to my routine and totally blew it off yesterday! :blushing:

@anyamalfoy - Good luck! It's totally achievable! I should be finishing around the end of September/beginning of October, and I'm only just finishing Week2, so you should be able to make it by Halloween. :drinker: Go for it!

Chani56

Picked up pair of Asics last night. They are awesome! I really liked my New Balance but I don't think I will were anything but Asics when I go jogging.

W3 will definitely be a repeat week for me. I'm able to manage the 90 sec jogs no swe... no problem, lots of sweat but no problem :bigsmile: The 3 minute jog had me very intimidated before I started but I did better than I thought I would. I think I made it at least 2.5 mins through the first interval before I thought I would collapse :ohwell: Not sure how long on the second...couldn't even venture a guess, I was just anxious to finish at that point I'm confident Tuesday will be better.

@Pixie - I know what you mean. My gym closed a few days after I started this so I haven't gotten any strength training in either. I haven't decided what I'll do yet. For now it's just this and cycling 2-3 times/week. I figure this is a pretty big goal for me so I'll cut myself some slack on the strength training at least unil after my 5k at the end of September

PixieGoddess

Did an extra day of Week2 Saturday night, but I'm still kinda nervous about starting Week3 tonight....guess we'll see how it goes.

I actually did a small strength training session this weekend...with my 2lb weights while I watched tv! Oh well, at least I did it. I actually created a calendar w/all my workouts on it (3 days of C25K, 2 days of barely-there strength, 1 day of something different like a walk or dvd, and 1 day of pure rest) and then set the calendar as my wallpaper. I'm also putting little gold stars on workouts that I complete! :glasses: And I'm not too worried about the structure, which days I do what, etc. That way, if I miss a workout, instead of feeling that I failed, I am further motivated to include that workout in the next few days. So that I can get my gold star! :drinker: Totally childish, but I think it's gonna work.

PixieGoddess

I did W3D1 last night, and it really wasn't too bad. I'm still moving really slow and having pretty much no muscle soreness, so I'm thinking I might try and up my speed, as long as I can still keep my breathing in check.

Chani56

Pixie you make me want to try harder when I do W3D2 tonight. :happy: I wasn't able to finish the full 3 minutes on Saturday. Tonight I'm determined to complete a 3 minute interval. Keep up the great work!

xLyric

This looks really neat... It basically trains you to run? I think I'll check out the site and see what the podcasts are and hopefully start tonight. My sister (my support group, ha) and I walked yesterday, and I said, "Let's jog to the corner!" and I was about ready to lay down after that one, so hopefully this will be easy enough for my lazy you-know-what. :bigsmile:

xLyric

We did day 1 tonight! It was... an experience. :P We finished it, so I'm happy. (I cheated and hit pause on my mp3 twice--but just for a minute! Certainly shorter than the minute of running. I think he was making it longer just to laugh at my pitiful turtle jog.)

Question--What do you log as exercise for this? I put jogging, even though we did more walking...

PixieGoddess

I usually log the number of minutes for both walking and jogging/running. So for Week 1, you do 8 intervals of 60sec jogging and 90sec walking. That's 8x1min=8min jogging and 8x1.5min=12min walking, plus another 10min for walking your warm-up and cool-down.

I'm ready to do W3D2 tonight! And I finally started getting off my lazy butt and doing strength training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.....It's only about 10min or so, and my weights are only 2lbs each....but I'm doing it...

xLyric

I usually log the number of minutes for both walking and jogging/running. So for Week 1, you do 8 intervals of 60sec jogging and 90sec walking. That's 8x1min=8min jogging and 8x1.5min=12min walking, plus another 10min for walking your warm-up and cool-down.

I'm ready to do W3D2 tonight! And I finally started getting off my lazy butt and doing strength training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.....It's only about 10min or so, and my weights are only 2lbs each....but I'm doing it...

Thanks! That will probably be more accurate than what I put in last night.

When I'm not doing the C25K I'm going to try to do weights. Baby weights though. I'm going to start with my sisters lava lamp (which I'll weigh, but I estimate at about 5lbs) when I can't go to the gym at school. Does anyone else have something like that that they do on days off running? I need ideas. I want to be able to exercise at least 30 minutes, or closer to an hour, every day. Maybe add something like sit ups every day?

Chani56

I like cycling on the days I'm not doing C25K.

Careful starting off with too much weight if you haven't been doing strength training. Your muscles will become sore faster and you'll be less inclined to continue. Water bottles make great substitutes if you don't have weights. A 20 oz. bottle is about 1.3 lbs, 24 oz approximately 1.5 lbs and 1 liter about 2.2 lbs. They're easy to grasp, cheap and you've just made yourself a decent beginner's weight set. Not to mention, you have a refreshing beverage when you're done :bigsmile:

PixieGoddess

Did W3D2 last night. Decided to push myself harder and did fine the first half. Then, my 2nd 90-sec run, my earbuds fell out, so I had to walk the last 30sec or so while I put them back in. I feel like that killed my momentum, because I cerrraaaaaawled home during the 2nd 3-min run. Killed my form too, I was clenching my fists trying to push myself, which just makes it worse of course.

I've been realizing lately that my run path slopes downward, which means I'm running upward on the return trip. I also realized that the podcasts I listen to cut out the last walking interval and go straight to the cool down....so instead of walking 8min at the end, it's just 5min. So my attempts to return to my starting point are futile, since I'm working uphill with less time. But I think I'm going to keep pushing it, because I've read that it's better to conserve your energy at the beginning of a race and then push faster toward the end, so it'll be good training.

I'm also debating on whether or not to run this afternoon, instead of waiting a day, because I won't be able to run tomorrow. I have a huge presentation first thing in the morning, and then I promised to go out for sushi for a friend's birthday. So I'm debating between running tonight or waiting until Saturday morning. My muscles STILL aren't sore, so that's why I'm thinking I might try tonight.....

Chani56

Sorry to hear the ear buds aren't working out. I think your effort to push through the uphill finish will payoff. You're doing great!

I use the podcasts from runningintoshape.com. They keep in the 3 minutes for a full 8 min walk at the end. There's a lot of pop/hip hop (eh, not my favorite but...) and a bit of 80s. I have a 13 year old son who's doing this with me. It's a nice balance of music we'll both listen too and can tolerate. I don't really go for the techno stuff on Robert Ullrey's. I need to have music with lyrics otherwise my mind will wander to that dangerous place that seems self destructive, telling me I can't when I'm trying me best to prove I can.

I vote for doing it tonight. Then you'll have it out of the way and will be able to enjoy your sushi guilt-free. :bigsmile:

jrh5249

I must apologize for starting this thread and then falling off the bus. I hadnt worked out for two weeks because of vacation and a funeral. Now im back and hitting the track as hard as i can. Last night i did Week 5 Day 2, which was rough, then after my run i walked the remaining hour. Im gonna stick with it this time for sure =] . I will be running a mile tonight to check my speed and then finishing the hour walking. It feels good to be back

PixieGoddess

Actually, the earbuds are working great, this is the first time they've done that! And I actually decided to go early this morning, so that I'd have that many more calories to consume today. :happy: But I left my hair down (which worked b/c it was actually quite cool out at 5:30 this morning) so that it wouldn't look too bad for my presentation--WHICH WAS AWESOME!! :drinker: The run was pretty good too. Ran all 4 intervals, at a fast pace the first 2, a little slower the 3rd, and then slower still for the last one, but not as slow as W3D2. And I have determined, without any doubt whatsoever, that I effin hate sprinklers!

Hello again, jrh! Hang in there! You can do it! Motivational phrases!! :glasses:

xLyric

Why don't you like sprinklers? Sprinklers SAVED me, haha. I would get really hot, then we'd go by someone's sprinkler system and walk or run through. Very refreshing. :flowerforyou:

We had two resting days because of soreness (our first resting day we didn't rest... We went out on a boat and rafted, then ran a LOT playing games at our park.) So W1D2 tonight! I'm scared, haha, I had to pause twice last time, and I hope I don't have to again or I might need to do week one more than once.

That lava lamp that I use as a beginner weight is about 2lbs exactly, which is nice. I think I need just a little heavier, so I might gets some water bottles as suggested. I just don't know how to enter them as exercise. Any ideas? I asked out in the forums but the answer I got wasn't too helpful.:huh:

PixieGoddess

These are not refreshing, lightly misting sprinklers. These are jet-blasting, arching-over-the-sidewalk sprinklers, because aparently my apartment complex thought that 2 small sprinklers for the 3-foot-wide strips of grass on either side of the sidewalk was too much. No no, let's just put in an industrial strength one and be done. I don't mind them during my c/d, but during my w/u or run, I don't want to get smacked with water and then have to take out my earbuds, dry them and my ears with my shirt, and put them back in... :grumble: Besides, I run at 5am or 8pm so that it's not that hot to begin with; in fact, this morning I was already cold so I decided to just turn around and take a different route.

W4D1 was not as bad as I was dreading. My last 5min run is the only one that really sucked. Kinda glad I ran in the morning; much as I prefer running in the evening, I wasn't as concerned with my performance, just trying to finish! :laugh:

xLyric

Ah, I see. Ours is the good kind. We run at 10pm and it's STILL at least 100 at night. Finally there's a cool front and it's supposed to be around 75 at night now.

I fell and hit my knee two days ago so no running yesterday for me. It's feeling better now, so we'll see about day 3 tonight. We still had to take a break in the middle, so I'm thinking we'll definitely have to repeat week one...

Chani56

Ooh, I was wondering about the sprinklers too. The route I take goes through the neighborhood and a park. The park has those kind of sprinklers. I've never run through when they're on so I had no idea what you were experiencing...until this morning. I can completely sympathize now - they are awful! :sad:

I ended up repeating week 3. I'm glad to hear week 4 isn't so bad. I've been terrified of doing week 4. I'm thinking at least one more day of week 3 maybe 2 then I'll move on. I'm cutting it a little too close to my September 25th 5k so I really need to get my booty in gear. :laugh:

@Delphic Scorpion - good luck with the knee, I hope it wasn't too painful. I'm with you on the 100+ degree 10PM runs...my husband thinks I'm crazy to go out that late but it's just too darned hot otherwise. I missed last night cuz we had a thunderstorm w/lightning. I can handle a little rain but won't run with lightning.

xLyric

Ooh, I was wondering about the sprinklers too. The route I take goes through the neighborhood and a park. The park has those kind of sprinklers. I've never run through when they're on so I had no idea what you were experiencing...until this morning. I can completely sympathize now - they are awful! :sad:

I ended up repeating week 3. I'm glad to hear week 4 isn't so bad. I've been terrified of doing week 4. I'm thinking at least one more day of week 3 maybe 2 then I'll move on. I'm cutting it a little too close to my September 25th 5k so I really need to get my booty in gear. :laugh:

@Delphic Scorpion - good luck with the knee, I hope it wasn't too painful. I'm with you on the 100+ degree 10PM runs...my husband thinks I'm crazy to go out that late but it's just too darned hot otherwise. I missed last night cuz we had a thunderstorm w/lightning. I can handle a little rain but won't run with lightning.

Thanks! It wasn't too bad, I thought at first that it was just a rug burn (fell when my mother was chasing me with a squirt gun...), then 5 minutes later it looks like I implanted a baseball inside there, it was so big. It was awesome. It looks like a car wreck victim (you know those pictures, all red and black and blue?) now, but it doesn't hurt when I walk anymore so we might try again tonight. (I keep showing people the bruise but my brothers are the only ones so far that thought it was cool. :bigsmile: )

I'm sure everyone wanted to know all that... I'm just in a rare talky mood. Sorry? :drinker:

xLyric

Okay, we went again tonight. Our neighborhood is very hilly, so we decided to use the school field across the street (we didn't before because we thought the street would be easier, even if it was all hill). It was SO MUCH BETTER. All of the other runs we had to take breaks several times, but on the field we took NONE. I even went another half time through (4 jogs).

By the end of 12 jogs I was feeling as tired as I had after 3 of the jogs on the streets. That's the difference. It was amazing. We're still going to do week 1 again because our "brisk walks" are still not quite at the brisk pace.

xLyric

Hmm, I think I scared everyone away.

We went again tonight and wow, I felt bad. We used the field again, so I can't imagine how bad it would have been with the hills, but maybe it was more humid? Or maybe I'm just bad at this. I feel like I'm never going to progress to week 2. :frown:

Chani56

Don't give up Delph. I thought week 2 was easier than week 1. I did week 1 two weeks before moving on.

I'm stuck in a rut. I've fallen back into old habbits of making everything but exercise a priority. I need to get back to it fast. My 5k is coming up at the end of September and I'm behind. I still haven't completed week 3 :sad:

PixieGoddess

I've been MIA, kinda busy at work lately. I missed W5D1 on Monday b/c my chronic ankle pain returned yet again :grumble: It felt better last night though, so I ran, and it felt great! I was actually thinking at one point that I the recovery (walking) time was too long! :noway: I'm really excited to keep moving, but I don't want to irritate my ankle any more. Although it NEVER hurts while running, so maybe that'll be my excuse

I've been slacking on water, gotta drink more.... :drinker:

@Delph: Don't worry about repeating weeks. I also repeated week 1--it seems that most people do--and then did an extra day or two of week 2 also. It's better to repeat than to push yourself too soon.

@Chani: DON'T STOP!! It gets SOOO much better! :flowerforyou: I promise! Would I lie? :devil:

xLyric

Realised the other day that the reason it was so hard was that I was REALLY tired. School etc. had stressed me out and I haven't been getting enough sleep. Hopefully it gets better. My sisters and I make our own little mp3 to listen to for week one. It's... interesting.

We came up with a theory and we want to test it. We took out all words and are just using one song in particular for the running bit, so any time we hear it, run, when a different one comes on, walk. Simple. Well, that one song is Lady Gaga's Just Dance, which is alright, but we want to see if after all these weeks of Lady Gaga signalling us to run we end up having some subconscious reaction to it. (This is what I get for taking a psych class.)

Hope you both get to feeling better; you can do it!