Cyber running partner OR advice!! PLEASE!!

JessieMaeH82

I loved c25k and went on to do c210k (I still haven't done a 10k distance, but I can run 4.5 miles straight) which I recently completed and just moved on to a personalized training plan to increase my distance to 10 miles in the next 11 weeks (hopefully).

Personally, week 5 of c25k is when I started to love running, and in the past I never would have thought that was possible. I'm planning to continue and sign up for the Feb 2015 Disney Princess half-marathon in June and hope to do a full-marathon before I turn 30. I definitely caught the running bug! :laugh:

For A LOT of people week 4 is kind of the hump. It feels the hardest for some reason, but once you can get past it and finish week 5, you start to feel unstoppable.

With that said, you may not ever enjoy it, and that's okay. You don't have to run. If you like to dance, try Zumba; if you like to ride your bike, do that; etc. I think the key is finding something active that you enjoy and doing that, but from personal experience and a lot of discussions in the c25k group (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k ), if you start c25k and haven't "learned to love running" in the first couple weeks, try to get through week 5 before deciding you don't want to do it.

You're so sweet!!! Thank you!

crista_b

Calories burned during 1 mile of running is the same as for 1 mile of walking. The only difference is that running will take less time.

FYI for anyone who thinks this is true, running does burn more calories than walking. Here's the main points of an article that explains it:

In "Energy Expenditure of Walking and Running," published December 2004 in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, a group of Syracuse University researchers measured the actual calorie burn of 12 men and 12 women while running and walking 1,600 meters (roughly a mile) on a treadmill. Result: The men burned an average of 124 calories while running, and just 88 while walking; the women burned 105 and 74. (The men burned more than the women because they weighed more.)

When you walk, you keep your legs mostly straight, and your center of gravity rides along fairly smoothly on top of your legs. In running, we actually jump from one foot to the other. Each jump raises our center of gravity when we take off, and lowers it when we land, since we bend the knee to absorb the shock. This continual rise and fall of our weight requires a tremendous amount of Newtonian force (fighting gravity) on both takeoff and landing.

We mislead ourselves when we talk about the total calorie burn (TCB) of exercise rather than the net calorie burn (NCB). To figure the NCB of any activity, you must subtract the resting metabolic calories your body would have burned, during the time of the workout, even if you had never gotten off the sofa.

Thanks to the Syracuse researchers, we now know the relative NCB of running a mile in 9:30 versus walking the same mile in 19:00. Their male subjects burned 105 calories running, 52 walking; the women, 91 and 43. That is, running burns twice as many net calories per mile as walking. And since you can run two miles in the time it takes to walk one mile, running burns four times as many net calories per hour as walking.


Source: http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning

Prismapencils

I would love some friends as I see myself in a lot of you. When I was in high school, I was pretty thin. This is because I was on swim team. I dreaded the beginning of every practice because we had to run. I was always pretty slow and very out-of-breath. I think this is mostly because I didn't know how to breathe or pace myself. I just knew how to HOLD my breath. XP

I've heard of C25K's success, but I don't actually have a printout of the day-to-day schedule. Instead, I've been doing my own thing. I try to run on the treadmill on class days (M,W,F-1 hour), where I have access to the school gym. On the days I stay at home, I do Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones. (Basically 45 minutes of toning with 2 10 pound dumbbells--I prefer this one because there's not much cardio, so my apartment neighbors downstairs won't hear me jumping around. There are plenty of leg exercises on there.) If I miss any of these days due to classwork or fatigue, I make them up on the weekends I have off by running to the town square and back (3.1 miles) with my boyfriend and brother.

We are going to register for the Glowrun 5K November 3rd. I hope this works. I'm tired of telling myself I can't do it. It might be helpful to have a C25K buddy to inspire and also to give information on their regiment. That way, I can learn how to increase the difficulty to get better. I'm glad I'm not alone in this. I wish I had known about this site in high school.

I don't think I'll ever truly love running while in the act unless I'm competing or can eventually sprint. I just love that feeling of accomplishment afterwards, especially if my team was really wanting to stop yet we got to our goal anyway. I did love the fact that I outlasted a really tall guy on the treadmill yesterday. That never happens. Usually, I'm the one to start last and get off first. It was a nice change of pace. I also like running for more goofy reasons. I like the fact that maybe I would survive the zombie apocalpyse without being left in the dust by faster friends. Or that I would be less of a burden.

ThatHarleyChick

Hi everyone. I'm a running newbie - I did my first 5K almost a year ago (an annual "Turkey Day 5K" on Thanksgiving). I said I would never do another one! My friend convinced me that it was nothing and that I could walk faster than most of the people there. WRONG!

Anyway, skip forward a nearly a year. I started running again about 2 months ago, because I was determined that I was going to do better at this year's Thanksgiving 5K. I don't know what happened, but gradually, a fast walk because a walk/run, then more of a run/walk, and now almost entirely running! I never, ever, EVER thought I could be a runner (I smoked for over 30 years!), and now I'm not happy on days that I can't get out for at least a couple miles. I did my first 5K of the year about 3 weeks ago, and I'm doing 2 in the next 2 weeks, then another 5K and an 8K in October, and then that Thanksgiving race.

One of the reasons I never thought I could run is because I have "pre-existing" health issues - mainly knees and back. I've already had surgery on both knees for torn meniscus 7 years ago; I currently have arthritis in both knees (not severe, but there). Lubricant injections have helped, but they still bother me some. Back issues are more severe - spondylolithesis - and cause more problems (sciatica), but I usually have it under control with anti-inflamatories and lots of crunches to keep my ab muscles strong. Oh, and did I mention that I'm over 50?

Now, lets talk stats: my best mile is only about 11:05, so I'm slow (who cares!), and the longest I've ever run (well, run/walk really) is 5 miles. Right now, I'm just trying to put miles under my belt and get more consistent at 3.5 miles.

I give props to all of you who are giving running a go. I really love doing it, and here's to hoping that you do to. Just remember: you may be slow, but you're still lapping everyone that is sitting on the couch!

teamAmelia

I've heard of C25K's success, but I don't actually have a printout of the day-to-day schedule. Instead, I've been doing my own thing.

You don't need a printout. It's a cellphone app. I guess that you cannn track your mileage and time manually, but the app takes care of everything for you. It tells you when to run and when to walk, and you can play your music while you walk/run. Here's the MFP group http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/30-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k

And, look for the app in your phone's marketplace. I know that RunDouble and Active have a C25K app.

Without the app, you really have to rely on yourself to start running again after you walk. I couldn't do that. LOL.

Prismapencils

Oh, thank you. I guess I read or saw the actual calender for it somewhere. I didn't know that it was primarily an app. That's not exactly helpful though for me since I have a dumb phone instead of a smart one.