Couch to 5K Running Program (C25K)

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Pushing myself too hard?

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Two2Love
Two2Love Posts: 32 Member
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Today I completed week 2 day 2 of the program and I am LOVING it. My body isn't hurting (like it was last week...oh man, my legs and hips were killing me), but the problem I'm having is with endurance. I'm REALLY out of breath at the end of the running intervals, and my run is as slow as I can go without walking. I can get through the intervals and still manage to get a few words out of my mouth, but it takes all I've got. Should I get a heart rate monitor to limit how hard I'm pushing myself, or should I just allow my body to do what it will do even if I'm really out of breath?

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  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
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    How is your breathing while you are running? If you are going as slow as you possibly can while running then your breathing is where I would look next...or you might need to repeat the week to let your endurance catch up.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    I'm REALLY out of breath at the end of the running intervals, and my run is as slow as I can go without walking. I can get through the intervals and still manage to get a few words out of my mouth, but it takes all I've got.

    Just give it some time, as with any training the C25K programme is progressively increasing your challenge, so even if you're drained at the end of these sessions, you're improving your capacity in preparation for the next increase in demand.

    I'm not going to encourage you to repeat weeks, but if you do reach a point where you can't complete a step-up of effort then a little consolidation is no bad thing.
    Should I get a heart rate monitor to limit how hard I'm pushing myself, or should I just allow my body to do what it will do even if I'm really out of breath?

    Personally I'd suggest not using an HRM until you're consistently running 40-45 minute sessions steady state.

    The C25K programme is already an interval plan based on time, or distance. HR zone training is a different type of interval marker and if you try to combine the two approaches, as a novice runner, you'll overcomplicate things.

    Pin the purchase of the HRM to finishing the programme.
  • Two2Love
    Two2Love Posts: 32 Member
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    Clearly I don't know what a HRM is used for - I was thinking I needed to make sure my heart rate wasn't getting too high. ;-)

    I plan to move on with week 3 day 1 on Monday - we'll see if I can get through it or not. I think this will be the week I get hung up on.

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