Couch - to - 5k Running Plan

TheGoblinRoad

I've always wanted to be a runner. I'll see people out running and think man, I wish I could do that. Just get out and run.

Wife and I started this program together last week. She's been doing daily walks for a month or 2 now and I wanted to get out there with her but try to get to running. We're on W2D2 today, hope the weather co-operates and doesn't rain this evening.

I'm also starting P90X by myself and that is killing me. Hoping it doesn't effect my ability to run. :laugh:

Started c25K today myself with my wife, too. I did ok-I'm going to go buy new shoes today since my shoes had holes in the heels and caused pain, but my wife did great!

Wecandothis

I'm on W2D2, did that this morning! And yes, get new running shoes! I had Walmart specials, and my feet hurt VERY bad and I got blisters. I splurged on 90 buck running shoes from New Balance and they made a HUGE difference. I would not have stuck with this program if I still had those bad shoes.

This program is amazing!

AmyT88

Just complete W1D1...again. I figured since it had been over a week since I did D1 I shouldn't try to just make it work with 2 more days of W1 and it would be better for my body to do the whole first week, as planned. But since I had done it once before I had a better idea of where I should turn around. I planned it out great and was back at my house when it was over :bigsmile:

Have a great day everyone!

kelly_a

i just started (again) yesterday....is it ok to do any exercise between days or not? like just walking or stretch and tone or weighted ball workout? i am so excited! keep at it, we can do it! yeah for us! :bigsmile:

Wecandothis

i just started (again) yesterday....is it ok to do any exercise between days or not? like just walking or stretch and tone or weighted ball workout? i am so excited! keep at it, we can do it! yeah for us! :bigsmile:

I walked like crazy on my days 'off' because my muscles were so stiff I knew if I didn't keep them moving the pain would be worse. And it actually helped.

re_define

W5D2 completed this morning. WOW, never though I'd ever be able to run for 8 minutes straight. I never even did that as a kid! The next day in the program calls for 20 straight minutes of running. Are they insane?! :huh: lol

m2kjenn

W5D2 completed this morning. WOW, never though I'd ever be able to run for 8 minutes straight. I never even did that as a kid! The next day in the program calls for 20 straight minutes of running. Are they insane?! :huh: lol

funny - Insane may be right - However, I remember thinking that at 3 minutes and at 5 minutes, yet I keep managing to get through it. So maybe it is all just mental.

I felt so good last night, it was my day off from the c25k but I had a stressful day, so decided I really needed to get out and walk. Took off with my border collie, after walking a bit, I thought, I'll just job for a little while, I ended up jogging for over 5 minutes (which is the week I'm on now) I felt Amazing!!! It was just easy and so stress relieving. Exactly the feeling I was hoping for when I started this journey.

toots99

I thought I'd have to do week 4 over again because it was so tough for me, but I told myself to at least try W5D1, and I did it! It wasn't easy, but not as tough as I had expected. I did stop here and there during the walk to try to stretch my calf. Does this happen to anyone else when running? My right calf gets sooooo tight, it doesn't get cramped, but feels tight like it's swollen (even though it isn't). I've tried to stretch it and massage it during the walking part, and it helps a bit, but it doesn't go away til I stop running.

meanness67

Week 3 Done! :bigsmile: Next week will be tough but I feel like if I can do that week, then nothing can stop me from finishing the program!

I occasionally have a little pain in my left knee when I run but I have found that if I move away from it mentally, it will go away. How do I do this? I count the number of times my right foot touches the ground (actually the treadmill). This way I am focusing on my right foot instead of my left knee. Seems to work for me.

For those of you having trouble with calf muscles and shin pain, I used to have that problem too. I usually start by doing 3 minutes of the warm up walk to get my muscles awake (I do this at 5am!), then I spend a little time stretching my legs and calves, then finish up the last 2 minutes of the warmup walk at a little faster speed then I'm ready to run!

Have a great weekend, everyone! :glasses:

re_define

Pretty sure I'll be repeating week 5 next week. I only had two days where I was able to fit in the time to do days one and two of week five and won't have time to run again until monday. So instead of taking 3 days off and jumping back into it, I'll just repeat the week again for good measure.

mommared53

I finished d2w3 last night. It wasn't as hard as day 1 for me. Satruday I'll do day 3 and I think I'll be ready to move on to week 4. That has me worried. But reading the others on here that say they did better than they thought on week 4 gives me hope.

Good job everyone and good luck. Keep going. We can do this. :flowerforyou:

AmyT88

Glad to hear that everyone is progressing in the program. I on the other hand did it again, I stopped working out :grumble: I am getting so frustrated with myself that I only complete one day and then I stop. I ended up deciding to sleep longer on Friday and just get up in time to get ready to go to town for some school stuff. Sunday I didn't do a workout either. I didn't even strength train at all. I need advice on how to keep myself on track so if you have any please please share!

Wednesday I will do day 2! I have to!!

meanness67

Glad to hear that everyone is progressing in the program. I on the other hand did it again, I stopped working out :grumble: I am getting so frustrated with myself that I only complete one day and then I stop. I ended up deciding to sleep longer on Friday and just get up in time to get ready to go to town for some school stuff. Sunday I didn't do a workout either. I didn't even strength train at all. I need advice on how to keep myself on track so if you have any please please share!

Wednesday I will do day 2! I have to!!

May not work for everyone but I keep an exercise calendar where I have my workouts all planned out several weeks in advance. This way I can make sure I'm getting in all the strength, cardio, Couch to 5K, bike rides and everything else I want to do. I try to put something on the calendar for everyday. I don't beat myself up if I miss one, but I sure do hate to have to cross something off cause I didn't do it. Sort of like giving yourself a little gold star for the day if you complete your workouts!

meanness67

Where is everybody? Am I doing this alone??

I just completed W4D1. I do this on the treadmill, play my own music (ipod on shuffle) and just use the treadmill timer to track my time. I was on the final 5 minute run tonight and Disturbed's "Pain Redefined" came on. I thought it was very appropriate and had me laughing out loud :laugh:

m2kjenn

Hey there -

I just finished week 5 day 1 - 3 5 minute runs. Loved it!!! Pain REdefined is definitely appropriate

AmyT88

Wednesday I'm getting back at the program and doing W1D2.

Way to go m2kjenn!!

meanness67 keep up the great work!!

AmyT88

Ok now I feel like I'm doing this alone...I haven't seen any updates from anyone :frown:

I just completed W1D2 this morning. Feeling good. But man was it cold, only 45 degrees out there and it's only the 2nd of September :noway: And I noticed that the leaves are already starting to change colors!!

Looking forward to hearing from some others!!

m2kjenn

Nope you are not alone. At least I'm here. Had a busy family night last night so took off from exercise. Will do Week 5 day 2 tonight!!

kelly_a

hey ~ i am at w2d1 as of yesterday. went really good. thought it went much faster than the minute jog / 90 min walk intervals.

Amy, i live in Ia and am seeing Fall signs as well, leaves and beans turning, blackbirds on the power lines and geese flying south. heard it was going to be bitter cold(er) this year, but maybe less snow? :huh: who knows! finishing this will take me almost thru Nov....brrr!

keep at it...this will be a great accomplishment!

mommared53

Checkin' in. I did w4d1 last night. That was tough! I walked about 2 steps during the first 5 min. jog but them forced myself to start jogging again. I felt like I was practically jogging in place part of the time :laugh: but I kept going. On the second 5 minute jog I had to keep telling myself "you're almost done. You're almost done. Keep going, you're almost done." Then FINALLY Chris said "You did it!" WHEW!!! What a relief! :laugh:

Good job everyone. Keep doing this. I know it's hard but we can do it. For those of you who are further along, keep it up. You're a great inspiration to the rest of us. :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

AmyT88

Glad to see some new posts going on now.

m2kjenn how did W5D2 go tonight??

kelly I'm glad to hear that W2D1 goes by fast. I'm finding that the W1 intervals are going by pretty quick for me as well but knowing that W2 they'll increase I'm glad to hear that I hopefuly won't be thinking "omg when can I stop" I'm from Wisconsin so I am going to have to find some other way to finish up C25K because there is no way I'm going to freeze my butt off outside this fall just do this. I'm thinking I'll have to find out where the gym at school is and use a treadmill. I'll have to go after work or class though because I'm not going to get all yucky and then go to class :laugh:

mommared :noway: W4 already :noway: Glad to hear you pushed yourself and made yourself start jogging. Keep pushing yourself!! I can't wait to be at W4, I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing as you :laugh:

I have to agree with mommared, those of you who are farther along in the program need to keep it up and keep posting about it, it's an inspiration to the rest of us and helps us to keep moving!!

m2kjenn

Week 5 day 2 went well!!! Really feeling like a runner.

I wasn't quite ready to go to the 8 minute run yet (which is the official week 5 day 2 program) so I repeated day 1, but then added on a couple more 5 minute sets, so overall I got in 25 minutes of running with 30 minutes of walking. I have company the next couple of days so won't get a chance to run again until Sunday, Hopefully I will be brave enough then to do the two 8 minute runs.

re_define

I repeated week 5 as planned since I wasn't able to get all the days in last week. Oh my gosh, I'm nervous about week 5 day 3 tomorrow. 20 straight minutes of running... I'm definitely nervous!

m2kjenn

I repeated week 5 as planned since I wasn't able to get all the days in last week. Oh my gosh, I'm nervous about week 5 day 3 tomorrow. 20 straight minutes of running... I'm definitely nervous!

How was the 8 minute run for you? I know I can do it, just scared. My other challenge is that the neighborhood I walk in is pretty hilly. I've managed up to the 5 minute runs to plan it so I don't have any major hills to run up (some small ones I can do) but with 8 minutes I know I'll have to hit at least one big on and that SCARES me!!! I may have to go find a track or another part of town to run the 8 minutes on just to get me through it - then 20 minutes (yikes) I have no idea where I'll do that

xsargex

So I started this program awhile back. Though I kinda re-tailored the intervals since i've been jogging/running for the last few months to give me that extra challenge. I just finished up my second week today. Looking forward to next week to pump it up!

Second Week:
5 min Warm-up Walk

2 min - Jog = 7.0 mph
2 min - Walk = 4.0 mph
__________________
Alternate for 30 minutes

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Third Week:
5 min Warm-up Walk

90 sec - Jog = 7.5 mph
90 sec - Walk = 4.0 mph
3 min - Jog = 7.0 mph
3 min - Walk = 4.0 mph
___________________
Alternate for 30 minutes

toots99

I repeated week 5 as planned since I wasn't able to get all the days in last week. Oh my gosh, I'm nervous about week 5 day 3 tomorrow. 20 straight minutes of running... I'm definitely nervous!

How was the 8 minute run for you? I know I can do it, just scared. My other challenge is that the neighborhood I walk in is pretty hilly. I've managed up to the 5 minute runs to plan it so I don't have any major hills to run up (some small ones I can do) but with 8 minutes I know I'll have to hit at least one big on and that SCARES me!!! I may have to go find a track or another part of town to run the 8 minutes on just to get me through it - then 20 minutes (yikes) I have no idea where I'll do that

I have tried twice, butI can't jump from 8 minutes to 20 minutes just like that! Im going to try to work up slowly, I have a hard time doing the 8 minutes, but I can do it. I'm just going to try to up it by a minute or two until 20 minutes isn't impossible. Anyone else have trouble jumping from 8 to 20 minutes?

Wecandothis

I did W3D3 last night, and it felt good. I might do it once more before starting W4. I like the intervals, but the longer runs worry me a bit. Still I've gone this far, I'm not going to give up!

But yes, it's hard for me to imagine jumping from 8 minutes to 20...

I was wondering, do most folks use a treadmill or just run?

re_define

I repeated week 5 as planned since I wasn't able to get all the days in last week. Oh my gosh, I'm nervous about week 5 day 3 tomorrow. 20 straight minutes of running... I'm definitely nervous!

How was the 8 minute run for you? I know I can do it, just scared. My other challenge is that the neighborhood I walk in is pretty hilly. I've managed up to the 5 minute runs to plan it so I don't have any major hills to run up (some small ones I can do) but with 8 minutes I know I'll have to hit at least one big on and that SCARES me!!! I may have to go find a track or another part of town to run the 8 minutes on just to get me through it - then 20 minutes (yikes) I have no idea where I'll do that

I have tried twice, butI can't jump from 8 minutes to 20 minutes just like that! Im going to try to work up slowly, I have a hard time doing the 8 minutes, but I can do it. I'm just going to try to up it by a minute or two until 20 minutes isn't impossible. Anyone else have trouble jumping from 8 to 20 minutes?

Believe me, I don't know where the strength came from but I actually ran the 20 minutes straight this morning. What worked for me was playing a mind game. Because your body is more than capable if you take it slow (which I did). I just broke it down in 5 minute blocks in my mind. I said ok, get through the first 5 minutes and then the second 5 minutes I thought, hey you've already run 8 minutes before, you can run two extra minutes, 10 minutes in I thought, I'm halfway! I can keep going! Just 5 more minutes and if I honestly can't do it, I'll walk for a bit. By the time I hit 15 minutes I thought only 5 minutes left! I can do it! And next thing I knew, I was done.
Now, I'm not the fastest runner in the world. And I've been doing the program at my gym on the treadmill since the roads around my house are not the best for running (my house is in front of a very busy road) and I've been running on the treadmill with an incline of 1 to mimick outside running and running at a speed averaging around 5.5 mph. It's worked awesomely (is that even a word?? haha) for me and 20 minutes is the longest I've been able to run EVER in my life. Even as a kid, I was never able to run for that long. I about burst into tears once I was done out of pure happiness but I held it in since I didn't want people at the gym to think I was a weirdo haha
I believe in all of you! :flowerforyou:

toots99

Now, I'm not the fastest runner in the world. And I've been doing the program at my gym on the treadmill since the roads around my house are not the best for running (my house is in front of a very busy road) and I've been running on the treadmill with an incline of 1 to mimick outside running and running at a speed averaging around 5.5 mph.

I do that too, set the incline to level 1, I put it on random so it's like small hills!

I run at about 5mph. I'd rather be able to complete the whole thing first, then work on speed. :flowerforyou:

kelly_a

happy friday c25ker's...

back in March > May i was doiny my walk/jog outside, on blacktop and rock roads, with 2 -3 very big hills, and it was a good workout. i have been doing this c25k on my treadmill. i have always felt runnin on it was a tougher workout...why i dont know. when i am outside i set my mind to "get to the next post, sign,etc", and in my basement i try to focus on different things as well. i have never walked or jogged to music, no reason, just never have...usually trying to clear my mind and enjoy the fresh air. i definately can tell i am gettin stronger and the endurance is building! i am on wk 2 and my jogs are about 5mph. keep at it...we can do this! have a great weekend!