5K, elliptical question!

courtm82
courtm82 Posts: 35 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone! I am training for my very first 5K run! I started off this journey morbidly obese, but have lost 53 lbs so far. I still have a very long ways to go to reach my personal ideal weight, but I am stronger and better in shape than I have been in YEARS!

I've been wanting to do a 5K. Before it started snowing and the freezing temperatures hit, I have been doing a couch to 5K program. Now it's getting harder to do that because of the weather, but I do not want to lose all my progress. The 5K is in June.

My question is, can I train for a 5K on an elliptical? I do not have a treadmill, but have an elliptical on the way from ****'s Sporting Goods. I'm excited to get it, as those things usually kick my butt and I love a good challenge lol. The closest gym is 40 minutes away, and with 3 kids I just can't do that enough for it to make a difference. I want to keep working on building up my strength and ability, and was hoping for some advice on preparing for this 5K using an elliptical.

Thank you!!

Replies

  • Queen_JessieA
    Queen_JessieA Posts: 1,059 Member
    Honestly, I don't know but when I ran, running on a treadmill didn't even equate for training for a 5k. I could run and run and run on a treadmill but getting out and running on a trail was a lot harder. Even now an elliptical is much easier than walking on a treadmill on my joints.
  • mommycordillia
    mommycordillia Posts: 259
    an elliptical is gonna spoil you, It is good to get your stanama up but then your gonna wanna start on a tredmill then start running outside...elliptical has NO impact. and running a 5 k is ALOT of impact....so get your stanama up on an elliptical if you want, but then you need to start really running....and running on a tredmill inside is a lot different than running outside on the ground, so make sure you are getting plenty of real outside runs in while you are training!
  • T1mH
    T1mH Posts: 568 Member
    You can certainly build up your fitness and endurance. You will want to resume your running outdoors when the weather warms up. An elliptical or even a treadmill is not the same as running 5k outdoors.
  • courtm82
    courtm82 Posts: 35 Member
    Right, of course I will run outdoors too :) I just want to really strengthen my cardiovascular abilities... the breathing, etc... since this is all a first for me. I love running outdoors. I love the scenery, I have an awesome place here to do that... just can't with the weather we've been getting (and how sick we've all been with the flu, pneumonia, etc I figured it wasn't wise to be out in the cold too much lol). The elliptical I was just curious if the cardiovascular/breathing part could be worked on with that, rather than outdoor running right now.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Congrats on your progress thus far and for wanting to do a 5k. That's awesome.

    Now, elliptical =\= running. Elliptical is a great low impact exercise and is going great things for you, but it's not running and isn't doing a whole lot for you in terms of prepping for the 5k-aside from building cardiovascular conditioning (which is a great thong to have). So don't ditch the elliptical, but realize that it's not really helping with the 5k goal.

    The good news is that you have oodles of time before the race. Oodles. So you've got tons of time to do the c25k on your forthcoming treadmill (or outside if you're into cold weather and stuff), and still have time to transition to outdoors when the weather is a little more agreeable. I run plenty of miles on the treadmill-so you're fine to start there and build up some endurance. But you'll need to learn to pace yourself and how to handle varied terrain and how to run up and down hills and all that jazz-so you will need to do some running outside. But you've got a lot of time to work all that in. You'll be fine.

    Good luck and congrats on your amazing accomplishments so far!
  • andrea464
    andrea464 Posts: 238 Member
    I'm almost in the same boat as you!
    I also just bought an elliptical from the place that will be censored :) (Sporting Goods) but I managed to talk DH into bringing it home and putting it together himself. I'm further behind in you in the timing of things (just getting started again) but I'm also training for another 5k, except mine is 2/9. I know I won't be able to run the entire thing but it's a good group of us going. I was hoping to do some training on my elliptical to get my CV strength back up, but understand I'll need to spend on time outside. I like being outside better than the dreadmill. I was planning on using a C25k podcast and just busting butt at a high resistance during the run portions, then turn the resistance and speed down for the walking portions.

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