Starting Couch to 5K Today...Who's In?

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  • thenebean9
    thenebean9 Posts: 216
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    Hey everyone! Wanted to share some of my experiences on this, as I'm on week 5(ish) of the C25k program! We've definitely taken our time moving from week to week, and like a few of you have done, we put in a week 3.5 between the 90 second and 3 minute run to the 3/5 minute run. We ended up doing four 3 minute runs for week 3.5. We did week 4 as scheduled, but week 5 was different - instead of doing only three 5 minute intervals, we did four, and for the second day of week five, we did 8 minutes (5 walk) 4 minutes (2.5 walk) and 8 minutes. Instead of the straight 20, we're doing two 10 minute runs with 5 minutes in between. For week 6 we'll probably do two 13 minute runs with 5 minutes in between to build us up a bit closer to 20 minutes straight, and then we'll go to 20 minutes with no walking. It's ok to modify, and always make sure you're comfortable with the week you're on before moving forward. It's definitely taken us longer than the 8 weeks, but we haven't gotten frustrated by pushing ahead to quickly and then failing.

    Kudos to all of you who are working on this! If you can get a few people to join you when you run, it always helps keep you motivated knowing others are doing it with you. Some running stores (fleet feet for example) offer c25k programs you can join to help keep you motivated (cuz you'll be with a larger group!)

    Good luck to everyone! No matter what your speed or pace, you're doing something great for yourselves! You should all be proud :)
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Back to it, and starting Week 4 on Sunday. AHHH!!! (I might have to wait until one of you goes first :laugh: )

    I have a question about heart rates---- mine can get CRAZY high during the running part. Today, it got as high as 196 according to my HRM. Does that happen to you guys, too?? I don't think it's normal, but I feel fine when it's that high.

    The highest my heart rate gets is 171. Usually if it gets higher I start to feel sick so I make sure to run a bit slower if I get to that point. I'm no expert but I think as long as you feel okay it shouldn't be a problem?


    I try to slow it down when it gets high as well but today I slowed to 4.0 mph, and it still hit 196. I cannot jog much slower than that, and I was actually wanting to go faster!

    I tell ya what--- if I didn't have a HRM, I wouldn't have ANY concern at all about what I am doing. Maybe that is reason enough to just ignore it!
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    Back to it, and starting Week 4 on Sunday. AHHH!!! (I might have to wait until one of you goes first :laugh: )

    I have a question about heart rates---- mine can get CRAZY high during the running part. Today, it got as high as 196 according to my HRM. Does that happen to you guys, too?? I don't think it's normal, but I feel fine when it's that high.

    The highest my heart rate gets is 171. Usually if it gets higher I start to feel sick so I make sure to run a bit slower if I get to that point. I'm no expert but I think as long as you feel okay it shouldn't be a problem?


    I try to slow it down when it gets high as well but today I slowed to 4.0 mph, and it still hit 196. I cannot jog much slower than that, and I was actually wanting to go faster!

    I tell ya what--- if I didn't have a HRM, I wouldn't have ANY concern at all about what I am doing. Maybe that is reason enough to just ignore it!

    :)

    Does it go high for short periods or long periods? If it's just little blips here and there maybe your strap is slipping? And/or maybe there's electrical interference messing up the numbers? If it's for longer periods and you feel fine... well, you're right! You wouldn't worry about it if you didn't have a HRM and you're not feeling bad for it so why worry!
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Back to it, and starting Week 4 on Sunday. AHHH!!! (I might have to wait until one of you goes first :laugh: )

    I have a question about heart rates---- mine can get CRAZY high during the running part. Today, it got as high as 196 according to my HRM. Does that happen to you guys, too?? I don't think it's normal, but I feel fine when it's that high.

    The highest my heart rate gets is 171. Usually if it gets higher I start to feel sick so I make sure to run a bit slower if I get to that point. I'm no expert but I think as long as you feel okay it shouldn't be a problem?


    I try to slow it down when it gets high as well but today I slowed to 4.0 mph, and it still hit 196. I cannot jog much slower than that, and I was actually wanting to go faster!

    I tell ya what--- if I didn't have a HRM, I wouldn't have ANY concern at all about what I am doing. Maybe that is reason enough to just ignore it!

    :)

    Does it go high for short periods or long periods? If it's just little blips here and there maybe your strap is slipping? And/or maybe there's electrical interference messing up the numbers? If it's for longer periods and you feel fine... well, you're right! You wouldn't worry about it if you didn't have a HRM and you're not feeling bad for it so why worry!

    It is for long periods. My heart rate got down to about 160 when walking before I had to run again, so it's crazy to me that your highest is 171! I am pretty sure I am going to start running without my HRM because as of now, it's mostly a distraction!
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Well ladies, I have been trying to wait for one of you to get into Week 4 first and let me know how it goes but I signed up for a 5k on July 4th and need to get to it!

    I will be doing Week 4 tomorrow. I'm nervous!
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    STILL haven't done Week 4. It seems we have all fallen off the wagon!

    I went to run outside today for the first time (I am normally on a treadmill.) I couldn't even finish Week 3! It was sooooo much harder for me. I am thinking that I need to move down a week and keep running outside so I can prepare for my 5k. I am starting to realize that I probably won't be able to run the whole thing by July 4!
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    It is for long periods. My heart rate got down to about 160 when walking before I had to run again, so it's crazy to me that your highest is 171! I am pretty sure I am going to start running without my HRM because as of now, it's mostly a distraction!

    Haha. I more jog then run really but if my heart rate reaches 180 I get really sick so I've become quite good at keeping it under. :)

    I won't be able to try week 4 until next week due to my running partners hesitation to tackle the next step!
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    W4D1 accomplished! i shuffled right along for the allotted time. i could probably walk faster than i was jogging, but i got through it. i did have one modification - instead of my rest times being 1.5 minutes and 2.5 minutes, i did them all as an even 2 minutes. i'm not sure how this will affect things - i'll probably try and do it the right way. it was just an oversight. anyhoo, it was the *toughest* week by far - and i actually put in a week '3.5' in between W2 and W4 to prepare for it. i'm glad i did, because i think it would have been too strenuous for me otherwise. i'm now halfway looking forward to and halfway dreading the next go of it on thursday! best of luck to all!
  • lexistepps
    lexistepps Posts: 200 Member
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    I am a C25k graduate...stick with it, everybody! This program really works! I was never a runner before I started C25k and I just finished a 5k a week or so ago. I'm now running half an hour outdoors almost every day that I can get out! It's AWESOME!

    Good luck everyone!
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    W4D2 - completed successfully! i'm know i'm not running the distance they suggest - i'm going by time only, so i'm only covering about 2 miles in 30 minutes, which includes my 5 minute warmup. but i don't care - i'm so proud that i was jogging for 16 out of 30 minutes today! not something i thought i would ever be up too, and i keep expecting my body to just rebel and stop, but i'm really adapting and feel like this is something i'm going to be able to do. i need to give my body more credit - it will go where i push it to! anyone else into week 4?
  • AmandaB4588
    AmandaB4588 Posts: 655
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    Way to go chanstriste! I was supposed to start Week 4 but have switched to outdoors from the treadmill---- YIKES! Although I was ready for Week 4 on the treadmill, I had to go down to Week 2 outside. I only did it once and was able to do Week 3 the next day. I think I will do it once more before attempting Week 4 depending on how my 2nd shot of Week 3 outside goes.

    I am taking the day off because my calves and arches of my feet are REALLY feeling the switch to outdoors! Ouch!
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    thanks amanda! and i have a suggestion too. i thought that the jump from week 3 to week 4 was really big, so i did a week 3.5 that alternated 2 minutes and 4 minutes of jogging instead of 3 minutes and 5 minutes. i think that if i had gone straight from w3 to w4, i would have crashed and burned. i'm probably going to end up doing a week 4.5 too. and outside is definetely more challenging than treadmill! i've heard that if you train on a treadmill, keeping it at a 1% incline will make it be more like outdoors. i've never tried this for myself though. i might soon because i'm joining a gym today, so if it's bad weather, i can go there and work on my c25k! good luck with it! i hurt my heel and had to give it a bit of rest too, so i know what you mean about foot woes!
  • reddqueen
    reddqueen Posts: 300 Member
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    Hi all - it looks like I'm late to the game, but I'm just re-starting the C25k program this week (W1D2 is tomorrow morning). Can I jump on the bandwagon? I need all the help I can get to stick with it, but I love the way I feel after running.

    Erin
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    I haven't run on a treadmill since last year so I have no idea how that feels.

    In other news I am tackling week 4 next Tuesday! I'm really very excited... I don't know if I'm properly ready (that last 3 minutes ALWAYS kill me) but I'm willing to give it a try.

    Congrats to all you ladies! Keep pushing!
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    just finished up w4d3 today...kind of. i had to stop at the end, about 4 minutes shy of completing the routine...pretty disappointed about that. :grumble: but, i ran this after staying out all night and chaperoning the senior sleep out at the high school my husband works at, so i was working off of about 2 hours of sleep. i thought about skipping a day or waiting until the evening after i rested up, but i knew that if i waited it wouldn't happen, and i really want to keep on schedule so i wasn't down with a skip day. anyhoo, i'll be repeating this whole week anyways because i'm not even close to remotely comfortable doing my five minute jogs, so i know i'm not ready for 8 minutes! my plan is to repeat week 5 and then to create a week 5.5 before moving on to week 6. there' s no way i'll be up to jogging 5k in only 9 weeks, but that's okay because i knew that from the beginning. i'm still proud of myself. hang in there, everybody!
  • lepechedexister
    lepechedexister Posts: 8
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    Hi! I started W2D1 yesterday - it feels good. I am starting to enjoy it. I've never been a runner even when I was on my junior high cross country team ;) Ha! I have a question though, do you think you really need to rest between run days? I don't feel as though I need the rest day; the times I did feel I needed it I rested. Sometimes I repeat the run on the "rest days", or I do other cardio like the elliptical and lift weights on arms and back.

    Keep going!
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    alright people...*repeater* W4D1 - it went a lot better than last time! it's still pretty hard. not hard enough that i can't do it, but hard enough that i know i'm not going to going for 20 consecutive minutes anytime soon! and i was so scared of W4 - now i'm looking at W5 with increduous terror - 8 minutes seems nearly impossible, but *20* minutes!?!? but i'm going to stay the course. i knew from the beginning that this would take longer than 9 weeks to get me going, and i've seen a lot of people that have done this successfully, so i'm just going to keep on trucking.

    lepechedexister - i would suggest keeping the rest days for the c25k program. i usually do workout on my rest days, either weight lifting or zumba or whatever i feel like, but i don't do c25k two days in a row. ie: i do c25k on MWF, and i do strength training, classes or dvd's (30 day shred and p90x) on TThS, with Sunday as my day off. i'm up to week 4, and, for me atleast, the program really starts jumping by bounds and leaps!

    keep it going, everyone! happy monday!
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    repeater W4D2 accomplished. it just about killed me - it doesn't seem to be getting any easier, but afterwards, i find myself feeling better and better. it's weird - during the actual routine, it seems hellatious, but once it's over, it seems like it never even happened. i'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. anyhoo, still truckin' along. my playlist really helps, and i never have to pay attention to my stopwatch anymore. i almost think that i am only tired and straining in my head, because my body really doesn't feel sore or any kind of aftermath, and my body doesn't really feel floored - just my brain. interesting.

    where is eveyone? get your butts back on the bandwagon, people!
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    So, yesterday on my run I hit a bit of a 'bump' in the road (which I didn't anticipate or see). I twisted my ankle and tumbled a bit before finally coming to a stop. After I managed stop laughing and get up I finished the run but today I'm left with a swollen left ankle and a right leg that's bruised nearly from knee to ankle. Haha. It's kind of ridiculous... who would have thought THIS is the 'runners injury' I'd have to worry about!
  • chanstriste13
    chanstriste13 Posts: 3,277 Member
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    today I'm left with a swollen left ankle and a right leg that's bruised nearly from knee to ankle.

    ouch! hope it gets better soon! my left ankle has been a bit swollen now pretty much since i started - it's just a little bit and it doesn't hurt at all. your bruise reminds me of one that i got - but i slipped when stepping into the shower, and i pretty much caught myself with my inner thigh, so i was black and blue from the back of my knee up! feel better!

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