Starting C25K

My neighbor and I are starting too!! there are free podcasts on itunes so you dont have to pay for the ones they put out if you dont mind paying the other ones are pretty cheap too

I am thinking about starting C25K as my news years resolution and making it my goal to be able to finish the 9 weeks. I am terrified of running though. I always feel like I can't go any further and I feel like I'm going to "die" after running for only a few mins...and end up usually giving up. I have tried a program similar to this last summer off of runnersworld.com and didn't get past the first day. I just don't want to set myself up to fail. Any good suggestions on how to stick it out.

So I thought an old persons point of view may help!!

I tried it, I did not die!!

BE SURE TO warm up 5 minutes, do 15-30 second stretches before AND after your run/walk.

I hurt myself last time from not stretching............so not worth it!

This time I am on week 3! I am so scared I may repeat week 2....no worries.......I can do this!!

Each time I get to the last 10-15 seconds I say OK....one more step....one more....OK just one more.....before I know it I have done my 90 seconds.

SO worth the effort!! Good luck!! :flowerforyou: Jeannie

started today and I felt great!!!!!! I am ready for more and astonished at how well I did!! My poor child looks like the little boy in the christmas story in his snow suit add a fleece stroller cover and you have a happy baby. Only problem I had was that we like (usual) walk time to be nap time. However she was so excited to being going fast that she stayed awake through the whole program except probably the last 2.5 minutes/cool down and as i pulled into my front door I realized she was finally sleeping. But I felt so good I did another circut of my road just walking at a brisk pace (2.5) but I have so much energy still!

day 2 of c25k my neighbor joined in today and it went great and I feel really good. we walked 2.5 miles after we were done even!!!

I started C25K in June and found it very helpful as I always considered myself a nonrunner. I ran a 5K in November and have been running 3+ miles most days ever since. For me, having the negative mindset that I did, I decided to focus on just working my way to finishing no matter how long it might take. Running became a very personal thing to me. I used to care what others thought about my form, what I was wearing, yada-yada, but now I don't care one iota. I only care about how running is helping me be fit. Being able to tune all the noise out and only focus on the benefits I'm getting because I put one foot in front of the other was the key for me. Now I think of myself as a runner, and this has led me to trying out other forms of exercise to complement the running and eating right. Rather than focusing on the negative, like not being able to run for the amount of time you're supposed to, try to focus on small successes, like going for ten minutes one day, twelve minutes the next. Those are good things in and of themselves, and if you don't complete the first day's regimen, that's okay. Completing some is better than completing none. I truly believe not allowing yourself to look at something from the negative mindset but rather from the positive mindset is the best way to long-term success.

this program looks good - i think i will try it out this next week in the gym - so can you program a treadmill to change diffrent speeds or just inclines?

you dont have to pay for the pod casts either, if you type in c25k or couch to 5 k in the search bars on the itunes web site there is one where a gentleman posted his own and I think they are great! I hook my ipod up to tiny speakers because i do the work out pushing a stroller and honestly I dont feel embarassed to have my neighbors hear the music LOL!!!

I don't enjoy techno so I've been using Nichole Blum's podcasts (still not my style, but they're hip-hop/pop based and are entertaining to say the least). Be forewarned, her podcasts often contain explicit lyrics. They're free, just do an internet search for "nicole blum couch to 5k" to get to her podcasts.

And, just so no one gets discouraged right away, when I first tried C25k I couldn't even do week 1 day 1. I had to build up to it for about 2 weeks before I could even start! I've gotten up to week 4 but dropped back to week 3 after Christmas because I was still struggling with week 4. This is the first week I've stumbled, really. I'm 5'4" and I currently weigh 229 pounds -- If I've been successful in my attempts at following C25k, pretty much ANYONE can be successful.

My best advice is to stick with the schedule -- don't run more than 3x a week for now. I tried to progress faster by running more times each week and all I did was hurt my knees. I had to take about 1.5 weeks off from anything but very low-impact exercise (biking) before I could run again (or even walk for exercise again) so *take it easy.*

I think I am using Roberts version as well in the beginning he says that he is a 43 yr old male living in Northern Calafornia? I did day 3 week 1 today and it went pretty well! My daughter likes to sleep while I do my routeen so I end up walking more to keep her napping! It sucks to have to get her out of her stroller and her snow suit and try to put her back to sleep. (I live in coastal NC, it is still decent weather here, I wore a long sleeved under armor and a tshirt and was good today) Keep up with it ladies!!!! It is so good to have others on here who are goal driven people!!! you guys inspire me to do better too!

I don't pay attention at all when I'm running. I'm usually trying to get into a zone almost like a meditative state to get through it all. I need someone to tell me what to do and when. I would for sure be all messed up without it!

I started today. I plan on running wed, fri, and sun. Makes life easier since I have to go back to teaching on Monday. These two weeks off have been soooo nice! I don't wanna go back!

Off to start the first workout. Happy New Year!

So out of curosity, for those of you who use the podcasts. Does the DJ Steve pordcast "podrunner" have the C25K program in it somehow. I guess I am not sure which podcast to get that is geared towards C25K. It would be great to have one that tells me when to switch run to walk and vise versa. I just got an ipod nano this xmas. Any feedback would be good. Thanks,

Great, thanks. Is there actually music in between?

Alrigght Kiddies......who actually started??? I did week 1 day 2 today. I was REEAAAALLLLY tired this morning but I got up and did it anyway and man was it had to get through. No energy at all. BUT I finished it so I'm happy! I burn about 300 calories do that work out so I'm fairly pleased.

Might go back to the gym tonight.