300 lbs and ran my 2nd 5K. I feel like a superhero! (w/pics)

Thank you all so much! I'd like to say that I was able to run the whole thing straight without stopping, but that's not true. I'm not there yet but I'm getting there! The first mile was easy and the rest required a lot of walking/running/walking/running. That's fine for me :-)

My doctor was really great and told me I could run so long as I listened to my body and stopped and slowed if I felt real pain. I was injured earlier this summer when I was running. I did some damage to a tendon in my foot, but it wasn't the end of the world. I had to take it easy and I couldn't run for a while, but I could still walk and still use the elliptical. I spent a lot of time not running because I was afraid of getting hurt. I think you can get hurt even if you are in shape. I didn't want to not run out of fear anymore.

I'd also like to point out that I'm slow. When I first started my "running" speed was like, 3.8 on the treadmill. I've worked up to 4.8 and I know that's still slow and I can't maintain the 4.8 through the whole time. I fluctuate from 4.5-4.8 and I think that's ok too. I mean, we have to start somewhere. If I wait for the magical moment to start running I may never start. Slow is good enough for me and I love seeing my time get faster!

There are a couple more 5Ks in my future for this year, and next year I'd like to step it up to a 10K or even a half. I can't wait until running a 5K is a warm-up for the rest of my workout!!!

wow! I want you to know that you have just inspired me. I weigh 305 right now and thought to myself just this week... I'm still WAY too big to run no point in even trying!

Well obviously that's horse**** so thank you for showing me that I was just making another excuse for myself. I am going to start the C25K immediately.

Thank you again for all your hard work it has showed me what is possible.

I started with C25K back in February. I was so upset at first because the week 1 was hard. SO hard. And after week 1 there was no way I was ready for week 2. Instead of stopping, though, I just repeated week 1 until I could do it without any trouble. I think I repeated it 4 or 5 times. Every week was easier and then I moved on to week 2 of the program and I repeated that twice before I could move on to week 3.

I think it's a great program but you shouldn't feel like you can't alter it to your own progress. I was around 320 when I started the program I think, and I could barely run for ten seconds let alone a minute, but I remember the exact moment I was running and I glanced down and realized I'd gone for a minute and a half straight and it felt like winning every race ever. I think I did a little dance on the treadmill. After that I felt unstoppable. A minute and a half. At the time it might as well have been a year and a half for as possible as I thought it could be. Now? No sweat! And if I can do it, you sure can!!!!