Be honest: walking a 5k.

It takes me a little over an hour to run a 5k. Who cares what your friend thinks. You are out there getting exercise. And you are easing into it. It is hard to run when you are overweight - hard on your body and then you might give up - i know I did. get more strenuous as you lose weight. When you get down some more, why not try to do the Couch 2 5k program and make a goal that in one year you will run a 5k in 45 min or less?

Keep up the good work. You are doing awesome.

:flowerforyou:

Lame
Is in the eye of the beholder

Yes your friend will think you are lame

Everyone on MFP will think you are AWESOME!

You may want to see whether your 5K is a "race" or a "Run/Walk"
:-)

Why does running have to be a goal? Running is not for everyone and us walkers do just fine! Walking is a fantastic form of exercise and MUCH easier on your joints. So walk it and be proud!

!!!!!!!!!No way!!!!!!!!!!!, it doesnt make you lame at all. It encourages everyone:

For me, its about taking action, everyone has things they wish were better, when I see people working on those things, taking action, it really fires me up (and others too).

"You are to BIG", "you are OUT of Shape", "you are going to hurt yourself", "do you have insurance just in case" "it may be hot" It may be cold"

#&$%^&&*^&*(^%^ who cares

if you want to do it, do it :-) Get a 5k under your belt, then another one, then something else!

GOOD for you!

I don't think you're lame at all! I have walked a 5K before. But, it sounds like you're pretty active. You should give running a try and I think you would be amazed at what you can do. Start with short intervals and work your way up.

You should do it because it's something you want to do. And a good friend would be supportive and not tear your idea down saying it's lame.

If you want to walk it then do it with your head held high because you are out there accomplishing something. If your friend can't get behind you and support you then maybe she is not the best friend to talk about weight loss and exercise with. We all have different friends and if they can be there for you in different ways....if this one is not supporting your efforts then accept her as she is and find additional friends who will. By the way, you will do great at the 5k!!!

Here are your steps to success:

1. Walk the 5K, be proud of your accomplishment.
2. Get a new friend.

PS - ditto to the comments about your "friend" - he/she needs a pie in the face! Shame on them. Get some new friends!

That isn't a very supportive friend... Any exercise is great and definitely not lame!

That being said, different people have different reactions to different situations. I walked a 5k race with my Mom and Sister earlier this year. I planned on running but injured myself and had to walk it... which was probably a good thing, because even though they aren't as overweight as me they aren't runners. We ended up in almost last place. Everyone in the race was so nice and super supportive and yelled out encouraging comments to us. I really enjoyed that... my sister did not. She used to be an athlete and nearly snapped from all of the "sympathy applause" that she received. She thought everyone was basically saying "That's so awesome that you're trying to do this even though you're fat!" and really hated that. I didn't mind at all. Depends on what type of person you are I guess.

I LOVE doing the 5k races even though I still can only run about half the time. They're super fun with a lot of good energy and usually a pretty fun and supportive crowd. It's even better when you get a medal at the end for finishing! It's really nice tracking your finish times too to see if you can decrease it with each race.

Don't shelve it, better to walk a 5k than not bother at all. It's all exercise. Your friend is being lame :-)

Your friend isn't a very good friend. It doesn't matter if you walk or run. It matters that you do it. Do what makes you feel comfortable not what other people think is cool. Good luck with it too.

As long as you can walk it in the allotted time...no problem.

Run when, and if ever, you are ready.

Note: I walked for 4 years and lost nearly all the weight by doing nothing but walking. I got back into running to throw something different at me once I reached maintenance and to work a completely different muscle set.

As an aside, I ran my first 10K since 1985 this past April (Cooper River Bridge Run). There were some people who put themselves in the "running groups" that clearly were not ready for that. I put myself in the walk/run group and passed them on the way to the finish.

My first ever 5k is in a month and I'm praying there's at least 1 walker in it so I don't finish in DFL.

I definetly agree that your friend isn't very supportive. I've run a 5k and a 10k, and there were plenty of walkers, some walked the whole time, some walked after running etc. I weigh close to 300 lbs (288) and have had knee and joint problems. I ran my first 5k when I was 295 (not far from your 300 lbs), and when I started running, I was at 340 lbs. I did the couch to 5k program to get me slowly acclimated to running. It worked for me. You might be able to push yourself further than you thought you could. Either way, walking or running, it doesn't matter how fast your moving, your still lapping everyone who is sitting on the couch. Good Luck!