C25K week 5 day 1 tomorrow, nervous!!

momma2azoo · March 2014

My 13 year old son and I are doing C25K. We've done good so far. We finished week 4 last week and while the 5 min runs were challenging, they weren't too tough (ie- I didn't feel on the verge of death). I finished the week feeling great and really enjoying my last run. My 13 year old, not so much. He's at an ideal body weight so doesn't have being overweight working against him like I do, but he isn't as motivated to push physically as I am. He's sticking it out though because he doesn't want to be bested by his old, fat Mom.

I don't make him run, I'm not that kind of parent. This is something we wanted to try together. Kid is finding out that running is hard work.

Anyway, I'm nervous about week 5. Tomorrow will be three 5 min runs. I think we can do that. The 8 min run on day 2 and then a 20 min run on day three are sounding really daunting. I kinda finished this program a few years back and was running 4+ miles (no walking) several days a week. I was out for a run one morning and was hit by an idiot in a truck who went off the road . Very severely injured, it's been a long journey back to running for me. I really want to succeed and I'm really happy my son is doing this with me. I'm not in as good a shape as I was last time I worked my way through C25K. Last time around I'd done months of other cardio and resistance training before jumping into running. I got 1/2 way through C25K and realized I could just keep running. Ditched the intervals, added miles quickly and loved it. This time, I did a couple months of light cardio and then started C25K and I'm feeling the burn a whole lot more. It feels a whole, whole lot harder even though I weigh slightly less than last time around.

I'm rambling and I'm not really sure if I'm looking for much more than friendly commiseration. For those of you who are also working through or have finished the program to get in shape vs starting in good shape and have repeated weeks how did you decide to repeat? Did you wait until each week was easy and then move on or did you wait until you couldn't finish a week and then back track? We haven't had to repeat so far. As a matter of fact, we've run longer intervals ahead of schedule a few times for the fun of it ( when I get in the zone, I don't want to stop. I have to make myself stop to avoid injury. I love to run, my body just isn't quite there yet for what my mind wants to do ). A large part of me wants to keep on schedule since we don't know what we can accomplish until we try (no pain, no gain) but the slightly wiser part of my brain is telling me to slow down and keep it fun.

And yes, we both have good pro fitted shoes. I swear, if my son hits a teenage growth spurt and outgrows his $hoe$ in a couple months I may just cut off his toes to make his feet fit!!!!

I guess I'll see how we do tomorrow. Here's hoping for the best!!

JustSomeEm · March 2014

Hey sweetie! My 13 y/o son and I just started the C25K program, and it hasn't been too tough yet. I was looking ahead though, and some of the runs DO seem daunting - but once you get there, you'll be fine. If you aren't able to complete a run, just keep trying. You can repeat sessions as many times as it takes until you get it. Don't let it stress you out. You will know when you're ready to move on to the next one.

momma2azoo · March 2014

Thank you! We finished week 5 day 1 and my son was hurting more than I was but he stuck it out.

I think I'm worrying more about him than me. I love that he's running with me, but I don't want him to push too hard to keep up. We talked about repeating being just fine, so he knows we can do that if need be.

We're doing day 2 tomorrow, hopefully it'll go well! We decided we'd just keep trying and repeat only if we can't finish a day.

Best of luck to you and your son, I'm really tickled to know there's another Mom/ son team out there doing this.

DangerJim71 · March 2014

Kudos to you for getting back out there after your accident. That takes some courage. I suspect you're a lot stronger than you think. And if you don't make it, that's not a failure, just keep trying. Giving up would be a failure.

I started couch to 5k about 2 years ago. Had stress fractures to both tibia on by week 1 day 2. That's right , I didn't make it through day 2. Hahaha. One year later I finished a half ironman.

We can do anything if we believe. We really can

momma2azoo · March 2014

Wow...from stress fractures to a half ironman. That's awesome!!!

Thank you too for the encouragement. Getting back to running is very much a mental and physical challenge for me and not just in the usual sense that running is as much mental as physical sometimes. I really need to prove to myself that I can get back to where I was before getting hit. I get frustrated with my slow progress, then second guess myself at times for fear I'm pushing too hard too fast to get back to where I was. Sure don't want to push the kiddo too hard either. Actually, running with him is really good for me because it makes me not push too hard. I'll remind myself tomorrow when we head out that slowing down and being safe is better than pushing too hard and getting hurt!!

mochapygmy · March 2014

I understand your worry and I was in the same boat last week.

I admit I cheat the C25K. I've repeated weeks that I thought I didn't finish strongly or added baby intervals between the next official runs etc. After a couple of weeks I added another segment of running. When I did week 5 day 1 I did 4 x 5 min running. After the 8 min runs I added another day with 9 min runs before I jumped into the 20 minute run because I couldn't wrap my head around a 20 minute run. Shockingly the 20 minute run was pretty easy. I had a nice rhythm going and I accidently went over the 20 minutes! I think a big part of this was because for once I wasn't watching the clock. I don't use an app that tells me when to run/walk.

Today was the week 6 day 1 and even though I ran the same number of minutes as w5.3 the walking breaks in between were really bugging me and it wasn't a great run. So you may really enjoy that long run and if either of you don't feel like it was strong you can repeat the week or the run again.

OSUgal03 · March 2014

I did week 5 last week. The 8 min run, I had no problem with. But the 20 min run scared me, so I made up my own day. I did 10 min run/ 5 min walk/ 10 min run. I think I will repeat that for another day or two, and then will do a day or two of 15 min run before moving to the 20. I am not ready for a 20 min run!

queenbea77 · March 2014

I just finished up week 3 of my C25K. I was on a M,W & F routine and was doing good until I missed last Friday (out of town) so I did that workout on Monday. I do spin on alternate days (T & TH) but haven't been too consistent with that since I started the C25K but I made it back to spin class yesterday, plus I had bowling last night so I did not feel like starting a new week of C25K today. i''m going to wait until next Monday to start week 4. I've been doing all of my training on the TM but I know I have to move it outside sooner or later (later....we are having a blizzard right now! LOL).

I've ran on the TM before....30 minutes @ 4.5 without a problem so why is this such a struggle? The first week I did 3.5 - 4.5 and that felt like a crawl so the next week I changed it to 4.0 - 4.5/5 and that felt more comfortable.

I do admit I cheat a bit too. with my speed up to 5-5.5 for the running when I drop it back down for the walking part there are times I just have to step off to the sides and drink water. I do the first 5 minutes as walking, do the middle as instructed but quite often I use the last 5 minutes as walk/run so I can hit the 2 mile mark or more. I know as I increase my running intervals I'll get more distance in as well as increase my speed but something about "not hitting the 2 miles" makes me feel like I've failed!

agalassie · March 2014

You can do it! I actually just finished the program just last night, so I completely understand the nervousness. Just think about how awesome you will feel when it is done!

Runs4Wine · March 2014

I remember W5 being more mental than physical - your mind sees a big jump in distance/time, but your body can usually handle it - just slow the pace down if needed.

At the end of W5 you look back and say - WOW I did that?!

As for your son, perhaps he's struggling with getting the breathing down or he's going too fast. First have him focus on breathing... 2 or three breaths in through the mouth, 2-3 breaths out through the mouth. Also focus on posture... keep your head up and look at the horizon, not down at your feet. With these tips I was able to get my breathing under control and then running became "easier".

queenbea77 · March 2014

Wow...from stress fractures to a half ironman. That's awesome!!!

Thank you too for the encouragement. Getting back to running is very much a mental and physical challenge for me and not just in the usual sense that running is as much mental as physical sometimes. I really need to prove to myself that I can get back to where I was before getting hit. I get frustrated with my slow progress, then second guess myself at times for fear I'm pushing too hard too fast to get back to where I was. Sure don't want to push the kiddo too hard either. Actually, running with him is really good for me because it makes me not push too hard. I'll remind myself tomorrow when we head out that slowing down and being safe is better than pushing too hard and getting hurt!!

Just checking in to see how it's going for you and your son. I just started week 4 and boy my knees hurt! I only ran on Monday last week because I wanted to even out my weeks again so today I slowed down. I got my 2 miles in because my running time increased. Hopefully Wednesday goes better for me.

C25K week 5 day 1 tomorrow, nervous!!

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