Just can't grasp running! HELP!?

The easiest way to start would be to go for a walk and run for a set time, then walk and repeat. You'll sooner or later increase the amount you run to the point where you wont stop running.

My fitness basically reset to zero when I was 19 after an illness and I did the above and it worked for me.

Haven't tried any apps/programs before but no harm in using them in conjunction.

Good Luck

....we done Insanity for awhile but then he hurt his ankle and just cannot find the motivation to do workout programs now. :

I can understand that, the idea of prancing around in front of a TV fills me with dread. Distance running gets me in a wholly different place mentally.

I want to know if apps like 0 to 5k help by teaching you slowly over 4 weeks how to run, or should I just start running and walk when needed then start running again once I've caught my breathe?

In principle either approach will work, although the snag that I can see with doing intervals based on rate of perceived exertion is that you end up not challenging yourself to pick up the pace. Using a Heart Rate Monitor can help, in that you watch your HR dropping to a threshold, and when it hits that threshold you start running again. A timed plan, like C25K takes the opportunity to take it easy away from you.

The planned element of it also gives some structure to your training, so that you know by the end of the programme you'll be running for 30 minutes continuously.

One of the main things to be aware of is your pace, in the C25K group on here lots of people ask questions about sustaining their run, and generally it seems that they're going too fast in the run phases, and burning out. Initially your run phases should be at a pace that you can talk at. Not a full blown discussion, but you can get a sentence or two out. That's a useful marker for your progress, as over time that pace will increase as well.

Personally I used the NHS podcast series; http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/couch-5K-running-plan.aspx

I think plans like couch 2 5k are great.
I recently started running again after a long break. I'm doing walk-run intervalls with increasing amounts of running always for half an hour.
Not the C25k plan, I just started with "1 min run, 1 min walk" in the first week (yes, I was really out of shape..), increase it to "2 min run, 1 min walk" in the next, and currently I'm at "7 min run, 1 min walk". I think once I get to 10 minutes I'll start increasing in 2 minute chunks, but we'll see.

or should I just start running and walk when needed then start running again once I've caught my breathe?

That does not sound too different to the walk/run approach. But for me having a plan to stick to really helps. I tried it without a fixed plan a while back, but then I'm always tempted to walk more than really necessary. Now I sometimes get to the point where I feel like I need to walk, but the clock tells me I have to keep running for two more minutes - so I keep going on, and realise that it is actually possible :-)

C25K is a brilliant way to start. You may find the early weeks easy, but don't skip any, they really build up your base aerobic capacity. Many people find they need to repeat a week or two once the intervals get to 10 minutes or more.

Here's a link to my beginners' running tips:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/BerryH/view/20-things-i-wish-i-d-known-about-running-when-i-started-103936

It sounds like the first one may solve all your problems with running in one fell swoop:
When you start out, it’s HARD! Even if you think you’re fit, running is so different to anything else you’ve done before you will get out of breath quickly. Stick with it. Can’t manage a minute? Go slow. Still can’t? GO SLOWER!

Agree with people advising you to slow down. I did C5K on a treadmill and then wondered why I was exhausted and couldn't run as far when I got outside, when I borrowed my husband's Garmin I noticed I ran a great deal faster without the pace setting of the treadmill and I couldn't sustain it for long.

Definitely C25K.

if you are out of breath while running, you are running too fast. unless you are running from the cops then forget my last comment and haul *kitten*.

if you are out of breath while running, you are running too fast. unless you are running from the cops then forget my last comment and haul *kitten*.

FYI, some of us cops run, too! LOL

I call running from the cops PRing my 5K. lol

It sounds like you may be trying to run too fast.

Many of the top running coaches (google Bobby McGhee for one major advocate) advise that > 90% of your running should be done at a very easy aerobic pace - meaning you can carry on a non-breathless conversation.

If you're running harder, to the point that you get breathless when you're trying to talk, you are running too fast. Not only does this increase your likelihood of injury, it also is not very good for increasing your aerobic base.

You can try a program like C25K, or just set up a program of your own - like 4 minutes easy run, 1 minute walk, etc.
I would not advise trying to set time/distance goals at this point. Just set a goal for overall duration of the run and overall minutes run per week - and increase these only slowly, like 10% per week. Also take every third week where you reduce your overall volume by 30% for a "recovery week."

It's great that you're thinking about running with your SO - it can be a very nice quality couples activity.
If he has much more run fitness than you, to the point that you have a hard time running together, there are some things you can do to even it out.
One routine my wife and I like: we both run together at an easy pace (very easy for me) for 8 minutes.
Then she starts walking, while I do one minute of sprinting, bounding, or some other higher-intensity interval for 1 mintue.
Then I turn around and walk back towards her. We usually rejoin before the 10 minute mark, and start the next 10-minute cycle with 8 minutes of easy aerobic pace.

So she's doing: 8min easy aerobic, 2 min walk, repeat
I'm doing: 8min very easy aerobic, 1 min something hard, 1 min walk, repeat.

The other thing you can do is run around trails or neighborhoods where you can take a shortcut and he can take a "long cut."
But my wife and I have found that the 8:2 / 8:1:1 routine works very well for us.

I also am not of the mind set that just because we go running together- we have to RUN together. Go to the park where you can run at your own pace but still see each other and high five/warm up and stretch together and what not. - you do sprints- he can putter about doing longer runs and you can meet at the end and call it a day.

I agree 100% here. I mostly run alone, but now that track is over my 13 year old runs with me and my boyfriend. We all run at different paces, I'm a 11 - 12 min miler for 3 miles, my daughter 8 mins and my boyfriend, I have no idea what he does. He runs fast, then walks then runs then walks. I can't do that. My daughter just likes to run with me most of the time so she can talk the entire time LOL The boyfriend just leaves us (he usually takes the dog). But we start togther and meet back at the finish.

Lots of people are finding success with the C25K apps...there's one from the makers of Zombies! Run! that I'm trying, and it definitely has me going at least 2 miles every other day, although it's half walking. The storyline keeps me motivated to continue. I understand that the full Zombies! Run! game is even better. It costs a few bucks, but well worth it from what I hear. Once I complete the Zombies 5k I'll be moving on to the full game.