New Couch to 5k (C25K) thread - anyone out there in week 1?

Good morning everyone, please bear with what will likely be a long post.

First of all, I did beging W2D1 yesterday. It totally kicked my butt, but I did it. I walked at 3.0 (usually try for 3.3 but was worn out between runs) and I ran at 5.0. The extra 30 seconds of running was tough, but only when I'd watch the seconds tick by. I tried turning on the tv and that helped distract me. For some reason I'd phyched myself out thinking it was a 90 sec run and a 60 sec walk but it's a 120 sec walk. Silly me. Completely doable. I'm not altogether sure I'll move on to W3, but I'll worry about that later in the week.

Jules, great job with your run. I always knew running on the pavement would be more taxing than running on a treadmill but it's got to be better training to propel yourself, rather than have a moving belt below you. I had forgotten about the knees. Thanks for that note. It reminds me I need to stick to the treadmill until I lose some weight before I try to put that shock on my knees on the pavement. Great job!

Ruby, great job on your run yesterday. WE GOT THIS!

Reese, I commend you for listening to your body and slowing the pace when you need to. I think it's probably better to get through the run and then work on your pace over time, rather than wear yourself out where you might injure yourself or make yourself not want to run anymore. Way to listen to your body!

Patricac, Moriah, Richelle, Leastwood and Kai - WELCOME. Let us know how your runs go. We're all in this together and welcome any insight or questions (or even just venting!) you might have.

Jemmur - thanks for the note. You're completely right that I psyched myself out and overthought it. Typical me

Downtome - welcome. You've totally got this. My program has me run 3 times a week. It doesn't specify whether its every other or back to back. I run my runs every other day (which yes, every other week requires a 4th run in that week so I repeat a day). Better to let your muscles rest for a day before doing another one. At least, better for me since I don't have a runners body yet.

SkinnyOat - good call on it being the length of a commercial. Thanks for the perspective!

June - 6mph for 3 of your run intervals?!? That's amazing, great job! Keep it up.

NewMeat - Good question. I'd love to hear what everyone listens to. My itouch app lets me dump some playlists from my ipod into the C25K program then it will shuffle them for me. I have the Girl Talk album "All Day" combined with a CD my old Zumba instructor gave me that we used to do in class (back when I did Zumba). It makes for a strange combo since a lot of the Zumba is latin and the Girl Talk is rap mashed up with hip hop, rock and pop music. By the way, if you don't know Girl Talk (and don't mind a little language from time to time) I highly recommend checking them out. It's a DJ who takes songs and mashes them up together. They always have a really quick beat and are the perfect tempo to run to. They mash up really old songs you haven't heard since the 70s with rap and its really cool. Because he uses other people's music (which he does legally), he doesn't charge for the albums, so most of his albums are free (legal) downloads if you google them you might find them. I highly recommend them.

Lady, welcome and let us know how your run went yesterday!

Seasonal, Great progress on your run. That's gotta feel good. Keep up the good work!

Jensyth - Good question about whether we're running (sprinting) or jogging. My feeling is that I need to survive the workout and still want to do it again when I finish. There's a fine line between pushing yourself in a good way and a bad way. If you're not being taxed on the runs, but you're worried pushing yourself will make you too worn out, you just have to find that balance. Personally, I do day 1 at 5.0 for the runs (which is still a little taxing for me, but I can finish the 30 minutes intact). Then Day 2, I'll experiment with going up to 5.1 or 5.3. Day 3, I alternate between 5.1, 5.3 and 5.5 every run so that I can try to up my pace without pushing too hard. Plus the changes in speed makes it go by a little quicker for me (i.e. when I've got a 5.1 run vs. a 5.5 run I always feel like I'm going nice and slow - even though it's still higher than my usual 5.0). I think everything has to find their balance of what works for them. You should definitely progress but without pushing yourself too, too hard that it could have a negative effect on your running experiences (i.e. injury or burnout).

Sorry for the super long email, I hadn't checked into here over the weekend.

Good luck this week with your runs. Let us know how it goes. WE CAN DO THIS. This is such a great program. I never would have thought I'd be able to run as much as I already have been able to and I'm only in week 2. We're gonna be rockstars by the end of this!

i'm about to do w1 d2 today worried how much its goung to hurt though as my calves still feel sore from saturday (first day) can anyone help with this?

Are you running on pavement or on a treadmill? Maybe change the incline if on a treadmill, or find a different terrain if running on pavement?

Also have you been stretching?

Can't seem to find a sport that blows my dress up, but this is blowing my dress up.

~Melanie~

Melanie, welcome. And can I just say. This is my favorite comment yet. I'm totally stealing this and making it mine!

Cool!

Hi My name is Janice! I want in your group!! Please! My sister is turning 50 this year and I will be 45. We have signed up to do a 1/2 Marathon on June. Walking and running - we need to average a 14 minute mile.



Do we just keep adding to this thread?

I am debating if I should do week 2 a second week as I never did all the runs in week 2 completely without walking early.

1. Im in Week #3
2. Day # 1
3. Walking Pace (if you know from the treadmill) I go 3.3
4. Running Pace (if you know from the treadmill) 5.2
5. 30 minutes gets me around 1.90 miles

Hey Janice, welcome. Yea, keep posting on this thread as you complete your workouts. Its really encouraging to know so many people are out there suffering with me every day.

What is on the agenda for week 3? I haven't looked ahead to see what awaits me next week.

Thanks Newmeat, you little mind-reader, you.