C25k too much too fast

My two cents:
- awesome that you are trying!
- get fit for sneakers at a real running store
- be sure you can walk at a nice clip for over 60 min (sounds like you have this one down)
- walk/jog at a track if you can. It is such a big difference to your knees / hips
- start 15/30 seconds jog, 1 min walk and go up from there. Do the 15/30 seconds for 10 sessions if you have to - - there are no rules of how fast you build up your endurance
- stretch / warm up before
- stretch after
- stretch again after

Good Luck!

You've had a lot of great advice from people but I thought I'd throw in my two cents I used to be a runner too. Not an intense marathoner or anything, but I could comfortably do 10 kms. But after my third baby I never got my weight off . And then just added some more for good measure. When my kids all left home I realized it was time for ME and I was going to get healthy. I figured once a runner, always a runner. Right????? Wrong!! Shins and hips screamed otherwise. It didn't matter if it was on a treadmill or on pavement. I couldn't do it So that was my goal....to be able to run again. I started out walking. Then spent the winter going to "deep water running" classes at the pool. As I lost weight I was able to more things. I bought x-country skiis and started doing that again. And snowshoes too. The common thread here is that they are all low impact so I never had pain. Yes, my muscles would know they'd been working, but never the hip and shin pain that I had experienced when I tried to run.

Fast forward 2.5 years and I've now lost 80 pounds (and would like to lose 5-7 more). I just started C25k two weeks ago and guess what....I'm not experiencing ANY pain! There's a 5 km run in town in October and that is my goal.

So for me, WANTING to run didn't mean that I was able to run. I had to lose some weight first. But WANTING to run was my incentive to keep losing. Maybe c25k isn't right for you at this point in your weight loss journey. Maybe other low impact activities would be better for you. But if you need to run, which is how I felt, you'll get there

ridiculous59 wrote: »

You've had a lot of great advice from people but I thought I'd throw in my two cents I used to be a runner too. Not an intense marathoner or anything, but I could comfortably do 10 kms. But after my third baby I never got my weight off . And then just added some more for good measure. When my kids all left home I realized it was time for ME and I was going to get healthy. I figured once a runner, always a runner. Right????? Wrong!! Shins and hips screamed otherwise. It didn't matter if it was on a treadmill or on pavement. I couldn't do it So that was my goal....to be able to run again. I started out walking. Then spent the winter going to "deep water running" classes at the pool. As I lost weight I was able to more things. I bought x-country skiis and started doing that again. And snowshoes too. The common thread here is that they are all low impact so I never had pain. Yes, my muscles would know they'd been working, but never the hip and shin pain that I had experienced when I tried to run.

Fast forward 2.5 years and I've now lost 80 pounds (and would like to lose 5-7 more). I just started C25k two weeks ago and guess what....I'm not experiencing ANY pain! There's a 5 km run in town in October and that is my goal.

So for me, WANTING to run didn't mean that I was able to run. I had to lose some weight first. But WANTING to run was my incentive to keep losing. Maybe c25k isn't right for you at this point in your weight loss journey. Maybe other low impact activities would be better for you. But if you need to run, which is how I felt, you'll get there

I wish I had seen this comment before I posted mine ... I could have saved a lot of typing. I agree with every word.

Personally I'd stop running altogether until that shin pain is completely gone.

I had shin problems when I started doing c25k on concrete, and switched to mostly turf with a little concrete and asphalt thrown in. That fixed the problem (plus, good shoes). Turf will definitley make you work harder, but is gentle on your bones. The more I ran, the more I could run on asphalt without having a shin issue.

I would not try to run until you can identify the shin pain. It might or might not be be related to weight. But if weight related loosing weight will be key. Keep in mind that weight will just makes the inflammation act up quicker and this just begins an endless cycle.

I am not trying to be a cop out, but trying to help avoid injury. I would consult your doctor before starting a running program.

Can you tell where you shins hurt. Is it right on the front of the shin bone (tibia) or behind it, where you can't really touch. Does tapping your heel on the ground cause pain somewhere in the lower leg. It can be landing hard on the forefoot causes the pain and you would get this jumping rope or doing aerobics, etc...

Adjust your speed. You may be trying to go too fast too soon. Find a pace that's comfortable. Of course it's challenging, you're just starting out, but you shouldn't feel like throwing up after a minute. Maybe the shin pain requires new shoes. Go to a running store.
If all else fails and you're dreading running, you may be better off just walking for now. Keep increasing your speed and incline (assuming you're on the treadmill) and when that is no longer challenging, try running again

C25K was too much for me as well when I started running a few years ago. Runnersworld.com has a great forum called The Starting Line for beginners. One of the coaches gave me a suggestion and I turned it into a program that worked well for me. 30 minutes, 3 days a week. break it up into 5 minute increments of run/walk intervals. If you can run 1 min, walk 4, then start there. Do that 6 times. When the 6th rep feels too easy, bump it up to 1:15/3:45 and do that 6 times. Keep increasing it until you're doing 4:45/:15. When you don't feel like you need to walk for 15 seconds every 4:45 mins, try a 30 minute run.

It took me an entire summer to get from the couch to a 5k doing it this way, but it worked! Once I could run 30 minutes, increasing the time and distance was taken in 5 minute increments again. 35 mins. 40 mins. etc. Even now, it still feels tougher, but not just-starting-out kind of tough. I took a pretty long running hiatus and gained about 60lbs back, but since losing that weight again and working out with mostly resistance training, it only took about 2 months to go from couch to 7 miles this time.

Kudos to you for wanting to give this a shot! The running community is such a welcoming and friendly group of all shapes and sizes. I love it.

Oh, and I changed my intervals by 15 seconds at a time every 1-2 weeks. I might add more run time and NOT decrease the recovery until the following week or whatever ratio works for you. Basically, if you're dreading your runs, you're pushing yourself too much. If you're at the same interval ratio after several weeks, then you need to push more.

You might download the Map My Run Trainer and see what it suggests. It gives you the option to select what program you want to work on (5k, 10k, half marathon, etc) and then YOU enter how long YOU want to take to complete the program. Instead of 6 or 8 weeks, you can enter 6 months or a year and it will create a program for you. I am working my way up to a half marathon (not even close to there yet), I entered 6 months for completion and it gave me some weeks of pre-training before the legit training even begins. It's hard for me to follow a program though. Sometimes they tell me to run 2 minutes and I feel like I should go longer and sometimes it tells me to run 5 minutes and I just cannot make it yet. So I mostly follow the plans provided, but I do what feels best for me.