Starting runners:lets motivate each others

I started running again after a wee break of 450 days due to aching feet and not being in the mood.

After 4 runs I at least can do 3-4 very slow km again without walking. It’s a start. What I learned: don’t overdo things. My feet are not made for half marathon training. Shorter runs are fine.

Do write along if you just started and we can motivate each others and celebrate small successes.

Replies

zoedayan7

Ooh struggling this week. It was week 5 run1 this morning and it took me 10mins stretching before I could unwind enough to get started! Really don't want to give up but the monkey-on-my-shoulder is screaming. Help!

FocusOnNutritionHolly

I’m slowly getting back to running. It seems so hard after taking a long break. Today I created a new MFP account to track nutrition again. Definitely excited to get that cardio level back up. Good luck on your goals🙌🏻 We got this!

yirara

Hey all, sorry for not posting anymore. Keep it up, you're all brilliant!

Me, I was sick for the past week and too low on energy due to working up to 18 hours a day. But I'm picking it up again, tonight hopefully if the weather stays good.

WholeFoods4Lyfe

I was running with some regularity back in 2010-2012, gettin out 3-4 days a week and running between 4-6 miles. Then I hurt my back and all exercise stopped. Due to my injury, my inability to workout, and just being complacent, I gained over 140lbs. Yes. 140lbs. On my 5'2" frame, I weighed twice what I should. My weight has been a struggle for the last 7 years, gaining and losing, gaining and losing. I'm now down just over 50lbs from my high weight, and while I'm still morbidly obese, I'm at least moving in the right direction. For some reason I decided to start C25K last night, it was what I used to start running the last time. I don't anticipate finishing the program in the scheduled time frame because I am just THAT out of shape and am assuming I'll have to repeat several weeks. BUT you have to start somewhere, so here I am.

yirara

Hey, running again. Only did 1 mile, which is just below the magic border (about 2km) at which my feet don't hurt anymore and my running becomes more relaxed. But hey, it was a run.

springlering62

I am just leaning to run, so please add me as a friend. I’m only two days in, but it’s two days I hadn’t done before. Am worried I will start out trying to do too much too fast, as is my curse. Will need constant reminders to start slow.

yirara

springlering62 wrote: »

I am just leaning to run, so please add me as a friend. I’m only two days in, but it’s two days I hadn’t done before. Am worried I will start out trying to do too much too fast, as is my curse. Will need constant reminders to start slow.

Do try to start out slowly. Try to find a pace at which you can still talk, even if it's very, very slow. You'll get faster in due time, and running slowly still is different than walking because there's a floating phase in running with both feet of the ground. That makes it so much more tiresome compared to walking, regardless of how slow you run. Go for it!

jennibear22

I am just learning, on week 3 of Couch to 5k and loving it. Even though I am only running for 3 mins at a time etc, still feel so proud of myself as I have always hated running and avoided it my entire life and convinced myself I was just incapable of it. I miss it on the rest days but do long 5-7 k very brisk walks instead. If anyone wants to add me feel free.

smcurtis1981

I feel I’ve turned a corner and finally getting somewhere with my fitness. Yey!
Can run most of my 4.5 km route now and my piriformis is almost gone.
Starting to enjoy myself again

springlering62

Funny you mention piriformis. I have painful “yoga butt” on one side, and now the other is starting to hurt. I noticed when I ran yesterday, it stopped hurting. Have mercy, if it helps with that, I’m all over this running thing!

Any suggestions for sore toe tips? I remember a few years back when I was walking, my toes would turn black and blue, but haven’t had that problem in years. I’ve got some nice new New Balance shoes that were fitted at one of their stores, and they are broken in.

BattyKnitter

*waves* I'm a new runner too! Just finished the Zombies, Run! 5k training program and started jogging home from work which is 6.5km 2x a week. I'm still very slow and take a lot of walking breaks but it's so nice to jog home instead of bussing!!

yirara

Woohoo!
Today things didn't quite work out at first. First I thought my HR meter was empty, then decided it's working but I don't feel like running. Took off shoes. Then decided it's good, windstill weather and I should. 1.5km in I knew this would be a good one.

I tried to keep the pace very, very low and ran one 3.3km loop, then repeated it, and then did a smaller loop. Only needed 500m more to run 8km or 5 miles for the first time in ages. Yes, it was slow, but hey, I ran for 1.11 minutes without walking and without feeling tired (apart from last 500m where I couldn't keep slow)! Woohoo! I feel great tonight!

yirara

9km done. The first 3 were ok, next three very difficult including heavy legs and poor breathing control. And afterwards I somehow ended up in an odd flow where everything seemed easy. Nice one!

kilobykilo

Hi all, I'm on week 7 of c25k and it's really getting real now! I have a 10k in October and would love to be able to run all of the way..... but right now dont know how I can go from 20 to 25 to 28 to 30 to 35 in my next four runs!!!! Reading through this thread has been really motivating!

smcurtis1981

Im mixing it up this week with some hiking instead of running. Did a 12.5 km challenging hike this morning on our “Bump track” near home (an old trail that was used 100 years ago as an access road) Very steep but beautiful and nearly all rainforest.
Another planned for the weekend which will be an all day hike. Then I think a few days off from all exercise .

yirara

kilobykilo wrote: »

Hi all, I'm on week 7 of c25k and it's really getting real now! I have a 10k in October and would love to be able to run all of the way..... but right now dont know how I can go from 20 to 25 to 28 to 30 to 35 in my next four runs!!!! Reading through this thread has been really motivating!

That's minutes, right? Just try to run slow and depending on what kind of person you are
a) celebrate every minute extra
b) don't look at the time
If you're able to run for 20 minutes then 25 is not a lot more. Just keep trotting on. Speed comes later. Once you see you can run 25 minutes then 28 won't sound so daunting anymore, etc.

grimendale

Last Saturday, I ran my first 10k since I started training again after a few years off. Pretty pleased. I managed to keep the same pace I'd had for my 5k back in March over the longer distance. Hoping to shave a little time off before the Peachtree 10k in July, but either way, this bodes well for my first half marathon in November.

arialb122

I am in the same boat! In 2016 and 2017, I ran 8 half marathons, but had to stop due to chronic plantar fasciitis. As of this week, I am getting back into the swing of things. I have had three runs using interval training, and have complete roughly 5k each time. It is coming back quicker than I feared! I'd love to have an accountability buddy.

rodmelching

@yirara … thanks for the post. Congrats on your progress. I’ve been running for a while, did a few HM’s last year. However I broke my fibula on a trail run in November. Dang tree root … lol. Anyway been lazy in recovery ever since. Needed a kick in the pants to get going again. Just started a 10k plan. Thanks for the motivation!

kilobykilo

@yirara thanks for the support! Not sure I can not look at the time, but would love to employ that method!

Rest day today, gonna try 25 mins in the morning on a flat route.... let's see!

For those of you running / who have run longer intervals, what do you do to stop getting bored? Think I focused too much on the time last run because I was bored and wanted it over so I could get on with me day.....

grimendale

kilobykilo wrote: »

@yirara thanks for the support! Not sure I can not look at the time, but would love to employ that method!

For those of you running / who have run longer intervals, what do you do to stop getting bored? Think I focused too much on the time last run because I was bored and wanted it over so I could get on with me day.....

I have a Spotify playlist full of songs I love with driving beats that helps, but honestly, I love the longer runs. When I get into a good groove, and my breathing and pace are right, I can let my mind wander. It's a very zen, meditative state and I find it therapeutic. I tend to run after work or first thing on Saturday, so I find that runs help clear my head and shake off any stress. On long runs especially, I'm working too hard to think about anything beyond what I'm doing, and it helps break my thoughts out of anxiety-induced patterns.

yirara

kilobykilo wrote: »

@yirara thanks for the support! Not sure I can not look at the time, but would love to employ that method!

Rest day today, gonna try 25 mins in the morning on a flat route.... let's see!

For those of you running / who have run longer intervals, what do you do to stop getting bored? Think I focused too much on the time last run because I was bored and wanted it over so I could get on with me day.....

Hmm... good questions. I'm a very heady person, and when I run I just think some interesting things through, or write some really stupid fan fiction in my head. Basically not sit behind the computer and do nothing, but let my thoughts wander while enjoying being outside. I also don't run with music as it would distract me during my me-time. I mean, we've so used to consuming media. Just leaving this all at home and being with myself. Well, kind of. I take my phone along and an HR sensor. Looking at how far I've come motivates me, and having a peek at the HR reading tells me whether I'm keeping my pace or suddenly start running faster or slower, etc... basically, I'm not bored.

(yeah, I slept miserably and am very tired. I hope this rambling makes kind of sense)

yirara

grimendale wrote: »

kilobykilo wrote: »

@yirara thanks for the support! Not sure I can not look at the time, but would love to employ that method!

For those of you running / who have run longer intervals, what do you do to stop getting bored? Think I focused too much on the time last run because I was bored and wanted it over so I could get on with me day.....

I have a Spotify playlist full of songs I love with driving beats that helps, but honestly, I love the longer runs. When I get into a good groove, and my breathing and pace are right, I can let my mind wander. It's a very zen, meditative state and I find it therapeutic. I tend to run after work or first thing on Saturday, so I find that runs help clear my head and shake off any stress. On long runs especially, I'm working too hard to think about anything beyond what I'm doing, and it helps break my thoughts out of anxiety-induced patterns.

This, minus the music. Being a night person I usually cook/eat when I get home from work, then do nothing useful for a while, then go out running at around 8ish or a bit later. I'm a late runner as it's the time of the day where I have most energy. I also love it when it gets dark or running in the dark (longest day is Saturday and it will get darker earlier again. yay!). Even if I run the same route, everything always looks different at that time of the day. Plus water: seeing reflections in water makes me happy. Fortunately there's a lot of water here in the Netherlands, even in town.

emmamcgarity

I found free downloadable classic audio books on podcasts and have been listening to a couple chapters when I run. Just finished Anne of Green Gables.

yirara

10km! Took me nearly 90 minutes to get there, and I had to dig really, really deep today but I got there in the end without walking.

kilobykilo

@yirara whooop well done!

Thanks for the responses re fighting the boredom, yesterday I managed to zone out a lot more and was thinking about my breathing. Which, is way too laboured, but hoping that will improve with time as I get fitter!

klaak

Hi everyone!! Are y'all still here? I'm starting to run again after a long break, need to slowly build up my endurance again. Also starting weight training again.

emmamcgarity

yirara wrote: »

10km! Took me nearly 90 minutes to get there, and I had to dig really, really deep today but I got there in the end without walking.

Amazing! Congratulations! That distance is still out of reach for me but it doesn’t sound as impossible as it did a few months ago.

emmamcgarity

klaak wrote: »

Hi everyone!! Are y'all still here? I'm starting to run again after a long break, need to slowly build up my endurance again. Also starting weight training again.

We are here! Are you doing c25k?

kilobykilo

klaak wrote: »

Hi everyone!! Are y'all still here? I'm starting to run again after a long break, need to slowly build up my endurance again. Also starting weight training again.

Hi there, I'm becoming a runner for the first time.... starting week 8 of c25k today with a 28 minute run. My aim today is to go slow slow and try and keep my heart rate down. Also, I've got tired legs from an epic work out on Friday, so that might be the only way to get through it!

Happy Sunday everyone!