c25k

I did it and I loved it. It starts really easy. When it got to running 20 min I didn't think I could do it but I did.

I finished it several months ago. I had never run in my life, in fact I had difficulties in high school gym because I wasn't able to complete a full lap around the track. I ran over 4 miles on Saturday. I'm not fast, mind you, but hey, I can run. Oh, and I finished a sprint triathlon a month ago (swim 250 meters, bike 7 miles then run 2 miles). I would have thought it impossible before C25K. Keep it up... you'll get there. Congratulations for starting!

The C25K is a great program but you have to be careful if you have not done much for physical activity recently. It ramps up pretty quickly and will have you running too much too soon. If this happens do not get discouraged. Repeat or modify weeks until you are ready to jump to the next level. The program as written is designed for 9 weeks but it is not one size fit all. I know for some it took 18 to 20 weeks to get that 5K run in. Others continued with the walk/run intervals and that is still a great way to get in shape and with less risk of injury. Check out some of Jeff Galloway's programs and books. Running Until Your 100 is a great read and a common sense plan to keep you running.

Good Luck

I'm in week 4 and had to increase the walking time a little in between the last two running intervals. I'm still going to complete the w4 workouts as prescribed 3 times before I move on to week 5, but that's just because that's how I am. C25k does seem to add running time very rapidly compared to what I would expect, but I am constantly amazed that my body can pretty much keep up with those increases (right on the edge). It's uncomfortable, and I did have to pause once, but I finish every time. Each next time seems to be much easier than I expect it to be.

Also: Make sure you jog very slowly at first. I tried to keep a pretty fast pace and it was holding me back. Focus on endurance first; jogging for the amount of time instead of going for distance. The distance will come with practice.

Emurano Consider trying this and see how it works for you. Run 4 minutes and walk 1 and repeat this 6 times thus giving you 30 minutes. My bet is with the 1 minute recovery walks you will end up going farther than your continuous 30 minute run. Those one minute walks allow you to recover and each run will be stronger and faster. It is also not a bad way to train and you will find by varying your workout day to day and running a bit faster during those 4 minute segments you will get stronger and faster when you continuously run.

Just a thought for your consideration.

It will be an aid to your weight loss but one of the things that I fell into was I would use the running as an excuse to eat more. You have to eat to run not run to eat.