C25K Stories

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CrystalT
CrystalT Posts: 862 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok all you C25K grads, I'm having a really hard time motivating myself to finish Week 3. I did Week 3 Day 2 on Thursday and it was harder than I wanted and it really discouraged me. It has me doubting myself and I've been avoiding it ever since. I've got to snap out of it. I was wondering if some of you might tell me if and when you felt this way and how you broke out of it.

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  • tvgal
    tvgal Posts: 87
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    Take a friend! or if you're really not feeling it just walk the whole way - at least you're moving! it takes a couple of weeks of no activity to lose what you've already built up, so i think it's okay to cut yourself some slack! Plus, i bet if you get out and start walking you'll talk yourself into running a little :) Just don't let yourself give up!!! you can finish!

    oh! also, how are your shoes??? if they're not in good shape, that can definitely make things more difficult, trust me i learned the hard way...
  • kandyjo
    kandyjo Posts: 4,648 Member
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    You may need to take a step back and do Week 2 again... Sometimes that will help you get the motivation and the stamina you need to move on to the next week. Stay with it! You can do it!!! I have not finished the C25K... the weather has gotten really cold, so I haven't been doing anything outside... My workouts are conisiting of workout DVD's and going to the gym right now :)
    Good luck! Whatever you do, just stay with it!!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    Ok all you C25K grads, I'm having a really hard time motivating myself to finish Week 3. I did Week 3 Day 2 on Thursday and it was harder than I wanted and it really discouraged me. It has me doubting myself and I've been avoiding it ever since. I've got to snap out of it. I was wondering if some of you might tell me if and when you felt this way and how you broke out of it.

    I am on day 1 of week 2 and I am skeered!! One thing I have learned over the past 1.5 years, is that nothing NOTHING is written in stone.

    If you know you cannot do the week 4, go back to week 3! Seriously........I am going to if need be. No shame.........any thing I do now is 100 times more than last year. I am proud of making it 1 week.

    You can do this. :drinker:

    :heart: Jeannie
  • JustJessie
    JustJessie Posts: 162 Member
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    I just did the very first workout completely yesterday! I have not ran since I was probably in middle school and have bad knees. I tried the program 2 weeks ago and was hurting so much that I got discouraged and gave up.

    I'm giving it another chance! I know I will be able to do this but for my first workout I used the treadmill instead of the track. I know that makes it a little bit easier because it is propelling you but I figured the sense of accomplishment of finishing the entire 1st workout is worth doing it the cheating way for maybe the first week. I will probably repeat the 1st week of workouts next week but switching to the track or outside.

    What do you do for stretching out the muscles in your shins? Towards the end of each 1 minute run my shins hurt beyond belief!
  • Chenoachem
    Chenoachem Posts: 1,758 Member
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    I did the C25K program last Feb to June. The best thing you can do for yourself is to repeat a week if you need to. We all have off days so don't get discourged. Do what you can and know you will get there if you try. It took 4 months with my bad asthma and living at hight altitude. But I did it and you can too. I was able to continue on from there to run a 10K.

    Good Luck and awesome progress so far. :flowerforyou:
  • Chenoachem
    Chenoachem Posts: 1,758 Member
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    What do you do for stretching out the muscles in your shins? Towards the end of each 1 minute run my shins hurt beyond belief!

    No 1, don't over stretch it can give your problems. No 2, check your shoes. I used to get horrible shin pain until I went to a running store and got fitted for shoes. I don't have that problem at all anymore.
  • tvgal
    tvgal Posts: 87
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    What do you do for stretching out the muscles in your shins? Towards the end of each 1 minute run my shins hurt beyond belief!

    stand up and tap your toes to the ground
  • CrystalT
    CrystalT Posts: 862 Member
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    Thanks for the tips everyone. I do have a work out partner, but he isn't the most reliable about going with me. He's cancelled the past 2 days. I really needed him to be my reason to go to the gym. I usually don't rely on him for that, but today I really needed to.

    I am doing this on a treadmill at the gym for several reasons, one of which is that it is a little easier AND I can see the time tick away during the running portions. When I tried running outside, I gave up before the time ended because I didn't know how much longer I needed to go. I figured I would be better off to build up on the treadmill and move outside when I thought I was ready.

    I repeated weeks 1 & 2 after I injurred myself. And I do plan on doing week 3 an extra day at least. I just am having a hard time getting myself on the treadmill to start. I'm reminding myself there is no other option than to go and try.
  • figueres3
    figueres3 Posts: 104 Member
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    I know this is really different than what everyone else is saying, but my advice is the exact opposite... I just recently did c25K and found that the walking running after about 5 weeks of doing the program was exhausting and I was starting to feel like I would never be able to just run... plus, every time I stopped running, I was in agony when it was time to start running again... so I just decided to run straight through (and only slow-run when I needed it)... and it worked! That day I ran 1.5 mi straight! And the next week I ran 2 miles straight! I was an incredible feeling and way more fun! Maybe it will help you :) That 5 K is only 2 weeks away for me :)
  • CrystalT
    CrystalT Posts: 862 Member
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    Well everyone, I went. It took me long to get myself there than usual. Still tried to talk myself out of it on the way home from work, but I went. I'm glad I did. I no longer feel psyched out by it. Even after 5 days, it was still easier than I expected it to be. I'm going to do this week again Thursday or Friday and then maybe I'll try week 4 starting next week. I'm nervous about running for 5 minutes, but I'm going to try.

    figueres3, that isn't a bad idea, but I don't think I'm there yet. I'm barely able to run 3 minutes right now and I'm not finding it too hard to start back up with a run after the walking breaks. The hard part is keeping going once I start. I know I'm building stamina, though. When I moved from 60 to 90 sec of running, I thought 90 sec was too much. Going from 90 sec to 3 min seems tough, but now 90 sec is a breeze. I'm sure I'll pull off 5 min, too, and then 3 min will seem easy. I'm going to stick with it for now, but if I begin to feel burnt out, I'll definitely keep this in mind.

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