Hey everyone, just found the new thread!

I just completed W3D2 this morning. It was good! I have to say, I was really terrified at the thought of doing the 3-minute long runs, even though I know that probably sounds really silly given the longer runs later on in the programme! I think the programme seems to be working really well for me and improving my fitness, because I'm coping with the longer runs much better than I thought. I'm still a bit nervous about Week 4 (alternating 3- and 5-minute runs), but I'm sure it will be manageable when I get there!

Welcome Jess! I'm really glad you found this forum and the C25K thread! I have the same feelings about the C25K too - like you, I really want to lose weight, but am primarily doing that by healthy eating. Whilst I think the running will help me lose weight, that's more of a bonus, and I also want to do it just to feel healthy and fit. Having said that, I think C25K has really helped my weight loss so far! It's probably because I did practically no exercise before starting the programme, and I think starting running has helped me break through a bit of a weight-loss plateau! Anyway, best of luck with the programme - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do

Annita - well done for persevering despite feeling not-so-great about running all the time! I had a day like that the other day, where I just really didn't enjoy the run much and was just clock-watching until it finished. Fortunately I've had a couple of much more enjoyable runs since then, but like you, I think it's great to take satisfaction from the fact that you completed your run and did good things for your health and body, despite not feeling like it! Hope you stick with it, I'd love to be at W8, you've made really good progress!

Guess what everyone! I just completed week 9 day 3, I am officially a C25K graduate!!!!!!!!!!!!

It feels so good to accomplish this. I never thought I'd stick with it because I never stick with any workout program, but now I have so much pride because I actually stayed with a program and plan on continuing with bridge to 10K :-)

Woo!

Woo hoo, allowat!!!! I am soo happy for you.

Jess, I always felt the same way about running. But now I notice, just 4 weeks in, I feel soooo much better on my running days. Download some great podcasts and it will make running a lot easier.

I was talking with my dietitian yesterday about how I am not seeing a loss on the scale but I can tell in my clothes that I am slimming. She showed me a model of 5 lbs of fat and a model of 5 lbs of muscle. The muscle- while still being the exact same weight- was only 60% of the size of the fat. It finally clicked for me that muscle takes up less space than fat. Lol.

Welcome Jessica! Happy to have you here! You really found a fantastic group here in this thread... Tons of support and just enough silliness from time to time to keep things entertaining!

A HUGE congratulations to Allowat!!! You did it!!! How freaking awesome does that feel? Just look how far you've come and I'll bet you can't help but be rediculously proud of yourself. I sure was when I finished!

leannerenee: How funny! Those little, "Oh!" moments are so much fun. The nice thing is that even though you're not seeing the scale move much, the clothes are changing... Progress is progress! Just keep moving along and I'm sure the scale will get with the program sooner or later.

i just finished week 8 day 2.
It was a great jog. I even faster my pace a little bit. Sweat bucket. ^_^
But at the last 3 minutes, my knees started to hurt a little. It wasn't very painful but it was uncomfortable. But only last 3 minutes so I bared it and finished the jog. Right when I got to walk again, my knees feel fine. I guess that's because I pushed myself a little further than I can completely handle but not so bad.

Anyways, I'm glad tomorrow is rest day

w2/d2: today was okay. I really tried to push myself to go faster, because running at 4.8 seems too easy. So I did a few runs at 5.0 and one at 5.5, and then at the end I ran an extra minute and a half just because I felt like it. I'm feeling pretty good, but when I got off the treadmill I was experiencing pain in my upper leg. It wasn't so bad but it was almost like the muscle was going stiff. So I tried stretching it and walking around the gym and that seemed to help, although even now, 20 minutes later I'm still feeling traces of pain. I'm thinking I pushed it too hard and probably shouldn't have run the extra minute and a half at the end... and I should probably stretch more before running!

Thanks so much for all the warm welcomes! I did download Robert Ullrey's podcast and used it all last week and this past Tuesday. It really helps because I'm not sure if I would be able to run if I had to watch the clock constantly!

Last night I created my own "podcast" using Audacity (it's free, google it!) and used it during my run today. I liked it better then Robert Ullrey just because I was able to have my own music - which keeps me from becoming bored - and I was also able to add a lot of encouragement in there for myself .

So rest day tomorrow, and then day 3 of week 2 on Saturday!

Jess

Hello folks... just got a new treadmill i'm super excited to c this thread and be a c25k grad

W1D1 .. and i was able to jog/walk for 13 mins.. rather than 20.. .. but i feel grht for a person who hasnt jogged since years .. feeling so high rite now lol .. just a quick question.. so are we supposed to stretch at the beginning?.. i only did little stretches after my run.

I did it Sept 12 my first 5k since graduating c25k a couple of weeks ago. Official time 36 mins 13 secs. I had a blast my only complaint was the last .4 mile was a muddy horse racing track that I wasn't prepared for. I would have saved up some of my energy for that had I known how hard it was to run through. Overall a great experience and looking forward to improving my time on my Thanksgiving Day 5k.

gypsychic- I only stretch after the workouts when the muscles are warm.
Best of luck with the program!

Hi all and hello to the newbies! Just finished W6D2 today. Even after a day off, it wasn't a real impressive performance. I just felt like the time went by really slowly (first time I've felt that way!) and I had to push myself to keep going. Hopefully it was just an off day and my next run will be better.

Hey all! I completed Week 3 this morning, yay! Feels really good, and I'm amazed that I still feel really happy and positive about this programme. I know there are occasional off days, but generally, I feel totally fine, or really look forward, to going out for my runs in the morning. Here it's 11.45am, and even though I went out running just before 8.30am, it seems like it was many hours ago because I feel so energised and I almost forgot that I did half an hour of great exercise this morning! I love that feeling and the way C25K slots into my routine so easily.

Allowatt - Congratulations on completing C25K! That must be so satisfying! I've not heard of bridge to 10K so will Google it - is it a similar sort of thing to C25K (intervals etc.)? I was wondering what to do after C25K as I think I'd definitely like to stick with the running!

gypsychic - Welcome to the programme! I found the W1D1 really exhausting too, but it turned out I was just running too fast during the jogging bits, so I decided to slow my pace down a lot and it's much more manageable! I'm no expert at all with the right thing to do for stretching, I know some people don't like to stretch "cold" muscles, but I tend to just do a few small stretches for a few minutes before beginning, hoping that and my warm-up walk will get me in good shape to start the workout!

jeanies - Well done on completing the 5K! I've never done one before but when I finish the programme, I'd really like to have a go Seems like a great idea to have a milestone like that to celebrate how far you've come!

dudesmom - Ugh I know that feeling! Even though I've been doing the plan way less time than you, that's happened to me once before (I think it was the beginning of last week). I found I'd really been enjoying all of the runs, but there was one that I just did not enjoy one bit. I was counting down the time for every jog and it seemed to really drag on! But I think you're right, in that I'm pretty sure that's just a temporary thing, and as someone said to me when I'd said how crap I felt about it, at least you can take some satisfaction that you completed the run despite not really wanting to! Willpower kept you going

Stretching is very important. This page has the stretches that I do both before and after a run. I also do this stretch...it really helps my hip and back.

@Jeanies - Congrats on the 5K! That's an awesome time!

Rochester - thank you so much for posting that link! I had seen it ages ago linked from somewhere else, and was using the stretches on there, and then couldn't find the link again, I was hoping someone would post it here! Thanks! *bookmarks*

I did w8d2 this morning. I'm amazed that I'm almost done... only 4 runs left!

When I started, my *only* goal was to complete the entire program. I am so close now, and so excited! However, I am still SO slow, though I have gained an increase of .7 mph while running. Once I finish, I plan to start over on week 1 and push myself to get my speed up to where I am comfortable enough to do a 5k in a time that wouldn't completely mortify me (I'm thinking under 40 min, which is still unbelievably slow, but whatever). I'm trying to come up with a plan to go through c25k again, but also continue the longer runs while I'm doing it. Any ideas for a schedule?

Congrats on being so close to the end! I know I'm not as far as you, but I've been thinking about what I'm going to do when I graduate (since my 5k is not til December) and I'm also going do some repeating to try to up my pace. I kind of figured maybe I would start out around W4 or so, but maybe starting at W1 is a really good idea. Then I'd only have to do 60 seconds of fast(er) running to start out with! How many days a week are you planning on running if you're going to incorporate long runs too? I'll probably just see how your schedule works out and copy from you. That helps you a lot, right?

Tonight is W6D3 for me. I am officially done with intervals now, which is a little scary. Hopefully tonight's run will go better than Thursday's did. I guess I will find out soon!