I've been running outside because that's what I have available. And really, I like being out. I *wish* it was on a trail and not the sidewalk down a city street. I think it is contributing to my knee problem, but I haven't found a solution yet. I don't wanna get in my car and drive somewhere, I just want to roll out of my front door in the pre-dawn and *run*!

Anyway, I am going by time not distance right now. I think the distances on the schedule are optimistic, as they seem to be assuming a 10 minute mile! This week I'm going a bit over 2 miles in around 30-ish minutes, including warmup and cooldown.

The 90 second walk doesn't mess me up like the 2.5 minute one does.

Hey all, how the progress?
I did W5d1 today. It went well and I am definately enjoying the longer runs. We'll see how w5d2 goes when I have to run for 3/4 of a mile

Week 5 Day 1 for me too! Went well! I'm so excited about that. But then Wednesday is 8 minutes, and Friday is 20 minutes. I'm trying not to think about it :dizzy:.

I want to start this but I have a few questions. Do I do it on an incline, and do I do it on what ever speed I'm comfortable at? I'm also allready embarrassed just thinking about this, but I go to the YMCA and i'm afraid I' going to panting like a dog on a hot summer day after the 60 sec run!

I wouldn't use an incline. It's meant to be on a level route. Definitely stick with a comfortable pace. It's all about building up endurance not speed. The speed comes later. Don't get too worried about how it feels the first week or two. It gets a lot better after that, really. You just have to stick out the beginning. It's so worth it.

Okay, so I'm committing myself (haaaa) to do C25k again. I did it a few years ago, but got sick and just up and quit altogether... Good going. But, I know it works and that I can do it.

I've really got to get myself moving -- while the scale is going down with my diet... my measurements haven't budged in a month (and that's like 10 pounds ago) and I KNOW I need to exercise for that to happen. I was just trying to avoid it :sorry:

buuutt.. there's no more avoiding it...

Anyway, in other words, Hi! I'm going to be doing C25K too!

Yay! The more the merrier. I'm having the opposite problem - the scale isn't moving, but I have still lost some inches (or rather, some small fractions of inches :dizzy:). Whatev, right?!

I think I'm going to have to do week 1 over- just started wk1 on Monday and I was really struggling with it but I finished day one and felt so good after even though I was tired. I did wk1 day2 today and I couldn't even finish it. I did 20 out of the 30 minutes and just walked the rest of the time. I am so disappointed in myself:( Isn't week 1 supposed to be the easiest week?

The easiest? I think not. I think the "hard" of starting to exercise when you're out of shape is a whole *different* kind of hard from the "hard" of an intense work out after you're in better shape. The latter still has a certain sense of good feeling to it. The former is just no fun.

I know it was somewhere in week 3 or week 4 where I realized it just felt different. Even when the intensity was increasing, it was just better in some way as I became more conditioned.

Stick it out! It's just the way it is, it gets better, and it is so worth it.

I think at the end of *every* week I debated whether I had better repeat it because I wasn't ready for the next one. But still, I did the next week anyway and they went well!

And of course, we *are* all different. There's really no reason to feel bad if you do repeat a week, because why in the world should we all progress at exactly the same rate, right???!!!

I thought Week 1, Day 1, was TOUGH. But now, I'm facing the prospect of tomorrow being Week 5, Day 3 - 20 minutes straight :o :dizzy: Oh boy.

You're doing great, starting IS the hardest part. :carrot: :carrot: :carrot:

:congrat:

Julie this is scary and encouraging at the same time ;) Thanks!

For those of you that have been doing it for awhile, what kind of stretching do you do before/after you run? I think maybe part of my problem is not doing enough stretching..

Before I do only a real quick stretch of the hams, quads, and calves. But after I stretch for ~ 1/2 hour. I used to do yoga every morning for ~1.5h, and C25K displaced 3 of those days, so this post-run stretching is a mini-yoga for me. On *real* yoga days I include a lot of standing and strengthening poses. But on post-run days, it's all stretching. Post-run, I focus on the legs of course (I'm paranoid about the running interfering with my yoga progress) but I do still include a little stretching for the arms and back. I found that the first week I was a little tight, but after that I was back to making progress in my flexibility :D

I did it...I started
 

I did week 1 day 1 yesterday, and although it was hard, it felt great..On 2 day 2 tomorrow. I'm going to do the annual 5k turkey walk with the YMCA on Thanksgiving morning, and I'm hoping this helps me... I NEVER EVER was a runner, in fact I don't think I've ever even ran a full lap around a track in school, so this is all new to me!! I'm really looking forward to watch myself progress....It will get easier...Wont it? Where any of you NON runners and did this program and succeeded?

Yup! Today I did Week 5, Day 3 - 20 straight minutes of jogging! Woohoo! I can't believe it.

Hi everyone, can I join in? I used to run, then my knees got messed up, then I tried c25k, but my knees were still screwed up. My knees are finally better - almost - so I'm trying c25k again. My plan is to do each "week" for two weeks, to help my knees gradually improve and strengthen.

This morning I did week 2 day 6! I take my dog with me and we do a lap around the neighborhood. Our neighborhood has some trails in it so we usually go through the woods too. It's starting to get pretty chilly in the mornings, does anyone have advice for what to wear?

Shannon, I was like you, I had never run a whole lap around the track at school. It will get easier, I promise! I didn't use this particular plan to get myself in shape, but you should remember that it's a pretty aggressive plan, so for a beginner it's okay to repeat weeks until you feel comfortable with it. If you've been working out on ellipticals or biking and are already pretty fit, it should be easier!

Hey there,
Glad to see more folks joining in. Hang in there, I definately think it gets easier as you go. Also go as slow as you need to.
afm, I just finished w5d3. I jogged for 2 miles!!!! It was longer than 20 minutes , but I made it.