Congratulations on starting! I just did W1D2 yesterday, so we can be c25k buddies if you'd like! I've been using the treadmill clock to time myself but am ready to hit the pavement. There are podcast out there on the internet.

http://www.c25k.com/podcasts.htm

And I think there is an "app" for the ipod... you can google it and find out. Or someone with better technological skills could assist. I'm still trying to figure out if a podcast works with an mp3 player and where I can get an mp3 player. Ugh... I feel like an old dog not willing to learn new tricks.

Anyway, welcome!

Redsox--I'd love to be C25K buddies. I need to be accountable to someone other than myself. :) I'll have to check out that ipod cast thingy but i often tune out when techie things are too complicated. haha...

congrats on starting the program too. How did your 2nd day go? I did my second run today and it was pretty good. My inner right foot hurts a bit but i think if i just stretch i'll be okay!

W9D2 completed. Geez. I'm almost done!

Good Job Uber,

How has it been going so far? Any tips for those of us who are just starting?

Congratulations on completing day 2! Day 2 went fine for me, my endurance is already improving. I'm supposed to do Day 3 today but I'm sore (did 2 back to back Jillian Michaels workouts yesterday) and TOM showed up in the middle of the night, bleh. We'll see.

It's great that we can hold each other accountable... I expect a report from you at least once every 48 hours. ;)

Have a great day! :)

My only tip is not to be afraid to repeat weeks if you don't feel ready to move on. I kind of hit a wall around week five and six and had to do some repeats... I tried not to move on until I could do a certain distance without feeling like I was DYING.

Then, I had a breakthrough around week 8 and all of a sudden it became no big deal!

Hey everyone! I've been following along with the C25K people in the 20-somethings group, but everyone seems to have mostly dropped off and I'd love to have a little bit more support.

I finished W7D1 today- I was annoyed that my shoe came untied at the exact same place that it did on W6D3, so I had to stop and tie it but otherwise it went well.

Welcome! Wow, week 7, congratulations for getting that far! I'm on W1D3 (but have not done it yet)... am contemplating buying new sneakers before I do the workout which means I probably won't get to it until tomorrow.

Any advice for us newbies in week 1? There are a few of us lingering around here still... I hope ;)

Welcome to all the new C25K'ers. I graduated a couple of weeks ago after doing the programme on the treadmill at the gym and was SO proud of myself.
I've signed up for my first 5K but unfortunately have found that running outside is much harder for me than on the treadmill. So I began the programme again outside. I did W1D1 and found it really easy, so then did W3D1 which was easy again, and my last run outside I did W5D1 which I found hard. I keep reading more about just forgetting the time and seeing how far you can go and trying to zone out, so wonder if I should try that instead, or keep going and take it from W5 and go from there.
I wish I could find a tried and tested way of getting used to running outside and increasing my time and distance....

I'm right there with you LM... technically, I'm going to finish C25k on my next run-- I've completed all of the 30 minute runs. I tried doing distance the other night and did two one mile runs (with a potty break in between)...
I haven't been able to go outside again since I have babysitting issues.... do you think it's mostly the hills that get you outside?

I really don't know what it is that makes it so hard outside for me, I wish I could figure it out.
The grass does feel very different to the treadmill. The uneven ground makes me nervous to start with and instead of running looking straight ahead like I do on the treadmill I find I am running looking at the ground in front to check for possible problems. The elements also affect me, the wind and cold air seem to make it harder for me to breathe. And the hills are definitely a factor. It's partly that on the treadmill I am in total control, and outside the unexpected is there in front of me. I don't think it's one thing in particular, just all combined.
And again I think for me it's mental again. On the treadmill I've just been stubborn and not allowed myself to stop, but outside I can't seem to do that, it's like I know I'm going to give up before I even start.
I'm finding it frustrating to be honest right now. It seems I can do whatever I put my mind to on the treadmill, but as soon as I go outside I fall apart. I SO want to get to love running outside, but I don't know how... I think I may try running without watching the clock a couple of times and see if that helps at all.

Loving Me - would it be easier if you ran on concrete/asphalt outside instead? (You mentioned grass - I find that i get tired much faster when I'm forced to run on grass because it's so uneven that your body has to do more work to balance)

I don't know if this will help... but when I first started running outside... I put a bunch of songs on my ipod and my goal would be to run x songs... I know each of my songs is about 3 minutes long so to run 20 minutes (I think that's the first long run, correct) my goal was to run 4 songs and then turn around and run home. I ended up running longer because the songs that came up (I had it on shuffle) were longer but I found that because I wasn't actually paying attention to how many seconds I had run or how far I had run but rather how many songs I had run, it was easier.

Now I just pick a route, I know it's x miles and I run it... and hope that I don't die. lol.

I agree with jane about the grass. I can do 5k on grass in 45 minutes, and 5k on the concrete takes me 38. And I don't hurt so much (not my usual leg tired muscles, more my stabilising ones) after I've run on the footpath.

Just something to think about.

Here's the biggest thing I've taken from this so far: when you finish a week, even if it was excruciatingly difficult, before you decide to repeat the week, go ahead and try the next week instead. Every time I've looked at what I was supposed to be doing, I thought "There's NO WAY I can do that," but I went out there and tried, and I haven't failed yet. Of course, failure isn't necessarily a bad thing either, but I think I was selling myself short when I was doing the program more casually and spending a month or more on each "week".

Thanks for the advice girls.
I do want to run on concrete as well but the 5k race I'm doing on 3rd July is mostly on grass so I figured I need as much practice as possible on it before then.
I think next time I run outside I'm going to ignore the time and try the songs idea. I still don't think I'll last more than a couple of songs but I'll give it a go.
Funnily enough, last night I had a dream that I went out for a run and for the first time ever it was easy and I LOVED it. Was sad when I woke up and realised it was just a dream...

I do the song technique and I've found it really helps me too.... It's much easier to zone out when I'm not counting down minutes.

Ok, I'm intrigued to see what the results will be if I give it a try lol.
Much as I've loved the C25K programme I'm past that on my treadmill runs now (did 34mins yesterday for a total of 4.27K) and I think being aware of every second outside is making it harder for me.
The few times on the treadmill since completing C25K where I've ignored the clock and gone by songs seems to have been easier, so my next outside run I'm going to try the same again. Will go for 2 songs and if I manage that ok will try to keep going for 3. I really want to get this outside running sorted so I can feel like I'm getting somewhere. Right now I'm just scared that my race is going to be a disaster.

i get pretty exhausted when running uphill, even if i go at a pretty slow pace... :/ would this be an issue for a real 5k?

I finished C25k last week, and decided to try running outside today. I set my ipod for a 30 minute run.... I had only tried two outdoor runs before and both were depressingly hard-- I did C25k mostly on an indoor track.

So, today, I set my ipod for a 30 minute run and set out, determined to run at least 4 songs.... At the end of the fourth song, I had run 15 minutes...

I'm thinking, in retrospect that I probably could have kept going... but I walked for five minutes, then ran ten more, for a total of 25 minutes of running....

The path I was running on had some gentle hills-- it wasn't pancake flat-- but it did not seem much harder to run on the hills-- though I did notice more leg fatigue than usual. At the end, I was quite tired and felt like I'd had a good workout.

I think I'm fairly close to being able to run 30 minutes outsdie with some gentle hills-- it was not as bad as I thought.

I'm wondering, on average, how tired you all feel after a run? Today, I felt close to exhausted for about five minutes but then quickly recovered. I would prefer to finish my run with that "good workout" feeling-- invigorated but not exhausted.

Wow Uber, that's amazing :carrot: You really are an inspiration, I'm still struggling with running outside although I can do 34mins on the treadmill and am slowly speeding up on it. Last week while we were away I did 7.5mins non-stop on one run outside, then the next run I did three lots of 5mins. I just can't imagine being able to run for long outside at the moment, I don't know what the problem is but it's really getting me down now.
I've got my next outside run planned for Fri or Sat hopefully and I'm going to try to ignore the time and see if I can run by songs.
As to how I feel after running, the first couple of minutes after I feel exhausted but then I'm ok. What tells me I've had a really hard workout is how I feel that night actually. If my legs are a bit achy then I know I've worked hard, but they're usually back to normal again by morning.

OK - I am a very old C25K graduate - March 2009 was when I finished, but I have some running tips that work for me - feel free to ignore the ones you have already worked out.

Find a rhythm. I always count every fourth step. So I go:
L R L R | L R L R | L R L R
one........two.......three....etc

I know that at an average running speed it takes 400 counts to run a mile, less if I run quick,er more if I run slower, but on average 400. So then I know when I'm getting to the end of each mile, or quarter mile and it helps me to break it up into manageable pieces in my mind.

Also sort your breathing out if you haven't already. I breathe in on every second step and out on every second step - again, regular breathing helps me cope better.

I have always run outside, the two times I ran on a treadmill when the weather was absolutely atrocious and I had a 10K in a week and HAD to train, I hated it. It was boring and hot and too easy just to stop. Running outside is good for me as you actually go somewhere, and if you turn around and walk home it takes forever - it is quicker to run. I also like the variation of running outside - more to look at.

When I was struggling a while back, my OH made some homemade fudge and I started pinching a couple of pieces before I went running and I found I was able to run without it being so hard - so perhaps a bit of sugar before you go out to give you an instant energy boost.

Don't worry about speed - just concentrate on finishing. You have no one to beat - the only goal is to finish. When you get better at running and can run 5K easily (yes it will happen - I promise!) THEN you can start working on getting better times. But that will never happen if you don't finish.

If you really feel that you aren't ready to move on, repeat a week. But you will probably find that you can do more than you think. I remember finding it suddenly got hard at Week 5 or so - I think it was that first 8 minute run - I was terrified of it. But for some reason it was actually easier than the 5 minute one the week before!! I got into a rhythm and I found my stride and I just went - and I loved it!!

Soon that laboured feeling in the chest will subside and the painful breathing will go and you will find that you can run as far as your legs will carry you, and you'll enjoy it!

Depends on the route - I would check out the route or at least maps of the route before the run. My regular run has 3 hills (I live in a city where roads aren't straight or flat...) so hills don't generally bother me that much but the third hill on my first 5k is killer because it's so late into the run and it just keeps going. I tend to run at about the same stride rate but I take shorter strides going uphill... I don't know if that helps you at all.


Robsia - I'm very impressed that you kept such a close count! I'm pretty sure though, that personally, being an accountant, I'd just get really stressed and annoyed if I thought I potentially missed a number ;)

uber - I've been feeling better after runs... somewhat tired and somewhat out of breath but I no longer have the feeling halfway through my normal 3 mile runs that my body just wants to stop running and start walking. That said, I find weather (especially wind) and my diet really makes a difference. The days I snack on a bunch of crap I feel like crap during and after my run too. There's motivation for eating well lol.

Week 4 is done and have completed W5D1. Hopefully I can get through W5.

W1D3 completed today after a 6 day hiatus from running. I was scheduled to do this workout on Friday but instead waited until I purchased new running shoes (Friday evening) and broke them in. I have definitely NOT been a couch potato since my W1D2 workout on Wednesday as I've done the following activities: 1:15 hours of tennis, 2 mile power walk in 31 minutes, an hour tai chi dvd, 10 minutes pilates dvd (2x), Jillian Michaels Level 1 30 day shred, and another attempt at tennis.

This is all out of order. Thursday night was the attempt at tennis and was my body's way of telling me to STOP. The rest on Friday helped me recover.

Robsia-- you must be amazing at counting! I have a really hard time even counting laps-- I get distracted and my mind wanders.

janehung, I really want to feel that way at the end of my runs. I finally got to where I felt tired but really good at the end of my 30 minute indoor runs, but then outdoors I had the exhausted/wanna barf kind of feeling....

Hopefully, I'll get to the point where I can feel tired but not on the verge of collapse.

Robsi - I've tried to count my breathing like that but I don't think I get how to do it right. Because it takes me a while to completely breathe/exhale... so I get confused on how to count it in rhythm with my steps. I'm probably missing something really obvious, but whatever lol.

And that's sooo amazing. I'm still waiting for the breathing thing to get easier. Every now and then I get a surge of "MAN this is EASY" and I feel like I'm flying. But it's usually brief and not very often. My breathing is my biggest problem. I'm finding that running first thing in the morning helps, as well as carefully monitoring my pace. I'm going to try the sweet thing tomorrow morning, I never thought of that. I have some dark chocolate so I'll have like half of square before my run and see how it goes. Thanks for the tips :)

Uber - I concur.

Well, I'm a musician so counting in fours comes naturally - I have done it all my life - lol! It also helps me maintain a steady pace. Sometimes I miscount and end up going from 49 to 60, instead of 49 to 50, but my trusty garmin tells me when I hit a mile anyway so I just start again.

It is annoying when someone talks to you when you're out running, and you talk back to be polite but then you lose track of where you were, but so long as no one talks to me I'm fine.

I did try a run once when I didn't count, just to see what it felt like just to go, but it was a bit of a cheat as I picked a route where I knew exactly where the mile points were as I'd done it so many times.

The regular breathing I HAVE to do, otherwise it doesn't work for me at all. I breathe every other step, so every intake of breath goes on a count.
L step - count one - breathe in
R step
L step - breathe out
R step
L step - count two - breathe in
R step
L step - breathe out
R step

It's easy once you get into it - I figured it out about week 2.

My daughter is doing W2D2 tomorrow - she did W2D1 yesterday and it was very windy and she found it difficult but she did it. I've promised her it's much easier when it's not windy.

Can I ask another question... how do you outdoor runners pick a route? I live in a sprawly suburban area... it doesn't seem runner-friendly at all... the road I can't run anywhere from my house-- I live on a short cul de sac off a road that has no shoulders and traffic whizzing by. I do occasionally see people running on that road, but there was too much traffic for my taste....

So far, I've tried running at the high school and running in a local park-- the high school is okay, but part of the route is over boggy grass, the park is also okay, but it's kind of a short loop-- you have to go around and around just to finish 30 minutes....

I live near the sea so I prefer to run on the promenade. I run into the prevailing wind for half the workout, then turn around and allow it to push me back for the second half. If it is too windy to go on the prom, or the wind is not coming from the north or the south, I have a few inland more sheltered routes I have worked out that don't have too many roads.

There is a big park a few miles away which is about 2 miles in circumference - sometimes I run round that a couple of times, there is also a track near it which goes round a golf course which is about 3 miles - I have done that too, but I have to drive to get to those.

It just depends on what the area is like - can you drive to anywhere more suitable?

Robsia- I think I'd like to move new year and run near the sea on the promenade.... sounds like HEAVEN!!

I'm struggling to know where I'll run outside when I get going properly.
At the moment I'm practicing on the playing fields at the bottom of our road, running around and around the football pitches lol.
I found another field when we went away last week which I ran around and around, but I'm getting the urge to actually run SOMEWHERE.
This weekend we are going to visit DH's family who live on the coast so I'm going to try running around the promenade then if the weather is reasonable. I'm excited and scared at the same time because I'm going to try running by song rather than time and see if I can do at least 10mins non-stop this time.
Back to the gym this morning and aiming for another 35min non-stop on the treadmill. Have been upping my time and speed slightly each run. Am now at a low speed of 7.6kph and have managed 9kph for a couple of minutes a couple of times lol. Managed 4.5k on my run on Tuesday so will see what today brings.
Still waiting for it to start to feel easier though....

Robsia - I'm a musician too but I just get a bit stressed when I miscount... lol.

In terms of picking a route - for my regular route, I just picked the 3 mile block around my apartment because there's only 1 traffic light that's usually green on it so that I don't have to stop. I like the hills because it forces me to run hills... plus the hills on this route are all within the first half/two thirds of the route, which helps me.

Because I like to run on roads/sidewalks... when I'm driving around, I'll think "oh, this is a pretty cool route... lots of things to look at, etc etc.

I don't know if this will help anyone... but one thing I've done to help with my pacing (so that I don't speed up and wear myself out) is I've worked out the bpm of a lot of my songs and put them in a certain order based on my route/planned route and run in time to it. It also forces me to run at a certain pace on days when I"m just laaaazy.

Thanks, Jane. Where I live it's really pretty and kind of countrified, but the cars whiz by and there are no shoulders... but I think I'm going to actually go look for a promising route.... even if I have to drive to get there.... I love the idea of the arranging the playlist-- I've noticed that I'm totally susceptible to the music and tend to time my pace to it... but I haven't figure out a good way to know how "fast" I run on any given song. I saw a link somewhere for an app that will actually sort your playlist based on average running speed. Does anyone know what that is?

Regarding breathing, I really don't notice my breathing at all. Is that weird?

LM-- I've been thinking about it, and I've decided that you might be a head case regarding running outside...I do find it harder on hills, but where it's flat, it's exactly like running inside.... I was SO PSYCHED OUT about running outside that I think I have been giving myself permission not to run as far.... I am SURE that you can run ten minutes if it's flat-- I think you can run all 30 if it's flat. Last night, I had to run on the indoor track, and I did 33 minutes no problem, and I felt like my pace was a little faster than before too. We ARE getting better!!!

I think you're right about me being a head case :D
I've never run on a track, indoor or outdoor, only the treadmill inside or grass outside so far. Grass just seems SO much harder for me than the treadmil because of the uneven surfacel, but I think I'm the same as you with being psyched out about it and letting myself not run as far as I probably could.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a swimming day for me but depending on the weather and how I feel in the morning I might try another outside run instead and see if I can prove to myself I can run for longer.
Then on Saturday I'm planning on trying a run along the promenade when we visit DH's family, so that will be another new experience, running on concrete.
I really think if I can be stubborn with myself outside like I have been with the treadmill and push myself and get to running 30mins non-stop outside soon I will be over the worst and I might start actually enjoying it :dizzy:

Well, you know, the difference between treadmill and grass is probably a bit more. I tried running on longish grass and it was awful... but the difference between treadmill and indoor track is slight-- I think I go a little faster on the treadmill, but the fatigue is the same.... and the difference between indoor track and outdoors is nil. I think when you hit the promenade you'll kick butt. Might I just add.... what is it with you Brits and the promenades... do you know how insanely jealous I am when I hear that???????

Well, we live in the middle of the UK so to go to a promenade means at least a 90min drive, 2hrs to get to the ocean where DH's family live, so it's not often we go. I absolutely LOVE the ocean, would love to live by it, but it's not practical for us for now. When I run on the treadmill sometimes I imagine running by the ocean....
Even though today felt hard on the treadmill, the rest of my workout has seemed easier the last couple of times so I think my stamina is improving and the strength in my legs as well. The weather here is so beautiful today I'm already really looking forward to my next outside run, just to see if I can prove I can do longer. I just don't know if I should try grass again tomorrow or swim tomorrow and wait to run on the promenade on Saturday ;) I'm a little scared the prom will be harder on my knees, and I don't want to tire myself out running tomorrow then not be able to run on the prom, but then again I really want to try to run tomorrow :dizzy:

Oh goody, I just got talked into doing a 5K tonight by my boyfriends mom. I guess his siblings school is putting one on tonight as a fundraiser.

I know I can do it, I'm just sort of nervous because I'm not quite up to 3.1 miles yet. Today I did about 2.8... which is pretty darn close, but whatever. Also I used to go to that school, and I'm scared that some of my old peers might be there. It's a sort of rich school and a lot of them were snobs....

Wish me luck guys. I'll post later and tell you all my time.

Good luck with your 5k oodles. And don't worry about the other 0.3 miles... adrenaline does wonders... it took a minute off my personal best time... despite the worst weather i've run in.

Good luck OODLES!!!! I KNOW you can do it!!! We're going to be so proud!!

Guys!

I Did It!

I ran a 5K. RAN. THE ENTIRE THING. AND I EVEN SPRINTED AT THE END!!

My time was 39:01. I got slowed down by people a few times though... sooo I think my time was a skosh faster. OH, and I got the craziest adrenaline rush at the end. My entire body tingled, it was insane.

OMMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGgg.

I'm like peeing my pants. Dead serious.

Mind you, this is on TOP of the almost 3 miles I ran today. I RAN 6 MILES TODAY. IN ONE DAY? WHO THE HECK AM I??????

I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.

Ahhh. There was a KFC dinner after that was part of the race, and I ate the whole damn thing. I didn't even feel guilty. Alright. I'm sorry. I just had to share.... I'm so excited and happy and tired and content. :)

In closing, if Natalie, the laziest most unmotivated girl in the world can run a 5K, so can all of you guys.