You all may remember that I posted recently about being hesitant to start the Couch to 5K due to self-consciousness. Well, on Friday evening I finally bit the bullet and just went. I didn't actually manage to do ALL of the running intervals, but I only skipped a couple, so I'm actually kind of proud of myself.

Anyway. Now I'm finding some muscle soreness (which I expected) but in unexpected areas. Specifically, I feel sore from my abs to my knees. Like, literally, that's the ONLY area that feels sore/worked out. Which I'm fine with, since my stomach/thighs are the two areas I'm wanting to tone/firm up, but I'm just wondering if that's normal, or if this is my body's way of telling me that I'm about to spontaneously combust. *L*

I don't really know about the soreness, except that it's probably normal to be sore after the first time you do something and that spontaneous human combustion is not likely in your future .

What I really wanted to say is WAY TO GO! I'm so glad you found a way to work through the self-consciousness and get started! Keep kicking a$$!

Congrats!

Whenever I take an overly long exercise break and go back to running, my abs (and all the core muscles really) HURT the next day. It's totally normal. Give yourself a rest day and keep at it. The sore muscles will lessen with time.

Thank you, thank you! I'm pretty proud of myself for getting over the self-consciousness, and at least now I know that I can do it.

In terms of the soreness...I've decided to take an extra rest day (at least from the running; I did go out for a three-mile walk today) just to make sure I don't push myself too far too fast. I'm actually looking forward to going out tomorrow.

In reference to sore knees, I started C25K, 12 weeks ago and in my 6th week, I attended a Running Form Clinic at the local running shoe shop. I learned that most people strike their heels first when running and when you do that, the pressure of the pavement travels to your ankles, knees and hips. This is the cause of most running pain.

At the clinic, we learned that you should focus on striking mid-foot. If you stand and pace in place you can get a good idea of what the mid foot strike feels like. Then focus on that when running to reduce the joint pain. We also learned that this could cause some calf pain at first but will lead to really sexy calves in the long run.

Good for you for getting started!

Snoofie, on starting torun ... Totally normal to be core sore the next day... Also make sure you stretched after your run when I don`t stretch I am sore eventhough I've now been running for 6 years, and I only run short 5k distances 3x/weel...

Colebear, thanks for that infor on he mid-foot strike... I never really noticed what I do even after 6 years...

I had the same areas of soreness after my first day but the next run it was great. I would really love to go to a running clinic though to check the mid-foot strike method. I hate calf burn but I would love to get some lean muscle out of this running instead of my bulky calves that I have now. They are cut but HUGE... so gross!!! Keep at it Snoofie!!! you're doing great!!