That's what I do.

I can't stand to hear myself breathing, but I need to hear traffic. It works for me.

I run on paths in our city (a planned community), but still, it's just unsafe to run without being able to hear everything going around me - bikes trying to pass, a faster runner (for sure) and so on.

There are a few headphones designed to let you listen to your music whilst hearing outside noise:

http://gizmodo.com/5878473/single+si...g-one-ear-open
http://gizmodo.com/5899010/ultra-tin...ust-your-music

Yeah, by traffic I meant all kinds of traffic (bikes, skateboards, runners, etc). Not just cars. Even in the park and/or on empty paths, I don't keep both ears music-ed. I think that kind of environmental awareness is important, though I recognize that lots and lots of runners (most runners, really, where I am) do use earphones in both ears.

W2D3 done!!!! On to W3. My path has a mini-hill and today I felt it. W3 starts on Saturday.

I'm always waiting for that 'oops, I tripped' moment when I go cartoon flying off the back of the thing! I"m working my way up to being brave enough to run outside . . . . I think. lol

The music thing isn't hard at all and just a bit time consuming. Have your hubs put together a playlist for you just to see if you like running with music better. And yeah, one earbud in is a good idea. I walk my dogs all the time and have both buds in and I've learned the hard way to always, always look twice before crossing the road. :dizzy:


I felt the same way for the first two runs of week 5 of the NHS program. And I repeated some of the weeks at least twice so it was more like week 8 or 9 by the time I got to doing week 5. The psychological 'jump' from 8 min to 20 min was just impossible, let alone the physical part. So when I threw together my own music I thought I'd just go 9 or 10 minutes as my next 'goal' but instead I saw that I was close enough to the mile mark that I aimed for that . . . and I did it.

Oh and the other thing is many weeks/runs I'd be trying to do 5.3/5.4mph with a 2% incline. Yesterday I decided to take the advice from another poster and slowed the pace to 5.1mph and reduced the incline to 1%. That made just enough of a difference for me that I was totally ok to try and go longer. When I got to 18 mins or so I told myself 'just see if you can go 20 mins' and when that happened I just kept pushing my 'goal' a bit further. Once I hit 26 min I was like 'just run till 30 mins is up, you can do this'. It worked!

W3D1 under my belt :)

Once I was under 200 lbs and was reasonably fit (had been walking pretty regularly, and jogging in bits here and there) I was able to complete the program straight through as intended. Before that - didn't make it past week 3, twice.

I started out this last time with the running intervals at 15:00 pace, and now (5 weeks after completing the program) I can run for 40+ mins straight at between 13:30 and 14:00. I can do shorter bursts at up to 12:30.

So C25K didn't get me to be able to run 5k (and I didn't start on the couch), but it did get me to run for 30 mins.

When I first started running, I did get through the program as scheduled, but gave myself shin splints in the process. After taking a few weeks off, I spent a good month or so just getting out there every other day, taking walk breaks as I needed them. Eventually I could run without the breaks. Fast forward 3 years, I am training for my second half marathon :) Just listen to your body... when you need a break, walk it out until you catch your breath... you're still going to improve if you keep at it regularly!

A lot has been said already, but I want to add my 2 cents!

I started with c25k but I never focussed on distance. My c25k was time-based. So run 1 min, walk 1 min etc. It really helped me because for the first time in my life I knew how to pace myself so I could make it through the minutes that it prescribed. By the time I got to week 5 I just got a bit bored/annoyed with it. I felt like it was going slow.

I decided out of the blu to just pick a route on the map that was about 1 mile and run it. As slow as I could, but make it to the end of that mile. It was such an amazing feeling! I think it took me like 22 minutes or so. But I had run my first mile! After that I just increased my distance and kept running as slow as possible so that I did not need many walking breaks. Once I hit the 3mile mark I was convinced I could run. And nothing scared me anymore.

I think you have to reach that point where you know and believe that you can run a certain time/distance because that's when it becomes fun. I ran my first mile the end of january, and yesterday for the first time ever I ran 3miles in under half an hour (as opposed to 35mins). I thought it would take me atleast another month to do that! I also ran a 6mile run last month and it was just awesome.

If c25k doesn't work for you, go out on your own! You might even progress faster than you think if you don't focus on what you "have" to do and focus on what you feel you want to and CAN do!


Edit:I second the music-tips. I would not have made it this far without my music. I put in nice music or listen to the radio (one earbud so I can still hear cyclists!) and time goes by faster. I would run till the end of a song or speed up during the chorus of a song. It really helps you not focus completely on your body and your breathing and on how tired you think you are.

Found another running playlist of 200 songs. To hear more than a 30-60 sample look up the songs in youtube (rather than iTunes or Amazon) so you can hear the whole thing.

http://tipofyourtonguetopofmylungs.b...ing-songs.html

W4D1 in the bag...The five minute run really wasn't that bad. I realize there are 2 must haves: Good Music and the app :)

I'm envious. I was just getting started and wanted to get going and then got a neck muscle injury (and later a shoulder injury). So, waiting patiently to heal up so I can start c25k up again. I'll probably just redo week one since I will have to 'quit' for a week.

Hi Melissa!

It depends where you are running, in my opinion. If you run on the streets/sidewalks, yes, I would suggest to take out one of the earphone, or put the volume low so you can hear the stuff going on around you (mostly cars!).

A random advice also : don't be scared to run slowly. Most of the people starting running push their pace to fast way too quickly. Keep a steady but slow running pace, to me that was the key when I started running.

Good luck to you! :)

I usually run with one earphone in and find I can still hear what's going on around me, but I don't run in a really traffic heavy area. I did a time-based c25k when I first started and was able to complete the program in 9 weeks and ran my first 5k race in 32:31 by the end of it, but I was not really starting from the "couch". I had been losing weight and doing cardio machines, swimming, yoga, rollerblading and weights for several months before I picked up running. Also I was 27 at the time, that probably helped a little. ;) I did a c25k reboot starting the end of January this year (I pretty much quit running fall 2009) and it has been plenty challenging. I was able to progress through the timed runs ok, but I'm not running a 10 min mile, more like a 11:30-12:00 min mile. And I'm fine with that, I'm older and 30 lbs heavier since I ran my last race and I expect to be slower. I think it's totally fine to tweak the program to fit your personal needs and fitness level, and you should feel great about just doing it! Happy running. :D