Hey everyone! Happy Monday

I didn't get in the round two of W2D2 on Friday, I was just too beat from working late the night before. I worked over the weekend too and did a 10 hour shift on my feet. Ouch. I wised up from the Thursday shift where my feet hurt so bad I could hardly walk the next day, and picked up a really nice new pair of work shoes. Can't really afford it, but I also can't afford to not be able to work a second job because of my feet! Glad I got them because at the end of those 10 hours, my feet were sore, but I could still walk It was a 20,000 step night.

I think today I am going to dive right into W3, I feel like if I don't move on, I'll just stick at W2 forever Wish me luck!

Hi everyone! I wrote a big post last week but I think it never posted, oh well. The gist of it was that repeating is a great idea if you don't feel ready to jump to the next phase. I repeated when I felt like I had taken too much time in between running days. BUT that being said, you may surprise yourself if you just jump in and go for a session that you can't imagine yourself being ready for!

I alternate days in general - 3 days a week with yoga on the alternate days. I think it might not be a good idea to run every day, so you can give your body a chance to catch up. Seasoned runners often run every day (at least the folks I know).

Also RE: weight loss and running, my experience as a not-quite-overweight ("skinny fat") woman with lots of fat to burn and with 15-25 extra pounds packed on in the last few years - I did NOT lose weight when I did C25K last time; in fact it caused my weight loss to stall. I have seen this in other women as well, there was a big discussion about it here in 2009 ... I think weight loss would eventually catch up if I kept running... (I did end up losing ~15 pounds by tweaking my diet and getting a whole lot more activity in my day-to-day life but I stopped running). It is something I am working on this time around as well, as I haven't really lost any weight yet, despite adding exercise.

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I did the 25' run last week. Not easy at all, but doable. I had 5 days in between running so I am doing the 25' run a couple more times before I move on to 28'. I just finished it again, and it was haaaaard but I did it. I also "sprint" for the last minute and that is super-hard but feels great.

One thing I have noticed is that my runs often feel horrible until around halfway through ... which at this point is 12.5 minutes in. Just putting that out there, as many of you are getting close to the longer runs.

My rule for myself is also to finish all the running segments in a session - however I sometimes had/have to slow down to a pace that is practically walking (and I don't mean speed-walking ... it gets embarrassing when it takes me so long to pass people out strolling with their dogs).

W1 D3 today. It wasn't hard exactly - just really slow! I didn't seem to cover the distance I did on my other two runs. I am putting it down to it being really warm outside and feeling really tired. I think I'm okay to go into W2 though. I know I'm going to find that extra 30 sec of running hard work though!

EmmaD 25 minutes! Woo!! That is so awesome! And Sprinting at the end! You are bad @ss!! at the end of whatever running bit I'm doing, I can only just get one foot in front of the other My understanding is that running on a treadmill vs on the road is two totally different kettle of fish... Did you start on a treadmill or have you been running on the road the whole time?

chattabox Well done!

W3 D1 Done! Phew! I read the thing wrong and was expecting to do 4 - 3 minute run/walks, not 90 seconds, run, 90 walk, 3 run, 3 walk - repeat. So I finished the first run and was super excited because it was such a breeze... then the second one came and I couldn't figure out why it was felt sooooo much longer than the last one! I thought that my notifications turned off (I turn my phone over so I can't watch the time, and if I forget to turn the volume on, and it locks, I wont hear the voice telling me to walk/run!) When I was sure I was going to die, and turned my phone over, there was 3 seconds left to run! So I finished it and didn't die! I'm sure glad there are not mirrors in front of the treadmill coz I can only imagine how horrible I looked during that last one!

I'm new to the C25K thing but so far I am enjoying. I'm only on week 1, complete W1D2 today and I am already impressed with myself! My standards are pretty low though. Going into it, I knew I could sustain jogging for 1 minute at a time, but when I would do this outside, I was doing 14 minutes of walking 1 minute of jogging, which was obviously not helping me become a better runner (i've realized this a year later). So the fact that I am even able to get through Day 2 was amazing to me! I kinda wanted to die at the end, but I felt so accomplished!

Jogging on the treadmill is new to me. Day 1 was super awkward and I spend part of my running sessions speed walking like my life depended on it because my silly brain couldn't figure out how to jog on the treadmill. Once I figured that out about half way through it got better. I'm sure I looked like a nut. Spent day one hugging the treadmill during my session, but by Day two I fully had that jogging thing down and didn't need to. I was really afraid I would't be able to keep up and go rolling off the back. But no problems there.

My question to you C25K pros out there is if you are doing this on the treadmill what speed to you set your self at for your warm up/cooldown, walking, and running sessions? I imagine your speed will go up as you progress in the program. Today I set mine at 3 mph for the warm up/cool down 3.5 mph for the walking and 4.5 for the jogging and I was beat afterward.

I definitely prefer walking outdoors opposed to the treadmill so I can't wait until it warms up a bit so I can try the program outside. This weekend might be the perfect time. Can't wait!

I did 5 days of Week 3 because I was really intimidated about the 6 minute run in Week 4. But today I did it! I can't believe I got through it And it does seem to be getting easier.

I have been training for a 10k and this week I start the jogging for 7 minutes. Last week jogging for 6 minutes and walking for 2 was good at the end it was getting hard but I kept thinking there is no quitting. My first 10k is in May 2014 and I am super excited to actually be registered and doing the work to accomplish this goal this year.

Kailpea - So glad you started! My treadmill speed started just about exactly as yours, I think I walked a little slower to start off... just under 3 or so. Now I do it a bit faster, and my jogging I have managed to go at 4.7-9 or so. I have never really tried jogging for real on the road, it would feel so HARD under my feet I think! Come spring I may try to go for jogs by the river near my house I have at least another month or two till its nice enough for that though!

Kate79 - Good Job!!! 6 minutes is super intimidating! Keep it up, your rocking it!

Finale - a 10 K! That's wicked!!

I'm supposed to do W3D2 today, but it may be postponed until tomorrow!

I wanted to post this as a new thread called: Awesome Article that will have you completing or starting a C25K. But it won't let me. It is that good. But here it is here. I LOVE it!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/0...ype=blogs&_r=0

This is exactly what happened to me. I remember telling my wife in October of last year, I am not hungry....ever.

This was life altering to me. I was ALWAYS hungry. Now cutting carbs and wheat and pasta helped immensely. I was much less hungry than before even without running at all.

But the running right around exactly 12 weeks just virtually eliminated my hunger. I don't snack anymore. I am just not hungry. People who haven't tried this think its a bunch of hoohie. Well I urge everyone to read that article.

And I do want to point out almost all of my running was after dinner. But that didn't matter. My hormones got in balance so that I simply wasn't hungry much at all anymore. So for me the combination of cutting grains out virtually all together and running was a slam dunk beyond my wildest imaginations.

It has literally transformed my life.

YES! slow is good to start. Can't remember if I said it here already or not but it bears repeating: I never found each increment to be harder than the previous one... in other words, going from 22 to 25 minutes wasn't harder than in the beginning going from 90 seconds to 3 minutes or whatever. Good luck with Week 2! I hope you will find that it is never harder than the beginning...

Aw, that is so sweet! But I am the furthest thing from that... Today I felt like I was running backwards. I was barely able to get one foot in front of the other... the sprint at the end helps because the stride is very different (so using a little bit different muscles) PLUS knowing it will all be over in a matter of seconds Whew, I am soooo out of breath after that.

I've been running outside the whole time this time - which is hard because of the cold/weather delays! I had been doing Weeks 1, 2 and 3 on and off for literally a few YEARS (2010 till recently) - mostly outside but sometimes on a treadmill. This was very sporadic though. I am/was pretty darn out of shape cardiovascularly.

Congratulations on beginning C25K!!

The first time I did the program a few years ago, I did it all on a treadmill. I started Week 1 running at 5 or 5.5 mph hahaha that did not last long. Had to slow down by the second week ... I think I ended up at around 3.5 for warmup/cooldown, around 4 mph for the jogging (some people WALK this speed on a treadmill but that's what it took for me to get through the long runs). I think in the middle weeks, with longer runs and walks in between I would walk even at like 3 mph to catch my breath...

I find running outside to be much harder - plus I have NO idea what speed I am going now since I haven't measured my route (which is getting much longer with the longer runs). I heard somewhere that if you set the treadmill on 1% incline it helps approximate running outdoors. I ran on a treadmill like this by accident last time I did C25K - around Week 4 - and it was SO MUCH HARDER. I was so confused about why it felt so hard until I found out it was on an incline (at a friend's home, no chance to make it flat... whaaaaat?!)

Those middle weeks are where you amaze yourself with the dramatic increases! You can't imagine that you can do it, it seems so long to be running, and then you do it. I like that stage best. Congratulations!

LOVE it!

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Well I ran 28 minutes today!!!

It is NOT getting easier yet, sadly. It was really really hard. I was seriously dragging by the end (I even had to check my phone - I thought it had shut off because it was sooooooo long before I heard the voice prompt about the halfway point.)

I think I ran too fast (for me) in the beginning. I tend to run faster when other people are around. Vanity, haha

Anyway I came pretty close to my goal of running 30' by Valentine's Day (I started around December 15). The actual 30' run won't happen until the weekend or next week, but close enough. I'm calling it a Valentine's Day heart-healthy success.

W3D2 almost completed... I didn't make it through the last 3 minute bit, I had a stabby pain in my ribs from the beginning and just couldn't do it! Repeating W3! I think I may start putting the treadmill at a tiny incline... I'd like to move to running outside and maybe starting this now will make the transition a bit easier come warm weather! I won't get another chance till next week with working job #2 this weekend.

Hi Y'all. I didn't know you guys were here, or I would've posted earlier... I'm doing week 2 day 3 today -- and I've been running on an indoor track. Today I'm going to try outside because we've got some really fine spring-like weather for once.

I really can't believe I can do it! It's a big personal challenge for me, and I'm so excited to complete each "run." I know I have a long way to go to get to 5K, but for someone who has NEVER run before, this is big! Way to go everyone. Keep on trucking!

Hi!

I'm a bit embarrassed.... this summer I got up to the 8th week of C25K on a treadmill. I loved it. It's such a good programme because even though I hate exercise it the interval training aspect of it kept me entertained. But then I went back to uni and I got busier and I honestly got a bit bored due to the lack of interval training and I just stopped. I discovered over the last few months that I'd lost a few pounds, even though my stomach feels much flabbier, and I've since realised that it must have been the muscle I had gained from running! So that made me even more disappointed that I'd given up!

I quit the gym a couple of months ago and I'm reluctant to sign up again until I prove to myself that I will make time to exercise. So I just went on my first ever jog outside... and struggled with W2D1!! It's so sad that I'm back where I started... but I won't let that put me off. I'm glad to see there's some other week 2 people here too! I can do this again!!

Checking in - just didn't get into it last week, it was a bit of a messy week! Committing to doing better this week! First day of W2 tonight. Felt like my legs were made of lead But I slogged through. Figure it's better to be moving slowly than not at all. Fingers crossed for a better D2.

You guys that are ahead of me are inspiring! Makes me feel like I can do it!!!

So I was pleasantly surprise today at the gym. I had every intention on repeating week, because it kinda kicked my butt last week. So I started up my app and then I was doing my first running interval I looked down at my phone after what I thought had been a minute and wondered why I hadn't been told to start walking yet and realized I was actually doing week 2! I went ahead a stuck with it (but I lowered my walking speed by .5 mph) and was so shocked that I was actually doing it, and doing without feeling like I was going to die. I am so impressed by the amount of endurance I had gained in just a week! Makes me even more motivated to stick with the program. Not sure that I'll be moving on to week 3 after this week, but I have decided that if I do stick with week 2 for an extra week, I'll try upping my speed.