Good for you Silverfire! September should be plenty of time to get ready. Just take it slow and pay attention to your pain. I'm starting over after 2 months off as well.

I skipped to W2D1 last night, since I did so well with W1D1 last week. It went great. I wore cross trainers instead of my vibrams, and my knee actually felt better after running than it did before. I'm still going to stick with running only once a week, and alternate weights and bike on the other days of the week.

Finished up W3D3 last night. Funny how the first half always seems more difficult than the second. I'm trying so hard not to be intimidated for Thursday's run after glancing at the chart.

Just checking in, peeps. Did week five days one and two with no problems (except my stupid app again )

Donuts are evil and jump into my mouth...

Omg Magicsusan - I had that problem with the corn chips tonight!! What is WITH that!?!?!?

Wish I knew, lilmisschattabox. Donuts, guacomole, cake; it all grows on trees here and it's all out to get me. Running on the island is lovely, though. And flat! Gotta go, being chased by a pitcher of margaritas...

Well, I went to do W3D3 today and about hallway from my second 3 minute run, I got a terrible cramp in my side so I walked the rest of it. =/ I know I'm not ready for Week 4 yet, but I am debating whether or not I want to repeat week 3 or go back through from the beginning and up my speed a bit.

Ugh, I have to say the heat kills me. I took my two running rest days in the middle of the week this week just to avoid the hottest days and we've been walking at night lit up with flashlights like a Christmas tree. We're already hitting mid to upper 80s (F) and it's insanely humid. Gross! We have a cold front coming though and I'm going to enjoy it for all it's worth and do w8d2 tomorrow. Here's hoping it feels better. I've done 26/27 min already so I don't know why 28 was kicking my butt so bad. Some days are just off days.

And yay for smaller pants Lil Miss!! I just had to buy new shorts, dropped two sizes and my old ones were literally threatening to hit the floor.

What's really killing me right now is bras!! I'm busty so bras are a challenge to begin with, I'm also still nursing my youngest so that adds to the fun. Combine that with loosing weight and bras getting too big. Ugh!! I'm buying new sports bras every few weeks, which isn't cheap. I can skimp and buy cheap for most things as I loose weight, but not bras. Not for my G cup girls. Otherwise I risk knocking myself out. Ha!

Is anyone else thinking ahead to how to keep increasing running time/distance after the end of the program? Next week is my last week so I'm working out a new plan to keep me challenged.

Right now I'm thinking increase time by 10% every other week until I can run my entire loop (which is just over 5k), then start increasing by distance and ignoring time. I think that's how I did it last time.

Keep running and posting y'all!! All the success stories are inspirational.

Kailpea, try week 4 but SLOW DOWN.

Right now, the idea isn't to run for speed it's to run for endurance and conditioning. Your joints, tendons, bones and muscle will lag well behind your cardio endurance. It's very easy to push too hard and hurt yourself. It takes a good 4-6 weeks for your structural systems to adapt to the abuse of running. The slower you go now, the faster you will be able to go later. If you hurt yourself now doing too much you risk sidelining yourself for months recovering from over use injuries.

If you're cramping or can't finish a run you are going to fast. I know it can be frustrating going slow. Sometimes I feel like I'm just hardly puttering along but even in just 8 weeks my speed has improved without me trying. As you get stronger, the speed will come. I promise!

In the mean time, while you're going nice and slow concentrate of form and finding a natural stride. The slow, easy running early on has lots of benefits later.

Just checking in real quick to say...I finished W6D3

Cannot believe I ran 22 min straight

I need to work on speed because I only ran 1.67 miles in 22 min. I went 2.20 miles total but that was with the 5 min warm up and cool down, so I'm lacking in distance since the app said to go 2.25 miles in 22 min. I'm still super proud that I can run over a mile and a half non stop

Any pointers on how to improve speed? I feel like I'm at max speed when running for that long (I run at 4.5 on the treadmill) on interval runs I can up the speed a bit but I tire out on the long runs if I go any faster than 4.5 mph

I got through the beginning of week 4 last night, and was amazed on how it was easier than any of week 3. Either I'm getting stronger or I was having a really good day? Regardless, my mind is totally blown when I realize it was 16 whole minutes of running. Even when you consider it's divided up into four segments and spread out over half an hour, I've never run that much at once in all my life!

I sometimes post on my Instagram account after a run as another form of motivation and accountability. I can't wait to earn my bragging rights about graduating this!

Woohoo awesome run this morning. Knocked out 28 mins/ 2.25 miles (w8d2) like it was nothing. Everything just felt good. This is the running I remember and love. I could have just kept on going, but I'm going to err on the side of caution and progress slowly (go ahead, I laugh at my 12:44 min miles too). Don't want to push to injury. But man, I really wanted to just keep going.

Peroneal tendons in my calf aren't bothering me anymore but where they insert at the base of my 5th metatarsal is reminding me that I broke my ankle last year and screwed that whole area up some. Not bad, but there. Since it all seems to be getting better I'm just gonna keep running. I can sure feel the difference in muscle strength and the difference in cardio endurance is amazing. So cool to know I'm getting stronger.

Elladorine, I feel the same way about the longer running times. The short runs are great for conditioning but they're actually really hard because they don't give you enough running time to get warm and get into a rhythm. My favorite part of runs is after the first mile when I'm warmed up, in the groove and not yet tired. So fun to work on that nice little zone where running doesn't totally suck!! LOL

Just running, congrats on the 22 min run! Woot! Read my above post about speed. Speed work comes much, much, MUCH later in the game. Don't even think about it right now. Work on strength, endurance and injury avoidance right now. The speed will come later when your body is stronger.

Hi everyone, just another check-in:

I am doing well with the running, and it is definitely easier than running at home. I don't know if it's the flat terrain or the altitude (5ft. Above sea level, lol) but I added a couple of sprints (sprints are where I run almost as fast as a normal person ) to the end of w5d3 because I wasn't even breathing hard.

Food is difficult. I don't like being in possitions where other people are deciding what I am going to eat and my SIL had packed a lot of food and brother a lot of drinks so I fear the scale. They are leaving tomorrow, though. I'm feeling kinda crap that I'm kinda looking forward to it, though I love them all. I'm just having such a hard time with the food

Greetings all!

W2D2 done. I was sidelined for several days with a nasty chest cold. I was still coughing up a storm on the treadmill this morning, but I didn't want to let another day slip by, so I went for it. At the end, I even kicked the treadmill speed up to 7.0 (I usually do the run segments at 6.0) just to see what that felt like. It felt surprisingly good!

I'm 170 lbs now, down from 174+ when I started, and just aching to break into the 160s. If I keep running this week, it will happen! That is incredible motivation to get me out the door every morning.

Keep up the great work everyone!! Your war stories from the more advanced weeks are inspiring! I'm very intimated by Week 5 (I know, I have a long way to go before then) but hearing you guys overcome the later weeks makes me want to keep going!

Cheers,
YoAdrian

Heeeey! I've been gone for a little bit, so congrats to everybody and to all of you who are worried about going slowly: Don't be! Go as slow as you need to! You can worry about speed AFTER you finish w9d3. Right now the goal is just to run, even if it's 4mph, right? (That's what I'm telling myself, anyway, when I'm out there running at my husband's brisk walking pace. I've got short legs, don't judge )

I've been out for a bit because of another breastmilk-drying-up scare (too much exercise on too few calories, so I bumped the calories way up and it seems to be better) and also because my in-laws were here all week so I couldn't get on the computer much. But I DID keep up with c25k, and I just finished w5d2, so yay me! I was planning on doing The Big Run (w5d3) today, but I've got some kind of intestinal illness going on, so it's going to wait until tomorrow.

Magicsusan - Uggggh, I know what you mean about other people deciding food for you! My mother-in-law is SO pushy, and all week long she's been making breakfast and lunch for everybody (in my own damn kitchen, grrrr) without saying a word until she's got a plate in my face. I have to take it to keep family relationships peaceful, but geez. Frustrating for many many reasons.

I am super slow, but that makes me feel like I'll be able to go further in the program than I have in the past when I pushed myself too fast too soon.

Started wk2 today and ran on an indoor track instead of a treadmill for the first time. It was interesting. I liked the change of venue but I really didn't like giving up the control of knowing my speeds.