Glad you are home and ready for some running. My running week has been ehhh. Our "Spring" temps are cold-grrrr-and I struggle with cold weather running and my breathing. Ran well over weekend, run on Weds needed a lot of walking. I walked 6.8 miles yesterday with a friend, and headed out to run later today again though it is cold. Suppose to warm up about 25 degrees next week so looking forward to that!

Good luck with your run-let us know how it goes. What distance are you at presently?

As of tomorrow I'll have been on IP for a month, so it's time to get fit! Got my workout bag all packed to start C25K tomorrow after work. I've never been able to run more than a half a mile at a time... hoping to run a 5k by the end of the summer! :)

Gawwwwwddd body, whyyyyyyy?

Day 1 complete. You know, if that wasn't enough of an indication above. :P Drank a heap of water in between intervals, and rewarded myself with a post-workout Quest bar.

Nice going, Shark. :)

I always think the people that run outside during the winter are crazy!! I think I'm just jealous that I don't have their dedication :) I enjoy running in the comfort of home. But during the nice weather I love to get out walking with the dogs.

I didn't run until this morning! I had a bad weekend. My first since I started IP at the end of September and I only have 1 week of Phase 3 left! So I was nervous about the run because the last time I'd run it was W8D3 and so I had "graduated" to the 5k.

So I put on the last session of my C25K again and did a 5 minute warmup, 30 minute run and 5 minute cool down. I ended up doing 5.29km according to my app, but my treadmill showed a bit less (it's in mi and I can't remeber what it said) . I was just happy that I could do the whole 30mins of running after not doing it for over a week!! I think I could have pushed myself a bit more, but I had to get ready for work.

My plan is to work on this routine for a few weeks and hopefully increasing my speed so that I am doing the full 5k at a run. Right now I have my treadmill set to 4.9mi for the run and it's comfortable so I'd like to feel a bit more secure before I increase the speed. And since I will be in Maintenance soon I don't have to worry so much about pushing it as I am not restricted by the lower caloric intake of the other phases.

I have noticed that I am no longer experiencing the lightheaded/dizzy feeling I was experiencing as the weeks progressed and the intervals were longer.

Awesome, welcome! You'll be doing 5k in no time :) Remember to listen to your body and add an extra pack if you need it. Amanda has some great informational links posted throughout this thread. And don't push yourself too hard. If you have to run slow, run slow. You can always build on your speed later.

I have to say, I always thought I hated running, but I love the way it makes me feel. After missing it for the past week and I bit I feel SO MUCH better after this morning's run.

Keep it up everyone :)

Nice going, DD! So great to hear the little break from training did not derail your ability to run for 30 minutes straight! We have returned from our spring vacation (back to cold…). Spent a lot of time on the courts and walks on beach but no real running.

Amanda -- love seeing the race bib!

DD's post reminded me that I wanted to ask what you all think the post-workout protein/calorie supplementation protocol should be in Phase 3 and beyond, when we're not on such a low-calorie diet and no longer in ketosis. (I am also in P3 right now.) My strength training sessions are pretty intense workouts (not huffing and puffing cardio, but certainly lots of muscle work). I left yesterday's session and then had things to do all afternoon -- forgot to pack a snack or shake or anything so it was hours before I got home and grabbed one. In my pre-IP days, if I remembered, I'd try to have a handful of almonds or something after (but I was not at all hyper focused on it). I don't know how many calories I might burn per hourlong session -- maybe 200? And I'm probably taking in about 1000-1200 on P3 right now. Seems like I should make a point to add something, but any tips on what that should be in order to avoid losing any muscle or preventing proper muscle repair & build? Minimum number of calories or grams of protein? TIA!

Excellent article on that subject here.

The one thing I've read recently (and confirmed with my bodybuilding nutritionist) is that it's important to pre-fuel. The objective is to stop the body from having to burn muscle to produce glucose in the first place, thus retaining your muscle mass. So, fuel before AND after if it is going to be a while before you have a scheduled meal. Remember that if you are building muscle the protein needs SOME carbs to trigger an insulin response and enable protein synthesis to help with growth rather than recovery.



I'm struggling to get back to running - between the long kitty rescue transport weekends and the knee issue. Need to see how I do tomorrow and Friday as I'm supposed to be doing the 5K Run for the Fallen on Saturday. :/

Amanda just wanted to thank you for all the good information that you share. Much appreciated.

Thank you, Amanda -- we can always count on you for sound, researched advice. And I hear ya on the prefueling -- my timing is usually such that the workouts closely follow my P3 breakfast so that's good.

Take care of the knee and hope all is better in time for your race this weekend!

Checking in since it's the beginning of April :) Looking at some nicer weather in the next few days -- how about the rest of you?

Got back on the treadmill today and ran a 20-minute stretch. Walked 10 on front and 10 on back. Did not want to overdo it as I'm still feeling the happy soreness from strength training the other day and I have other cardio tomorrow and Friday. Felt nice to be able to bang out 20 minutes straight, even if I wasn't following a c25k session per se (I'm actually a big rule-follower in other aspects of my life -- for some reason, I can justify making up my own rules here). Will probably not hop back on until Monday, but I am not so worried that the little breaks that I take in between treadmill sessions are setting me back much. I'm just slowly easing into this running life -- it's all good.

How's everyone else feeling?

You've hit the nail on the head again, Mimi. That's exactly how I feel about running. Now the program is over and I know I *can* run for 30 minutes, I don't feel the need to constantly repeat it. I go to the gym, run for as long as I feel good/happy/comfortable and walk around it. Then, if I get bored with my slow running pace I'll do some sprintervals and see how fast these old bones can make it round a lap! The whole point of exercise is to enjoy it. If it takes me a year to be able to run a 5k the entire way so be it.

Since I've been doing the intervals my speed has increased significantly to around 10:30 min miles rather than my 12:15. Effectively it's not doing me any favours as I get fatigued sooner, so I need to build back up to the long runs at this new pace. Got the 5K coming up on Saturday, but I already know I'll be running/walking and accept that it's not going to be a spectacular "run" for me. The point is to go and have fun. It's not a ticker race anyway so I don't feel pressured to perform. :)

How's everyone else coming along on their running? Finding it easier? Harder? More boring?

Week 1 Day 2! Getting my sore legs moving was much harder than on Monday, but finishing was much easier. Also increased speed by .2. Not that 4.4 is particularly fast, but it's a start...

Nice going, Shark! Amanda -- glad it seems the knee is doing well enough for the race. Enjoy!

I repeated the last run session again today, and then continued to run to make it a full 5k. I do find myself being bored during the run, so I am eager to try my zombie run app. It's supposed to tell a "story" in between the music, with little missions and has interval training. I will try it in a few weeks I think. I need to measure my stride first to calibrate for the treadmill, and get more comfortable with the full 5k run.

Good for you, DD! Just looked up the Zombies Run app -- do you have the 5K training one or the main one? Sounds fun!