Great job ImAShark!
Mimi, I downloaded both, but will just start with the regular I think.

LMK how you like it! Very curious about the tales….

Despite a lack of sleep (4 hours), poor choice of food yesterday (Mexican) and dehydration (only 50 oz water) I managed to complete the 5K today, 47 seconds faster than the last one! Running pace is faster, but having to stop to retie shoelaces THREE times drove me crazy. Hubby was with me this time, and he kept me moving!

Wow Amanda what a massive success! Congratulations!!!!! You look fantastic – so healthy and vibrant.

I'm off to a hot yoga session to join you in a day of strength and health!!!

Completed week 2 day 1 last night. Really exhausted me, but I think it's partially due to a new breakfast shake that I despise and can't finish. Ordered my regular shake, and I have enough leftovers that I should be able to get my full breakfast in on run days this week.

I'm trying to run at 4.4, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep that up come week 4 and the 5 minute run intervals.

Did about a half hour of deep stretching after my run, and I felt great! Planning to go for a walk during lunch since the weather is so nice!

Great job Amanda!!

I am keeping at it and feeling good. I hope everyone has a great week running

Discovered why it's not just my knee holding me back from running.

I appear to be anemic and having intermittent electrolyte imbalance. Hubby suggested putting full out running on hold until I can get my issues under control again, so I will be doing walking as a priority and occasional running intervals until I can pick it up again.

Time to switch up some of the vitamins and supplements for more iron and more magnesium.

I hate that I can't run, but I have been incapable of running for longer than 10 minutes before feeling so fatigued that I knew something was up. I guess I've been overdoing it and this is why I've had cravings and gone off protocol to eat far too often lately.

Amanda -- so glad you figured that out and are addressing the anemia. The running track will be there waiting for you once you feel ready again! Feel better.

Sorry that you have to put a hold on your running Amanda, hopefully you get it all worked out quickly and back on track, pun intended

That is fantastic Amanda!!!! I am glad too you are addressing the issues you've been having - our bodies are amazing if we are tuned in and listening - hope everything settles down quickly.

I am following this thread with avid interest as I would like to do more 5K events and hubby is working his way up to a Spartan Race (or Tough Mudders...& he is not IP). B/c of an ankle injury last year I am waiting to get into onederland before doing anything more strenuous than fast walking

Briael - I'm glad you're in tune with your body and know when to listen to it! Hope you get back into your routine soon!

Only in week 2 of C25K, and I think I'm going to switch to C210K. Instead of an 8-week program, it's a 14-week program. Weeks 1-3 seem to be identical, with weeks 4+ becoming more strenuous in C210K than C25K.

But I can do it. I'm young, I'm strong, I've got a backpack full of Quest bars and an iPhone full of upbeat dance music.

Now that I've incorporated deep stretching after my runs, I'm no longer having any soreness the day afterwards, so I'm a little nervous about the actual runs, but not at all nervous about being able to recover on my rest days.

Ambitious, I like it. However, there is something to be remembered with running. Short runs are more about burst, you are using fast twitch muscle fibers which, due to the way they are used, need to be fueled soon after exercise. Long runs use slow twitch and it is more about endurance. This is where your body is going to be taking one heckuva hammering which IP is not designed to address. No matter what level of prefueling you have, no matter how many stored ketones or the number of bars you take with you, this is potentially going to cause you blood sugar fluctuations and may very well result in you burning muscle to produce glycogen. Because you are continuing to run THROUGH that process it is the fastest conversion rate for your body to handle (other than pulling glycogen from storage in the liver and muscles - which you no longer have as a result of ketosis). Please, please, think carefully about whether you really want to do this. If you do, see a registered dietician who understands nutritional ketosis and can help you navigate your way through this level of running without wasting your time on a protocol that may be completely ineffective.

5K is a relatively short run that healthy people should be able to account for by smart pre- and -post fueling. 10K is pushing catabolic metabolism just a little too far to be truly safe while on IP.

Hoping you can find a way to balance what you want, with what your body needs. Be smart, this is your health and your weight loss that is on the line.

EDIT: Here's an article that tells you about what is going on while you run, but it doesn't address nutritional ketosis as part of that. I haven't found any articles with direct links to NK and twitch muscles, but when I do I will come back and link them for you.

Did a Week 7 session (walk 5 minutes, run 25 mins) today. Tried a whole new thing -- I listened to an audiobook instead of bouncy music. It was terrific! Not only did it keep me from getting bored, but it kept me from staring at my stats the whole time! I'm listening to Rob Lowe's autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends. Highly recommend!

Felt good the whole time. Had protein bar before and lunch shortly after. I ran the first 2/3 pretty slow and then toyed around with sprinting a lot of the last third. Slowed down to check my heart rate at some point, and it was at 170 (I assume the treadmill was wrong!), but it quickly came back down to 144 during the slowdown. (My legs are pretty short, so when I say sprint, the max I went was at 6.0. Not going to be winning any races here, folks!)

I think I'm going to try a 5K course on the treadmill next time I do this … just to practice doing the real thing, though I'll still probably follow the run-25-straight thing, instead of running the whole way. I know this is just so obvious, but it is so so much easier to run without the extra 30 pounds on!!! My knees are happy again

Happy running all!

Great advice as usual Amanda I will switch to the 10k training in the summer in prep for my annual fall 10k, but then I am now in maintenance. And honestly, the 5k is enough for me on a regular basis!

Awesome Mimi, you are almost there!

I too enjoy audio books while running, I have to remember to check my local library to see if they loan them out.

I hear you on the short thing! And any speed is a good speed, you are already winning just by moving

Nicely done, Mimi. Great idea on the audiobook, I am considering doing the same when I get my Samsung tablet soon. Anything that stops me from constantly checking progress has to be a good thing!

I noticed running became a lot easier when the weight came off, isn't it amazing how much difference it makes?

My HR rocketed up to 170-175 while running, too, compared to it's normal exertion level of 120ish - 140ish on an elliptical trainer mission, so I don't think that's too far outside the boundary. In time I believe it will come down as your heart muscles get used to the level of blood pumping out.

Those 5K programs on the treadmill look really good - was taking a look at the random courses on it the other day. They are much more realistic than doing a permanent incline or a flat level (which most people do) because they also have downhill. We need to learn to pace downhill so we don't go too fast, as well. Hope it's a pleasurable change for you.

You've been a 10k runner already though, DD, so your body is already adapted to longer distances. Good that you will be in maintenance by then, though, that should help.

Now you've got me off another Google task - to find the website where all the free audio books are. Maybe some health and fitness podcasts, too? The TED talks?

I love that last sentence, I may steal it as my motivation quote.

Good news, since I doubled up on iron pills and I'm being good and eating my healthy greens again (man, if you haven't tried 1 tsp salted butter, 1 tsp EV coconut oil and sauteing some curly kale until it crisps, you haven't lived!!! Om nom nom - tastiness) I am feeling more like myself. The blood is returning to my lower eyelids, my capillary refill rate is back to normal and I don't feel fatigued anymore. Going to keep on top of it and maybe go back to running in 2 weeks. I don't mind walking as an alternative, and hubby's promised to take me swimming next Friday (although that poses some anxiety over the loose skin bunching on the backs of the knees and thighs, but oh well, it's no worse than all that fat padding).