Good plan to hold off and let it heal. Hopefully all the protein on IP will aid a speedy recovery.

Week 4 Day 1 done. Boy, was it a big step up to the 5 minute run! and the second one was tough to complete, but at least the music gave me a pace to keep my feet in time to and that really helped a lot. Somehow I managed to pull off faster interval speeds (must have been the music!) and get through all 4 run segments. I felt very accomplished when I finished.

I am SERIOUSLY dreading the 20 min run at the end of Week 5. Hubby suggested going to the outdoor track next week as it will 1. get the garmin to give accurate readings because it's not feeding purely from the foot pod 2. give me a change of scenery and 3. give me a realistic outdoor weather condition and a larger lap to contend with. If the weather is warmer I will give it some consideration. :)

Found a fuel/replenishment system that seems to work very well with my personal biology.

1/2 scoop of the Quest peanut butter protein powder (80 whey/20 casein) with 1/4 scoop of the GNC 100% casein. After the run 24 oz water, half a salt sachet and 1/2 scoop of Chocolite protein (100 whey). The casein is definitely helping me power through the run segments without the exhaustion that comes at the end of the fast release whey.

I did find that the second 5 min interval felt more comfortable on the legs and feet. I found a rhythm that has been lacking up until now, and I'm aware of changes to my pace as I'm actually moving. I see now why so many people find monitoring their running so addictive.

How's the program going with everyone else?

DD -- I read your post on the other thread re your horrendous trek through the snow -- omg! Glad you made it back, and made it back safely. That would've been enough of a workout for me for weeks!

Amanda -- you're a day ahead of me, but I scared myself when I did yesterday's session. When I was starting, I must've accidentally hit Week 4, Day 1 (instead of Week 3, Day 3), so I'm walking along just fine, and then I see it says to run a 5-minute stretch, instead the 3 …. I was just not mentally prepared for that! I figured it out and adjusted my intervals on my own, but …if those extra two minutes scared me, how on earth will I get to the 20 or 30 ?!

Are you liking the Quest Peanut Butter powder?

Also, you are so lucky you have the option of running outside -- I think your hubby's suggestion is a great one. I did my last session on the new treadmills at my gym (instead of at home in my basement), and you can program the TV screen to take you on an outdoor route. It was kinda hokey but good for a little change.

It is scary looking ahead in the weeks, and hard to imagine that we can actually do it, which will make it feel that much better when we do :)

LOL, I'm laughing at the shock you must've felt, but I get it. Glad you managed to recover your timing and get W3D3 done successfully. Even knowing it was coming I was still stunned at the thought of having to run for 5 minutes at a time, too.

EDIT: Missed the Quest PB powder question. Yes, I like it, but it's very strong tasting and not as "thick" or creamy in texture as the ChocoLite one. It's also pretty tasty mixed with the GNC 100% casein in Choc PB. I go lighter on water as texture is more important than taste (especially after the BCAAs which are disgusting).

Yes, believe me I know how lucky we are to have the sunshine and warm weather here when I see how much snow and cold temps the rest of the country has. Hopefully this cold snap will lead into a nice warm spring and you'll have a nice summer to enjoy the fruits of your 5K labours. :)

I've seen those outdoor videos before, but I couldn't run and watch them as they disorient me and I start falling over. If it gives you some greenery while the snow is on the ground, all the better!

"Laura" says (hahahah, NHS Choices narrator) that she promises she will get me running for 30 minutes if I do what she says in the weeks leading up to completion. On a side note, at least the choice of music is improving each week so far. I can't wrap my head around running for 20 minutes, I'm going to worry about that on the day itself. :)

Did the 5-minute intervals today and, frankly, I couldn't believe how great I felt! I know there's a long way to go, but today felt like some kind of turning point. Maybe it's just these new treadmills at my gym -- perhaps they're extra bouncy. Whatever the reason, today gave me a renewed energy for this program. Maybe your Laura will indeed get us there!

My eating schedule was a little different than it has been. I worked out between breakfast and lunch, so I did the treadmill and then had, within 30 minutes, a packet of IP BBQ soy nuts and then a little salad. That was actually my lunch. So, I did not have an "extra" packet or protein per se today. Never felt faint or dizzy, etc. Does this seem like it's a really bad idea bc of what it may do to muscle mass? Or is it not that big of a deal because this was not strength training, it was just a little cardio? Would love any advice.

You've got it, exactly, a turning point. Starting to understand that it IS possible to run for longer than we think. Great way of putting it. :)

All exercise breaks down muscle, but we are having far more protein than the average person does so it should repair and the running will build endurance with the increased intervals. Personally, I am more concerned about the lowering of Basal Metabolic Rate from reduced caloric intake than the muscle loss (as I seem to be gaining muscle just fine with running and 2 or 3 days strength training) so I do tend to refuel now, in comparison to when I first started. I always carry something in case of emergency (never know how you're going to fare on Day 1 of a new week) and I tend to take a half packet equivalent portion of a ChocoLite protein that I love. I didn't used to be able to take in water after exercise but I now make myself chug 24 oz before I leave the gym. Honestly, you can only be led by your body and the results at the end of the week. Generally, we are on such low calories already that I prefer to have a little extra just to tide me over as I run around 9:30am and don't have lunch until nearly 2, and by then I'd eat the cats if I hadn't put something else in! :)

What hours do you keep when you run? Are you a late riser and have breakfast soon after? I know that I am peeing out a ton of ketones first thing, so if we run in the morning we may still have pretty high ketone levels in addition to which we add breakfast protein in there, too.

As we're supposed to be "light" jogging rather than all out running, I don't think it's going to be as damaging to muscles as gung-ho cardio or lifting heavy weights repetitively. I could be wrong, but I've had no adverse effects to C25K yet, and my pre and post refueling have been pretty hit and miss in terms of timing.

Sorry I can't give you more advice than that at present. I'll certainly do some research on the keto running sites and let you know what I discover, though.

Amanda -- you are an unbelievable wealth of information. Thank you for taking the time to advise…me and everyone else:)

I'm up early on weekdays, then after my mug of warm water with lemon, I dive into a couple of cups of coffee with IP vanilla RTD. If I have time, I like to sip those slowly -- over an hour or more. That's what happened today, and then I went to work out. I was still full when I started and then had lunch right after. I hear what you're saying about the calories though. I did get hungrier than normal later in the evening, but I thought that might have been because of the early and light dinner we had (will post questions about that tomorrow). Now, I'm realizing it was probably a combination of that plus just needing more calories over the course of the day. Thanks for your input. I'll be more mindful tomorrow -- it's a tennis day, so I'll try to also fit in some core stuff here at home.

Mimi47, yay for the 5 minute milestone :) I've been missing the program and am looking forward to starting at it again tomorrow. I believe I've recovered enough from my cabin experience :)

And Amanda, I agree with Mimi47, I appreciate reading your informative posts, even when I wasn't asking the questions, I learn things I didn't even know I needed to know.

Keep going everyone :)

Thanks guys, but I'm really just sharing my personal experience and tidbits that I read on the daily link-clicking fest that is my afternoon! :)

Raging temperature and strep throat this morning and I seriously debated putting off W4D2 today, but I felt well in myself (chest and legs). Once I got everything packed up, arrived at the gym and started unpacking I realised that I hadn't put on the Garmin. Doh. So, manual count of laps and clock watching (both of which I hate to do as I run out of fingers for one and forget to look for the other!). Of course, where I was more focused on the running intervals than checking my garmin every few minutes for pace, heartrate and timing ... I ran more evenly and it felt more natural. Go figure.

I simply added a cup of hot raspberry and hibiscus tea this morning to soothe the burning and hoped it would see me through. Oh, and I discovered that Skinny Girl do stevia drops - find it on the shelves with their water additives. Unlike many of the stevia packets it doesn't have that bitter aftertaste that I detest. Now I can enjoy the less sweet tea varieties again. Of course, tastebuds are affected, so probably going to be pulling in more sweetener than is good for me, but .. oh well. :)

Mimi - it definitely sounds like you need that extra packet somewhere in the day. If you're anything like us mealtimes move around all over the place during the week.

I'm currently watching all the information from Lisa and wylothar on the daily threads, and prospective IPers threads. I'm a bit of a sponge when it comes to information (at least in the short term) and I love the sciency bits behind why IP works. I just think information shared is knowledge gained, and if it helps me, it's probably going to help at least one or two others. :)

Interesting link today:-

What to eat before, during and after your workouts and races

Read the article but be prepared to scroll down until it gets to the ketogenic section. It covers all sorts of fueling from high carb, low carb/high fat, keto, protein only and junk food. I found it interesting as it quotes direct amounts from experience.

The most comprehensive and relevant quote of the article:-

The only proviso would be that we are on very low caloric intake already and, in order to preserve our metabolic rate, we need to replace the calories expended. If you can calculate these accurately I would certainly aim for 100% replenishment within the 24 hour food cycle.

The best reference I can find to the "bulletproof coffee" they quote is a cup of high-grade black coffee with coconut oil and butter. All the reading I've done suggests that caffeine is a stimulant that is designed for burst activity like weight lifting, not for endurance sports like long distance running or semi-burst activity like intervals in C25K training, as it both leads to both an elevated heart rate (and OMG doesn't it go up enough as it is???) and *can* stimulate insulin production (who wants that when you're trying to get your body to USE the few carbs, rather than store them?).

I finally started today! Did day one on my treadmill due to ice storm LOL...I feel ok. I actually did not even break a sweat today. Guess I am in better shape than I thought!

I will keep you posted on my progress!

Great Job! You are inspiring me to start. I've been thinking about it, and I keep putting it off, but maybe...

I am glad to hear it was so easy for you. I've been walking 3 miles a day. Maybe I am ready to add some running in.

Keep up the good work!:carrot:

Terrific, Sue -- welcome! LosetoWin -- would love to have you on board as well! If you've already been walking 3 miles a day, this will not be difficult for you to start at all. Remember -- the first week, your longest jogs are just one minute long, and they then go up very gradually (to 90 seconds, 3 minutes, 5 etc.) over several weeks. That being said, of course, I'm nervous about the week ahead for myself (more below)!

Amanda -- thank you for that article. I've read it (most of it a couple of times) and am just processing all the info, along with info in some of the other current threads. The only thing I know for sure is that there ain't no way I'm having that saturated-fat-laden Bulletproof Coffee!

Week 4 has been going swimmingly, but this next week is where it has fallen apart for me in the past. From 8-minutes stretches to a 20-minute one -- wow. I think my pace is much slower than it perhaps "should" be, because the app I use seems to think I'm jogging 10-minute miles (6.0 on treadmill). Not even close so far. But this is more about endurance than speed, so if this program can get me to run 20-minute+ stretches, I'll take it!

I think Amanda already has registered for a spring 5k, right? Going to look around for one myself….

Keep running all!

By the way, still figuring out the new treadmills at my gym. When I was in the middle of my jogging session yesterday, I noticed that I had been at it for 20 minutes with the incline at 2.5, instead of 0. And I'd been blaming my more labored breathing on my Saturday night!