Just giving everyone a progress report. I decided to go back to week 4 but I keep getting really itchy every time I try it. The running is easy, but the itching is agony. Makes me have to stop! Argh. Hopefully it will go away soon.

Welcome to the new people who joined this thread!

Maria - thanks for your advice. You're probably right about the shoes. I forgot I got orthotics for my runners in the fall and that's probably why I don't have shin splints this time around.

YogaGal - so sorry for your loss. Hope you get back on track.

Becca - congrats! You're definitely an inspiration

Angel's dust - forgive my ignorance if I've missed this somewhere, I've only read the first few pages of the thread, but how come you're itchy when you run? I haven't experienced anything like that yet, but is that something to expect?

I'm starting tomorrow! Can't wait to get started with the first run

Yay! I did it - no chickening out, even though I couldn't find the arm band for my iPod and had to carry it the whole way. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be - I'm actually kind of excited to get to the next one on Wednesday

Oh! I want to join in. I just printed out the plan from coolrunning.com. It feels like I'm the only person left in the world without an ipod or mp3 player...so I'm going to do it the old fashioned way with a stop watch. I'd like to join the Air Force after I graduate from law school, and I want to make sure I qualify.

So, hi everyone! Good luck to the other folks just starting--we're all in this together

Just did W3D1. It went by so fast with only 4 sets of intervals. During the 3 minute run, I just kept telling myself "You know for a fact you can finish this" and then I did! After I finished the podcast, I ran my own jogging/walking intervals for another 30 minutes. That may be the first time in my entire life that I've worked out for an hour. I'm gonna do it again tomorrow!

Hi guys. It's been a long time since I was a 20-something, so I hope you don't mind me butting in.

Congratulations to all of you on starting the C25K program! I did it last year and finished in about November. I wasn't a runner. I thought running was something everyone else did. But now I CAN RUN!

I'm slow. But I run. It's nothing now to do 7-8 km before I go to work at night. I'm at the point where I want to go for a run. For fun! Can you believe that?

Anyway, my point is, it took me 21 weeks to complete the C25K program. For those of you playing at home, that's 12 weeks more than it "should"! But there's no should. Just do what you can, and each week you will find yourselves getting stronger and stronger, until one day, without realising it, you will have run farther than you ever have before and you won't feel like quitting!

So keep it up chickies. You're all doing great...

ruby5839: I think it has something to do with increased blood flow. I get it around my hips and thighs. I looked it up once and it jokingly said I'm allergic to exercise. LOL. I just have to remember to take an antihistamine beforehand. And it'll go away soon. Only some people get it.

Alright ladies, I'm back in the saddle. Last week was a very hard week for me but today I'm back on top. I restarted W2 today. This morning I completed W1D1. A couple of pages back someone mentioned looking into shin splints as a result of need for shin muscles as opposed to stretching (or something to that effect) can anyone recommend any exercises to build up the necessary muscles to lessen the shin splints?

W9D1 done. Hoping to beat some of the heat, I got out the door a whole half hour earlier this morning. It was slightly cooler, but the air was very still, so no breeze to cool me down. 30 minutes (only 2 minutes longer than my runs last week) was no challenge.

I'm still slightly astonished that I've made it through 8 weeks of this program and will be running my first 5K on Saturday. 5K! 5K! Have I been gushing about it too much?

Angel's Dust - glad you're running again. Hope the itching clears up. I used to have that frustrating exercise/itching problem years ago in college. Mostly when going from a hot gym environment to a wintery walk back to my dorms. It seemed to be triggered by big temperature changes for me.

Yogagal08 - glad you're running again. I've never gotten shin splints during a run, but the times recently that I got them was when a brisk walk started out TOO brisk. I find that slowly ramping into my warm up walk really helps. YMMV

Starcarly - sounds like you're doing great! Keep going!

Congrats to the people just starting. Stick with it and you'll be amazed with what you're capable of.

Yogagal - I used to get shin splints way back when I was on the middle school track team, so now I'm doing toe raises on the stairs (let your heels hang off the back of the step and go up on tippy-toe) 10 times for 5 seconds each twice a day, plus toe taps (keep your keep on the ground and tap your toes as quickly as you can) 60 times one each foot twice a day, and writing the alphabet with my feet twice each day. Stretching is good too, so I'm trying to add extra warm up time and stopping to stretch my shins during that time.

I spent a long weekend out of state for my cousin's wedding. I made sure to have both week 4 and week 5 podcast on my ipod so I would not divert from my running plan. I even went to mapmyrun.com so I could find a route to run while staying at a relatives house. I packed my running shoes and socks and my workout clothes.So did I do my c25k workouts? No. So early this morning I did week 4 day 3, and it was hard. Going 4 days without running really hurt me. I did manage to do all the runs without stopping, but I thought I would never make it. I have no more vacations this summer, so no more excuses for not running. The only thing I can do now is get back on track. I have come this far, and I am not going to quick because of one lousy weekend workout wise.

W9D2 done. That's it! I'm done with running until the 5K race on Saturday.

I started C25K on April 21st. I've been constantly amazed at the improvement in my cardiovascular system. I went from huffing and puffing and feeling like I was going to die if Ullrey didn't let me stop soon to just a mild ache in my calves. I don't yet *love* running, but I have high hopes that if I keep it up, eventually I will.

I've run in the rain, mid-day heat, and cool evening. I've run in unfamiliar cities, various local parks, and from my front door. Every run has been a sniff-tastic adventure for my dog Lucy, who spends most workdays cooped up in her crate. I'm getting my first summer tan in years (the majority of my outdoors activity in the past has been spent completely covered up in gear, riding my motorcycle).

I've only lost around 10 lbs during the program, but I don't blame the running for lack of progress. I'm not very strict with my diet, trading slowed weight loss for an eating plan that I can truly *live* with.

Thanks for the toe raises and taps suggestions, I'll have to add that in somewhere during the week. I stretch both before and after pretty well and on days in between no running I go to advanced hot yoga classes so don't think stretching is to blame. I might also look into some new better quality shoes. I'm noticing I get the same 'pain' in the front of my shins if I'm walking briskly for any amount of time in say flip flops or an unsupported shoe.
It's been an insane week. I ran on Monday, but not yesterday. We had a huge event on Monday night and announced our season at work (think Broadway tours) so yesterday was just out of the question... I went straight home and went to bed! Tonight I'm going to yoga and tomorrow I'm going to get up and do W2D2.