I "ran" the 2.5 mile route today, it took me 33 minutes which was slightly better than I anticipated (I thought it'd take me around 35 minutes), so I'm pretty happy with the result. I don't know what was going on today, I got a really good nights sleep for once, I woke up refreshed and felt REALLY ready for my run. As soon as I got out there, however, I felt absolutely exhausted right away. Only 7 minutes in I felt like quitting, and 25 minutes in I felt like I wanted to fall flat on my face! I kept putting one foot in front of the other and eventually finished, but I was really surprised it was so difficult. I was also really surprised to see my time as I felt like I was going a lot slower than usual, not faster!

rebelle, WTG running 2 miles! 30 minutes isn't at all bad, as you can see I'm not much faster. I'm sorry to hear about the knee, but it's good to hear you're listening to your body!

kelijpa, thank you! I'm glad to see you're still running and you have even added 10 minutes to your runs, that's quite a bit! Great job! I don't actually use the C25k app anymore as of today, I just use MapMyRun to measure the time and pace. I think I'll look into RunKeeper, it sounds like a useful app, thanks for the suggestion!

Have a good week everyone!

Today I ran 2.5 miles again, and I felt awful once again thinking I was running real slow, but it turned out I ran 2.5 miles in 31 minutes! I'm not surprised I felt like dying all the way through, my fastest pace was 10:30 min/mi, which is quite fast for me! I need to learn to slow down, because feeling like that while running really drains my motivation.

rebelle, WTG on completing week 7! I'm amazed at your speed considering you were running uphill, and the fact that you could run uphill for 25 minutes, that's impressive!! Good job on the walking too. ALLIGATORS! That's crazy that there are trails right next to alligator habitats like that, I'm glad you didn't run into one!

I'm sorry to hear your knee is bothering you still. I'm glad it's not painful at least and hope it's just an adjustment to longer running too.

Hello everyone. I’m still around. I feel glad that you all seem to be progressing nicely with the program. Also, good luck with your knee rebelle!!

I ran a few times since my last post but am not really following the program anymore. I followed a strict diet for 3 weeks and managed to take off 15 pounds. I just checked off the 215 box . I then signed up for a challenge to lose 4% of my body weight in December on diet bet. My goal is to weigh in below 215 on 12/1. This should put me at around 205 (ie no longer obese) heading into the New Year (if I lose the 4% and win the bet).

My 5 mile run is on Sat. I plan to alternate running and walking intervals. Then I hope to get a run in whenever I can throughout the winter. The nastier weather is starting to limit my outdoor running. In the springtime I hope to dive back in and finish the program.

I also need to spend more time sorting out my career. I start making payments on my student loans in February. It looks like I will need to relocate to start my healthcare career. The east coast jobs in this field are more competitive and seem to require experience (even with a master’s degree). I keep striking out with job applications, which is stressing me out. I may need to spend a year or so in the Midwest or down south in order to get started. Come December, I want to spend a little more time figuring out my next step and a little less time on diet and exercise. Adult decisions…UGH

Hey! I had to give up like 2 months ago because my sports bra broke in the wash! I'm pretty well endowed so its very difficult to find a bra that fits. But I'm back and with a sports bra (/a sports bra over my actual bra - its so secure!) and I've just signed up to the gym! Unfortunately due to the break I couldn't pick up where I left off, so I did week 3 this week. Just finished it yesterday! I found it tough but as I completed all 3 runs I'm going to carry on to W4D1 tomorrow! I think it was the heat in the gym, I'm used to running outside but the weather is too cold for me now! Will have to get some shorts.

I'm very inspired by all the people on here talking about 30 min runs! I'm dying after 3 :P

cantgetenoughchoc, welcome back, and WTG on completing week 3 after the break! I remember when your sports bra broke and I'm glad to hear you got a new one (/sports bra contraption) and get to run again. Good luck with W4D1 tomorrow! You'll get to 30 minutes too, just follow the program and don't be too intimidated by the first 20 minute run.

I'm still running 2.5 miles 3 times a week, trying to get to under 30 minutes. I'm currently consistently under 33 minutes, and yesterday I pushed myself a bit and got to 31:10 which I'm quite happy with. It's quite fun noticing that I'm getting faster. Maybe by Christmas 2015 I'll be able to run a 5K (3.13 mi) in 30 minutes like you're supposed to with the program.

2.5 miles... jeez that's goood. Haha, well done on getting quicker! It's amazing how quickly our bodies adapt and improve with running!

How is your weight loss if you don't mind me asking? I found this calorie tracker for c25k and with my weight and speeds that I'm running and walking at I'm only burning 160 kcal. (which seems kinda cruel). But I'm hoping that once I finish the programme and I can run for longer then I'll burn a more substantial amount of weight then the weight will come off. Have you found this? Or do you do any other exercise?

cantgetenoughchoc, I don't mind at all! It's been very slow, I started out at 210 like 2 months ago when I started C25k and now I'm at 203. At least I'm moving in the right direction. I lost weight much faster before starting the program, which is interesting considering I don't take burned calories into account at all on running days and eat like I do on off days. I counted calories before I started and I still do, so it's not like there's been any change in how much I consume. Being healthy is of course a lot more important than a number on the scale, but I'd really like to get into Onederland already!

I use MapMyRun to track my calories, distance and pace, but Scarlett suggested another app earlier in this thread that I should try out. I don't believe the calorie trackers at all (they tend to be a little optimistic), and MMR suggests I burn 450 kcal at my weight, height and pace in half an hour of jogging. I find it really hard to believe I burn an entire meal in half an hour! I think I'm probably burning around 200 kcal in reality. Unfortunately the human body is very efficient at burning as little energy as possible, while storing as much as possible. I wish I could just tell it to go ahead and burn the excess, because I want to eat chocolate and tasty food.

I don't do any other exercise at the moment, but I should really start walking for an hour on off days. I don't really have any excuse not to now that I'm unemployed again. Maybe that's what it would take to get me below these dang 200s! How is your weight loss going, if you don't mind me asking?

You'll get there eventually as long as you're exercising and eating well! Plus while you're exercising you will be putting on muscle, so it might be masking some of the weight loss! And a walk every other day is a good idea, especially as you live in Finland which I imagine is far more picturesque than Northern Ireland.

I've lost none! ha ha. That was kind of my intention though... (Ignore all the stats on my signature and profile... they're very much out of date.) I diet frequently and intensely but not continuously because I just burn out. It's a bad method. I came back to uni after dieting this summer and ate everything my giant boyfriend ate and I put on about 10lb in 2 months! I was so gutted (still am! I'm only 5 foot so it's very obvious) But I realised that the way I diet has no longevity and it just makes me miserable, so I thought I'd try and introduce changes instead. So I've had a month of eating healthy breakfasts, salads for lunch, eating out less (although admittedly it's still 2-3 times a week.. I have no willpower haha) and I count my calories every day (but without a target). I just do it so I'm aware when I'm eating too much. I've also started exercising a few times a week too (running and "weight training") over the last couple of weeks.

The good news is I've not put on anymore weight since! Which I'm happy with because that was half the battle, but I've still got at least 15lb I want to lose.. So I'm going to keep going like this until after christmas, and then I will be stricter with my calories. I'm just not looking forward to it. Counting calories is so miserable and stresses me out! :P I'm hoping that if I keep going to the gym by January I will be able to burn more calories and it will take some of the pressure off of my diet! That's the theory anyway :P As you said, healthy is what really matters, and I'm definitely getting healthier even if I'm not losing weight yet.

Today was my rest day. I'm looking forward to finishing week 4 tomorrow!

More picturesque than Northern Ireland? Girl, you must have lost your mind! I mean Finland's OK, but when I picture Northern Ireland in my mind, this is what I see:


Click thumbnail to see bigger image.

How can a bunch of lakes and mixed evergreen and birch tree forests ever compete with that scenery?

I did the whole crash diet thing several times too, except I always ended up gaining more than I lost after I gave up and started binging even more, at least you could behave after losing. I started out this time by just eating a lot less, but still ate a lot of unhealthy foods, which got me down to about 240 lbs. After that the weight loss slowed enough that I decided to take a look at my calorie intake and it was still way too high. Like you, I'm introducing changes to my diet that I can keep doing for the rest of my life, rather than trying to lose as much weight as soon as possible.

Counting calories and keeping myself accountable by stepping on the scale every morning is the only thing that really works for me. If I start eating "intuitively" I just manage to sneak too many calories in, in the form of random snacks or underestimating how much food I can eat. I need to portion the food I cook or else I end up going for seconds even when I don't need them, I just have no self-control whatsoever when it comes to tasty things. I loved eating out so much so that there were weeks where I ate out every day (sometimes more than once). I have since become a vegan so that is no longer an option for me, or I would surely still be doing that. I also realized just how much I love cooking since I started coming up with my own recipes and trying out fun things, instead of cooking the same old dishes all the time.

Way to go! A whole month of eating mostly healthy meals is excellent, and added exercise too! I'm considering trying yoga again on my off days from running now that I'm not so heavy (it didn't really work at 240 lbs) instead of walking, I wouldn't even need to leave the house to do that and it looks like something I would enjoy if I could actually even sort of pull off some of the moves.

Good luck with W4D3 tomorrow!

Hi! Just wanted to stop in, I've been on the exercise bike since the weather turned too nasty for running outside.

Tonight we walked a 5k in the snow, it took an hour and 11 minutes! I said to DH I'm going to start jogging the road again in the spring, I really enjoyed it.

Sounds like you're doing great RunningWild, I like your image of Ireland, including Liam...

cantgetenoughcho good job getting back to your program, the bra is so important!


Keep going, I wish I could get myself to run at the gym, but with the bike in the basement, it's just easier to exercise here.

Haha! That's not what Northern Ireland looks like... But I won't shatter your illusion :P I like that Liam Neeson featured there though... they're very proud of him. Funnily enough in the two and a half years I've spent there I've never heard of him returning for a visit... guess it's not a mutual feeling :P

You've gone vegan? Well done! I hear that's very good for healthy eating but I just wouldn't want to live without meat or dairy. How did you find the transition?

I think calorie counting is the way to go to be honest, I always recommend it, but I do also dread it. :P I'll be starting soon too! And unfortunately due to my height all the weight loss calculators say I have to stick to 1200 kcal a day for a lb week loss a week. I tried lots to see if I could find a generous one but no such luck

I haven't worked out in 2 weeks. The last week I was at uni and flat out. When I wasn't as busy I started with this cold... which lingered into the majority of this week and so I haven't felt I had the lung capacity to run! Feeling a bit guilty about it now, but it snowed tonight so I guess it's not an option anymore :/ So I'm going to start jillian michaels 30 day shred tomorrow so at least I'm doing something like you kelijpa, and when the snow clears in a couple of days I'll go for a run.

Hello Runners... I just learned about C25K and want to use it as my program to get started on running. I can't seem to find a current thread. Is there anyone on this thread that's interested in continuing? I'd sure enjoy having some company on this new adventure I am ready to start.

Looking forward to getting started and meeting some kindred spirits.

Ani

dailypractice I'm glad you bumped this!

I'm on Week 8 of C25K but I would love a place to talk about the program. I'm a total notice with running so this seems like a good place to get some useful info.

I'm attempting my first 5K on Saturday!

I started C25K again a few weeks ago. I finished W3D1 yesterday. It was tough, but I didn't stop and I'm still alive. Taking the day off today because I ran two days in a row and two workouts yesterday.