Thanks girls. Problem is I live in the middle of nowhere with no specialist running stores within 100 miles. I've done some "home tests" which seems to show i have a pretty neutral gait. Just hope i've done them right :/.

BigChief: Yeh, I'm sure it's different for everybody, I was exlaining how I felt about it. And want to let c25k folks that feel the same know they can just go out on their own if they want.

Ali: ah, that is annoying. Goodluck and I hope you find shoes that work for you!

Just went on another run, 2.6miles/30mins. So a decent 11.5min/mile. There is still lot's of snow, so I am thinking once it's gone my speed is gonna go up some. I have a weird bruise on my 3rd metatarsal. (I had to google) but it doesnt hurt with walking or moving. So I don't think it's serious. I also went on sorta low carb (75g carbs a day) today, and noticed my run felt a bit more difficult already. Have to plan eating carbs before my run a bit better.

PaintedButterfly: I don't think it should matter of you skip a week ahead if you are bored, just REALLY pace yourself during the intervals. I think it might even be better for your leg because you are not getting so many 'full stops'. (Depending on the way you hit the breaks, I kinda did that full stop when I was doing c25k lol).

I wouldn't say I'm a 'runner' yet, but I will be!
And I guess I used to be, when I was in high school. Theres a lake by my house with a 10k path so I used to run that 2-3 times a week and I really enjoyed it.
Getting back into it now, I run on the treadmill 3 times a week, but since its only for 20 minutes I don't really consider it running I guess.
I had plans to go for a run around the lake last weekend but I was feeling so slow due to giving blood, and this weekend I'll be busy studying for midterms
And I wanted to do a half marathon in May, but seeing as thats right before finals I put it on the back burner, and I'll do it after I graduate.

Really pushed myself with my run yesterday and managed to shave a minute off my time yay! Just hope I can do it again tomorrow.

Regarding C25K - I think it's a great program for begginers. The problem I had with it was I found it so slow. I started it 3 weeks ago and I ended up skipping to level 4 and after doing 2 of those workouts I ended up just running untill I couldn't anymore as a "test". Which turned out to be around 4k. Now i'm still at a 4k run but only because that's where the badass hill is I can run halfway up but then just gets too hard. so essentially i've gone from couch to 5k (with hills) in 3 weeks. I dunno if my fitness was already pretty good but I do remember my first run being really difficult and I couldn't even get to 1km mark without feeling like I was going to die. Or maybe my body adapts faster. Anyway I'm just happy I didn't stick with it otherwise i'd be alot more behind in my progress then i am now.

Aha cheers guys Seems like a lot of people have the same experience with C25K- that it's brilliant to get you going and into running and the right pace for that but then it gets too slow...
I'm a fairly active person already. Although I don't do any other sort of official exercise I do A LOT of walking.. I used to do a lot more than I do now infact. I also live and until recently when it closed down, worked on a farm and so I was pretty active doing fairly manual labour still... so I think probably my base fitness wasn't that bad.. just my endurance was awful. I mean week 1 of C25K nearly killed me! It took me something like 5 goes just to complete it...

I think my mind is made up- I'm going to skip the rest days for this week. I'm going to do day 2 of Week 3 today. I find I have so much more energy after doing a run- does anyone else find that? Like I feel exhausted right now but I know after I run I'll feel so much more refreshed and energised.. just got to make sure to stretch properly.
I think it's important to me I keep doing the C25K even though I'm going to skip the rest days because I want to feel like I've completed it and not given up! I have a habit of getting so far with exercise, getting half decent at it then quitting :\ so I'm determined not to do that.

Edit: Aha just remembered I didn't wash my trainers last night though and they're still caked in mud and wet through... Hmm.. they're my only shoes I can run in... I might have to see how bad they are before going for a run :\

torito: I think I read on runnersworld somewhere, that as soon as you put your running shoes on and set just one step you are a runner. So welcome! ! Seriously though, you don't have to be running marathons to be a runner. Otherwise 90% of us wouldn't be runners I think.

I just ran a 3.1mile in 35mins, while I was running I felt like I was just messed up and going slowww, even though my heartrate was high - which to me indictaes how fast I am going. Haha. At the end of my run I was at 11.3min/mile. Which is faster than I have been going. And with the snow and all, I think decent.

My body just feels a bit more sore because I am eating low carb since yesterday morning, did notice that it helped a lot that the few carbs I did eat today I ate an hour before my run.

It's so weird because I had a busy day and got home with only a little bit of sunlight left and didn't wanna go.. but the dog who runs with me was looking at me in a way that to me said "are we gonna? are we gonna? come on, pleaseeeee?" lol. Maybe it was my own guilt or she really is looking forward to our runs. Anyhow, I am glad I went.. after about 5mins running I was into it again and going strong.

I had the best intentions yesterday ladies, but I think I wore myself out all week. Couldn't go during lunch because I was busy (figures) and then when I got home I was so tired I wound up taking a nap. It also happened to be a much longer nap than I planned! By the time I woke up there was no time for me to run... It seems that by Thursday I am always tired for some reason but I get an energy boost on Friday (perhaps because Thursday is usually my non-workout day?)

Sometimes I feel like my job gets in the way of exercising, lol.

Ah well, today I get out a little earlier. I can probably rush home and have extra time to attempt a run.

Hey, I'm a 20-something lady who would like to start running. I never have before. I don't want to hijack the thread, but can someone point me towards a resource for people who are starting from scratch? How do I get started if I've never run a day in my life?

philana I run with a dog too! They're really great motivators aren't they? Mine has started trying to get me to run faster (the faster I run the more excited she gets lol) and now does these tight circles around me that trip me up if I don't run fast enough!
No matter how bad the weather is she loves it and can't wait so I just think of her and get out there with her.

Bones 1928- I highly highly recommend a C25K plan! That's what I'm doing atm and I'm utterly amazed at how quickly it's built up my stamina.
It's free and you just download it onto an MP3 player and it tells you when to run and when to walk. It starts off as just 60 seconds running, 90 seconds walking repeated for 30 minutes. It has upbeat and motivating music too . You do each one 3 times in a week (with a rest day inbetween) then you move onto the second week which increases the running time.
Here's the one I use- http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/couch-...ning-plan.aspx and here's an article about it http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Page...uch-to-5k.aspx
You'll also need- a decent pair of running shoes and (assuming you're a woman here ) a sports bra.

I DID IT!!!

I ran today ladies and I got to use my new running sneakers But I'm so proud of myself. I haven't been running since AUGUST and the most I ever ran was 2.5 miles! Check this out...



3.57 MILES!!! I was going to train myself UP to running a 5k, only to find out I totally can run more than that! It's a slow 5k, but just the fact that I can run more than that was just amazing to me!

Just a year ago I could barely run a quarter mile!

Oh my God running is SO much easier when you're 118 pounds! Last time I went running I was 148 pounds, and when I started I was in the 180s!

I totally think the strength training helped out too Omg I'm SO going to run more now. I forgot how AWESOME it was!

Thank you!

It's an app on my phone! It's called Endomondo and it's on Android and iPhone (I know because I had an Android phone and used it it on that before I got an iPhone). It's a really nice app and I like that it shows my route and announces when I hit one mile, two miles, etc. and how long it took so I don't have to keep looking at my phone.

philana well thanks for the warm welcome! I guess I don’t consider myself one yet, but if someone else told me that they do what I do, I’d consider them a runner. I guess I’m just basing on what I used to do. I am excited to run the half marathon though!

bones I agree with paintedbutterfly, go get a good pair of shoes most important. Cheaper is not better in this case. I couldn’t find a good sports bra so I wear a regular bra then a sports bra over top and it works great.

sontaikle congrats!! The app is also for blackberry (bleh, I know ) I haven’t gotten to try it out yet but my brother in law has it and he loves it. He’s training for the tough mudder and he made me download it