I'm sorry to hear that, LisaMarie!! What a letdown. You should still be able to continue losing weight, don't let this get you down. You'll be back in action before you know it.

How's everyone doing? No one has updated in a while...

My knee apparently wasn't as hurt as I thought, because I'm back to working out and I jogged for 30 minutes straight today!! I told myself I was just going to listen to my body and stop when I needed to, and I honestly just wanted to keep going! Prior to this (and prior to the injury a few weeks ago), 20 minutes was the longest I ran. Today it was a very light jog, but I'm so proud of myself for going nonstop for 30 minutes. There were a few hills in there too!! Woohoo!!

That's amazing LisaMarie... the longest I had done was 20 min too and then I tried to do 25 min the other day and only made it to 21.

Wow! You guys are doing great.

I am up to running about 20 minutes then walking for 30. I want to work up to 30 minutes. I know I can do it. I am so excited. I am finally on the verge on getting out of the 190's. I fit into clothes that I wore 5 years ago.

Love running!!!!!!!!

carafre

Hi everyone - I haven't checked into this thread in a while, so it's nice to pop back in to read how well everyone is progressing.

I've actually managed to get my endurance up to running a 10k distance once a week - never thought it would be possible, but now I am doing it! Of course, I'm incredibly slow, but that's just fine - for now, the fact that I'm able to haul myself that far is more than enough.

A friend gave me a book by John Bingham called "The Courage to Start" - it's all about the victory in getting off the couch and out on the track, even if you are at the back of the pack. The author was a 250 pound couch potato who took up running and is now the author of a column in Running World magazine for the "penguins" of the world (i.e., those of us who might look a little funny and are not likely to win any speed races, but still experience joy in running). I recommend it as a great inpirational read for any new runner.

I love "The Courage to Start!" I read it a long time ago, and I also bought Bingham's "No Need for Speed," which is full of useful info about running. His stuff really inspires me, because it's for real people, not people who've always considered themselves athletes.

I'd like to be running right now, but I have to sit at school and wait to play the piano at a concert. Ugh -- nerves...

WindyCityChick, that is REALLY impressive that you can run 10K. Wow.

I just went and read the cool runner site. I have been working out and losing weight the last few months and find myself wanting to run and would like to start this way to have a schedule. My question is for the people in colder climates what are you wearing on your head or around your neck? I have asthma and is well controlled unless out in cold air exercising. I think if I had something to cover my mouth it would help. Thanks, Kathy

Windy, that really is great that you can run a 10k -- I can't wait to get to that point!

My problem is that I really don't know the distance I'm running. I run on back roads and I haven't measured them out yet. I suppose I need to do that. All I've worried about is getting to the point where I can run for 30 minutes straight, and now I can do that (though it's not easy at all).

There's a huge 10k here at the end of March. My husband always runs it (really fast, of course) and there are about 20,000 people who sign up. People also walk it. There's a YMCA training program for 10 weeks leading up to it, and I'm tempted to sign up. Am I crazy? I planned to run a 5k first, of course, but I have this crazy notion that I can do this. I can always walk parts of it, obviously. Am I stupid for thinking I should do the training program? It includes group runs on Saturday, and I can just picture me straggling behind!!

Then go by time. Measuring by time instead of distance is pretty common for beginning runners and some folks do it even after they're no longer beginners. (It seems to make it easier not to obsess about distance.) Figure 10-12 minutes per mile.

If you'd rather know the distances, try mapmyrun.com.

You're already doing close to 5k, so it's totally do-able to work up to 10K for March. Remember that not every run needs to be as long as race distance. As for the training program, what's the worst that can happen?

Hi Kathy, you may want to check out www.buffusa.com, they sell a versatile piece of clothing that can serve as a headband, scarf, ear covering, etc., depending on how you choose to use it. I have one in the polartec fleece that I use when it gets too cold outside, although not over my mouth, but I think it would work well for that purpose.

LisaMarie, I think you should sign up for the 10k - if you're close to running 5 now, I am sure you can do 10 by March! And with 20,000 runners, there will be lots of people running/walking at your pace.

LisaMarie, go for it. You are already an inspiration to me after reading the boards. I am sure you will make it through.
WindyCityChick, thanks for the suggestion.
Kathy

Thanks so much for the encouragement! I still haven't decided about the 10k training program, but I've done a few 30-minute runs lately (including a few minutes ago--the weather is so great today!) and I'm trying to get my body used to running for that long before I move on and try to get faster or go longer. It's tough to map out the distance on these back roads and the weird little route I do, but when I go visit my family next week I plan to run at a park where each lap is .4 mile. If I do 8 laps, that's 3.2 miles, which is about a 5k, right? I'm not sure I'll be able to run that many, but I may give it a shot. And I may just see how far I'm going in 30 minutes to get a handle on what my speed is (I know it's quite slow, but I'm not judging myself on that yet -- if ever).

How's everyone else doing?

Ack! This thread was on the THIRD page!! Where are all my fellow beginning runners?

As for me, I ran a few times over the Christmas break at that park I was talking about in the last post. I didn't make it to 3.2 miles, but I did 2.4 and I was pretty happy with that. I've worked up to running 33 minutes at a time but I'm still a bit slow, at a 12 or 13 minute mile pace. However, I've almost convinced myself to sign up for the 10k training team. I'm going to the orientation meeting to ask them if it's ok if I'm really slow on the group training runs!!

Here's what I feel is a dumb question but I'm a new runner and I'm still working on the treadmill. When you all talk about a 10 minute mile etc., how do I convert that to/from the speed on the treadmill?