Finished Day 2 of Week 4 tonight. It was harder than what I thought the second day would be, based on history of last few weeks. I really think it was the heat though (and I had to go to the little girl's room). Once I splashed all over with cool water and began my stretching there was no pain or discomfort of my body. In fact, I felt re-energized and may have been able to do more if I had to. But, Day 2 is done! no need to beat a wet horse. There's suppose to be a cool front coming in by Friday so hopefully the heat won't play into it for Day 3.

Way to go softballmom! I agree about the heat, I had the same trouble yesterday. Best wishes for the rest of the week.

Way to go softballmom The heat can be terrible when you are trying to exercise, but you are still keeping at it so congratulations.

Idest, great to hear that you are feeling better and getting back to it. I hope to be starting again on Sunday, but at week 2/3. Not sure yet what I'll do.

Webweevil, glad to hear that those knees are improving, and congrats on the new treadmill. Did you find the type you were looking for?

Be careful in the heat everyone

Hello gang,

Sounds like everyone has been busy. It's great to hear all of the good news! I'm glad to hear that some of you will be back at it soon. I felt so out of the loop while I was gone.

I was on vacation all week . I got a one week membership at a local gym and did my running. I finished up days 2 & 3 of week 3 and did days 1 & 2 of week 4. I think that week 4 has been the hardest by far but also the most rewarding. I have had such a rush when I'm finished. Softballmom, I also felt like day two was more difficult than day 1. There were moments when it was totaly a mental thing. Can't wait to hear what you have to say about day 3.

Hi all! I am loving the treadmill. I get on it every morning for 30 minutes. I posted on the treadmill thread how great it is having your speed, time, calories, and distance displayed on the monitor. I have been slowly increasing my speed. I started out at a slow 1.6mph because of my knees and was able to gradually increase my speed to 2.6mph over a five day period. I haven't decided yet if I should just continue to increase my speed until I am actually jogging the entire 30 minutes or if/how I should start back with the c25k program. Any suggestions?

Hello all.

I did day 3 of week 4 this morning and it was quite difficult. I made it through though and felt great afterwards. I think I'm going to try a day 4 on Tuesday before jumping into week 5. I've noticed that my legs are changing and starting to look toned. Anyone else seeing leg changes?

Hi everyone.

Sadly, I still have a lot of shin pain... I tried starting week two over again, did a LOT of stretching and ran only on the cushioned track, but... found myself right back where I was. I'm really bummed about this because I don't have access to a treadmill or elipitical to substitute.

So I'm going to concentrate on walking for now, I think-- after all, I have to be ready for the breast cancer walk in October.

I'm so proud of all of you for your great progress!

Today I listened to my Ipod while on the treadmill and found myself going 2.8mph for 40 minutes. Yeah! I think I'll hold at that speed for a few days before increasing any more. I can't wait to be running!

I am so sorry idest! Maybe another week or two will allow you to heal properly. And if you ever have the chance to purchase a treadmill, take it. They are great!

Hello everyone - I am running again

I decided to make up my own week this week rather than follow the c25k exactly, so I ran for 2 mins, walked for 2 mins, ran for 3, walked for 3, ran for 2, walked for 2 and ran for 90 secs. I'm not sure if one of my knees is still a little sore or if I'm imagining it, so I'm still being careful, and after stretching I put ice on my knee.

Idest, I'm so sorry about your shins . I hope they get better soon. Have you been taking ibuprofen and putting ice-packs on them throughout the day? If not I would really recommend it.

Webweevil, I am glad that you are enjoying your treadmill. Regarding when you get back to running, that decision has to be yours. Just start again when you feel ready. If you get any pain you can always slow down to a walk again. Good luck

Shrinking Mama, glad you had a good holiday. You are doing so well with your running. I can't believe you are about to start week 5 (with that 20 minute run at the end!)

I hope that Softballmom and GenreGirl are still out there enjoying themselves

Hello everyone. I would like to ask a question if you don't mind.

Have any of you lost weight doing this program? A while back I was up to week 4 and while I felt wonderful I didn't seem to lose any weight. Just wondering how it's effecting you.

Thanks for any comments

Hi All ~ Still trying to do intervals, but have spent the last week or so doing long trail hikes with my family instead. I was a slacker last week & only did intervals once instead of my usual twice or three times. I plan to do intervals twice this week though & add to the run time & maintain the walk time.

Idest- Listening to your body is always wise- even if you'd like to do something different. Best wishes training for the Breast Cancer Walk in Oct. & please keep in touch.

Webweevil- Sounds like I really need to borrow DH's Ipod on interval days. Music is very motivating!

Pachyderm- I've made up my own schedule too & sometimes it's the only way. Our bodies won't always respoond to someone else's ideas of how things should be!

The Aunt- I started this program because I love to run & because running is an activity DH & I can do together. Weight loss is a secondary benefit. I have continued to lose at a snail's pace (about a pound a week, roughly). I have always been a 'slow loser' though so I can't say if this has helped or hurt my progress.

GenreGirl - don't be hard on yourself, walking is a really good activity, and it means that you can get out there with your whole family which is better for them as well. Long walks build endurance as well, while giving your joints a bit more of a rest, which is excellent for your running. BTW, cycling is supposed to be excellent as a supplementary exercise for runners.

The Aunt - I am loosing weight while running, but I was loosing a similar amount of weight while I was injured and therefore not exercising, so I don't know how much the running has to do with it at this stage. A good, well-rounded and healthy diet is probably more important than exercise in weight-loss, but any increase in exercise will increase the number of calories you burn, so unless you were eating more to compensate, then I'm sure you would eventually lose weight. A commonly quoted piece of information is that to lose a pound of fat, you have to burn 3500 calories, which would mean that you would have to use 500 more calories than you eat every day for a week to loose 1lb. I believe that if your total running is less than 10 minutes (which it would be until week 4) then you are only burning about 300-400 extra calories 3 times a week which would not be enough to burn 1lb without diet as well. Once you can run for longer periods of time, you will burn more calories, but you would probably still need to add extra (non pounding) exercise on your rest days, or work on decreasing the number of calories you eat to see a real gain on the scale. I've also heard, that when you begin a new exercise programme, your muscles become slightly damaged and retain water, which could lead to a small gain or at least a maintenance of weight. Once your muscles get used to this new exercise, this should be reduced. So if you enjoy running, don't lose heart, just enjoy the extra energy and hope that the weight loss will happen eventually. At least you will be getting healthier and fitter in the meantime.


I went for my second post-injury run today, and it felt ok still, so hopefully I am past the injury. I was very tired though (late night) so I was very sluggish. I ran 2 mins, 3mins, 2 mins and 2 mins with walking breaks in between. I am wondering whether I should move on to week 4 next week, or just steadily increase my times on my own made up schedule.

Happy running everyone!

Hello again folks!

Just wanted to tell you I'm NOT leaving this thread until everyone gets all the way through C25K, including myself!

Here is my new plan: I felt fine during week one when I was only doing 60 seconds and also running on the track, as opposed to the sidewalk. So in about a week I'm going to just start all over again with week one. I'll do week one at least twice and then cautiously move to week two... and do that week over again until it's no effort at all-- however long that takes. Then move on to the next week, and so on. Basically, I'm not going to up the running interval until it feels effortless. At the same time, I'm going to walk a LOT (got to keep training for that 39 miles in october) and pop in a 60 second run whenever I'm on a good surface for it. So my version of C25K may be the longest in duration in history!

webweevil, I long to buy either a treadmill or eliptical! It's not a matter of money, just space. I live in a small NYC apartment and there's just nowhere to put it. Otherwise I'd do it! I've also thought of joining a gym that has both, but I've already committed to Curves, so...

Pachyderm, my shins feel pretty good now-- until I run-- which is discouraging.

The Aunt, I don't look at the running and walking as a weight loss thing. I count calories for that. Instead I look at it as a really great tool I'm developing for maintenance. Once I get to my goal weight I want to know that as I carefully increase daily calories I have more ways to burn them. And, of course, I want to be healthier. Last but not least, calorie counting burns fat AND muscle-- and I want to make sure I'm building and maintaining muscle.

GenreGirl, it's disappointing, but I don't have much choice here... I don't want to really injure myself, and I know shin splints can become stress fractures if pushed. And not to worry, I'll be in this thread cheering everyone on! By the way... a pound a week is just fine. That's where I am these days-- when I'm not stuck on a plateau.

Thanks all of you for the kind words and encouragement!

can we join !>. started on sun wk1 with a walk 4min run 2 x 3..
(girlsruntoo.com)

we were doing 7.9km.hr.... for 18mins... did about 2k distance...

went tonight too... so rest day tomorrow.. will go to my spinning class... and goint to a pilates intro session.. ...

are we doing ok??? are we going too fast too soon.. etc..
advice pls !!

lou

Today I tried something a little different- I ran using landmarks instead of constantly watching the time for the intervals. It seemed to work better. I purposely left all time keeping devices at home, including my cell phone since it has both a clock & a stopwatch.

I looked ahead to the next landmark & thought, 'Hey, I can make it to the one after that (& so on & so on). ' I ran a .25 mile loop with plenty of landmarks to keep me motivated. I managed 3 circuits around the loop. I think I averaged about half a mile or slightly over of running before I walked- about 8-10 minutes of continuous running per loop.

Idest- I'm glad you're planning to keep up with the thread. I think your plan sounds good.

Pachyderm- Thanks for the kind words, you made my day!

Lou1978- I love this thread. Lots of encouragement & great info. I looked at the site you listed & IMO it sounds very well thought out. I'd say to keep on their schedule & keep listening to your body at the same time. If you have persistant aches slow the schedule down (as Idest plans to do). If you've access, run on grass or a padded track. Avoid concrete if at all possible. I see that you're in London, so I don't know how difficult this might be. Most of all, please post here so we can cheer each other on!