Couch To 5K discussion thread (discussion of other programs welcome too!)

terlywerly

NiMhaoldearg wrote: »

So much for a 9 week programme!!

Don't be disheartened!! I started in mid May from what I remember, and I'm only going on to week 6. I repeated a week and I didn't get out for a week, and I'm sure before its over I'll either have to repeat again or something will distract me. Just keep at it, you will get there eventually, I promise!!

Roesy

NiMhaoldearg wrote: »

Another bad session

Attempted W2D2 again... had to stop 15 mins in cos of the pain in my ankle again....
I thought it might have been the new runners on Monday, but I used the well worn pair I've had all along tonight and no difference.
Pain only starts on the 3rd interval and seems to be at the front of the ankle


So much for a 9 week programme!!

Hey, longer time lurker in this thread. Finally getting around to posting. I know it's easy to get disheartened when you are trying your best with the programme and something goes wrong. I got as far as the end of week 7 and my hip started to click half way through the session. I carried on running because it was more of a weird sensation than pain. Struggled through week 8 with the same logic and finally saw a physio 2 weeks ago. Ended having to have 3 sessions with her and can't run for another week or so. I'm frustrated with myself because maybe I'd be back running now and finished c25k if I hadn't ignored it. Anyway, apologies for rambling but the moral of the story is get checked out before you go back to the running. Good luck with the rest of c25k!

The_Morrigan

Roesy wrote: »

Hey, longer time lurker in this thread. Finally getting around to posting. I know it's easy to get disheartened when you are trying your best with the programme and something goes wrong. I got as far as the end of week 7 and my hip started to click half way through the session. I carried on running because it was more of a weird sensation than pain. Struggled through week 8 with the same logic and finally saw a physio 2 weeks ago. Ended having to have 3 sessions with her and can't run for another week or so. I'm frustrated with myself because maybe I'd be back running now and finished c25k if I hadn't ignored it. Anyway, apologies for rambling but the moral of the story is get checked out before you go back to the running. Good luck with the rest of c25k!

I got it checked out - there is no real injury as such, but after a bit of a chat the following came to light and there seems to be a few factors to this -
- new runners which I didn't really break in
- slight fluid retention which makes the ankle look swollen and feel weird when running as it is being squeezed & is rubbing off the runners
- almost 16 stone in weight pounding down on my poor little ankles

upshot of the whole thing is I have to get my weight down and my blood pressure before I kill myself.

Roesy

NiMhaoldearg wrote: »

I got it checked out - there is no real injury as such, but after a bit of a chat the following came to light and there seems to be a few factors to this -
- new runners which I didn't really break in
- slight fluid retention which makes the ankle look swollen and feel weird when running as it is being squeezed & is rubbing off the runners
- almost 16 stone in weight pounding down on my poor little ankles

upshot of the whole thing is I have to get my weight down and my blood pressure before I kill myself.

Glad you got it checked out. Good luck with the weight loss, believe me I know how hard it is. I was heavier than you a few years ago and it is tough to lose but you seem to be determined so I'm sure you'll get there.

The_Morrigan

Roesy wrote: »

Glad you got it checked out. Good luck with the weight loss, believe me I know how hard it is. I was heavier than you a few years ago and it is tough to lose but you seem to be determined so I'm sure you'll get there.

I dunno what the hell I'm supposed to do about the weightloss - I hit a wall with that a few months ago after losing a load of weight - that is why I decided to do the C25K to try and get some fitness & energy into my life and maybe shake up my body that was used to me eating a certain amount in a certain time frame.

I really hate the way my Dr looks at me like I spend my whole day eating rubbish and sleeping on the couch - she talks to me like I'm doing it (or not doing it) on purpose.

Roesy

NiMhaoldearg wrote: »

I dunno what the hell I'm supposed to do about the weightloss - I hit a wall with that a few months ago after losing a load of weight - that is why I decided to do the C25K to try and get some fitness & energy into my life and maybe shake up my body that was used to me eating a certain amount in a certain time frame.

I really hate the way my Dr looks at me like I spend my whole day eating rubbish and sleeping on the couch - she talks to me like I'm doing it (or not doing it) on purpose.

Did she give you any advice on what to do exercise wise re the ankle? I switched doctors for the same reason. My new doctor was much more supportive. I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid gland with a month or so of attending her. Getting that under control did help somewhat with the weight loss but it certainly wasn't a quick fix.
I reached a plateau too. Hit 14 and a half stone around February and then nothing was moving. I upped my gym regime and noticed a slight difference in my appearance but nothing on the scales. Like you I decided to try the C25k to shake it up a bit.I lost 6lbs doing it but people were telling me it looked like a lot more. Can't wait to get back running as soon as I get the okay from the physio.

The_Morrigan

Roesy wrote: »

Did she give you any advice on what to do exercise wise re the ankle? I switched doctors for the same reason. My new doctor was much more supportive. I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid gland with a month or so of attending her. Getting that under control did help somewhat with the weight loss but it certainly wasn't a quick fix.
I reached a plateau too. Hit 14 and a half stone around February and then nothing was moving. I upped my gym regime and noticed a slight difference in my appearance but nothing on the scales. Like you I decided to try the C25k to shake it up a bit.I lost 6lbs doing it but people were telling me it looked like a lot more. Can't wait to get back running as soon as I get the okay from the physio.

Well I've gained weight (which is what the dr is growling about) but I've lost cm's/inches in various places. I'm just fed up now!

omahaid

W1D2 done, not too bad so far.... Sore muscles though

G-Money

W2D1 Complete

No injuries either. Knee caps a little sore but I think that's pretty normal after a run. It wasn't as difficult today as it was to complete Week 1 Day 3 which is slightly odd as the runs/jogs were 90 seconds today rather than 60 seconds. I think I prefer week 2 as there seems to be less of the intervals so it doesn't seem to last as long.

I found it tough enough towards the end of the 90 seconds and it didn't help that there was no prompt after the last 90 seconds was up, it just went straight into the last minute before the cooldown and I should have been walking during that minute. Although it did say 1 minute left and seeing I had done the last 90 second element and was gasping for breath, I started walking. Again I had the "I'm never going to be able to jog/run for 20 minutes, I can barely do 90 seconds" feeling again today. Hopefully I will prove myself wrong.

I've been lacking a little motivation to get out there on C25K recently. Although I think I came up with a trick to make me get out there when I'm thinking about skipping it. The trick is that I want to be able to come on to this thread and post about how I've done. I also want to be able to update my exercise ticker and I get a sense of satisfaction from doing both. So I can't update either of those things unless I go out and do the grunt work. So that's my motivation tool. It worked on me today anyway. I was dithering and thinking about skipping it and I was like "I want to be able to tell those un's how I got on". BTW, "those-un's" is a term we use up home in the north to describe a group of people. It's derogatory. Or at least I'm not intending it to be in this context

So that's W2D1 over. Hopefully I'll head out on W2D2 on Saturday with tomorrow being a rest day.

BabyBirch

Well done for getting out there, I find the hardest part is making yourself get changed and leave the house in the first place.

G-Money

I've always said the hardest part of any workout is just making yourself start.

I'm still sort of hoping to do the City to Surf run in Sydney next August though

garbanzo

SkinnyPotential wrote: »

Well done for getting out there, I find the hardest part is making yourself get changed and leave the house in the first place.

+ 1.

I came across this thread a few weeks ago and it finally got me motivated to do something. I have literally done shag all fitness-wise for the last 15 years. I'm early 40's and normal weight, lucky for me. Don't smoke and enjoy the few scoops.

I'm a fortnight into the C25K programme, have just completed W2D3. I swear to god I feel so much better already. It is tough going starting literally in my case from the couch. Energy levels are up and feeling great. I mix running on the path and on grass. Good luck to all involved and hope this motivates someone to get out and run.

jw297

grandmaster wrote: »

W2D1 Complete

Again I had the "I'm never going to be able to jog/run for 20 minutes, I can barely do 90 seconds" feeling again today. Hopefully I will prove myself wrong.

I've been lacking a little motivation to get out there on C25K recently. Although I think I came up with a trick to make me get out there when I'm thinking about skipping it. The trick is that I want to be able to come on to this thread and post about how I've done. I also want to be able to update my exercise ticker and I get a sense of satisfaction from doing both. So I can't update either of those things unless I go out and do the grunt work. So that's my motivation tool. It worked on me today anyway. I was dithering and thinking about skipping it and I was like "I want to be able to tell those un's how I got on". BTW, "those-un's" is a term we use up home in the north to describe a group of people. It's derogatory. Or at least I'm not intending it to be in this context

So that's W2D1 over. Hopefully I'll head out on W2D2 on Saturday with tomorrow being a rest day.

Well done on getting out there. That's one more run that you now don't have ahead of you! Try not to worry about the 20 minutes, I was absolutely dying during the 60 second runs when I started, and really could not imagine how I would ever move on past that, but here I am still going in week 6. As many more before me have said, the program does work to gradually build up your ability. Good luck with the rest of Week 2, hope you feel great for having got out there and coming back to tell those-uns about it

omahaid

There we go, W1D3 done! Onto W2! The only concern I have is that I'm supposed to be able to hold up a conversation while running but I'm too busy gasping for breath, dunno if W2 is a good idea then? I've finished everyone run without too much effort (other than gasping for breath ). Will go for it anyway!

The_Morrigan

Just managed to complete W2D3 (for the second time)
After the disastrous week I've had I'm shocked that I managed to do the full 20 mins as I never got past 15 mins all week due to the pain in my ankle.
Think I might do another round of week 2 next week.

The_Morrigan

omahaid wrote: »

There we go, W1D3 done! Onto W2! The only concern I have is that I'm supposed to be able to hold up a conversation while running but I'm too busy gasping for breath, dunno if W2 is a good idea then? I've finished everyone run without too much effort (other than gasping for breath ). Will go for it anyway!

I wasn't too sure about going onto Week 2 either, but when I attempted it I managed it bar the last 90 second run methinks.
Attempt W2D1, if its a complete disaster then go back to repeat week 1

I've just finished my second week of Week 2, and I'm going to do it again next week!

G-Money

W2D2 Complete

I completed Week 2, Day 2 this morning without too much difficulty. I'll be honest and say as I was coming to the end of the 90 second jogs it was getting tough but I managed to hold on and complete them. I thought I found it easier towards the end today than at the beginning but who knows.

My original C25K app finally got updated to work on the latest iPhone software so it's working correctly again. I think I prefer it to the other software I was using, but I was only using it until the first one got updated.

Again I was wondering how I'll ever manage to do 20 mins non-stop but I guess eventually I will.

jokettle

jokettle wrote: »

Hi,
I was directed here by brainyneuron, I've just decided to start the programme after a few health issues were resolved So hopefully I'll get W1D1 done and dusted tonight!

Ok, after a week of messing around I finally got my act together and have just now completed W1D1 I'll admit, I was struggling towards the end! But reading all all the progress you guys have experienced is making me determined to carry on; I have to believe it gets easier!

I'm exhausted, but feeling pretty good after that

jokettle

An addition to my post above: would anyone have any suggestions for a playlist I'm making for my runs? I find Muse have a great beat to jog to, and I of course have the Rocky theme too does anyone else run to music, and if so what artists or tracks?
Thanks

The_Morrigan

jokettle wrote: »

An addition to my post above: would anyone have any suggestions for a playlist I'm making for my runs? I find Muse have a great beat to jog to, and I of course have the Rocky theme too does anyone else run to music, and if so what artists or tracks?
Thanks

I know a lot of people use the podcasts for the C25K programme - I use the radio myself, not for the beat, but to distract me completely from what I'm doing

G-Money

jokettle wrote: »

An addition to my post above: would anyone have any suggestions for a playlist I'm making for my runs? I find Muse have a great beat to jog to, and I of course have the Rocky theme too does anyone else run to music, and if so what artists or tracks?
Thanks

I love requests like this

I don't know if you have this Rocky music, it's called "Going The Distance" from the soundtrack. I swear, show anyone this clip (any guy anyway) and he will literally want to go out and run about about 57 million miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvhhW9lsyAU

If you want to get your hands on this song, fire me off a PM.

Here's other songs that are currently on my C25K playlist. They're all fast, upbeat songs:

Going the Distance
Barbers Adagio for Strings - William Orbit (Ferry Corsen Remix)
Envy by Ash
House of Wolves by My Chemical Romance
Lizard by Mauro Picotto
Breathe by The Prodigy
Resurrection by PPK
Iguana by Mauro Picotto
Omen by The Prodigy
Let It Roll by Divide The Day
Whole Lotta Rosie (Live) by AC/DC
Planet Love by DJ Quicksilver
Take Me Away by 4 Strings
Teahouse from Matrix Reloaded soundtrack
Chateau from Matrix Reloaded soundtrack.

Some of these are very Ibiza style trancey songs but they're fast with a good beat and a good tune which is essential for cardio IMHO

G-Money

I should also point out that I'm a music nerd and I'm very, very particular about which songs I listen to. I need a great melody in almost all songs I listen to so hopefully you'll like some of those.

coffee_cake

Urk, nearly 3 weeks.
Ok enough self-pity, time to get back on track tomorrow night! :mad:
God only knows I'll probably be back at week 4 stage or something

jw297

Did Week 6 Day 3 this evening (25 minutes). Was a bit worried about it since I found Day 1 really tough, but actually it was ok. Was a fairly slow jog to make sure I'd get through it, it would be a stretch of the imagination to call what I was doing running, but it was definitely faster than walking!

Quite looking forward to moving on to week 7. I think Im finding it easier to just keep going and push through on one long run rather than have a couple of breaks, my legs just seize up during the breaks.
Re-reading that, I wonder what they've done with the old me. When will I stop being surprised that Im starting to enjoy running and even look forward to it!

terlywerly

bluewolf wrote: »

Urk, nearly 3 weeks.
Ok enough self-pity, time to get back on track tomorrow night! :mad:
God only knows I'll probably be back at week 4 stage or something

I know how you feel, I didn't do any for ages, then managed W5D3 and still haven't started W6. But I'm going to tomorrow, I'll do week 6 this week, then I'm away for a week and when I come back I am getting straight into week 7.
The two of us are as bad as each other!!

jw297 wrote: »

Did Week 6 Day 3 this evening (25 minutes). Was a bit worried about it since I found Day 1 really tough, but actually it was ok. Was a fairly slow jog to make sure I'd get through it, it would be a stretch of the imagination to call what I was doing running, but it was definitely faster than walking!

Quite looking forward to moving on to week 7. I think Im finding it easier to just keep going and push through on one long run rather than have a couple of breaks, my legs just seize up during the breaks.
Re-reading that, I wonder what they've done with the old me. When will I stop being surprised that Im starting to enjoy running and even look forward to it!

Well done!!! You were behind myself and bluewolf and now you're ahead so well done you!! My dedication dipped a little bit but roll on tomorrow, I am definitely getting out there for W6D1!

ommnyom

jw297 wrote: »

Did Week 6 Day 3 this evening (25 minutes). Was a bit worried about it since I found Day 1 really tough, but actually it was ok. Was a fairly slow jog to make sure I'd get through it, it would be a stretch of the imagination to call what I was doing running, but it was definitely faster than walking!

That's awesome! I'm taking a few days off, pulled a hamstring and kept going for a day or so, making everything worse. It's making me feel particularly lazy the last two days as I'm 'resting'. I'm probably just going to start week 6 over again.. hopefully on Tuesday, but I'll just have to see. I can't wait to get to the weeks where you do the same run every day! You're so nearly there, keep it up, the speed will come with time

ommnyom

jokettle wrote: »

An addition to my post above: would anyone have any suggestions for a playlist I'm making for my runs? I find Muse have a great beat to jog to, and I of course have the Rocky theme too does anyone else run to music, and if so what artists or tracks?
Thanks

I don't like having music on when I'm jogging, I find myself speeding up or slowing down in time with the beat. I usually listen to photography podcasts instead, not that I take that much in, but it feels like I'm learning something small along the way.

omahaid

W2D1 finished, feck that was tough, I'm sweating buckets now, phew

jokettle

Week 1 Day 2 finished

I have the Get Running app on my phone, and I've learned to love and hate the woman's voice in equal measures! Love it when she tells me to start walking or that I'm halfway through, hate it when she makes me run

Feel great now though; unless I'm imagininng things, I definitely found that easier than W1D1

coffee_cake

Well, I got out there again tonight. It was a bit pathetic I think I was managing 2min runs at most. Covered the same distance but ended up walking a lot of the way back. Run, get winded, walk, run, get winded, walk etc.
Hobbling around now so at least I know I pushed myself :rolleyes:
I think I will have to go every night this week to try get back