Couch to 5K running plan...has any tried it?

[contempory4me]

It is so great to have a place that is so encouraging!
From newbies to the ones who have passed the "probation" period, it helps me alot to read others milestones.
I'm only on W2D2 and I'm still not too sure if I can do this, I'm still thinking on the couch.
I'm just going to take it one week at a time.
Thanks!

 

[corinnak]

I did find the link in some of the earlier posts in this thread, thanks! Takes the "thought" out of it for us.

How do you all avoid shin splints or whatever they're called? I get them almost every time I'm on a treadmill. Ouch!

Hi Beka,
They usually have good advice on avoiding and healing from injuries on runnersworld.com - this was the best thing they had on shinsplints, though http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/too...1-290-291-6900-0,00.html?toolName=What Hurts?

OK - I hope that ugly link works!

I think that in terms of prevention, stretching before and after you run may help. I haven't had problems on this program, I must say, and I do remember having shinsplints when I ran a little in high school and college. I could show you the stretches I do, but I don't know what any of them are called......very embarrassing!

 

[corinnak]

It is so great to have a place that is so encouraging!.....
I'm just going to take it one week at a time.
Thanks!

I read somewhere that people who run with a group are more likely to reach their goal. I don't have a local group, but this thread seems to serve a similar function for me. It makes a huge difference.

If you have to, take it one day at a time. Or even one minute at a time - sometimes that is what it takes.

 

[katerkat]

I did it!! Week 5, Day 3!! Almost perfectly, too - I had to take two 15-second walking breaks at the top of two hills to quick catch my breath, and a 30-second walk around minute 16 out of twenty, but I finished it! And it looks like I did about 2.2 miles according to Mapquest, in 28 minutes including warm up and cool down. (I skimped on the cool down because I was back at the hotel already.) Woohoo!

My legs hurt, though! I need to do my off-day exercising and stretch out the muscles.

 

[corinnak]

I did it!! Week 5, Day 3!! Almost perfectly, too - I had to take two 15-second walking breaks at the top of two hills to quick catch my breath, and a 30-second walk around minute 16 out of twenty, but I finished it! And it looks like I did about 2.2 miles according to Mapquest, in 28 minutes including warm up and cool down. (I skimped on the cool down because I was back at the hotel already.) Woohoo!

My legs hurt, though! I need to do my off-day exercising and stretch out the muscles.

Way to go! It sounds like you did really well, hills and all. Isn't it an amazing feeling? Bloomsburg, here you come!

 

[katerkat]

Way to go! It sounds like you did really well, hills and all. Isn't it an amazing feeling? Bloomsburg, here you come!

I feel awesome!! I almost can't wait to get out there again tomorrow. I'm registering for Bloomsday just as soon as DH makes up his mind on whether he's running with me or just waiting at the finish line.

For stretching, try this article from Cool Running: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/126.shtml

 

[corinnak]

I feel awesome!! I almost can't wait to get out there again tomorrow. I'm registering for Bloomsday just as soon as DH makes up his mind on whether he's running with me or just waiting at the finish line.

For stretching, try this article from Cool Running: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/126.shtml

Oh, now I feel embarrassed because I got the name of your race wrong, in my haste! Bloomsday sounds more like a race than Bloomsburg which sounds like a flowery town or maybe comic strip or something.....

 

[corinnak]

Anybody there? How are things going?

I just finished w6d2 and am staring down the 25 minute run now.....

 

[plgrn]

Hi! Just finished W7D1 yesterday. Whew! It felt great though to run further than I ever have.

How'd your W6D2 go corinnack?

Do we have any program graduates yet??

 

[katerkat]

I'm doing W6D2 later this afternoon, once my MIL arrives to babysit! I didn't feel up to it this morning, so I did 25 minutes of yoga instead - stretches out those leg muscles in preparation!! I've also been wearing my Birkinstocks around the house, which helps with the leg pain.

 

[corinnak]

I'm doing W6D2 later this afternoon, once my MIL arrives to babysit! I didn't feel up to it this morning, so I did 25 minutes of yoga instead - stretches out those leg muscles in preparation!! I've also been wearing my Birkinstocks around the house, which helps with the leg pain.

You're still having leg pain? That doesn't sound so helpful for running.....but Yoga sounds like a good thing! Have fun with that w6d2 - it always helps to have someone minding the kids, I think. Even when I'm home on the treadmill, it seems like they always need a referee or SOMETHING after I have started.

plgrn (is it ok if I call you Jenn?) - I didn't realize we were so close in progress through the program for some reason. I thought w6d2 was OK. Not super fun or miraculously new, but a nice, solid run. I had no doubt I could do it, just had to get through it. Here's a funny thing. I set a timer for the 10 minute interval. Worked fine for the first one, then I watched the time on the treadmill for the walking break, then I started up running again and plum forgot to start the timer. I actually ended up deciding to keep going until the timer went off even though it was probably an extra two minutes.

I have also been doing a little chubby-girl sprint for the last minute of the last running segment - so I go up to 4.5mph (usually I run between 4 and 4.3) for no other reason than it feels good to stretch my legs out and actually run rather than jog. My lungs disagree a bit, though!

My father-in-law forwarded my RFTC fundraising email to, from what I can tell, the entire list of people that he knows. I am more than halfway to my goal, which he said he thought was underestimating my fundraising ability. I actually think it was underestimating HIS fundraising abilities, though.

 

[Fitswimmer]

Got back on the treadmill yesterday after a short layoff with asthma issues. I was able to do 15 min of jogging and 15 of walking-I broke it up into 5 min walk/5 min jog intervals and I really liked it! It felt great!!

I can't believe how much my swimming has improved though, which is my biggest thrill. I'm doing 1800 meters in the am now in about the same time it used to take me to do 1200!! I'm so psyched!!!

 

[katerkat]

You're still having leg pain? That doesn't sound so helpful for running.....but Yoga sounds like a good thing!

It's not bad, and it's mostly because I don't stretch properly before or after. Doing Yoga and Pilates and water aerobics on my off days really helps!

25 minute run tomorrow.... I know I'm not going to make it on distance, but I'm hoping to do the whole time. I'm thinking about doing the 25 minute runs on a treadmill to build my speed.

Oh, and I have a time to beat for Bloomsday. My good friend did it in 1 hr, 51 minutes while pregnant, so I have to beat that.

 

[corinnak]

Fitswimmer, that is so amazingly cool that the running has translated into big payoffs for your swimming! I love it!

katerkat -I'm on the 25 minute runs as well. I know it is a thing to be proud of and I should be ignoring the "distance" guidelines, but I am finding my speed and therefore distance covered to be a little demoralizing in the face of less than a month to race day. How are you building your speed with the treadmill? Does it seem to be working?

As regards your friend, that sounds pretty fast for a pregnant lady! Of course I'm not sure what I know about it.

As for me, I just did w7d1, the second of four 25 minute runs. It was OK - and I have to say, the first 13 minutes flew by pretty quickly, but after that it was work, no question. I am actually amazed that 13 minutes of running can fly by at this point. It will be amazing to me when 25 minutes is the new no-big-deal, I think. Not sure how long THAT will take, though!

Hope everyone's weekend is going well.

 

[katerkat]

I did my first 25 minute run, and yeah, it was depressing. I ran at a 4.5 pace, which hurt like HELL and I didn't even get to 2 miles in the 25 minutes. And I have to get to a 5.4 pace by the end of Week 7?? Ouch!!

 

[contempory4me]

You guys have been busy!
Tommorrow I start week 4. I feel great although still wearing an Acewrap on my knee after a problematic day on week 1. I'm afraid if I run without it so I just wear it. If it ever warms up and I can wear shorts, it will look funny so I'll have to take it off.
Its great to read that you all are breezing through the long runs it really gets me thru, thanks! It would be silly for me to complain about a 3 minute run.

 

[corinnak]

I did my first 25 minute run, and yeah, it was depressing. I ran at a 4.5 pace, which hurt like HELL and I didn't even get to 2 miles in the 25 minutes. And I have to get to a 5.4 pace by the end of Week 7?? Ouch!!

4.5 is my "fast" run that I can do for a whole minute at the end of the 25 minutes. It feels good in a way, but I could not keep it up for more than a minute or two at this point! I am starting to resign myself to the fact that much as I might want to run the whole 5k, I am going to likely have to do some recovery walking. I am down more than 7 pounds since I started, BUT there is no way to get around the extra 50 pounds that I am still carrying with me. All we can do is what we can do, I guess, and when it comes down to it, just the fact that we are doing what we are doing is amazing and impressive, right? Also, I don't think we are actually expected to run a 10 minute mile by the end of this Cause right now that seems impossible. I think that if we were running for distance, it would just work out to be a longer work out session we were doing each time, don't you think?

contemporary4me - wow - that's three weeks down and you are 1/3 through! I don't know that I would say I am breezing through the longer runs, but know this: it wasn't that long ago at all that each of us was doing the three minute runs and they were actually just as challenging to get through at that time as the longer runs are now, at least for me.

I'm taking my two day break today and tomorrow, but I am thinking of going to the YMCA (underloved membership) and see what I can do about getting a plan for some weight training during my son's preschool. I am not sure if I want just a re-orientation, to find a class during that time or go full bore and get a personal trainer to get me going in that direction.

Hope everyone's weekend was good!

 

[katerkat]

At least you're losing weight! I haven't lost a pound since I started this program. (I console myself with the fact that my calves have never looked better. And my thighs are looking better, too.)

I was really pushing it at 4.5 mph, and I hurt for a while afterward. I think I'm going to finish out the program on the treadmill just to build myself up to nearing the right pace for the run... This is what I figured, pace-wise:

W7D1 - 4.7 (today! )
W7D2 - 4.9
W7D3 - 5.2 (should be at 5.4 to complete 2.25 miles)
W8D1 - 5.4
W8D2 - 5.6
W8D3 - 5.7 (should be at 5.8 to complete 2.75 miles)
W9D1 - 5.8
W9D2 - 5.9
W9D3 - 6.0 (three miles in 30 minutes!)

Now, if I collapse in exhaustion around Week 8, will someone run Bloomsday for me?

 

[corinnak]

At least you're losing weight! I haven't lost a pound since I started this program. (I console myself with the fact that my calves have never looked better. And my thighs are looking better, too.)

It's not actually the running that is driving the weight loss....well, it is, but it isn't causing it. I decided I was tired of running with so much extra and have gotten back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon the past few weeks. The running helps, but I think I could easily eat up all the calories I burn while running if I weren't paying really close attention!

It's amazing to see the transformation in the legs already, isn't it? Mine look more toned as well!

That plan for upping your pace looks exhausting to me! I couldn't do it. I guess some people do sprints and fartleks to build speed, but as for me, I don't know much about it at all! But if you collapse around week 8, I'd be glad to walk/shuffle/jog Bloomsday for you, at least in spirit. Keep us posted, though!

 

[kimwim8]

I was really pushing it at 4.5 mph, and I hurt for a while afterward. I think I'm going to finish out the program on the treadmill just to build myself up to nearing the right pace for the run... This is what I figured, pace-wise:

W7D1 - 4.7 (today! )
W7D2 - 4.9
W7D3 - 5.2 (should be at 5.4 to complete 2.25 miles)
W8D1 - 5.4
W8D2 - 5.6
W8D3 - 5.7 (should be at 5.8 to complete 2.75 miles)
W9D1 - 5.8
W9D2 - 5.9
W9D3 - 6.0 (three miles in 30 minutes!)

Now, if I collapse in exhaustion around Week 8, will someone run Bloomsday for me?

Just be careful, ok? If you feel any pain, then run slower. There's no rule that in order to be a runner, you have to run 10 minute miles! I don't think I've ever done that. Take care, and listen to your body!