The FastDay Forum

Alison14, Please don't feel pathetic you should be amazingly proud of what you've achieved. It doesn't matter how long it takes, you've still run rings around the person still on the couch. Remember if it doesn't challenge us it doesn't change us. Keep going.

Hi i've just started couch25k and am using a running app on my phone called run double - I am only on week 1 day 2 and had to repeat both day 1 and day 2 3 times each before i could complete them properly - i am so unfit and my legs were too achy the first times at trying!

I can see it's going to take me longer but thats ok - its not a race - excuse the pun

O ill keep going! I love it. Don't worry it took me redoing a lot of runs but ya no
Need to do it in the actual nine weeks. Keep going! An ya pathetic is a strong word I was just slightly dissapionted when I first measured my runs and seeng other people's times but I'm not anymore! I also just signed up for my first 5k. Yay! In about 5 1/2 weeks.

I've started this week and did my second 'run' yesterday. Not sure i'll ever run 5k in 30 mins but at least i'm trying! Well done everyone

I used an app called Get Running which was great. In week 1 I struggled to run for the 60 seconds at a time. I stuck with it and ran the R4L in 32 minutes, and was so proud of myself.
My BMI is well over 30 so don't let weight put you off, just go at your own pace.
I have now signed up for MoRunning for Movember. I'll be working towards a 10k this time- the time doesn't bother me so much, I just want to be able to run it without stopping.
Unfortunately I ran 6k last week and have shin splints, which are very hurty indeed and have meant that I have had to rest for a week or so.
My advice- go slowly, don't push yourself too far, and don't compare yourself to anyone else. Only try to beat your own time/distance- I couldn't give two hoots what other people are doing, I just want to finish my 10k with no walking!

Also, if you use Mapmyrun, which measures time, distance etc using GPS, it automatically takes your calories burnt off your daily totally from Myfitnesspal, which I have always liked. Obviously not for the fast days, but it helps you keep an eye on calorie consumption on normal days, and also how hard you have to work to burn off a bottle of red wine!

I ran week 1 (jog 1 min/walk 90 secs) 4 times, I'm only moving on to week 2 because I ran the last one comfortably. I'm quite happy to go at my own pace and I'll get there eventually! I must admit I only run on a treadmill as I'm not up for the public humiliation

I love C25k! I've done a Half Marathon and still went back to C25k after a period of not running. I'm super slow, my life goal is to complete a 5k in under 30 minutes someday. Losing weight will help, I know.

I think it's a great program to go back to for working on speed or after a period of inactivity.

Tips: A lot of injuries stem from going too fast, especially early weeks when it's more walk than run. Also if just starting, don't skip weeks. In a burst of enthusiasm after week 1, I once just skipped to Week 5 and then got frustrated when it got difficult quickly.

Shout out to super slow and brand new runners. I'm always amazed when I see someone who started as obese or as a brand new runner sticking with it. Inspiring!

Done week 2 run 1, not too bad, managed to complete it

@shanti I've done C25K previously using an app on my Blackberry, I load up my own music and it interrupts it to say 'start running now' etc. It's useful having a smartphone whilst doing it because you can also download a tracking app and have that running too, so you can record your run (or cycles/ swims too) and see it on a map and how far you ran and at what speeds etc on different points.

The apps availble will depend on the smartphone, but there is one on all the smartphones. Can you order your shop by rating? That's how I chose mine. I would be tempted to buy one with a small fee rather than a free one as you can avoid adverts easier that way.

Thank you for this! I can't believe I didn't get back to you yet!

I loaded a C25K app and am doing the free trial, but it's cheap so I'm sure I'll buy it when the trial is over. I've been walking more than 4 miles at a time at least 3 times per week since March, and trying to intersperse running in there since July, but I just couldn't figure out how to do it on my own. It's too hard to watch a watch and run at the same time, so I tried to do it based on how I felt, but sometimes I'd feel great and go to far and then be really sore for days afterward and set myself back. This app is really, really helpful! I'm on week 2, run 2 (completed on Thursday) and today will do week 2 run 3.

As you or someone else suggested, I also do my 'Runtastic' app because it 'talks' to MyFitnessPal to enter in my total distance there.

I was a little afraid to do Thursday's run. We're having record heat in central Iowa, USA, this week, and even at 7 p.m. it was over 95 degrees. AND it was a fasting day! Still, I'd been drinking, drinking, drinking fluids all day, and I'd taken my daughter to her dance class and had nothing to do for 2 hours while she was in class. I did the c25k program walking away from her studio. I actually walked a mile from the studio to a very shady park before I started the run, and then the park path was plenty long enough for me to carry on running away. I did the whole training run heading away from her studio, hit the park bathrooms when I finished and soaked down my shirt with water to cool off, and then walked back. By the time I was back at the studio, she still had half an hour of class and I'd gone a total distance of 6.25 miles! And I felt supper terrific. I wasn't exhausted at all, and I hadn't even had my 500 calories yet, so I did all that while totally fasting.

I know there is nothing 'scientific' about it, but for me, my own body does very well with fasting. The next day (Friday), I was not sore or achy at all, even though I'd run at a good pace and walked most of the distance at a 3.8 mph pace when walking. I think that 'repair mode' of fasting is really helping me with general over-all fitness and strength and recovery time and so on.

I'm not sure what I'll do when the weather forces me to run inside. I can't figure out how to get this app to work for indoor/treadmill running. I think I have it already set to time as opposed to distance, but it won't run without the GPS on, and if I'm on a treadmill, the GPS is going to show I'm standing still! LOL

Thanks all for recommending this phone app, it was exactly what I needed to work this out!

[carieoates]

Started this only today. Was thinking about doing tues, thurs, sun as these are non aerobics classs days for me.

Go for it!

Try some easy static post-run stretches this evening if you get achy or stiff.

[carieoates]

Thanks ADFnFuel, I've been to my exercise class tonight so well and truly stretched, toned and............ Knackered. But feeling every proud of myself especially as I left my fitbit at home whilst at work and I've still managed to do 11k steps plus

Good luck with it, I have just completed week 5 run 3 - and I never imagined I would be able to do that! (Jog 20 mins no stopping!) I'm still seriously overweight and run on the treadmill but as my husband is doing this as well, we hope to eventually get outside and move onto parkrun as well.

[carieoates]

Wow . I'm still feeling my first day, my inner thighs and quads. Got stuck squatting at work on Thursday. It was hilarious. "What are you doing down there" was the cry from my colleague. Anyhow, I think I'm going a bit crazy as Im thinking about doing "insane terrain". Which is a 5k assault course which I will walk with my colleagues. It's a bit like mucky traces, spartan etc.

Ahh! See?? That's why I mentioned that some slow, careful, stretching would be helpful.