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C25K. I'm sorry I almost let you down. I became a little lazy. But today I completed w6d3. I now remember how much I love you and everyone in this forum. Ruther. I hope u complete it today. Felt so good to run 22 minutes

I did it! And I am so glad I did! I did walk more than run but I wasn't on the couch so yay! Thank you for your help!

Wow! Feeling invincible! Got a new pair of running shoes and it improved my time by 30 seconds on the mile. Seriously could not believe the difference a pair of shoes made. I am so confident that I will finish this. I was never really in this for the racing but I am thinking about signing up for a 5k next month. I am hooked!

Great job, Anne! Proud of you for strength training and then continuing the program when life gets in the way! You are doing great!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! I loved how much strength I developed in my muscles with the weighted vest, but after researching, I've concluded that the potential spinal injury from wearing weights wasn't worth the muscle gain considering the degenerative disk disease that runs in my family. I'm going to hold off the weighted vest for now. 11/23/15 Monday W8D1 36 degrees outside. Brrr! As I got dressed this morning, my SO asked, "You're going running??!?" I replied with a resolute, "I have to." while inside my mind I was finding excuses to not brave the cold. I had the itch to run on Saturday and Sunday, but had to remind myself that rest days are important. No one is stopping me from running today (unless it rained because rain will keep me from running outdoors). I was slightly apprehensive starting Week 8 -- what if I couldn't do it, but I pressed on because it would be SUPER exciting to finish this app by Thanksgiving!!! It wasn't a goal I had in mind at all, but the timing lines up and why not continuing to push myself? Sometimes, I have to pull myself along. I pulled my hood over my head and had to keep my hands in my pockets in the beginning because it was so cold -- hey, it's normally 90 degrees here -- but I warmed up shortly into my run. I didn't have an urge to keep glancing at the clock -- it can be a downer watching the clock counting down from 28 minutes. Besides, finishing the interval shouldn't feel like a chore. It's a gift of time to clear your mind and not worry/think about anything else -- I'm a major over-thinker, if you can't tell. The amazing thing was focusing on my core, drawing my navel toward my spine, standing tall and keeping my chest/shoulders stacked on top of my torso. I concentrated on my breathing, which only got a little rough when I got warm. Guess what? My feet didn't hurt AT ALL!! Every time I thought about my feet, I drew my thoughts back to my core and then let them wander about daily life/hobbies. My feet knew what to do. They know how to "feel" the road and how to push off to balance myself. Running this way really de-stressed me, gave me a sense of well-being and helped me run my fastest (without feeling like I was pushing myself to injury). Since the later sessions in c25k are repeated steady-state running, my body naturally got faster with each session, even if only for a little bit. The best part of my run was when I passed by a man getting into his car with a slightly shocked look on his face. I smiled and waved and he said, "Oh my gosh, it's 31 or 34 degrees outside!" I replied, "Gotta get my run in!" as I passed by. He shouted, "Very brave, very brave!" It was a nice affirmation that I was doing something good for my body -- although I would have continued even if he hadn't commented. I hope I inspired him to think about his health. Looking at my running time, I think I shaved 7 minutes off of my 5k time -- if I had run 5k. When I complete this week, I am going to repeat and try to reduce my time so I can finish that 5k in the 30-40 minutes (with and then without warm up) so I don't run longer. If I get bored, I'll start up the 10k app. I cannot believe I ran 28 minutes!!! The trick to running for a "long" time is to run at a sustainable pace. Breathing and muscle soreness play a big part. I don't think like I am running a race, (hold my breath and power through as hard and fast as I can to cross the finish line, and then that finish line, and then that one.) Maybe that's helpful for sprinting/speed intervals, but for this endurance running/de-stressing, this "easy" maintainable run is perfect for me. Wish you all happiness and running success!

The weather and a friend's sudden need to move furniture have gotten in the way of my 'normal' schedule but there's still progress being made. Last week I polished off Week 9 (Wednesday) and started Week 10 (Friday). Both of them were a success. I'm still getting the lower back pain but even in the 1-minute walking segments, I'm noticing it going away faster. The stuff that starts bothering me after a couple of minutes of jogging is also recovering quicker. My calf muscles stop complaining sooner, the same for my ankles and my right Achilles tendon loosens up better. Week 10 now has me doing three 15-minute intervals - 45 minutes of jogging which was simply inconceivable earlier this year. My legs look like they're in the best shape of my entire life. the only negative is that my weight is kinda stuck bouncing above and below 175 pounds but I'm certainly feeling better. These days, with the warmup and cooldowns included, I'm doing over 8km in a session. The last one was over 7km worth of real jogging. The idea of me jogging over 4 miles? Pure fantasy... But now it's reality and I'm almost not believing it except I have the evidence.

i just realized that when i ran week one days 1&2 back to back and i checked the miles covered during that time i ran over 5k in an hr that was with walks I can do this with the runs getting longer i can eventualy shorten the time and go further

I will get it done Monday. I have to be able to run 5k by January 1st. I will not walk any of this race. My goal anyways. Ruthie. Now that we're neck and neck it's giving me a little more accountability. Having fun with it. Good job on your run ruthie

I am left handed too! Anyway... Came back from W6D2 and first-time-ever-in-my-runner-shoes. Of course me being me, I could not make myself do my old route round and round my street, and had to go and face the hill again. First ten minutes were really easy, but really really easy. I thought it was a bit strange (maybe the fact that part of it was down hill and only part was uphill was the reason for the ease). The second ten minute run started at the bottom of the steep incline and I felt it right away. When I made it to the top I couldn't believe I had, and was seriously drained but did not give up. I kept running but I was worried because since this street is also circular, I was running towards the incline again and I didn't feel like doing it again... so I thought I would be smart, and take a shortcut....In between the circular streets we have steps and or zigzag paths for pedestrians. I thought I could run up a zig zag path, up to my street thus save myself the steep hill again. BIG mistake.... turns out I started this zigzag only a couple of minutes before the end of the run, and it also turns out that it was as steep as stairs at the end, so I walked for about 30 seconds at the very end... by that time, both my calves were cramping (as opposed to in my old shoes, when only my left calf would cramp :-)) but I still made myself run the last minute... so that I wouldn't feel as bad about walking the few seconds that I did. (walking? It was more like crawling...) Anyway, new shoes are interesting in a good way. I am not used to having any space in my running shoes, or to my feet moving at all but I will get used to that. My left calf didn't cramp at all, like it usually does, except when the right one did too, which means that the shoes are correcting whatever it was that was giving me a hard time....

thanks Azatol! Today I woke up at 4:30 don't know why Did my get ready for work stuff and get the teen up stuff had to be in early because of staffing issues so no pre work run and again only half a break today so I did w4d1 after work. It wasn't to hard a little legg cramp somewhere in the 5 min run then it went away also I didn't hear begin walking after last run so I was still running when she said one min left so yep kept running and then she said begin your cool down and I was like why what I want to keep going but I began my cool down anyway. Now because dinner is cooked and eaten kids are occupied and this day has been so long I am sitting on my couch in my pjs in full couch potato mode

Hi There and welcome to you, Never be hard on yourself, you are out there moving and that is what matters the most.... These apps are amazing and will motivate you and WE will all inspire you. Check out some of the other apps too! Proud of you!

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