Jeshi

Hi, TwinMama. What was your first c25k session like?

That's why I came here, too, IzzyB! Tell us how your first session went. I feel like I just started even though the calendar says otherwise (three and a half weeks right now). Just take each session at a time and you'll be hooked like the rest of us!

Glad you are here, Gwen! I find writing recaps of my sessions very therapeutic. It helps me analyze how to improve, motivates and inspires others, and keeps me accountable. It's also nice to read back and see how I've improved (motivation for myself to keep going). I hope you'll come back and post how your session went. We'll be your biggest supporters!

Maggie, how did your C25K sessions go?

That's awesome, Sue! Keep us posted on Day 3's workout

Natcatvet, also, if you sleep your phone or switch to another app, it will continue the clock, but not the voice prompts.

Hi, Noeleen, I was gasping for breath when I first started. I started breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, making an audible "Ha!" sound (push the air from your lungs forcefully). Keep your shoulders and chest down (don't raise it when you breathe). You may not feel your belly expanding (it's ok). Feel free to repeat any day/week as long as you want. My experience so far is that all 3 days in the same Week are the same workout. So, you may want to complete all 3 days of the same week before repeating any of the days.

TarrynGrial, make sure you are eating at least 1200 calories a day. Any less and your body goes into starvation mode, which causes your body to hold onto the calories tightly. I know the app (and this forum) are about achieving a 5K run, but I'd thought I'd throw in this piece of weight loss information: Generally, when people talk about weight loss, they really want to lose pounds of fat. Our bodies are incredibly efficient. As we do the same routine over and over, our bodies get better at it and use less energy to complete the task. This is why if you practice the same Week's intervals, it gets easier and easier. What starts off as a struggle to complete may actually feel easy after repeating for a few weeks. In order to continue to challenge your body, you need to keep changing your routine. I use this example. One type of running I'll do is outdoor, semi-hilly C25K sessions. I've done Week 2 for 3-4 weeks to become comfortable with it. The inclines and uneven slopes work all the muscles in my body, my balance, and pushing forward on my own (as opposed to a treadmill 'pushing' me). Muscles also burn more calories than fat does at rest. I'll alternate days with Anerobic Sprints. I'll use the treadmill at a slight incline (to mimic wind resistance but the treadmill is still flat meaning my foot won’t protonate or supinate). On the run intervals (60 seconds), I’ll aim for a 180 cadence (stepping down 180 times per minute). Even setting the treadmill at a low speed, I’ll reach 84-91% of my maximum heart rate. During walk intervals (90 seconds), my heart rate drops to 70% max HR (aerobic levels). This increases the health of my heart, increases my lung function, and really, really help with fat loss. Like others said, it’s important to watch what you eat and how much. And the biggest clincher for me is sleep. I need at least 8 hours each night to see/feel a difference. Swapping run types not only keeps my body challenged but also keeps me motivated and having fun, not getting bored on the same type of running over and over.

Great question, Charrell! At this point, all you need to focus on is time. Do NOT worry about distance or speed. The goal is to finish a 5K and in order to do that, you need endurance. The increasing intervals in each set of workouts help you build endurance. After finishing the program, you can work on speed (which should naturally be faster at the end of the program than the beginning). Keep asking questions and let us know how Week 1 Day 2 went!

Hi, Sieg. Start by running as slow as possible. You should be able to talk, but not sing. See how long you can maintain that speed. The idea is to maintain your run (not burn out in the first minute). Good posture is a must. Check out the attachment on correct running form.

Hi, there. One thing to try: run slower. They say, if you CAN run SLOWER, you SHOULD. Aim to be able to talk, but not sing. If your 'run' pace ends up slower than your 'walk' pace, that's ok. When I first tried running outside, it seemed like I was jogging in place because the scenery wasn't changing. Starting off 20 seconds is great, too. However, try increasing the amount of time per interval instead of speed at the beginning.

10/12/15 Monday - Anerobic Sprints Having 2 rest days made such a difference! I settled on 3.8 mph 180 cadence and only felt the chest pressure near the end of the session. I sweat so much today (I probably sweat more indoors than outdoors due to air circulation, but this was more sweat indoors than usual). My lung capacity is definitely improving. I've been eating better foods and watching my portions through MyFitnessPals, but I tend to binge on some days. All I need to boost my fat-loss is sleep. I'm running at about six hours of sleep on every day but Sunday due to work. I can really see the inches fall off on days I sleep enough/a lot and gain on days I don't sleep enough/consume a lot of sodium the day before. I'm having a blast working on my lung capacity. I think I will alternate weeks of anerobic sprints with increased endurance. Maybe, I'll be able to speed up an endurance run after repeating it a couple of times. I'm quite happy that I'm out and about more and don't get as winded tying my shoelaces. Placing my run sessions Monday, Wednesday, Friday really helps me as I generally have to travel on weekends. I'll be doing a lot of walking this Saturday.

Wow, Sue. Congratulations on your success; I'm very inspired by your story. I definitely want to hear how Day 2 went for you.

Hey, E-Rock. You sound just like me! Congrats on finishing your first week. Looking forward to hearing how your Week 2 Day 1 session went.

Hi, Boyd. How many sessions have you completed? If you need someone to 'push' you, you can always 'check in' here. We will keep following up!

Welcome, Gin! TrishE is correct: you should be able to hold a conversation while running. They say if you CAN run slower, you SHOULD. Right now, the program is building up your endurance (to run longer and longer intervals until you can run continuously). After you are satisfied with your endurance, you can work on speed. Sometimes, my Run Pace is Slower than my Walk Pace, especially when I first started out. A good idea is to set the incline on 2.0; this will mimic wind resistance of the outdoors. A Zero incline is equivalent to running downhill. Incline killing your calves? Don't worry. Just do what you can. I started out with zero incline and gradually increased it. The best tip I've learn is to listen to your body. You may be uncomfortable, but should not be in pain. I want to hear how your first session went.

Great job on the stomach breathing! It was difficult for me to incorporate because I could "feel" my chest rising when I chest-breathe, but I cannot "feel" my stomach expanding when I stomach-breathe. Yay on your trophy!

10/9/15 Friday I did some reading on running yesterday. Specifically, about running for weight loss. It turns out that when you train for endurance (steady-state running) your body becomes more efficient (read: uses less calories to achieve the same task). This is why I experienced Week 2 becoming easy when it was difficult 3 weeks ago. If someone told me 4 weeks ago that I'd be able to run for 90 second intervals and find it easy, I'd call them a liar. It's amazing what this program has done for me. However, we all know how people can get 'bored' with exercise. I know I do. I know that I generally fall off whatever exercise program I'm on after 4 weeks, even if it's as diverse as P90X, with a different program each day of the week. So, I thought I'd change it up. I don't HAVE to finish c25k in 9 weeks. If I don't, I'm not a failure. As long as I'm out there 3 days a week for 30 minutes, doing some form of running, I'm succeeding. And I'm getting stronger. The thing I missed most about treadmill running when I was outdoors was the insanely high heart rate levels I was reaching. I would burst into anerobic sprints for 60 seconds and maintain aerobic levels for 90 second intervals. All for 20 continuous minutes. So I did that today. At 3.2 mph and 3.0 mph. You read that right. I focused on putting my feet down 180-200 times a minute at 3.2 mph. I didn't need to put my hands on the treadmill HR monitor. I could tell because my lungs felt like they were compressed. No matter how fast I deep-belly breathed, there wasn't enough air. It was great. I sweat so much. I felt like I completed a really great workout. Does this mean I'm going to stop progressing in the c25k app and start sprint intervals using Week 1 as my announcer? Of course not! This 'sprint day' is just another type of running I'm going to incorporate into my routine to 'change it up,' to keep my body guessing, to keep myself motivated. Sprinting helps build muscles and I love the feeling of working 'hard' even if it's 'torture' while I'm at it. What do I love about running outdoors? Besides the fresh air, I love the full body muscular burn. The way the hills challenge my shins and calves. The great sense of accomplishment that I ran continuous during THAT ENTIRE INTERVAL and I'm not stopping. I'm not quitting. That each time I repeat this SAME SESSION, it's becoming easier. That all I have to do is continue in order to get to that 5k. Because if I think about the next Week in the program, I want to give up. It's daunting. So, I don't. I just focus my breath and my foot landing at this exact moment. I'm happy that I'm on my way to running continuously and I hope it continues. Thanks for reading!

Nice seeing you here, Natalie I use MapMyRun at the same time as C25K Trainer when I'm outside to keep track of distance. It's free! You plan for running is perfect! They say if you can run slower, you should. That will help you run longer at each interval. Don't worry about the speed right now. I run so slowly some days, my "walk" intervals are faster than my "run" intervals. It doesn't matter. You're conditioning your body to run. When you repeat a Week for a few weeks, you'll be amazed how much easier that session is for you. I was less-than-enthusiastic about repeating Week 2, but I was happily surprised how little effort it took me to complete on Wednesday. Our bodies are amazingly adaptive. Keep up the good work!

Hi, Carut, I use MapMyRun. It's free. I load c25k first and choose the day (I'm repeating sessions). Then, I load MapMyRun and tap start workout. I switch to c25k for the duration of the session and then go to MapMyRun to end the session. Works well for me.

Oh my gosh, VSW and TrishE, I feel exactly the SAME way!!!

Go, Natalie! You can do it! I've had shin splints my entire life and had resigned myself to 'my body can't run' until I discovered this app and a better running form. So glad you figured out how to get around your knee pain and shin splints! Looking forward to updates of your progress.

Nothing ground breaking today. 1. Psychological: same excitement last night about running this morning. Not wanting to go this morning right before starting. I realized with my morning, I was getting started later than 7:00 AM and going longer each session, not leaving enough time to take care of my body afterwards. This definitely put me in a down mood during my session. I started with snug laces, but my feet were sliding inside my shoes. This caused foot pain for the first two runs, until I tightened the laces. The easiest way I found to tighten laces are to pull from the bottom and put an index finger on the X, using the other index finger hook it under the next X and pull up and tight. Then repeat. When I did this, my foot felt narrower and the outer part of my left foot became raised so I was hitting the road with the inner middle part of my foot instead of the outer part. This stopped the pain. I realize the reason why my feet are hurting is the muscles are weak because I do not walk on sloped surfaces. For the last 3 years, I spend the majority of my time at my work desk (or inside an office building) and home. Both buildings are levels and built flat. My foot muscles were not being worked even though I spend all my time at home barefoot. For some reason, my right leg/foot takes the correct form when running, but the muscles of my left foot/leg are weak. I wonder what causes that imbalance. When I tried running in the past, I would run like I am walking, but just faster. Now, I try to walk my intervals in a running posture to learn muscle memory. I'm pleased that my breathing in through nose and out through mouth is almost second nature as well as not lifting my chest when breathing in. Today was slower than Monday (more hills? more doubt?), but I can feel the improvements in my body. If I wasn't constantly breathing in and out, I could talk at my pace. What is most surprising is that I do not have to stop. When trying to run on the treadmill in the past, I'd run slower than others and couldn't do it for more than a few minutes. I had no clue how others maintain a fast pace for so long. I thought the only way to speed up is to start power walking and then build up speed to a run. I never knew that walk/run intervals was a strategy to build up endurance until I started this program. I am also not gasping for air like I was 4 weeks ago. I will proceed to Week 3 next week. Sure, it's a scary thought, but I think I'm ready to try it. I like the fact that I can make adjustments by listening to my body and either swallowing my pride to repeat a week or to push myself to the next level. Many times, my calves/shins have burned and I wanted to stop during the run interval, but I told myself to keep going. I would slow my pace down even further (sometimes slower than my walk!) if I needed to. Today, I didn't glance at my phone as often to see when the interval would be over. I just let the announcer tell me when to walk and when to run. Previously, I would work my hardest through the first few intervals telling myself that 'it is almost over,' and then I'd hear the 'you are half way' and laugh to myself. I didn't think about how much I had left, just kept going. Today's session felt 'easy' and 'dragging' at the same time. This is why I think I'm ready for the next week. I have noticed a lot of tension in my shoulders/neck, leading to headaches.

Go, Sam! I feel such a difference eating fast food versus 'real food.' I feel more satisfied after eating, stay satiated longer, and have more energy. The biggest bonus is not being sick all the time (colds and flu). Big props to you for cooking! Cooking is stressful for me and takes a lot of energy out of me. So, to help myself eat healthier, I have found frozen foods with meat and veggies and no preservatives/modified starches/hydrogenated oils/etc. that I can toss into the oven or simmer on the stove. These have been a lifesaver when I'm tired, hungry and just can't muster up the strength to cook. Let us know how your session went!

Hi, Gemma. Like you, I felt like I had no willpower. So I'm doing what I have to do to stick with the program. It helps me to lay out my clothes the night before and to stick to the same morning time 3 days a week. Even though I hear that obstinate child voice "I don't wanna" before each run, I am able to keep moving through my morning routine to get to the run. Take each day separately. It's daunting to think of the entire length of the program at one time. Just think about tomorrow and today. Either: tomorrow, I'm going to do it and feel great! or, today, I'm going to feel great and enjoy my rest tomorrow. It really helps me to enjoy each day, whether you are running or resting. That way there's no "bad day." Both days are crucial to success. It also helped me to re-frame rest days as "I'm working to recover my muscles" rather than "I'm taking the day off." Positives vibes for you and please let us know how you're doing.