Azatol

Great job. Loving that you're being mindful of your core and posture. Those things alone will help raise your cadence and improve your gait!!

Don't stress on distance. Just run for the proper time. The distance will come on it's own after you complete the program.

I don't have an app to suggest but this is the routine I use...

Great Job with W5D3!! and good luck on bird day!!!!

Taking smaller steps increases your cadence and shortens your stride. EXCELLENT thing to do. NEVER ever ever lock your knee though. ESPECIALLY downhill. When you lock your knee it can't bend like a shock absorber and all the shock of hitting the road goes directly into that knee. Not good.

Going slower is the trick. As you add distance your pace gets slower. It's that way for us all. Going slow makes you go long.

I've discussed the elliptical with my physical therapist and he's ok with it. It's a less than 90 degree bend and due to the ergonomics there is no load or shock to the knee. It's more comfortable than cycling at the moment and I need to do something to expel energy <G> Today I ran 9 miles and felt great. The knee doesn't feel bad tonight. I think 5 or 6 days off will do it a good servixe

The Back Story So on July 28th I underwent knee surgery. Before you get scared, it was NOT a running injury(So don't think running = knee surgery). We thought I had a rock imbedded in my knee from a motrocycle accident many years ago that was causing pain post run. Turns out I had a small Glomus toumor(benign, YAY!). This caused me to limp for several weeks. The limping caused a tightness in my right hip flexors, quads and piriformis. When I began running again, the muscle imbalance caused me to contract Patellofemorol Pain Syndrome(AKA Runners Knee) in my non surgery knee. The Cure: I spent months in physical therapy working on this. Normally you need to stop running but my PT felt that it important for my mental game to keep me running so he put many restrictions on me. No hills, no running with others, no pacing by a watch. Run easy and by feel. He also knew he needed to keep me training because I was running the Fall Runathon (Pure Tap 5K, Great Pumpkin 10k, Urban Bourbon Half Marathon) Well, I got through them all but the knee has never completely healed. My knee aches every night after I run and with a big spring race schedule, if I don't heal up, I'm in trouble. With nothing official on my schedule until spring training starts Jan 9th, I figure this is as good a time as any. After this mornings 9 miler (which I may cut to 6 if the knee is bugging me), I will be taking a short hiatus from all knee bending and ground pounding activities until Friday mornings breakfast fun run where I'll re-evaluate it. I'll still do core workouts, uppser body lifting/strength training, and possibl the elliptical machien if it doesn't bug the knee.

I would go back and complete the program in order for several reasons. 1) I can't feel like I completed something if I didn't do it in it's entirety. I want to be able tro say I completed C25K and know I did it all. 2) You are running distances your body is technically not properly conditioned for 3) There is never any benefit in skipping ahead in training. You're just denying yourself part of the training. Why would you want to deny yourself training? Training is win!

Anne, this pretty much explains what I've been begging people to listen to. Daily running is too much for your body until you're an elite runner. Taking that day off is critical. We ALL are suceptible to overuse injuries that make us regret our impatience and unwillingness to let our bodies get sufficient rest. Unfortuanly, no matter how many times you tell someone, many folks just need to learn the ahrd way (Don't worry folks. I get it. I didn't listen to those before me either LOL). I'm actually going to take a week off of running and strength training. Today is my last run until next Friday. I got a knee injury as a side effect of my surgery in the end of July and it still hasn't healed so I hurt after every run. Going to finally let my beloved knee rest.

<Giggle> Hill running tips: Uphill: Swing your arms more in an up and down motion then a front to back. Imagine you are throwing pebbles at your feet. Downhill: Focus on not slapping your feet on the ground. Land as gently as you can and it's ok to speed up a bit but also don't use the downhill to pick up time because you'll wear your quads out. Most impoarantly is to land soft when going downhill. it's the greatest impact you can put on your knees. Love your knees!!

Your question can only be answered with a question. Do you want to run a faster 5k or do you want to run a 10k? If 5K is the longest distance you wan to run (and there is nothing wrong with that), then you want to start speed work. If your desire is to run longer distances than you need to slowly nudgle up your long run and weekley mileage The good news is you will naturally get faster at 5K races if you increase your distance because 5K becomes an easier distance to run and when we don't need to tax ourselves cardiovascularly,. it's easier to run quicker. I went the direction of distance but kept doing 5K races anyway. I am by no means fast but I've gone from a 35 minute 5k to a 26 minute 5K just naturally over time as I built distance. I'm still as tired and sore after a 5K race as I used to because now that I am able to run 4 times the distance, I'm able to put forth more effort for the 5K distance thus running faster. You can still do distance running and speed work. The only time you need to clearly focus on speed work is if you have dreams of medalling in 5K races. I don't care if I win. I just care if I beat my previous best time. PR's(Personal records) are where it's at for me.

Comment ont he breathing. You should be breathing in with your mouth and nose. This isn't an iunhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth type thing.

This^^^. You may be suprinating and thery have shoes jsut for that.

Don't think overpronating is a problem. It certainly sounds like it and neutral pronation sounds like the "proper" form but it's totally untrue. Overpronating is like being left handed. It's not an ailment. It's perfectly normal. In fact, Overpronation is the most common type followed by neutral and finally suprination. Stability shoes (For overpronation) are actually the most abundant type. It just means your style is to roll your foot a bit inward when you run just like the vast majority of runners. Kudos for getting properly fit!! You'll benefit from it. Let us know how you like the shoes. You'll probably learn to love NSD (New shoe day). It's always exciting LOL

W5D3 is the biggest nothing in the program. W1D1 is much harder, By the time you get there your body WILL be ready(It's science and science is always right). The biggest defeating part of W5D3 is the mind game. Don't give in and you'll own it!!

I don't know. I'm rather picky. She needs to be a runner. LOL

Some friendly competition is healthy. I run with my friend Robbie for my Saturday long run. When I run over 6 miles I need to drop down to a 9:30-10:00 minute/mile(I am not a speedy guy), Without fail, he always pushes me down to 8:30 in the last couple of miles(He's 11 years younger than I and a good bit faster) and I am running so hard I can't speak. It sucks but I've gotten faster from it LOL

I don't even know what's happened to me other than after many many years I've found my true passion. I run, I read about running, I study running. There's no magic. Just lots of free time for a single guy and something he loves

Strength training is so win for your running! Good decision!

Proper shoes wouldn't be a bad idea. Also make saure you run tall, dont stride out in front of your body. Shiorter steps are win! And don't worry about speed. You are supposed to run this program as slow as you possibly can. The slower you run, the longer you can run and endurance is the key!

Thanks! This app started me down a path that's brought tons of joy into my life. I love to share what I've learned and happy to help others find that joy (Just remember, my advice is just the advice of an amateur runner). Running is pure awesome!

I got Patellofemorol Pain Syndrome(Runners Knee) in both knees right after I finished the C25K program. Wasn't the programs fault. I ran down 100 concrete stairs(running down stairs is the worst thing in the world for your knees) on my first "free" run after compleitng the program. Nearly a month of no running. Got scared and purchased the program because he comes highly reccomended by the owner of the website who helped me on my massive journey to lose weight and become fit (and I have). I trust Jason and have confidence in the program. My only other injury was Runners Knee a second time in august. This was caused by 3 weeks of limping after my knee surgery so again was a unique situation. I have never experienced any other injury. Is it because of the injury prevention program? Just luck? Would I have been injured had I not gotten the program? Who knows. I just know I trust this guy on running 100% and it's served me well so far.

Yep hills are scary at the start but I've actually grown to love them. What many people don't know is they are the magic elixir of running. It helps strengthen your legs, build better cardiovascular fitness which leads to increased natural speed. It's also the bane of many runners and a great place to catch up to and even pass faster runners who don't train on them. Good stuff

It's also not going to hurt to skip 1 run Jeshi. I don't like to either but it takes nearly 2 weeks to get any noticeable atrophy. Sometimes life and family happen. It's ok