Crabapple

Ditto!

It was very helpful, to be sure, to know that we aren't the only ones who have a difficult time just zipping through the program.

Ninjajedi, my 5k is a week later.

Freakin' cool! I have a running belt and it is so much better to have one.

Okay, Ninjajedi, I would totally like to see you run with a few beers in you. I know that if I tried, I would probably be very entertaining (I'm a total lightweight). Seriously, though, I agree with CleBkPkr. Also, I hope your birthday w was great!

This reminds me, and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. In my experience, keto and intermittent fasting are the best ways to lose weight. Keto is low carb, which means cutting out starches like bread and potatoes, and sugary foods. Eating fat is desirable because you are training your body to run on the fat you have, but fat eaten with carbs can prevent fast loss. For example, bacon, eggs, and sausages for breakfast is good. Add toast or french toast, and you've gotten off keto and have blocked weight loss. I've had better luck with intermittent fasting (IF) than keto, though keto certainly helped (I couldn't eat all the fat and animal protein recommended, though I have since discovered that amaranth and buckwheat have all 8 essential amino acids; but I haven't looked to see if they are low carb. Right now, I'm involved in the body ecology diet, which is for health and healing the gut, not weight loss). Intermittent fasting is great! You choose your eating window and fasting window. For example, my favorite eating window (also called "feeding window" but that makes me think of a horse instead of a human) is 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. or 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., though sometimes I've stopped eating at 6 p.m. Of course, you eat good food during the eating window. Feasting on sugary or high carb foods may not completely defeat your purpose if your fasting window is large enough, but is probably not a good idea, healthwise. Both keto and IF take some getting used to. If you're interested, I'd recommend looking at the forums on Reddit for both. They usually have links in the right sidebar that will give you basic information, plus the posts are usually by people who have done it or are doing it. Jason Fung might be someone you want to look up. He's a doctor who discovered that fasting helped his diabetic patients. Healed some of them, I think. Here are a couple of links about IF. Jason Fung-What is Intermittent Fasting video Intermittent Fasting for Beginners

Just so I'm giving a clear picture here, I probably walk 2/3 or 3/4 of the time I do my runs. I can go fairly far because I can walk 3 miles, and often do. It's about one and a half miles to Walmart so I walk there, walk around the store, and then walk home. Sometimes I go to another store or two before I go home, so walking is not difficult. Running! Man, that is difficult.

Happy Birthday. I hope it's a great day!

Wishing you luck, Cheryl. If the runs get too difficult, you can always repeat days or weeks. I've repeated. (Thought I was around week 7, but seeing how long ago I posted this, it looks like I could easily be on week 9 or 10. I know I repeated weeks at least 3 times.)

You're entitled to ramble because it's your thread. I agree. 3 minute runs are hard. I'm in week 4 on the app (something like week 7 or so for real) and it expects 3 and 5 minute runs. Needless to say, I just do what I can.

Okay, I see where I got confused in regards to how long I was supposed to run. The runs this week really are 3, 5, 3, 5. It's the rest periods that are 90 seconds and about 2 1/2 minutes long. After the run, I got light-headed and it got so bad that I felt like I was going to fall down. My experience with keto led me to believe I needed electrolytes, so I took a half teaspoon of Lite Salt and a half a teaspoon of Concentrace (which has a lot of magnesium in it), then sat down. And now I'm feeling a lot better. It makes me think I should probably take those minerals before I run, especially if I run a long time. Today I went 5.5 km (3.4 miles) which I've only done once before (and I forgot to bring my water bottle, which mistake I won't make again).

Neither am I.

Sounds like you've got a good plan that's working for you.

It really would.

[cheers] Awesome!

Thank you both for your encouragement. I appreciate it very much, and then some.

Oops. I thought the run was 3/5 but it was more like 3, 90 seconds, 5, 90 seconds, with comparable breaks in between. I obviously didn't pay enough attention to the voice when I ran today. I might try to follow it on the other run days this week, though I know I won't get to 5 and will be lucky to hit 3.

I would definitely miss you and a couple others. If I only accessed the forum on a computer, I think I'd be more likely to stick around. Accessing it through the app means that I might not think of coming here once I stop using the app. I am supposing the forum is available online.

I decided to forge ahead even though I'm where the app thinks I can run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes, run 5 minutes, and walk 5 minutes. I stop and go according to my ability, without measuring the time. Also, I'm adding distance. I hit 4k today. (C25k is set on miles, but I measure my distance with the Nike app because C25k never picks up the GPS signal. Also, Nike keeps recording until I stop it, because it is just a tracker for me, and the C25k app is my trainer. Nike is set for km because it is measuring how close I am, realistically, to being able to run a 5k, plus I'm going to use it on the 5k run day.)

Roche, if you look at the list on your app (where you find this forum, where you can put in your height/weight, send feedback, etc.), you'll see "units" near the bottom of the list (you may have to scroll to see it). If your app is giving you miles, slide the button to the left and it will change to km. Then, even if most or all people are talking in miles, your training program will be in kilometers.

I've also thought the same thing: that people probably just disappear once they finish the c25k. There's a good chance that I might do that, but not after the 5K in April. More likely after my 10K in October.

I suspect that taking on a project like going from couch to a 5K run probably has a high dropout rate, like you said. It definitely isn't easy, and I can imagine it's more difficult for someone with physical health problems or who has a lot of weight to lose. I really admire those people who keep on plugging on. They are such a good example for people like me who really want to give up sometimes. For example, that relative of yours is very inspiring.

I have had experiences like that when I'm walking. If alone, I'll get lost in thought sometimes. If with someone else, I'll get lost in the conversation. It makes it a lot easier to walk a few miles, especially if you're carrying groceries.

I don't think it has happened more than about 15 to 30 seconds at a time, and then only twice. Lol What it tells me, though, is that it's possible to do. I tried doing that this morning. I don't know if I did very well at that but I didn't do too bad in my run. I'm beginning to be encouraged. And I really think, with practice, I will get better and better at being lost in thought, even if it's just looking at the beautiful snow covered mountain to the north of me as I run. That's what I was looking at today during part of the run. (I'm practicing not looking at the ground as I run. )

I don't. My C25k always asks to be linked to Google Fit (even if I don't have it installed on my phone; btw, GF doesn't really accept C25k's input) but never to anything else. You might have some luck going to feedback on the C25k/C210k app. Click on it, and it will let you send an email to them. They haven't always been able to help me, but they have been really good at replying.