~~~Couch to 5K ~~~ Think you can't be a runner? Think again!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Susan,

When I began, I could have run longer than the time designated for the beginning intervals, but I decided to do it "as written." That's just what I did.

I'll be curious to see what others say.

[myanv]

Originally Posted by susan1030

Starting up with my running today. I did a weight workout yesterday, so off I go today. I do have cardiovascular strength; wonder if I should try for a few minutes to start rather than 90 seconds or so. Thoughts anyone?

I think it is good to follow the plan so you can prevent injury. My body went into shock when I first started lol. I was soooooooo sore! I used to do about 45 minutes of cardio at the gym and I just about died when I started running. I think it is a whole different ballgame.

[kelley17]

DO YOU SEE MY BIG GRIN I made it through W4D1 and I feel good! I think the extra day of rest, the spoonful of PB (20 mins before), and the visualization helped me. Thanks for the great support.

[susan1030]

Originally Posted by myanv

I think it is good to follow the plan so you can prevent injury. My body went into shock when I first started lol. I was soooooooo sore! I used to do about 45 minutes of cardio at the gym and I just about died when I started running. I think it is a whole different ballgame.

I did it as the plan called for it. I took the pooch with me and of course, she wants to run for hours!!!!! A little cold here in Colorado today tho. I think I need something to cover my face so that I don't have to breathe frigid air.....

[GME]

Originally Posted by susan1030

Starting up with my running today. I did a weight workout yesterday, so off I go today. I do have cardiovascular strength; wonder if I should try for a few minutes to start rather than 90 seconds or so. Thoughts anyone?

Wecome Susan!

Part of C25K is building cardiovascular endurance, but the other part is slowly strengthening your joints and ligaments that get stressed when you run.

I read here about Lance Armstrong running a marathon without training much for it. He is obviously in good shape and finished in a good time, but came out with a lot of injuries. He was in great shape, but not running shape.

I vote stick to the program for the sake of your joints and do other cardio for more of a workout if you need it.

Congrats on the good run Kelly!

[GME]

I had a weird run tonight. I felt like I could have fallen over 5 minutes in, but gutted it out and wound up OK. I was scheduled for a 49 min run, but when I got to 48 I decided just to run all the way back to the parking lot- wound up at 57 mins. All was well, until I remembered the three flights of stairs from the beach to the bluff where the parking lot is. I can climb stairs like nobody's business now that I go down to the beach three times a week.

I have a dilema..... I was checking my Wii (I use it as my scale) and I realized I lost only two lbs in July and nothing in August, September and so far in October. I am a slow loser and have been prone to frustration and excessive tweaking in the past (Twyla can attest to my tweakiness ). I decided a while back that I'm OK with a slow loss (3-4 lbs a month), I feel good and I would just ride the slow times out. Well, two pounds in 10 weeks is a bit too slow, even for me.

I haven't been using FitDay, but my weight loss stopped when I started adding carbs for longer runs. Not junk, but apparently too many "good carbs" for me. My runs are tough without them, but I can't stay 208 forever.

I guess I'll just have to learn to time my carbs only when I do longer runs (I'm OK with my kid runs at school) and stay lower carb the rest of the time to try to get the weight moving again. Maybe I'll try the glycomaize Twyla mentioned a while back. If its fast-acting I'll just take it before I go and run it out of my system. I had a Lara bar two hours before I ran tonight and at first I think it didn't help, but now that I think about it I did run quite awhile.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. We now return to your regular scheduled programing.....

[myanv]

Originally Posted by GME

I had a weird run tonight. I felt like I could have fallen over 5 minutes in, but gutted it out and wound up OK. I was scheduled for a 49 min run, but when I got to 48 I decided just to run all the way back to the parking lot- wound up at 57 mins. All was well, until I remembered the three flights of stairs from the beach to the bluff where the parking lot is. I can climb stairs like nobody's business now that I go down to the beach three times a week.

I have a dilema..... I was checking my Wii (I use it as my scale) and I realized I lost only two lbs in July and nothing in August, September and so far in October. I am a slow loser and have been prone to frustration and excessive tweaking in the past (Twyla can attest to my tweakiness ). I decided a while back that I'm OK with a slow loss (3-4 lbs a month), I feel good and I would just ride the slow times out. Well, two pounds in 10 weeks is a bit too slow, even for me.

I haven't been using FitDay, but my weight loss stopped when I started adding carbs for longer runs. Not junk, but apparently too many "good carbs" for me. My runs are tough without them, but I can't stay 208 forever.

I guess I'll just have to learn to time my carbs only when I do longer runs (I'm OK with my kid runs at school) and stay lower carb the rest of the time to try to get the weight moving again. Maybe I'll try the glycomaize Twyla mentioned a while back. If its fast-acting I'll just take it before I go and run it out of my system. I had a Lara bar two hours before I ran tonight and at first I think it didn't help, but now that I think about it I did run quite awhile.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. We now return to your regular scheduled programing.....

I think we are in the same boat at the same weight. I haven't lost a pound in so long! I think it is about the same time frame as well. I honestly gave up on weighing myself because it is always a downer. I just recite the good ole mantra "you didn't gain this weight overnight, so you can't lose it overnight". Maybe the body is just trying to catch up?

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Originally Posted by kelley17

DO YOU SEE MY BIG GRIN I made it through W4D1 and I feel good! I think the extra day of rest, the spoonful of PB (20 mins before), and the visualization helped me. Thanks for the great support.

Great job, Kelley! We knew you could do it!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Gina, you ran 57 minutes!!!! That is fantastic! How I want to reach that goal myself some day!



You've proven you have stamina and determination. You get an A+ for that effort and commitment.

As for your weight, a couple of things come to mind.

First, in order to know WHY you're not losing SCALE WEIGHT, you need to know how to target your approach, and the only way to do that is to track your food, with Fitday or some other map. I highly encourage this.

Secondly, are you gaining LBM? Have you lost inches? Are your clothes fitting looser? If you answer yes to any of those, that may explain why you aren't seeing progress on the scale.

Thirdly, you may have more insulin resistance than you realize (won't know until you track your carbs faithfully), and if so, you may want to, as you said, eat your high carbs right before your runs and keep your carbs low at all other meals, but protein mod-high, fat high.

The first place to begin your evaluation is with tracking.

We'll figure this out.

You should be very proud that you have accomplished what you have in your fitness and cardiovascular goals. That's nothing to sneeze at. With this success, I'm confident you can pin down your weight/fat loss goals with the right approaches.

Keep up the great work....you are such an incredible inspiraiton to so many of us here!

[kelley17]

Originally Posted by GME

I had a weird run tonight. I felt like I could have fallen over 5 minutes in, but gutted it out and wound up OK. I was scheduled for a 49 min run, but when I got to 48 I decided just to run all the way back to the parking lot- wound up at 57 mins. All was well, until I remembered the three flights of stairs from the beach to the bluff where the parking lot is. I can climb stairs like nobody's business now that I go down to the beach three times a week.

I have a dilema..... I was checking my Wii (I use it as my scale) and I realized I lost only two lbs in July and nothing in August, September and so far in October. I am a slow loser and have been prone to frustration and excessive tweaking in the past (Twyla can attest to my tweakiness ). I decided a while back that I'm OK with a slow loss (3-4 lbs a month), I feel good and I would just ride the slow times out. Well, two pounds in 10 weeks is a bit too slow, even for me.

I haven't been using FitDay, but my weight loss stopped when I started adding carbs for longer runs. Not junk, but apparently too many "good carbs" for me. My runs are tough without them, but I can't stay 208 forever.

I guess I'll just have to learn to time my carbs only when I do longer runs (I'm OK with my kid runs at school) and stay lower carb the rest of the time to try to get the weight moving again. Maybe I'll try the glycomaize Twyla mentioned a while back. If its fast-acting I'll just take it before I go and run it out of my system. I had a Lara bar two hours before I ran tonight and at first I think it didn't help, but now that I think about it I did run quite awhile.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. We now return to your regular scheduled programing.....

Gina, Thanks for your support. About the weight issue. I'm doing the Crack the Fat loss Code which is essentially carb cycling and I love it. I have high carb, low carb, and medium carb days. It has really helped me to shed the pounds since late July. Just a thought. I also push my buddies doing CFLC to visit Twyla's journal when they stall because many of them aren't eating enough. You are doing a lot of running so I hope you are feeding that body. We have been so programed to starve ourselves thin and it doesn't work. I checked out all the weightloss threads before I decided on a plan. You also got to pick something you know you can stick with and that will make you happy.

[kelley17]

Originally Posted by WATCH-ME-SHRINK

Great job, Kelley! We knew you could do it!

Thanks Twyla

[susan1030]

Thanks for the advice you all! One more question; how many days a week do I do the running program. I still want to do my weight training as well and some days I have some serious time constraints. I don't have the copy that I printed up so sorry if I am asking something that is on the web site. Thanks again!!!

[GME]

Thanks everybody.

Right after I realized how long it had been since I lost, I went and measured. MAYBE a 1/4 inch here or there, its hard to tell, but certainly nothing major. I do seem to be changing shape a little though.

I tracked faithfully in FitDay over the summer, but quit about the time school started. The same time my weight loss stopped. Coincidence? Probably not.

I went through the undereating thing awhile back, so I'm pretty concious of that now. I don't think that's it.

Funny thing, last night after I typed up my tale of woe, I put some pants on that are usually pretty tight right out of the dryer. They felt much looser. I got up this morning and just looked thinner.

I guess the good news is I know how to maintain.

[wall]

Gina, you are an inspiration to me. Congrats on the awesome distance running you're doing.

Instead of bars for carbs, which I use too...have you ever tried gels?
I use them as an option. Accel Vanilla is my fav (full of chemically goodness)

Sports Drink Nutrition Information: Accelerade Products

coconut water is another option i'm using.

Just trying to find things that don't sit in my stomach like a bar does.

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

I'm rather bummed. I've been fighting a very bad cough all week, and it's improved only slightly. Mon - Wed of this week we've had above-avg temps, and when I get too warm it makes my coughing far worse. So I waited until today, Thursday, to plan my next run, since temps were to be cooler.

And it's raining!

Not sure that it's a good idea to run in the pouring rain with a bad cough.

I miss my running.

Oh, well. Thank goodness for my elliptical. I'll get cardio in tonight one way or another.

Football game tomorrow night (two undefeated HS teams), so no run then either. Looks like Saturday will be my next run.

[myanv]

w8 d2

I had a wonderful run today until the end. I felt a little light headed as I finished my run. I have no idea what that was about but I think I had my best run yet. I had a nice steady pace and I ran for about 40 minutes because I wanted to push myself a little.

[GME]

Originally Posted by wall

Gina, you are an inspiration to me. Congrats on the awesome distance running you're doing.

Instead of bars for carbs, which I use too...have you ever tried gels?
I use them as an option. Accel Vanilla is my fav (full of chemically goodness)

Sports Drink Nutrition Information: Accelerade Products

coconut water is another option i'm using.

Just trying to find things that don't sit in my stomach like a bar does.

Thanks Wall. Its funny you mention the gels, I was just looking at them last night in Target. Straight sugar being mentioned as one of the first ingredients skeeved me out though. I have blood sugar issues and I'm afraid I'd get a couple of miles from home and faint. I'll have to check these out. I know Target is not the epitome of sports nutrition shopping. Coconut water sounds good too.

I had a good second-to-last run of OHR tonight. I found............ TEN sand dollars! Usually a good day is three. I think I would have found more, but there were three little old ladies in front of me with a bag. Luckily, old ladies are slow so I passed them and started getting first dibs.

Don't tell anyone, but running is really just a front for my sand dollar operation. Why else would a grown woman with children, a home and a job be spending 6+ hours at the beach every week? And, if I run I can cover more ground and pass the competition. Ssshhhh

I hope you feel better soon Twyla.

Congrats on the great run myanv. You are almost a graduate!

[zinny]

Hi all. Great to read your updates and hear how fab you all are doing! I don't really see any other c25k-types when I go for my runs...funny, the promenade is almost entirely divided between speedy joggers who are very fit and walkers, who are sometimes also fit, but more often look like this is the first day they've been off the couch in a long time. I am almost always the only overweight jogger. (But look at me go compared to the walkers!)

I am still circling in week 6. I have had a recurring stomach bug, and it just left me too exhausted to continue with the program...I kept trying every few days to get back into it, but the last time I did W6D2, I was so exhausted, I could barely make it home. So I've taken more than week off. I have done some walking this week and this morning tried W6D1 (again!). I felt fine, no problems. I hope that I'll now be able to move through the rest of W6 and onto W7...

On Monday I start this "boot camp" program....yikes....it's 1 hour 3 mornings per week. I thought when I signed up for it I'd be almost done with c25k, and if not exactly in fab shape, at least have enough endurance to keep up with the class. I also think they're going to weigh us which is NOT going to put me in a good mood... Not sure if I really have the stamina yet to alternate boot camp and running every other day, that is, cardio 6 days per week, but if I can manage it, I think it will be great for my metabolism and heart!

[WATCH-ME-SHRINK]

Don't tell anyone, but running is really just a front for my sand dollar operation. Why else would a grown woman with children, a home and a job be spending 6+ hours at the beach every week? And, if I run I can cover more ground and pass the competition. Ssshhhh......Gina

By the way, Gina, about the gels Wall spoke of: My son has begun using those before his football games. Some of the other players have had good results with their stamina levels with the gels. I am VERY tempted to try one on my next run, which will be tomorrow evening probably. Yeah, I definitely think I will. (Ended up doing a good session of s/s cardio on the elliptical last night, since it was raining)

Here's the thing. If you take that before your run, the cardio is going to burn off the carbs, so it should NOT have a negative impact on your blood sugar.

Zinny, Welcome back, Stranger. Glad you're feeling better. Good luck with W6 and the new boot camp series. You can do it! Get rest, fuel up, and it should all work to your advantage

[WolfmanJacque]

In 15 hours I will run my first 5K since 1988. whew I'm excited!

The weather is absolutely horrible, driving cold rainstorm...hopefully it will break before tomorrow morning.

I feel a massive headcold coming on....I am currently in negotiations with God to please please please just hold off until I finish the 5K

Gotta go pick up my race packet and number!

ONCE MORE INTO THE BREECH!

[GME]

Good luck on the race Wolfman!

Well, I had a happy little morning today. I finished the OHR program! The tide was in so I was moving pretty slowly, but I did the whole 60 minutes! I actually did 60:45 because I wasn't paying attention.

Now I start working on speed. My 5K is in 4 weeks.

I tried a gel this morning and it didn't work too well for me. I broke out in a cold sweat about 20 min in and I was shaky on the way home. All I could find was a Power Bar brand, maybe others are better. I did take it on a completely empty stomach. For the carb count I could have a cup of OJ. Oh well, I tried it. I had a protein shake when I got home and evened out. I had bacon, eggs and avocado for brunch/lunch later.

[WolfmanJacque]

What a memorable day!

I finished my first 5K in 25 years with my head held high! Out of about 2000 runners I finished a respectable 1980th....but I never stopped to walk!

The rain stopped last night but a cold front moved in....quite a bit chillier than I was used to running in!