This week I jog for 1.5 minutes and walk for 1. I’m going to keep it at 3.5 for walking and 4.5 for jogging and an incline of 3%. Depending on how I feel I may not do all the repetitions each week and push myself a little more.
I have a great excuse for not going to spinning class tomorrow (Tuesday) as the downtown core will be mostly closed for the Tour of Alberta bike race. Both my office and gym are right downtown and everyone is getting out of dodge before 4:00 PM.
Runner Pat? Are you out there? I took your advice and bought running shoes. I went to a running store, they did several tests and brought out lots of shoes that were best for me. I bought the ones I felt were most comfortable and supportive.
Anyway, I went out on the track and started over week 1 day 1 of the Couch25K. This time it wasn’t my calves that hurt, it was my achilles tendons. I ended up doing only half of the program. My tendons hurt too much.
I made a point of not running on my toes like last time and tried to follow what you said about not over striding, almost flat footed and correct center of gravity…etc
Of course I haven’t ran in many years, I’m going to be 50 in a few months and I’m not in the best shape.
I work on my feet all day (11 to 12 hours) and I’m almost always sore from work. Could this have something to do with it?
What do I do? Should I keep running and stop when it hurts until I slowly improve? Do I need to stretch my legs more? I don’t want to stop, but I don’t want to injure myself. Help!
I do find that slowly ramping up our activity levels - nice and easy - goes a long way. At first I was having significant Achilles’ pain, despite stretching. I started easing up on the mileage and made up for it with some elliptical training while my body got used to the increased levels of activity. As my body got more comfortable with activity levels, the pain eased significantly. Perhaps you could try alternating walking/running if you don’t have access to an elliptical or the like?
I also found that as my body adapted to the running load, the pain in my Achilles’/soleus would be present at first but gradually fade away through the run. Now I’m doing 4-6 mile runs 3x/week, and after mile 1, my legs feel right as rain. But the first mile is slow and a bit sore. Adjusting my stride helped a lot.
Stretching helps, but recent research shows that stretching before a run might actually be counterproductive. Evidently there is a tendency for the pre-run stretch to actually trigger reflexive tightness during the run.
I’ve taken to doing separate dynamic stretching in the evening and this has really helped, but I’m also doing a complete weight training regimen as well. You may not need as much in depth stretching, but I doubt it could hurt if you do some research/follow some professional (i.e. not mine) advice on how and when to stretch.
Good luck, and remember…any forward progress is a step in the right direction!
My advice is don’t worry about times or placing for your first race. There’s lots of new things going on with crowds of people jostling for position and pre-race jitters and waiting in line for the porta-potties. Run as fast as you can but also enjoy the experience.
It’s almost impossible not to check the standings against your expectations but the race is against yourself right now.
How is best to warm up before a race? I usually walk for the first couple of minutes or quarter mile, which ever comes first. For an actual race, I’d rather start running out of the gate.
I generally go for an easy jog for 1/4 to 1/2 mile within 15 minutes of the start just to loosen up and warm up the muscles. Then I stretch a bit and jog in place some before the start. Since most races are difficult to run full speed from the start due to crowds you also get another 100 yards or so to ease into things.
Well today was the end of week two. I found that I just really wasn’t being challenged enough so today I decided to just go for it and run/walk the full 5k. It took me 53 minutes. I feel good; my feet are a little sore is all. I guess what I’ll do now is try to improve on my speed. I mostly walked for two minutes and jogged for two minutes and basically kept that up till I was done.
I feel pretty pleased with myself. I didn’t know I had that in me.
Thank you runner pat and picker. I will have to take it slow and gradually increase activity as my body gets used to it.
By the way, I’m very inspired by all the people here starting a running program and reaching your goals. I hope to be running some 5k’s along with you in the near (or not so near) future.
Start of week 3 today. I’ve sort of given up on the C25K and now it’s just 5k. I managed to knock 2 minutes off my time today for 51 minutes. I think I’ll keep up this pace till next week and try to get it to 49.
Floaty, you’re doing well but be cautious. Don’t force a pace, you will get faster on your own as you improve efficiency and fitness even staying with the same effort level. Also, tendons and ligaments adapt slower than the muscles do.
I think I’m doing OK as far as pushing myself. I’m trying to really listen to my body. So far nothing is sore or hurting and I’m taking a day off in between. I’m jogging for two minutes then recovering for two. No sore joints or muscles the next day.
Do you think that’s OK? I really don’t want to do any damage because I pushed myself too hard too soon. I was planning next week to jog for two minutes and then recover for 1.5 minutes. Do you think it’s too soon for that?
You’re the expert and I’ll do what you think is best.
Started week 2 of the program yesterday, I have to say, I was doing 4-mile walks 5 days a week before starting, I thought it would have been an easier transition than it was .
Biggest issue for me so far has been getting through the shin pain. It hasn’t quite been “Oh god, oh god, have to stop right now!” pain, but I have had to cut some of the jogging sequences a little short to make sure it doesn’t get there.
Good timing, runner pat. Just finished day 2 of week 2.
One of the things my doctor was concerned about a few months back was how long it was taking for my heart rate and blood pressure to come back down after exertion. Tonight, I monitored after my run and was back down to normal in significantly less time than when I had my stress test. I’m not winded for very long afterward.
I’m still looking forward, though, to when I can run for longer than 90 seconds without really wanting to slow down to the brisk walk again. I think I am just [del]a[/del] lazy [del]runner[/del].
Asimovian, that means you’re making progress. You might try going a little slower on the run portions if you feel a need to stop that soon. Do you know what your HR is during the run portion?
dzeiger, ice and NSAIDs. Shin splints most likely but I want you to do a test. Tap your leg at the top and bottom of the tibia. If it triggers the pain, then it’s a stress fracture.
Check with me with the results.
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