If you spend a lot of time under power lines that will make the readout erratic but not a steady high reading. I’ve never seen a Polar HRM be inaccurate. You say you want to quit at every step yet you don’t feel like you’re working that hard. Try a little slower(walk if you must), feeling like you want to quit will make it harder to maintain an exercise program long term. You should look forward to your time on the road, not dreading it.
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Tonight was mental more than anything. The calves were hurting, but I wasn’t at a loss for oxygen. I’m already looking forward to next time. 
I just didn’t want to do it tonight. 
Thanks for all your help and input. I really want to do this right.
I just started this week. I’ve done two days so far and I feel horribly out of shape. Someone please tell me that I’m not the only mega-couch potato who has had trouble with week one. I’m thinking of repeating it.
I really want to be in shape.
You’re more than welcome. I forgot to ask how you determined your max heart rate. Most of the formulas are not very accurate.
The monitor is figuring it based on weight, height and age. I haven’t been able to get it professionally measured yet. Is that something that you would recommend?
Those formulas only give a general idea, individuals vary. Try this page. You may very well be working in that 70-80% range now.
Knowing the correct number is vital if you’re going to train by heart rate.
You’re not the only mega-couch potato, Miss Mossie. I had trouble with week one as well and am now joining this thread after just finishing week 2 (finished it about 15 minutes ago. It was rough. I’m thinking of repeating week 2 next week). I hadn’t posted to the thread yet because I was afraid I’d embarrass myself by starting up all gung-ho, getting my butt kicked by this program, and ultimately quitting. So although I’ve been following this thread closely, I’m just now making my first post to it. I’m just a silly little ol’ gal, aren’t I?
You know how you can easily pull a muscle when you’re out of shape? Well, apparently I’m so out of shape I was convinced the other day that I had pulled my fat! Yep, my fat. The fat at the top of my hips. I’m all better now, but that was honestly scary. I could just imagine having to go to the doctor’s office for the pain and then having to listen to them laughing at my pulled fat pain! How mortifying!
In all heartfelt sincerity, I’m 44 years old, and I really want to be in shape, too. It seems that all of my friends are being diagnosed with scary diseases that we used to think that only old people got…like high cholesterol…high blood pressure…and diabetes. I love my friends dearly, but I don’t want to be in that group with them. Reading everyone’s posts about how much better they feel now and how much better their clothes are fitting is very inspiring for me. Y’all are keeping me motivated, now that I’ve come out of the “jogging closet” and declared myself a jogger, too. I’m still a lard-ass, and a mega-couch potato, but I’m making progress. And hopefully I’ll never have to deal with those diseases in the future.
Welcome, newcomers! You aren’t the only mega couch potatoes by ANY stretch of the imagination. I’m on Week 7 and, well, I would still consider myself a couch potato. A reforming couch potato–perhaps an oven fry. 
Remember, there’s nothing wrong with slowing down and nothing wrong with repeating a week, but consider trying day 1 of the following week. You may surprise yourself.
Miss Mossie, in case you didn’t see it, this thread is a continuation of this thread. Best of luck and good running.
Ok, I ran today after not doing that for the past two days. And it seems this week I’m very much on budget, so I can “splurge” and get a couple of industrial sport bras. Yay, I definitely need them for both running and training! Thank you to jsgoddess for the link.
I ran for 30 minutes! Straight!
As a reward, I’m buying two new Enell sports bras. I kinda want a license plate holder I saw on the Ladies Only site that said “I run like a girl.”
Congrats! Congrats! Yay! Doesn’t it feel well when you end?
jsgoddess, I kinda want the kiwi with black borders… mmm… But I always run with a shirt on top, so nobody will see it (other than the contrast of white shirt and dark bra).
I went with the kiwi. It was cheaper AND I liked the color. Win-win!
This is really getting kind of heartbreaking. I had another really disappointing run today. After I felt like I’d been going for a hell of a long time I let myself walk a little, and I checked my iPhone and saw it had been a whole twelve fucking minutes. Twelve! I ran TWENTY a couple weeks ago without walking. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.
Maybe it’s that at this point I’m no longer seeing the dramatic gains I saw the first few weeks? I don’t know. My mom is doing her week 5 day 3 tomorrow, so I said I’d go with her. (I guess we’ll see if I can even do twenty again.) Of course, if she walks I’m screwed, and I know in the past few weeks she’s been having to take a few tiny walk breaks. Of course, she’s 67 and usually ends up doing her running after she and her friend walk 3 miles up and down a bunch of hills.
Congrats jsgoddess! I’m going for 25 minutes tonight after work. Hang in there Zsofia!
Hang in there. All this means is that you’re closer to your next really good run.
Also, see if you can use these disappointments as data and feedback—what was different? Were you as hydrated/fueled as you should have been? Was it your legs, your lungs, your mind that stopped you?
And we women have to pay attention to the shoes we wear all the time—the day after wearing my super-cool but heavy wedge boots, I have a harder time running. I used to have a pair of black heels that I could only wear on a day when I had a rest day scheduled for the following day, just because they affected certain muscles.
Way to go** jsgoddess**! I might as well also put in a plug here for my favorite online store for shorts and running tops—Sierra Trading Post. I even got a super-cure running skirt there. Word of warning, though—if you place an order, your confirmation page will have a Bible quote on it. If that offends you, don’t do it. (You will be rewarded, though—perhaps not in the afterlife, but in the form of frequent 20, 25, or even 30% off coupons via email).
I am on the fence about running tomorrow. I face yet another horrid week at work, and my bone spur is killing me. I have new orthotics and I see the podiatrist again on Wednesday. As much as I hate to skip, I think I need a break from the pain. Plus, I have a lot of yard work (winterizing flower beds) to do tomorrow as well.
I hope to run on Wednesday morning after the podiatrist. And then Saturday, if there are no cases at work (I’m on call). But the next week, I have my colonoscopy on Monday as well–so no run there.
I’m down to doing 1.4 alternating with 1.9 miles–and my foot hurts every day now.
I totally skipped out on my Week 9 Day 3. I took one look at the thermometer this morning (38 F) and, remembering the last time I ran when it was in the 40s, said, “HELL no”. I think I’ll try to go tomorrow afternoon when it’s warmer out and not raining icy misery.
I’m afraid to ask, because this might be de-motivational, but I’m curious as to what other type of aches people are getting. I’ve seen ankles and feet, and personally I’ve had trouble with knees and shins (less so this week, I’m glad to say). But I don’t get the aches I’m expecting.
For example, when I do Tae-bo, I feel that muscle tension ache in my thighs the next day, because those are the muscles that are getting worked. But I have yet to feel similar aches in my calves from running. What gives?
I’m getting very little in the way of aches. A little tightness the next morning isn’t unusual for me, but no real aches (other than the balls of my feet, but that’s from before this running adventure started).
I’m getting very little in the form of aches - these days, mostly in my calves, the day after. They don’t really bother me when I run the next time. I think my problems are mental.