Muscle mass ways more. Measure in inches, not pounds. (that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it)
I’ve never needed to know how to do this before - so I never bothered to learn. But now I’ve got to figure out how to make my own podcast as opposed to just burning an entire uncut song.
Did week 1/day 1. I’m really out of shape.
I dunno. I googled it and gotthis threadfrom runners world and several more like it. Several of the yahoos there say that even though running makes them bloated and fat, they just love it so much that they could never give it up. I can’t say that I understand that mindset. If in a few weeks I’m not somewhat skinnier than I am now, I’m going back to the elliptical trainer–I loose weight on that.
I havn’t exactly felt like I had a charlie horse, but for the first couple of weeks my legs where certainly the limitation. They almost felt like I was dragging wooden logs under my knees for the last couple of intervals.
I think it took untill around week 4, then getting enough oxygen became my main concern and I had to slow down some.
My weight loss slowed down when I started running - I was losing about a kg per week for a while - now it is much, much slower. But I am getting thinner (as measured by the holes I have to add to my belt to keep it tight). Most of the additional muscle mass seems to go into my legs, but the belly fat roll is pretty small now.
A friend who used to run marathons/cross-country made the same comment - he put on weight at the start of the season (and he is lean).
So keep at it - watch what you eat and work out/run. It will be of benefit.
Si
Hey y’all! Long time lurker, yada yada. I’ve ‘started’ couch-to-5k twice before, in the sense of reading about it, getting all pumped for it, trying to make jogging partners out of all my friends, absolutely swearing up and down that this time I’m serious about getting in shape, and then not even doing day one.
But maybe, just maybe, posting on an anonymous internet message board will somehow guilt me into not being a quitter this time. Can’t hurt to try, right?
I’m posting just finishing week 1 day 2. I thought I’m pretty young and in not-terrible shape, the first couple of weeks at least should be easy. Well, they are NOT. But you know what? I’m still with it. There’s nothing in the rules that says collapsing into a puddle on a park bench for half an hour afterward isn’t ok, so that’s what I’m going to keep right on doing.
Welcome to the club, Staggering Genius!
(looks at his last post… did I really spell “weighs” as “ways”? Yikes!)
Anyway, just had a brisk walk up to Starbucks and back. My calf muscle isn’t 100%, but it’s not that bad. I’m going to keep working on it today and tomorrow, then I’ll try to run on it (Day 3, Week 1) Thursday night if possible. I might schedule a massage for Friday morning. It may or may not help, but it will definitely feel good and give me something to look forward to. My daughter’s not going to run with me on Thursday nights since that’s her soccer practice.
Will start second day of the pushups workout in a few minutes, but dropping down to the middle track on Week 4.
In my opinion you will burn more calories on the elliptical in general for the same amount of time doing cardio. I can burn about 100 calories every 5-6 minutes on the elliptical at level 15. Running I need about 7 to 8 minutes running at a 10 minute mile on an level 3 incline to burn the same amount. Walking on the treadmill for 6-7 minutes at incline 15 and speed 4.4 burns about 100 calories as well. My goal on cardio is to burn 500-600 calories everytime I go!
I was running for about 8-10 weeks after I finished this program and really didn’t see any noticable drop, but I also wasn’t monitoring what I ate. The last three weeks by monitoring what I eat AND running I am down 6 pounds or roughly two pounds a week.
So I am losing weight, but it was a combination of food and exercise. I find that when I monitor what I eat then I lose weight. If I just exercise I ‘convince’ myself I worked hard enough to deserve that cookie or whatever. But the reality is that it takes a long time to burn 100 calories–better to never stick it in your mouth to begin with! Or if you do–make it a VERY conscious choice and understand the implications.
I find this site very good for tracking your food
Morning, all!
I am back from my 2 mile run. The first portion of it, I wanted to quit. I seriously thought I’d just stop and go home and no one would be the wiser…
And then I decided, hey–I am in charge of this. If not now, when? If not running, what? And then I got distracted by this guy who pulled out a driveway, only to stop his car two houses down, get his kid out of the car and put him on the school bus that was in front of us. wth? 
By then, I had rounded a corner. I made an executive decision to do R2:W1 amd R3:W1 (I still call 'em 2/1’s and 3/1’s, but I digress). So, that’s what I did.
What I am proud of is that for the last 2 R3:W1’s, I RAN. Not this dogtrotty thing that I call jogging; I lengthened my stride and really pushed. As a kid, I was a sprinter and never could long distance anything. (I’m so old we used to do 50 yard dashes and 600 yard runs–I sucked at the 600 yard one). Even as a swimmer, I was better at the shorter races. Must have more fast twitch muscle or something. I immediately felt better and my body fell into a groove. I think I need fitter, then I can truly run.
Anyway, I hope to end my runs with RUNS, if you follow me.
Re the weight gain. I no longer weigh myself (too depressing), but muscle does weigh more than fat, so you lose inches, but the scale doesn’t change. Bummer.
I am trying to eat meals and not snack. Snacking is the death of me.
Oh, and I tried the pushups yesterday. I managed to “10” but of those, I’d say 4 were real (these are knee bent ones). My arms don’t hurt which is amazing.
Well, I actually made it through day 2. Which SUCKED. It was 50something degrees outside, which is no fit temperature for man nor beast. My ears were screaming with pain and my throat was right behind - I’d breathe through my nose and my lungs would yell that that wasn’t enough air, and I’d breathe through my mouth and my throat would complain about the thermostat. But I did it, the whole thing, no cheating.
My new sports bra SUCKED, by the way - must get new new sports bra.
And I crawl in after my “run” (there’s no sport called “shambling trot”) to find I’m way later than I thought I was, so I race to work only to find that 1) the newspapers are in the very. absolute. bottom of the book drop, and everybody and his Tijuana hooker returned their books this morning, 2) I couldn’t find my parking access card (finally, it was still in my wallet because the car was in the shop and then the gate was broken), 3) I forgot my ID tag and had to slink in the front door, to find that 4) the escalators are under maintenance.
Oh, and 5) Apple texted me to let me know they want my iPhone cord back, probably because it’s going to explode.
Not. my. day.
I disagree. You were awesome. You finished the whole run. You rock. That other stuff is minor.
Since you don’t like the cold early morning temps and you have to be at work, would it possibly be better to do your run in the afternoon/evening when you get home from work and the air is going to be warmer for you?
Still, you rock! Don’t forget it.
Eleanorigby, you also rock, as if there were any doubt. Are you doing your pushups and runs on the same day? I’m breaking mine up. I think the pushups are going to be harder to work up to, so just keep cranking some out, do what you can, and don’t quit.
My pushups are a bit killer for me, just because of the short cool down period. I need to figure out how to get the lactic acid out of my shoulders. Definitely feeling the burn. I did 20-25-20-20-35 today with 90 seconds rest between the first sets but about 2-3 minutes rest before the final burnout push.
Absolutely!
And eleanorigby, you wanted to stop but didn’t. That’s what it’s all about.
ShibbOleth, that’s a ton of push ups! You’re inspiring me and my armpits. 
I was trying to do the morning because I’m so bad at getting up, you know? Besides, it’s not like it’s going to get warmer as the year goes on. It isn’t going to be 75 in December even in the afternoon.
Seriously, eleanorigby, that’s got to be the hardest thing - to come close to deciding to quit and not quitting.
moi and I did wk1d2 this morning. Stretched a lot more before hand and afterward, hopefully that will help with the soreness. What sucks for me is I have an hour drive to get to work and after that I walk like the Mummy. Lucky me a customer called to let me know he wanted 60 more 8’ doors, which are stored on top of our 40’ sea containers. So I got a good upper body workout too.
I have a goal, everyone! I just looked at the calendar and realized that the week before Thanksgiving is the end of the program. My husband and I aren’t going anywhere for the holiday this year, so maybe I should try the annual turkey trot* in Troy. They still have last year’s race on the website, but it appears that I’ll have to register to run. Since I’ve only completed one day, I think I’ll hold off for a while, but I’d love to register in about 4 weeks so I’ll feel guilty if I quit the program.
I’m feeling pretty good today. I’m a little tight in the legs (and in my mid-back, oddly enough), but not sore. I think I’ll do some strength training in my arms, shoulders and abs tonight.
After reading about those of you who are not losing weight, I’m suddenly really happy that my scale is broken. I was going to buy a new one, but I’ll gauge my weight loss by my pants size instead or I’ll just get discouraged. I’m also back on Atkins this week, which is the best way of eating for me. It’s the only way I can curb my craving for carbs…and wine.
I don’t know how to program the treadmill at the gym, so I just change the speed for each interval as I go.
*Doesn’t that sound like something you’d get on Thanksgiving after eating too much? “Oy. I ate so much turkey, I’ve got the turkey trots!”
I’ve got an appointment with a sports doctor to have my knee looked at, this afternoon. I tripped and fell and landed on my left kneecap–on concrete–on Labor Day. I was out of action for ten days, and since then have been running every third day only. My knee swells a bit after the run, but if I ice it, there’s no additional pain. I did the W5:R3 twenty-minute run last Thursday. Hooray!
I’m hoping to get the go-ahead to resume running three times a week.
It is. I think it is for all of us. I doubt there’ll be a run I do where the thought doesn’t cross my mind. What can I say? I’m an underachiever (and lazy as hell). While I don’t like running (yet), I do love having run. Hope that makes sense.
Thank you all for your words of encouragement.
Zsofia–get yourself a new bra. I bought some at Target which were nice (fairly cheap) and they’re holding up well. I’m sort of a 38B (I say this because my size changes with every brand or style I try on), so I’m not sure if this type will work for you, but worth a try. IMS, they were like $17–not too bad.
I’m afraid I can’t totally sympathize re the temperature because I loathe hot weather so much. To me, 50 would be heaven. I do commiserate with you that you didn’t have the ideal conditions.
Shibboleth: These pushups… We’re supposed to do 20, then 25 etc? :eek: What member of the SS ordered this cruel punishment? Did I miss the memo? [sub]Y’all can do that and get totally ripped and I’ll be over here admiring your upper body strength, kay?[/sub]
I cannot run on Friday or Saturday, so I’m a bit as to what to do. I can’t run tomorrow, either (I am working all 3 days). I need to find a way to combine work (RN) and exercise (I mean running; I get plenty of activity at work). Thing is, I come home too whipped to run. Right now, I only work 2-3 days/week, so I can work around it, but if I pick up more time, I’m screwed… I will run on Saturday afternoon (in the heat of the day–ugh!), but it’s not every other day. <shrugs>
My legs feel it a bit today–I think the sprinting did that. Still, it feels good. I also can see some toning happening in my lower abdomen (thank god) and even in my arms.
Now, if I can just break the habit of making cookies or brownies on the days I run, I’ll be golden! :rolleyes:
Sattua–good luck with that. I have an appt with my podiatrist on Oct 1.
thatdarncat–stiffening up is a problem for me as well, especially right after (if I sit at the computer right after my stretching). Try breaking it up a bit–maybe even stop for coffee or water on the trip, just to walk a bit? It might help.
Yeah, I got mine from Target - my old one was one of their Champions, but I’ve outgrown it in literally every possible dimension, so I stuck with the same size but went up a band size - big mistake. The BAND kept moving around. Sucked hard. (I did get professionally fitted for bras a month or so ago, but sports bras are obviously different.) And it didn’t offer nearly enough support. Maybe my old one just shrunk in the wash and I’m still really a 36C in them?
Holy crap do I want to join you guys in this. I don’t know if I can, though.
I have such a problem with bursitis in my knees…does anyone else have that? How do you deal with it?