It was this program; I said I was doing it simultaneously earlier in the thread and a few people decided to, too. You do 5 sets of pushups per workout with a rest period between them. Goal at six weeks is to be able to do 100.
I did the second day of week one today. And, my husband joined me. However, he punked out after about the third run. He kept walking the entire time, though, and I finished it. I didn’t even have to stop early. Yay me!
I did find it a bit easier today than it was on Monday. We went to the track at the high school, rather than around our sort of hilly neighbourhood. Hills are BAD for fat girls.
I have run every other day for the whole program, with no bad effects so far. I know a few people who have done the same, but I would not run on consecutive days, I’d rather take an extra rest day if you need to move the schedule around.
People differ of cause, so maybe you’ll be fine with it, but generally it’s very important to keep at least a day of rest between the runs in the beginning.
I finished wk1 day 2 earlier today. Asthma started kicking up at about the 10 min mark. Oxygen started becoming an issue after that. So much so that I had to back the last 2 runs from 6.2 down to 6.0. (on the treadmill). I hate backing off. I haven’t had asthma problems in a long time. Oh, well. I’ll do a shot on the inhaler before running on Friday.
Other than that it went well. I even did 32 min on the bike afterwards.
Ok, this is interesting. I didn’t do any strength training yesterday on my “rest” day like I had planned (I forgot I had to pick up my daughter at daycare–thank goodness I didn’t abandon her there to go to the gym :eek:). Why was I only feeling tight yesterday and why am I SORE today? My calves and my quads are sore. In my experience, it’s the day after that I’m usually sore after working out–not two days after.
Anyway, today after work will be my second run of week one. I told my husband about my goal of running in the Turkey Trot and when I got home, I saw a note that said “Gone for a jog, be back later”. When he got home, he thanked me for the motivation.
Somehow, I completely forgot I was supposed to do push ups yesterday. Damn.
I’m going to run tonight and then (I hope) do pushups.
Oui, oui… I already have to climb a couple of damn hills to get to my home every evening (yes, I do have to go uphills both ways 
), I’m not going to run on those damn things (plus it’s concrete).
Another good thing of the track is that, even though it is sometimes a bit chilly for me, it will get definitely better than outside with the coming winter, and over the summer it makes running easy instead of life threatening.
Yesterday I ran the second run of week 8. So I’m just running 28 mins for the rest of this week. Let’s see if I can run today and tomorrow, and rest Saturday (well, the gym is going to be closed).
I’m the opposite to some folks… My legs can take it, but (particularly at the beginning and at around week 4), my lungs were giving up, I couldn’t breath enough to keep going. Luckily that is (mostly) under control.
That’s pretty darned inspirational.
Not to mention the whole becoming-a-doctor thing. That’s also pretty darned inspirational.
(Unless I’m wrong?)
I’m in week 2 and I’m starting to find the running intervals way too short. I’ll start the 90 second run and look at my watch after a while and over 2 minutes will have gone by. Yesterday I did the 20 minutes of W1.5/R1.5, then I ran the rest of the way home, six minutes!
So today I just did what I felt like. I did a 8 minute warm up walk, then run 2, walk 2, run 6, walk 2, run 8, walk 2, run 4, cool down walk. So 20 minutes running total. And my legs feel fine (I’m doing a slow jog- not trying to hurt myself).
Can I just decide not to stick so closely to the program? Can I just run if my body says it’s okay? I’m not out of shape per say- I’ve been walking several times a week for six months. I just don’t want to be bored, and I really, really feel good when I run.
Why don’t you try skipping to the next week and see how you feel?
I would be very leery of burning out. The program is designed to ease people in so they don’t burn out.
On the other hand, lots of people have become runners without using this program.
Just be careful about doing too much on legs/knees/feet that aren’t ready for it. For example, I’ve done a ton of walking, but my legs aren’t ready for all-jogging all-the-time yet.
I seem to recall that she’s very cute/pretty, too, unless I’m confusing her with someone else.
Well, I’m late finding the thread but I’m in. I have to work overtime tonight (bleh!) but either I’ll go after work (and after getting home, where my shoes and workout clothes are) or tomorrow morning.
I am NOT a natural runner, as cross country and track in high school taught me. My track coach was oddly proud of me: I refused utterly to go to any track meets because I knew I’d be dead last and the notion was utterly demoralizing and I quit about two or three weeks before the end of track season. My father came down to pick me up after I’d begged him to let me quit the team and the coach told him something I’ve never forgotten:
“LPN is not a natural runner, but she works twice as hard as everyone else out here. I wish everyone on the team worked as hard as her.”
We won’t even talk about cross country. That was GRUELING and I was pathetic at it. I really did come in last, too, trying not to cry as I took five minutes longer than everyone else. 
But I’m in until I cough my lungs out. Meanwhile, I’m playing a very physical part in Taming of the Shrew (I get to knock Lucentio on his butt!) so that should help me keep loose on non-running days.
Oh, and I am very overweight and get winded climbing to the third floor, so this should be interesting.
That was the plan today but I ended up running longer than week 3 recommends. I think I’ll skip to week 4 maybe, and I can always slow down. I don’t want to push myself and get an injury.
[hijack] Thanks, Shibb and Gingy. Blushes To the doctor thing, I’m officially one animal doctor since May, but I’m supposedly on track to become another type of doctor in a few years. In the meantime, I may be getting a second job, as this residency thing does not pay enough for my travel desires (and car fixing). As to the pretty/cute, I’m not sure either! It’s been what, 4 years since the FloridaFest? [/hijack]
Little Plastic Ninja, despite the running I do, going up the stairs to the indoor track (and going up the stupid #^*&@ hill) every day stills leaves me gasping for air. Good luck, the program is nicer than the stupid stairs!
Welcome! Just take it easy and don’t try to run too fast and come here for kudos and comfort. 
As someone who’s nearly 4 months in, I’ll just reiterate to the newbies: take it easy. Follow the directions to a T.
I’ve been increasing the time and distance of my runs beyond the program’s initial target, but at a similar rate to the program’s - an extra 3-5 minutes per week only: I have a sore and tense left calf muscle that only seems to relax after I’ve been running 10 minutes, so I don’t want to do myself a mischief.
That said, I do feel the need to run every day now, rather than three times a week. I alternate between a “slow” jogging day where I just do 3 miles, and a faster day where I push myself a little bit more.
The other thing that has happened without me realising it is that my running speed has increased naturally from about 5 mph to 7 mph+.
I have put weight on recently, maybe 5 lbs - but my belt is still getting looser and looser, to the point where I have had to punch a new hole in it. I’ve gone from 34" to less than 30". I presume my butt and legs are putting on dense muscle mass, which explains the apparent discrepancy. I am not stuffing my face, either, just eating enough to make me feel satisfied (see the Japanese women’s “80% full” diet tip).
The final good news I’ll give you is that my recovery time is now incredibly fast. I am panting and sweating for about five minutes after each run, whereas before it was about 30 minutes. And my legs ache a bit, maybe four or five hours after the run, but not the next day any more - whereas before I could hardly walk.
It’s an awesome program, and the benefits are superb. I’m 41 and never ran before in my life. I never saw myself as someone who would do that sort of thing, let alone enjoy it. Yet, it’s now something of an addiction. I miss it if I haven’t done it - and the boredom of it has become instead a meditative period of every day.
Good luck; it’s worth it!
Woo! Day 3 of week 1 went really well. I did more extensive stretching after my initial warmup, and I slowed down a little bit. No cramping or discomfort in my legs and no issue at all cardio-wise.
Then I did the second day of my pushups and eek. But still, I managed to complete it.
I bought shoes today.