Well, I am still running but I took a few days off and I can walk without pain now. I am also starting yoga tomorrow to help me with my stretching, and I am going to re-do week two since I took a week off. I didn’t realize how badly my legs were hurting until they didn’t anymore! But still, looking forward to it!
I went and bought new jeans the other day and they were down a size!
Thanks, pat! It’s good to know that I’m “in the zone.”
I was just Googling “12 minute mile” (my pace today) and I found it kind of sad that so many beginning runners were asking whether that was a good pace and people were saying no, it’s bad and you need to work on it. Sure, it’s not speedy, and yes, improving your time is probably a good thing. But for me, I figure that will come with time, and I just want to build my endurance and get lots of practice in. Who cares how fast I get there compared to some “standard”? I’m only competing against myself. 
(Besides, I once hit 9 minutes for one mile while running my usual 5K workout. )
Congratulations on the half! I have one in about 2 months. I’m excited but also a little nervous as the date approaches. I might try run/walking it if I feel totally miserable. Sometimes I feel like I should be faster but I’m never going to be an elite runner and I’m ok with that so why should I care about my speed?
Congrats Scarlett67. Good luck on the next one!
I am in week 3 of getting back into a routine.
I am struggling a little, and as mentioned up thread I believe it may be the high pollen count. I took a benydryl today before running and it was a bit easier.
In the past I was running two miles every other day. This year my doc wants me to try shorter runs more often, so I am going to try to work up to 1 mile 6 days a week. But for now will stick with the every other day routine. This time I am less sore in the mornings, and especially am not having problems with my feet.
I agree with Arien. I never worry about my speed, I’m more interested in making sure I continue to do it.
I could stand to lose 20 pounds (and want to lose 40 :D), but my biggest challenge is not having any decent way to judge my own improvement in time over runs. I live in a small residential area of Kyoto, so lots of winding streets and very little way of judging how far I’ve run. Thus far, I’m just working on finding a basic course that ends with me badly out of breath, and seeing how much farther I’m able to go as I keep doing it consistently.
Try MapMyRun.
It’s a website with a Google maps interface that allows you to trace a route through the streets, and that tells you how far the route is. I just looked, and it appears that it should work for Kyoto.
You’re going at it too hard. Your breathing should be deep but unstressed and conversation with a companion would still be possible.
You will improve from just being regular with your workouts. Don’t force yourself to go farther each day- that way lies injuries and burnout as you will quickly reach your limit.
Stick with the perceived effort and the added distance will happen on it’s own.
Congratulations, Scarlett67! Those people slagging a 12 minute pace are jerky. I’ve been running for more than a year and I see my pace getting faster, but believe me, I’m still pretty close to 12 minutes. My primary goal is to finish – whether I beat my previous time is sort of an added bonus.
I’m training for the Rock n Roll half marathon in Vegas in December. Next week my training plan bumps up to 4 runs a week!
That makes sense, thanks for the tip- and thank you for the link, mhendo! It looks like my daily run is almost exactly 1 mile (it’s about 1.51km), so from a training point of view should I just be concentrating on getting my mile time consistent, and then slowly lowering it?
My pace was 12:00/miles for quite some time, but eventually it got down to where I can now run 9:00/miles for 4-6 miles. You’ll get there, but it really doesn’t matter. It’s best to start measuring your runs by time, not distance.
Maintain the pace or even slow it a bit and work on building distance. Endurance is improved by spending more time at an activity rather than doing it faster.
Ok, I just started last week. It was a rough first week. I apologize to anyone who witnessed my “running” in the Chicago area.
That said, I ran on Saturday and it went so much better. I’m amazed at how fast the improvement seems to come.
I was by no means awesome. But I didn’t trip, puke, or punch myself in the face. I considered it a success. High fives to me and it’s really great to read other people’s C25K stories.
I did my first day Monday. I used to run aeons ago, so it was fairly easy. We’ll see how it goes!
My last week of the program is in November, so I’m thinking of seeing if I can find a 5K “Turkey Trot.”
I did my W4D2 this morning and it’s still going pretty well I think, I always manage to run when I should be but my pace does slow considerably towards the end. I track my progress using the Nike+ GPS app on the iPhone, this morning was 5.22km in 31:54 and when I finished Lance Armstrong congratulated me on a new personal best for the 5k!! OK it was only the second time my runs have gone over 5k but still, progress is good!
Ran in the rain this morning. I admit, even as I was getting out my car I was hating it. But once we started moving, it wasn’t *too *bad. The dog seems to like it, although she just likes to get out.
I finished the C25K last week and started on the bridge to 10k training this weekend, was out for almost an hour. It felt really good though, it’s been surprising how far I’ve come in what feels like a short amount of time. I remember when running for 2 minutes was a near-impossible task in my mind, and now I’m running 4-5 miles 4 times a week.
Is there a website that outlines the schedule for C25K? I was telling a friend about it this weekend, and she’d like to learn more. I wish I could do it, but I know my knees would strangle me in my sleep if I tried.
StG
I’m still laid up with a bad foot. Despite the urgent care doc diagnosing plantar fasciitis, which it isn’t, and my x-rays came up negative, I figure it’s either one of two things: extensor tendinitis or injury to the interosseous muscles of the foot. It’s been 12 days since the injury and 10 days since I realized running was a very painful experience. I tried running again day before yesterday and only made it about a mile before giving up in pain.
But the good news is I can now stand on my tiptoes and walking on it doesn’t hurt. I’m limping a lot less. I can flex my foot and toes in all directions with minimal discomfort. Going to give it until Friday and try running lightly again. Hopefully, by then, my new runners come in and I can run with a little cushioning until everything is back to normal.
So, I finished the sixth week and was about to start on the 7th week when I benched myself. I’m wondering if I should start up again further back in program, re-do the sixth week, or just move on to the seventh week? What do you guys think?
You won’t have lost any significant fitness but any newly healed injury will still be fragile. Restart at week four for the first two or three days, if it still feels good go to week five at that point. Finish week five and re-do week six.
Hopefully, you will be good from there.