Finally stopped making excuses and did my 1st day.
Found it hard, struggled a lot ( i'm overweight) i hope it will get easier. I need advise on how to reduce pain on my ankles. Is there a technique i could do? Or is it just painfull because is first time ever ???
Please someone help... I really want to give it a go and get my body back...
I work 9-5 so can only do it after work 6.30 or 7pm
One of my foot is more painfull than the other... I am very worried i my not be able to go to work in the morning.
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Fitterme
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It's only a very short run at this point so don't worry unduly. Take your rest day and you'll feel fine by the time your next run is due
If you are new to exercise you can expect to ache. It's par for the course but things do improve as you get stronger. Run slowly and steadily and do what Laura says, and you'll get round. If you set out with a smile on your face, and set out to enjoy it then you will. Don't worry about it.
My advice to you is to consider doing some walking BEFORE you try to do C25K. You can consider it to be part of the C25K training.
For 4 weeks, do 30 minutes non-stop walking three times per week. This will get you used to the regimen required during the programme and get some strength into your feet and legs. Over the 4 weeks , slowly increase your walking pace until by the end of that time, you are walking about as fast as you can go. During this later walking period, you can practice (and get used to doing ) rhythmic breathing , in time to the beat of your feet on the ground.
Once you have determined that you WILL do this programme, there is no rush to finish it - and equally there is no rush to start it. If you are overweight ( and of course much will also depend on just how overweight you are) , I can imagine that perhaps your feet have not had much exercise for a while?? If so, don't be ashamed of that - it is very very common in the sedentary world that most of us live in.
Thx for the advice. I already walk at least 20mins or sometimes 30 mins on my way to work. I recently also joined a dance class. So really i am serious. I hope the pain will ease off & i can do it comfortably. I am 2 stone overweight ... But i am determined to lose it.
Bazza's post is to the point. It took me 7 weeks to do week 1 as I was very unfit and overweight, and I started with only running 10 seconds/walking 2 minutes to start with. Aches and pains are common to start with but do listen to your body. Don't let them get so bad you can't walk and don't be afraid of taking 2 rest days between each run, and use it to walk instead
Thx for the encouragement. I will definetely take it slow. Hopefully will be walking on rest days...and keep motivated
I think Bazzas advice is good. Do some walking BEFORE you start C25k if you are very unused to exercise (just so your body gets the hang of it). Aches and pains are to be expected if you are asking your body to do something entirely new !! Good luck with it anyway. Making a start is the hardest part and you've already done that...
Congratulations on beginning this journey. Great advice above. Start with the walking and give your body a chance to adjust. Learn how to stretch your hamstrings and calves properly; they support your knees and always do the stretches after your walk/run. Every step you take; be it walking or running, is a step towards a new you.
My advice is similar to Bazza in that I was overweight by about 2 stones. I was also extremely honest with myself in that I had zero core strength. I therefore did not allow myself to run until I lost the first stone and also had enough core strength to hold myself in the correct posture for running- not as easy as it sounds.
If your ankles still hurt tomorrow, try and think of the C25K as a reward for you when you have done the base work.
For the core work, there is a strength and conditioning programme you can start on this website.
Good luck, don't give up. I completed wk4r2 just and started my journey to fitness on the 1st July, remember steady eddy is good!
Thx for your advice. I am trying to walk a bit going to work & back and add some dansing class once or twice a week. I need to learn stretching techniques properly.
I agree with all of the above. When I went out for the first run, I hadn't run (even for a bus!) since I was about 11 (having managed somehow to dodge running in PE at school - can't remember how!). So, I went out and, although quite slowly, ran like a child. After that first run EVERYTHING hurt really badly. It was then that I realised I needed to have a technique which slowed it right down and made it smoother so I wasn't banging my feet on the ground hard and which reduced the impact on all my bones and joints. I was also advised to start on grass, as it is kinder on the joints (though actually a bit harder work).
Take it very, very carefully, because the last thing you want is an injury which will take you out of the game completely. I think the C25K requires a level of fitness and mobility to start with, and Bazza's approach to learning to walk before you can run sounds very sensible, especially if you are carrying a lot of weight at the moment. And don't forget your stretches afterwards, which are VITAL!!!
Good luck, and don't give up just because it hurts - it will most definitely hurt - but hopefully good aches while your body reawakens and not injuries which will put you back on the couch.
I agree with all the above! I would also like to say a huge "WELL DONE!" for taking these first steps to health and fitness. You should be proud of yourself xxx
When I started, my feet hurt because I was running in a very old pair of worn out, Ill-fitting trainers. Have you had a gait analysis and got some decent running shoes? When I got new shoes they made such a big difference.
Why not do a "walking" version of the C25K... replace the running bits with a fast walk and a slower walk for the walking bits... Then you can still follow the plan and do a bit more week by week.
You are only 2 stone overweight which is not a lot!!!! I have lost FOUR stones but managed it so you can too
I think you just have to believe you can do it. YOU CAN!!! If you are walking regularly then you can speed up a bit. It's only a short distance to start with.
thx for the encouragement... well done on losing 4 stones...how long did it actually take you to lose that much? did you lose it on this couch to 5k program? did you do other things as well? sorry for asking too many questions but weight loss is my goal to get my blood pressure back to normal. i hopoe to hear from you...and oh, feel free to give me some tips that worked for you.
I walk already here & there....half of my journey to work & back walking... I also re-started with dance classes... I hope to get a bit fitter for this...
I walk a lot!!!! I borrow dogs and walk them. I lost the bulk of my weight by borrowing my neighbour's hound and walking it for miles. I still do! I joined WW class locally and try not to miss going. I lost a lot of weight dieting and walking. I lost 2 st 8 lbs in 10 months by watching what I ate. I eat much more healthily now! I kept steadily losing weight by just going out walking and leaving the car at home. Me and the hound were chewing up the miles and I was still losing weight. Someone at WW class told me about C25k so I did it, not without injuries though which put me back, but I carried on and finished it. Keeping going after Graduation and entering a 10 mile race spurred me on. I've ended up losing 4 stone l lb. I'm still running, still going to WW class and still walking that dog!
If you just leave the car at home and walk just as often as you can then you will lose weight. You get out what you put in, and if you are determined, then you will succeed at it. I also do exercise DVD's at home now and am loving them. I can't believe how I've changed. I gave up the fags and booze along the way too.
It's purely down to not running before, I wouldn't "brave" it and start the 2nd run if you're still hurting as the fitness side of it is difficult enough without hurting everytime your feet pound the pavement. I had similar, although my pains didn't really come into it until week 2, I stopped for around 10 days and then continued from where I'd left off, I'm now on week four and have no pains to contend with so it seems once you're over it it most likely won't be an issue again. You can try running on grass instead to lessen the blow or maybe the beach if you're near the coast.
Hi FitterMe - welcome to our C25k forum and for joining us on this fantastic journey. There's great advice above ... I would like to suggest that if you are achy that maybe you only do 2 C25k sessions a week and make sure you really stretch properly after each session. I'm sure that I'm more than 4 stones overweight and I'm currently on week 8. Don't forget that you can repeat any run along the way and, although it will take you longer to get through the programme, you will get there! If I can do it (having not run since school!) you can do it too!
Your ankles hurt because it was your first time, running is very hard on the overweight body, I should know take a peek below
January 2014
I am 5 foot 9.5
18 stone (I was clinically pushing out of obese into very obese on the height/weight chart)
Size 20
August 2014
Still 5 foot 9.5
14 Stone 5 Pounds
Now overweight on the height/weight chart
Size 16
The important thing when you are overweight is to listen to your body, most of the time you won't be able to run every other day...I couldn't, I used to run every 2-3 days because my legs ached, I even had to take 2 weeks off due to my bone ache ( it was literally growing pains in my lower legs, as my bones reinforced themselves with extra calcium) and right up until week 5 my foot used to go numb whilst I ran but I kept going, and slowly but surely the aches went away and the foot stopped going numb, and as you can see the weight has come off.
So keep going and one day you'll wake up and realise what seemed impossible has become possible
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