Managed my last week 4 'run' but it was so much harder than r2. I really don't think I am cut out for this, and certainly not week 5 let alone anything longer.
My legs were so achey I could barely manage to the 5 min walk, and I gave myself and extra days rest because of the muscle soreness.
I definitely sound like a duck when I walk. My feet are so flat that it hurts to wear flat shoes. I have trainers that help as much as is possible but they don't make trainers for really flat feet.
This is my third time round on the programme and I have Ben told before but not on here, that I won't ever make a runner: unfit, duck feet, and lacking motivation/confidence and stamina. The only reason I'm doing this is for the Kylie bum and a vague hope to slim down my tree trunk legs (calves have actually got bigger though so not quite sure how this programme is meant to give someone 'summer legs').
Can I stop please and go back to the sofa. I may as well walk I 'run' so slowly.
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EustacuaVye
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Noooooo! Don't stop...it gets better! Say's me, aching like a biatch this morning after my first 5K park run (walk) yesterday morning. To be fair, easy for me to say 'cos I don't have flat feet. What I do have is a hefty age number, 3 stone of extra fat jiggling around, diabetes, high blood pressure AND asthma. I'm doing this to improve all of it...and it's working. Got muscles and tone in my legs for the first time in over 30 years and I've just found that I've actually got BONES under all my skin...revelation (one)!
The other thing I've got going for me is I'm a b'stard bird who thinks she can do anything. Some call it determination others call it bloodymindedness! I think you need to look at what you want out of it. I started doing it as my weight loss had ground to a halt, lost over 3 stone and couldn't shift more. I then could not believe the buzz I get out of it? BEST natural high I've had since the good old/bad old days, I'll say no more. If it REALLY doesn't suit you, don't punish yourself and find something that DOES suit but after swimming, walking and yoga, running for me is the MOST wonderful revelation (two)...think I'm proving that it's never too late too!
You're keeping coming back to trying out C25K DESPITE being told by a very rude person that you won't ever make a runner? then I admire you.
As for slimming down your legs - I think it works! that's one of the big surprises that I've had. I've always had big chunky legs and in fact they still are big and chunky, but I've noticed that they have been getting a much better shape, and even thinning down, especially around the bit above the knee. I'm not sure about achieving the Kylie bum....
I've been doing it really slowly (started in October, got as far as the beginning of week 7 in January) but can't get any further at the moment because there's so much ice on the ground where I'm living that it's become really, really hard, even with fancy bits on the bottom of my shoes.
I saw someone had done a parkrun in 41 minutes - well I could walk it in that - so, keep going - you're going to be a lot better at everything just by keeping going - and repeat week3. But a lot of people say its a 'mental' thing, so forget all the thoughts of 'can't do it / won't make a runner' - you're doing it already - so you can do it. If you were just to keep going at the level you're at now, its a darn sight better than nothing - so well done, you've achieved something already. Just keep going at wk 3 until you're happy. You are having your rest days aren't you? (I'm 56 and only on 3k 3 so no expert). But I think anyone that is having a go is marvellous. You will do it eventually if you keep going.
Could you try an extra rest day between each run? Sometimes I find that helps with aches. I also have flat feet, but I'm not sure which of my aches and pains are caused by them. It does get better as your body gets used to the running. You could also try repeating a week, or even running in the pool. Has anyone watched you run? Maybe you're doing something odd with your form that's exacerbating your problem. I hope you can get it sorted out.
If you are really not enjoying it at all, then the chances are you won't maintain the habit after graduation. The rest of us junkies can't wait for our next fix, so have trouble understanding those who don't feel the buzz when running. But you keep coming back, so there must be something drawing you to C25k. Many of us felt that it seemed unlikely that we would actually ever run 5k or 30 minutes, but proved to ourselves that we could actually do way more than we previously believed, but only because we wanted to do it.
The programme builds our self motivation, sometimes from a very low base, leaving most of us totally addicted to running. Don't ask us for permission to stop........we will say no. Ask yourself if you really want to do it. You will if you want to.
It would be sad if you stopped but, like smokers who won't stop smoking until they have a good enough reason to, if you hate running and the reasons you started aren't strong enough to keep you going, it may just be torture for you to keep going. As I became addicted almost immediately despite the pain and am therefore not impartial, I agree with the people above, and I think taking it more slowly and having extra rest days might get you 'over the hump' you keep coming up against.
Perhaps give it another month and see how you feel then? You can always do brisk walking instead, which is also great for your overall health and wellbeing. Just getting out there in the fresh air is a huge mood enhancer.
Don't lose heart, anyway.
PS whoever said you would never run because of your feet is a numpty. Plenty of people have got over that problem and run very successfully!
You struggled with your W4R3 but did it anyway - that's blooming brilliant! All the progressions feel difficult as ou go through the programme but I reckon that's part of the deal! Just think back to W1 and how difficult a 1 minute run was and how easy that feels now. I think the key to success for you is likely to be in telling yourself you are a runner and changing the way you think about your ability to put one foot in front of the other a bit more quickly. Another potentially useful thing would be to get some expert advice on your feet. You might need orthotics to support your arch more effectively for instance but you need the right person to advise you. Maybe a word with your GP?
Don't stop. I remember a run in week 3 where I hobbled home in agony even though usually I can walk for hours without even thinking and on that day I wondered if I could do this.
I'm not going to lie. Some days I still think I can't but I do it.
But this morning I ran for 25 minutes up and down hills in the snow and the feeling of doing something I thought i never could is magical.
I too have been told I can't run. I've been told I can't walk. But I bloody well can...and so can you xx
Guess I just need some support to keep going right now. Unlike most people I have no support at all, so it is this place or nothing. Some days I really have the buzz and really didn't expect to feel this low after this run, but it was so tough and I hate that I am so crap at this.
I am not good enough to join a running club as all my local ones need you to run 5k in 30 mins on th days I am free in the evenings - work stuff often gets in the way.
I will try to see my GP and take a few days more off between runs. I don't want to give up but motivation is hard when support is tricky to come by and even w4 is hard
It's exactly that you think you're "not cut out for this" that you should press on. You need to do this. Slow things right down and you will be ok. You have hit a wall mentally and it's stopping you progressing. You can push through it though. You can for sure. I know it. You just have to believe it
There are lots of people who pack things in when they get a bit tough. They shouldn't though. It's fear of the unknown maybe.
If you stick with it the rewards are yours for the taking. Being slim and healthy are the prizes you can take away from it. I am now over four stones lighter, and at 57 fitter than I have ever been in my life. I had an ar*e the size of Wales!!!! I don't now though and today my husband has bought me a pair of size 8 skinny jeans from Next. You can have a Kylie butt but you have to work for it. Nothing comes for free
It wasn't easy, but like Jen says you can become a "bas'trd bird" when you want something badly enough. It's either that or wimp out. We won't let you do that
We can stick by your side for your next runs if you want us to. Make sure you listen to Laura, run slow and you'll do it. I look at it this way. If you can walk, you can run. The key is to be slow. If you log on here and say you are about to do your next run we can all get behind you and hopefully give you a boost to help get your round. Laura will be there too
Size 8 !!!! Wowee miss W I'm struggling to lose last 10 lbs and was maybe just going to stick at this weight but you've given me the incentive to keep going to shift last bit Thanks
Size 8 !!!! Wowee miss W I'm struggling to lose last 10 lbs and was maybe just going to stick at this weight but you've given me the incentive to keep going to shift last bit Thanks
Scuse me, No you dam well cant give it up This program is aimed at everyone who has never run or wants to get back to running , who is the idiot who said you cant or wont ??
You get out there and shove right back in their face and say hey you look at me I am doing it !!!
I may not be doing it in 9 weeks or at some greyhound pace but I am doing it and you will , believe in the program and believe in yourself becuase the reality is YES you can do it ! kick those doubts into touch and carry on at your own pace we are allo behind you 100% keep at it
Don't give up - you CAN do this! Miss W has just said pretty much exactly what I was going to say so I won't reinvent the wheel but we're all here right behind you to cheer you on, even if it's only in a virtual capacity!! Take extra rest days and even repeat runs if you feel you need to before moving on. There's no legal requirement to complete the 9 weeks in exactly 9 weeks and many of us didn't. You'll be glad you stuck it out in the end
That's annoying that you have to be a certain level of runner before you can join the clubs in your area. The one here takes everybody from total beginners upwards, but I still don't go as its not at a convenient time.
My ar*e was so big that my neighbour said to me (upon losing a ton of weight) that he would miss the total eclipse that occurred every time I bent down! Cheek! LOL
Weight loss can happen, you can have a smaller butt but you have to put the work in. I hope Eustac will keep pushing to get where she wants to be
I don't think any of us found Couch easy, or a walk in the park, some days it's downright tough and you think you can't go on. Like Jen says though we are tough old birds when we want to be, and you find the strength. We have to dig deep but we find it. We didn't quit
You can do this! I'm outraged that someone told you you'd never be a runner - whoever they were they're an idiot! Ignore them and focus on loving yourself. You are doing this for you -what other people think doesn't matter at all.
I totally agree with the other replies here - take it slowly, perhaps repeat a week until you feel ready to move on. Just getting out the door to exercise 3 times a week is a fantastic achievement. Be proud of yourself - you're doing something amazing!
Ditto absolutely everything that has been said before. I have mornings when I just don't even want to get out of bed let alone run, but when I do it is fantastic.
I lost count of how many times I rewound the app to week one from week three when I started but eventually I said I would go to week five - and then I found this forum. They helped me get to week nine.
You can do it and the plonker that told you that flat-footers cannot run must be from another world.
Lots of wise words on here, and the best support any beginner runner could wish for - ignore the person who told you the negative stuff, it said more about them and their negativity than you. Keep trying and you will get there, the body does a lot of adapting in the early days, it will get easier.
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xx
This program is aimed at everyone who has never run or wants to get back to running , who is the idiot who said you cant or wont ?? 
W4R3 complete :) Bring on week 5!
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