My first run today.

[Edington]

Well I did my first run today, well not quite, I had to give up on one of the running sessions in the middle as I just couldn't do it, so I skipped one run. I am going to re-do day one until I can do it all, then will move on. Even though I could not do the whole run, I felt a real sense of achievement in completing it and even my dogs kept up with me!

[SirEb]

You took your dogs? I was thinking about doing that but I worried that they would see it as a game and jump up or run in front of me and trip me up. Good to hear you didn't have a problem with them, it opens up more opportunities to fit in this C25K thing I've decided to do. My first run will be tonight.

[Edington in reply to SirEb]

Good luck with your first run. Yes, I was not sure how they would go, but so far, so good. It took a while to get one of my dogs not to keep running infront of me, but he eventually got the hang of it. I walk the dogs each day, so am trying to build this program into my daily routine.

[Noaky12 Graduate]

Congratulations for getting out there & getting that first run under your belt.

I know how hard these first runs are! Don't be afraid to slow down if you find you're struggling, you can always work on speed once you've built up a bit of stamina.

Good luck with the programme I'm sure you & the dogs will love it!

PS keep posting updates & lets us know how you're getting on ☺

[Edington in reply to Noaky12]

Thank you, yes, I will just set my own pace, was really happy that I was able to complete the run, even with a bit missing.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Brilliant... well done, and just go for it at your own pace. Slow and steady

[Edington in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you

[mfamilias Graduate]

Yeah ! I'm waving my pompoms for you. The feeling of achievement is fab, isn't it? And it just gets better....

Great idea to take the dogs - I took smelly dog with me until we got to week seven, when she decided that the running intervals were too long and went on strike. She's an old biddy, so she did well to get that far.

[Edington in reply to mfamilias]

I have one dog that is 12 years old, he is only small, I am not sure how much he enjoyed it, but my young dog is only 4 and he loved it.

[boptillyoudrop49 Graduate]

Go slow and then slow it down a bit more. I remember that first run with all the stopping and starting. My calves ached like mad. Two months or so on and I'm easily running for 28 minutes, albeit still slowly and I feel like I could just keep on going (ha maybe not though!). This programme really works but the first 5 weeks were a struggleto build up stamina, strength and get the hang of it. Week 1 I don't think I had a running gait to settle into and when you are alternating walking and running, it doesn't seem to come very naturally. It will all come together though.

[Edington in reply to boptillyoudrop49]

Yes, running does not come naturally to me, so I hope to struggle on to find some sort of running style.

[GoogleMe Graduate]

My strategy was that when I got to a segment where I couldn't run the whole of it, I walked for the rest of the podcast. Still building fitness but it makes it very clear what you have to do to improve. It took me a lot of attempts to get to the point where I'd done the 3 successful completions to enable me to move on to Week 2... but the interesting thing is that after that, the programme was straightforward (not saying easy!) and all completed on schedule.

[Edington in reply to GoogleMe]

Thank you. I had to "walk" through one of the running segments, then I was OK to finish the next 2 running segments. Hopefully if I just keep going at it I will be able to move on soon to Week 2. Thank you for the encouragement.

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to Edington]

It may well be that you crack the next session in full. If not, do keep the 'Game Over' strategy in mind to bolster that intention to keep going rather than letting your body decide. As others have said, adjust the pace, down, down, down if you need to and if you are really desperate but soooo close then run on the spot. It's all about maintaining a different movement not speed.

[misswobble Graduate]

Slow down and complete the session. Finishing is the whole point. Slow down to progress. The programme is progressive, and if you go slow and steady you will move effortlessly through the weeks, injury free.

Listen to the go slow advice cos it's the key

[Ullyrunner Graduate]

No worries - it's all quite a shock to the system just build up gently. We all struggled at first - it does get better as you build your fitness. You've made a great decision to start.

[JoolieB1 Graduate]

Well done, good to start. What made you miss out a run, do you think it was difficulty breathing or maybe you were running a bit too fast? There is no need to be speedy on the programme,math at can come in later. Just need to slow down enough to do the run times and you don't want to be gasping for breath, try breathing slowly and deeply and trying to be relaxed! I can remember well how hard it is to run for a whole minute but you won't believe me, you will be amazed that in a few weeks, you will find that easy, don't give up though, good for u having a try 😀 Julie