Newbie

[Deals]

Hi, just completed day 1 of week 1. I can walk for miles but was horrified by feeling like I could hardly breathe when doing a very slow jog for only 60 seconds! Is this normal?

[Bells411]

Perfectly normal I imagine, especially if you have no history of running. As they say 'things can only get better!' Good luck

I started mine today also!

[Deals in reply to Bells411]

Thank you. I haven't done any running since my schooldays (a very long time ago) and remember struggling with the breathing back then.

Good luck to you too.

[Tweeds98]

Just completed my second run and I feel exactly the same way! Very new to running, it'll definitely get easy!

[Deals in reply to Tweeds98]

I hope so! Good to know that others feel the same and that it's not just because there is a design fault with my lungs!

[Tweeds98 in reply to Deals]

Ran with my sister today and we both thought we were going to be sick by the end!! Love this site for showing that other people are going through the same things and it's perfectly normal!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

This made me smile... many of us, very, very many of us have felt like this...

But...if you keep it slow and steady, each run you do, makes you stronger..honestly and there will be a time when you are running for 30 minutes and you will hardly believe it

I look at what I run now, two and a half years on, three times a week, and I am still amazed

A different exercise uses different bits of your body...and your body lets you know that... so really, the slower you go at this stage, the better

Other exercises like Walking, or swimming, cycling or yoga or strength and flex exercises on your rest days too, will help.. there is a link to NHS Strength and Flex, which many of us used alongside C25K... I still use those exercises now occasionally

nhs.uk/Livewell/strength-an...

Juts keep posting, and do this your way... you are normal... just keep it slow

Well done !

[Deals in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you, good advice. I will definitely look up the Strength and Flex exercises.

Reassuring to hear someone say I am normal!

[Miller2]

This also made me chuckle a lot - not in a mean way, but in a sort of fond memory way - I remember that feeling like it was yesterday!!!!! On my last jogging session of the very first run, I actually shouted to my husband that I thought I was dying. No, really, it was that bad! But before you know it you'll be running for 30 minutes and you'll look back on that first week and smile! Oldfloss offers the best advice of all, "slow and steady". It's something I have lived by for the last 12 months since I started. It got me through hard moments and it got me through a down patch following an injury at Christmas. It should become your new mantra!!! The programme works, have faith. On some runs when I was doing the programme I physically whispered/puffed out loud to myself "you can do it". It really is as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical one. If you can keep your mind on side and know you can do it, even when you find it tough, you will get there. Don't be afraid to repeat runs if you don't finish one either, if you can't get through one, treat that as a "practice" run for next time. I too could walk for miles when I started, but week 1 run 1 nearly finished me off. Now I can't imagine my life without running. It's perfectly normal, embrace it and enjoy the journey. The people on here are all AMAZING!!!! Post about your runs, good or bad. They are the most supportive bunch on people on the planet.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Miller2]

Great advice sweetie! You are one of the strongest people on here... I remember when you started and that photo of you... so good that you are back on your running journey again....I only have to see your post flagged and it makes me smile x

[Miller2 in reply to Oldfloss]

Aww thanks floss. Yep, nothing keeps me down now it seems! One determined lady here. I love the happiness buzz you get afterwards more than anything, even if I've not enjoyed that particular run. You can have a really crap day and it makes you feel much better. I hated not being able to do it for 3 months. I went stir crazy!

[Deals in reply to Miller2]

Thank you so much for your reply, you have made me smile and really inspired me to keep going.

I too felt like I might not make it back home and actually felt like I might throw up by the last jog!

[Miller2 in reply to Deals]

yup - sounds familiar. I definitely felt like that after the first run, and also when I picked up week 6 again after a 3 week holiday and no running. After that holiday I had to have 3 "practice" runs before I finished the session all the way through and moved on to the 2nd run of that week (that week 6 took me a few weeks!) but I persevered and it payed off. Welcome on board!

[toria36]

Welcome on board. I have to say i used to feel like that only a few weeks ago, breathless after only seconds of running. I think the trick is, at least for me, is not to lift off the ground too much, I tend to, I guess you could say shuffle my feet quickly, though they do lift off the ground a little. If there's not too much spring in your step, I think you may find it a little easier (I guess you could say not jumping for each step) but slowly slowly wins the race. Just enjoy it at whatever pace is comfortable for you and if you are breathless, slow down a little until you catch your breath and then gently increase your speed a little again. Your body will tell you what it can cope with. Enjoy 😊

[Deals in reply to toria36]

Thanks for the advice. Think I started by trying to 'look like I was running' and ended up just concentrating on not falling over! Will try to just relax into and go even slower.

[Miller2 in reply to Deals]

Yep, I don't think I "run" even now. I have a "power shuffle" and it works just fine. Slow is the best way.

[Mshaunb]

Ditto to all of the above. I felt that way . Quite happy to walk our spaniel until all she wanted to do was get home. (Or lay down in the pub) . But knew in my heart I wasn't really fit and that I certainly couldn't run for more than a few seconds. Either today or tomorrow I will be doing my first 30 minute slow jog. (Getting the right pace -however slow- is very important) Good luck with your running journey!

[Deals in reply to Mshaunb]

Thanks. Hope your 30 mins jog went well.