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[Chrissie1963]

Hi everyone my name is Chrissie I'm 54 years old. I am currently on week 6 of 5k and finding it a struggle after the week 5 20 min jog. Not giving up though the problem is with my calfs they have been really hurting. Not sure if this is down to changing my diet to low carb. My next day out is tomorrow I will give an update . Meantime plenty of water to stay hydrate

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Hi there.. The low carb should not affect your calves.. i have a low carb eating regime and no problems there..

Carry on. hydration yes, but even slower.... make sure you have warmed up properly and maybe try to relax more.. sometimes we do hold ourselves tensely when running, and it ma affect legs shoulders, neck or head! I used to hold my breath at first on the runs, until they got too long to do that!

Slow and steady, think of other things on the run, relax hands and shoulders and try to land gently and lightly on your feet...see how you go ?

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you oldfloss I will do a longer warm up. That is where I have gone wrong I think . I usually warm up for 15 mins prior to commencing the programme. Last few times I have only warmed up for 5 mins

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Chrissie1963]

Go you.. I am sure you will be fine..we do, as Now-runner_NeedsAttn says, expect a few complaints from our bodies, when we do new things..

I warmed up for a much longer time this morning as it was very chilly first thing Always a good thing

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Oldfloss]

I will let you know how I go after my run tomorrow.

[Now-runner_NeedsAttn Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Do your calves hurt when running or afterwards/next day? If it's while you're running then follow Oldfloss ' advice, particularly running slower; if it's afterwards then to some extent that's to be expected from C25K which is gently taking you from sitting on that couch to being a runner and your muscles will complain about this unexpected exercise!

My legs hurt early on in my C25K journey (to rate how badly: going upstairs next day was difficult), things got better when I ran a bit slower and also the pain and more especially the recovery time got less as my body got used to running.

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Now-runner_NeedsAttn]

Hi my legs were hurting during the run I now think it's because I haven't been warming up as long as I usually do. Tomorrow I will start week 6 again with my usual warm up

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Oldfloss]

I did it I managed my run without a problem. 😀

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to Chrissie1963]

Brilliant.. keep it slow and steady x Well done x

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you will keep you posted xx

[LordLuton Graduate]

It was my thighs that really hurt the day after my first run. Been fine ever since.

A five minute warm up should be totally adequate for a gentle run, but I don't expect a longer one will do any harm.

Best of luck.

[Chrissie1963 in reply to LordLuton]

Thank you

[Withitmum1 Graduate]

Hi Chrissie1963 I am at the same point in the program... thought today would be a breeze after the 20 min run but it was a struggle. Didn't help that the run back was into the wind. I find using a foam roller after my workout really helps to stretch out my hamstrings... having a lot less pain now. Everything in the back of my legs used to tighten up after, especially since I sit all day at work. Nice to hear your story!

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Withitmum1]

Hi withitonemum what is a foam roller. Yes I too thought that week 6 would be easy how wrong was I . Thank you for your support x

[Withitmum1 Graduate in reply to Chrissie1963]

Just Google "foam roller hamstring stretch" there are lots of videos etc out there.

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Withitmum1]

Thank you I will have a look

[Chrissie1963]

Hi everyone good news I completed week 6 day 1 this morning. Without my calfs wrecking I'm over the moon and glad to be back on track. Thank you all for the precious and much needed advice. 😀

[Chrissie1963 in reply to Chrissie1963]

Hi everyone due to holiday and chest infection haven't run for a month. So Sunday I started back on week 5 did day 3 today which is the 20 min run. I managed 17 mins not bad so tomorrow I'm hoping to complete the full 20 mins. I'm doing the race for life on 18 June so I need to be up to speed I will let you know my progress 💕