Hi, I'm new here! I am a woman, 45 years, 177 cm, 62 kg.
I have never been exercising. I have never really wanted to. I looked fine and can eat what I like without gaining weight. But after my 4th child 3 years ago, I became so weak, that I found it hard to walk 500 m to the station. Something in me would really like to be able to jump up and around, and run, and be full of energy! But I am constantly tired. Soooo tired... Tired in like "would any one like to go downstairs and get my phone/glasses/bag/a glass of water".
And I am sick of it.
I have to go to work everyday, commute - be away from my home for 11-12 hrs a day, come home, cook and clean etc.
I have been trying out the c25k program twice before. First time, 4 years ago, I had to quit in wk4 due to pain in my knee. Second time, 2 years ago, I couldn't run at all, due to a weak pelvic floor (4 child births).
Then after some years with almost depressive tiredness (can you say that in English - I am sorry - I am danish), I decided to try once more.
This time, I cut my self some slack.
I decided run every other or every third day, whatever made most sense. So the 8-week program took about 10 weeks - but I completed! Yesterday!
I am jogging quite slowly. I just can't seem to go faster...
And yet... I am not really proud. I am only running 2,8 km in 30 minutes. (But in the beginning, I couldn't even run for 60 seconds...)
And when I "begin my cooldown" - I can hardly walk. I look like a drunkard, and I am afraid to meet anyone I know! My right hip and right knee are almost collapsing, and I feel like "THIS IS UNFAIR! How come everybody else can just run around?"
sO: please encourage me! Please tell me, that if I don't quit, it will be everything I ever hoped for!
Tell me, if you've ever been this bad, and turned it around and now you're full of energy...
Thanks in advance.
Ulla
Written by
_Ulla
Graduate
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Ulla, go see a doctor, tell him/her what you've just told us and ask for advice.
You GRADUATED YESTERDAY??? You're right, you should be celebrating. Get your aches and pains sorted and yaaay, well done for sticking with it. It's a killer for younger, fitter people but YOU DID IT. ☺😉🎆🎇🎉🎊🎈
Particularly given your circumstances you have shown great determination and should be very proud indeed. Give yourself a big hug and say "Well done me!"
Most people are slow at the beginning (actually I am STILL slow a year later) and most people feel tired afterwards. But it might well be that there is more to it in your case, so I agree with Sillyyak13 above that it would be a good idea to go and see the doctor for his/her opinion.
Wow Ulla...well done on graduating....Do you think you'll get fitter by carrying on jogging?? Coz I do!! If you keep it up, it's not about speed, so it doesn't matter about how far you go and how long it takes you, but if you can keep going for 30 minutes that is going to make a huge difference to you...you've only been doing it for 10 weeks & you've come so far...and that's such an accomplishment given your circumstances & it shows great determination...amazing...but if you feel unwell AT ALL you must see a doctor immediately x
You have made a great effort to improve your situation and I applaud you for it. Completing the programme does not suddenly make you an elite athlete. You have just made a very significant step but are still a very, very new runner with only a few hours of running on your legs. It will improve now that you can stop pushing yourself each week.
As for your knee and hip, it is worth consulting a professional. You are not an inactive moaner, you are someone who is doing your best to improve yourself, so any doctor should be sympathetic.
You should be very proud of your achievements, so keep posting here and tell us how you get on.
Thanks. You're right. Only a few hours of running on my legs. Very good point! I'll keep you posted. Got an appointment on October 6. Thank you so much.
ask about your vitamin D level - low levels are quite common and can impact everything from pain to how you sleep to depression! Congratulations on graduating! I'll be joining you in 2 more runs!
Well done for your impressive perseverance. The amount of stuff you have on your plate is no joke and even just finding the time to get out there must mean moving mountains, so you have much to be proud of.
But please, go and tell all this to your doctor, as Sillyyak13 said above. I am sure there is no cause for concern at all but it might be the right time for a sort of general MOT, which ought to include the overall round of blood tests too, to check haemoglobin etc.
Although I know this seems impossible to contemplate, there may be a need to find a way to reorganise and take some of the pressure off as there is only so much you can do before you start to get overtired and unwell.
Again, congratulations on your achievement, and please try to make space in your life for yourself too. I truly understand how difficult this can be, but please don't wait until you have no choice.
Thank you. I know you're right, and some of my friends thinks I am putting too much pressure on my self by also wanting this. But it is my hope, that I will have more energy for the rest of my tasks. I simply don't know what to do, if I really have "too much on my plate". There is nothing to cut away.. but I am sitting here tearing up and I know that I have too much...
I agree that you are right to insist on also wanting to do this. Exercise is energising and can help you manage all the rest, aside from significantly lifting your mood - plus you need something in your life that is just for you. Is there anything at all you can offload onto anyone else, or in any way simplify? Obviously I cannot possibly know the complexities of your life - however I do know about juggling work and raising a family with little support, and how complicated - and gruelling - it can be. I really do feel for you and hope you can find a way.
Please tell your doctor about this as he or she may be able to help you work through it all. You sound utterly overwhelmed, exhausted, and pushed out of your own life, and I wonder if as you suggested there is a depressive element to your tiredness (I am not in any way trying to 'diagnose' here).
Well of course you can't go any faster. Why would you? We all start at the beginning and work our way along. Fast runners are strong but they have to build up their strength and there's no short cut. Anyway why does being fast matter. You're running! Jogging or whatever. You're moving!
I love to walk, I walk everywhere and that helps build strength too so if you could do more of that it would help. Makes you feel better too
If you feel terrible all the time then maybe you need to look at your diet and ways of improving it.
Couch to 5k is a fabulous programme, which is lovely as you only need to go slowly, to get to the end. No need to push or for any heroics
Many people find that increasing their exercise energises them physically and mentally (once they get used to it, which the programme is time for, and provided they are eating enough), so your experience of doing C25K is useful information for a doctor. I have to say that various elements of your description shout "thyroid" at me and that's very treatable once identified. We have a number of people here in that position. So I'd second Sillyyak13 's suggestion to go and see a doctor very soon. It may be that, it may be something else but it needs assessment.
(I am also wondering how much support you have as the commute, paid work, rearing a number of children and housework is a lot for one person)
Be proud. Be very proud. You gave the programme a 3rd go, and you completed it. It is not about how fast or slow you are but that determination to keep going. You have lots of that!
That's strange. I heard a description of Thyroid the other day talking to my zone therapist - she also said it sounded like me. But first, she told me to eat my D-vitamins (for 2-4 weeks), as many of those symptoms could be the same. So I have (for 1 wk) - but I will definitely remember this Thyroid-thing, when I go to see the doctor next week.
And btw. It sounded like I am alone with the kids - I am not! I have a very supportive husband, but he's also commuting. We both have a lot on our plates! He is also in wk.9, though we have not been running together (couldn't make that work!) and he actually has Thyroid - but no one ever suspected this from me, as overweight seems to be a common symptom. But my therapist told me that I could still have it.
Four children! A full working day! A long commute! Housework etc! Who are you? Superwoman? I think you are wonderful for getting all that done and trying to improve your fitness. Get things checked out with your doctor to make sure there is nothing fundamentally wrong and then, as you say, cut yourself some slack. You are doing brilliantly. Be proud of what you have achieved and totally love yourself.
Thank you all. I am very afraid, that 5 years from now, I suddenly won't be able to walk... and "they" will all say: "Oh, but haven't you heard? you should really keep in shape! Eat healthy! Be good to your kids!" no... but really. When I couldn't run for the train, or walk just a little walk with my kids, I knew something was really wrong. Especially because no one understands. No one experienced the same. And I BEEN to the doctor in February - no wrong numbers. So I am just wondering if any of you have ever experienced anything like this.
Well done Ulla, would echo what others have said about seeing a doctor, but new runners do get some aches n pains starting out, if it continues then expert intervention is needed. Have rest, gentle massage, ibuprofen, and Movelat cream helps if you can get that in Denmark, me and my wife use it to good affect..😊
I feel for you Ulla. Yes you need to cut yourself some slack and maybe see your doctor as has been suggested here. Any worthy doctor should sympathize with your challenges. You've worked very hard to do this and balance everything else. Take things slowly but don't give up. You are fully worth this effort.
Keep going Ulla, I am only running 2.6 km in 30 minutes, but I am so happy with that as I didn't think I would ever manage to run 30 minutes in one go after 60 seconds was such a struggle to do. Speed isn't that important, it is the fact you are out there running. KEEP GOING.
Ulla: maybe I understand your question wrong, please tell me if so. I am 48. I have two young children myself - 4 and 9. I am shorter and heavier than you (168/80kg). I also have a full time job. I have just graduated last week. I too felt tired when I started, and it motivated me to start. So, in many ways, our situations are similar.
But what you describe is 10x what I'm felt, it seems like. And now, I feel energised and motivated. So I would have to say: no, I don't feel this way. I don't see it on the other posts by other mums just graduating, this exhaustion you speak of. Something is taking your energy -- either something physical or something emotional. You have to find out what it is. Perhaps you know already, perhaps not.
But I don't think you should give up the programme which probably provides you with valuable time just on your own to think, and boosts your general level of fitness and energy (which are still low, right, but not as low as they were?)
Your husband needs to take on more. Something is wrong and he needs to support you. In my opinion. He should help advocate for you at the doctor as well.
You owe it to yourself and to your kids. Whatever it is, the sooner you find out and deal with it, the better it will be for everyone.
If the doctors can't find anything and you don't know any other cause, I would recommend hiring a personal trainer and taking up strength training exercises. I think you need some kind of expert eye on your physical health.
Thank you! It is a lot worth hearing, that this is not a all normal!
First, one thing: I am not alone with my tasks, and I think we share the work at home. Just to be fair to my husband...
When that is said, maybe he should help me while I get stronger, since this actually seems not normal. He, too, has been tired, and actually has this Thyroid-thing.
Have you ever been exercising, earlier, in your youth, or maybe just before now?
I have NEVER done ANYTHING.
But I have never been weak like this. I came to think of this:
My fourth child birth 3½ years ago was almost deadly, lasted forever, I lost a lot of blood, baby came out the worst possible way, and right afterwards I nearly died from some kind of morfin-overdose and more bleeding. But I was saved, but very weak. Since then I have experience all sorts of strange muscle-things, and now, that you all think that this post-running behaviour seems strange, I can't help thinking that something really need to be looked at... I recently changed physician, and she took all sorts of blood samples. Nothing is wrong - or so it seems. So I don't know where to turn.
No -- not in an organised way. I've tried this and that, but I've never been sporty. Walking around in the city and countryside, biking -- kind of everyday exercise but never sports or gyms (more than a week at a time --turns out I don't like them at all).
Get a second opinion about what is wrong, is my advice. Keep a diary of your weakness. Describe your symptoms. Confront them with DATA.
Also: perhaps examine your diet as a way to improve your health while you try to find the cause of this weakness.
Of course. I went to the doctor too when I was feeling tired, and they gave me tests with no unusual results. I was recommended to take up exercise. I didn't then (because I didn't quite know how) but now that I have I see the difference. I think if you don't it's time to go back.
I read a lot (just today) of info on Vitamin D... It sounds like I should mention this, when I go to the doctor on friday - and maybe you would benefit from reading it as well? bone-abstracts.org/ba/0003/...
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Please don’t tell me off
Please tell me it gets easier!
Please tell me I will feel better about it
Tell me there is hope!
