Newbie stuck on week 3/4 - help?

[Nenenene]

Hey all! New poster here to vent/ get tips

I've started on week 4 twice now of the C25K plan. My knee gave up halfway through the workout my first try, so I had to ice and rest for a few days (my own fault as I didn't take the sore knee seriously the first couple of times it happened). So, after getting four days rest, until I could at least walk without it hurting, I backed down to week 3 and completed that run. That felt alright. The knee ached a little bit, but not much at all.

So, gave myself two days rest before trying to run the session of week 4. That run was super hard, as in my calves were on fire and I was huffing and puffing like a steam engine. But, I finished it and felt great, didn't even get particularly sore knees from it. I was really happy and did lunges during the cool down and later on squats to strengthen my weak knee(s).

Gave my self a rest day, then began running the session for week 4 again. Was too hot (we had a sudden heat wave and it was 10 degrees warmer than the days before) and had sore muscles before I even began running, so I only managed to finish 75% of the session (I only finished half of the last 5 minutes block).

The first three weeks felt alright, and the progression felt manageable, and I found that having one rest day between runs was sufficient, but I am stumped on as to why I seem to not be able to complete the sessions for week 4 other than that one time.

Did you also find some progression just too much, and if so, what did you do to power through it? I'm thinking of just trying to run them until I manage to complete them tree times in a row before I move on. What do you think?

Thanks in advance!

/Nene

[Hidden]

It sounds like a good plan. You don’t have to complete the programme in 9 weeks, but have faith because you will crack it if you persevere. I’ve no idea why we sometimes get stuck along the way but most of us do!

[Nenenene Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thanks! It's nice to hear I'm not alone in getting stuck and that one can move forward eventually, that actually makes me feel better.

I guess I'll try to have patience (not one of my virtues) and persevere.

[Hidden in reply to Nenenene]

Little adjustments can also help. I wasn’t drinking enough water in general. I’m making a conscious effort to drink more throughout the day, every day, and being hydrated is definitely making the running easier.

[Nenenene Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I found out that being a bit dehydrated while completing a running session gave me serious stomach cramps and I felt nauseated. That was not nice at all :/, after that bout I made sure to hydrate.

But that is a great tip, I've always been terrible at drinking enough water, but maybe now that I've started running I'll learn. Fingers crossed!

[Razouski]

You sound like you have a plan. What I would say, to strengthen your knees is to do some squats and lunges on your rest days. Or you could even do the strength and flex podcasts on rest days.

If your knees are still playing up do you need to rest a little longer, or even take the luxury of two rest days between each run. There's no hurry to get to the end of the programme and some of us take longer than others, so don't worry about it.

Wishing you well and happy running.

[Nenenene Graduate in reply to Razouski]

Thank you! I will probably take your suggestion to heart about doing the lunges and squats on rest days, so I won't be so sore from it on run days.

I'm one of those people who have an easy time starting something, but harder to keep at it, so having two rest days makes me feel like I might loose my momentum and just give it up. But, maybe by incorporating another exercise day with the flex and strength podcast might make me feel better about that.

I will definitely try it. Happy running sessions to you as well!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Take the advice from Razouski ... also, keep it very slow and steady... the progression is gradual and if you take it gently you should be fine Take an extra rest day if needed and do put in the rest day exercises too

[Nenenene Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Yes, I don't know why I seem to forget to take it slow and steady when Laura keeps saying it, but I guess I tune it out, or that my slow and steady isn't slow enough for me right now.

I actually just came back from a run and I took it extra slow this time, so I had energy left for a tiny bit of a sprint (okay, so it wasn't a full sprint, but it was a lot faster than the rest of the run) the last minute of the run.

Looking back at how far I ran today compared to the last time I tried running it, I can see that I was probably going too fast last time. So, I'll keep your suggestions in mind and not try to push myself too fast.

Thanks for your advise and encouragement!