I've been lurking here cos I don't really do much 'sharing' online. However, I had to say that I was really surprised and pleased to complete W5R3 last night. It was still pretty warm in South Wales at 7:30pm, but I managed to gasp my way through 3K in the 20 minute run.
I am 61 and will be 62 by the time I complete the programme (after last night I am starting to believe I really will) and I am asthmatic. But the asthma is well controlled, and I have been a Morris dancer for 40 years, so I have a certain basic level of fitness - in short bursts of activity. I have never run, though (and never 'believed in' running as an activity), and decided I had better start at the very beginning. It is supposedly the very best place to start, after all! My legs are doing fine, but the lungs have been straining since the first 5-minute run, so I was not at all sure I would make 20 minutes. It was hard going.
On a different point, I'm having terrible trouble with the OneYou Couchto5K app. Laura starts me off running, then goes quiet and I realise the app has crashed and I have to estimate my timing as well as I can by my watch. The ZenLabs C25K app is much more reliable but gives you nothing more than "start running... start walking". no tips or part-way interval reminders or anything like that. I am also tracking my runs via my Huawei wristband, which later gives me the map trace and all the pace and pulse stats in the Huawei Health app - I don't know if this is interfering with Laura or if it is something else. I don't use music cos I'm just not one of those people - I don't understand all my colleagues in work sitting with headphones on all day; I'd generally prefer to hear the world around me. Any tips or suggestions for a better app?
...and I'm prepared to be persuaded about the benefits of music to take my mind off the hard work of running, if you have any particular tips there, too!
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Oldjigger
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Well I am 63 always hated running - prefer challenging yoga - and I too don’t listen to music!
Just completed week 3 - and I too have had a pausing app problem - no idea why. I now hold my phone very carefully and it’s been ok the last couple of goes
I run in Rickmansworth - but brought up in Pontypool!
I have a pair of bluetooth earbuds, and a stretchy running belt that carries my phone, house key and inhaler. They work very well - I just wish I knew what was crashing the app.
I started this when someone said dancing once a week wasn't enough exercise. Stick with it - it really feels like the build-up programme is very well planned, and working for me so far.
I will suggest something - try a challenging yoga programme too - we have men coming to our classes who think it’s an easy option, and are quite shocked !
Not too soon after breakfast there isn't, as I discovered recently. But seriously, 10 minutes first thing for four years was great (I got legitimately derailed and struggle to get back to it) I don't do classes (other than online) as they definitely don't meet my needs
I use an Ipod to play back the podcasts having downloaded them to my laptop. This means you get the music that comes with them but I'm 67 and I don't hate it too much to use.
I'm pleased that worked, my next suggestion would be to convert the podcast to an mp3 file which should play on anything. However there may be copyright issues redistributing the podcasts, because of the music used, so hopefully all's well.
I wear a Fitbit and when I used the app and the GPS was connected to Fitbit and Strava, causing the apps to frequently crash. I think the demand for the GPS signal caused a conflict. Changed my watch to log as exercise only (without GPS and map) and started using Strava and the app and it started working fine. It crashed out in my final runs of week 9, but by then it didn't matter as I knew the time and Strava announced where I was.
Not sure this helps but may explain the problems of using too much tech together.
Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy the programme as much as I did.
thanks, Sutsha. I wouldn't exactly say I'm enjoying it, though! W5 has been hard work, and I've always thought the concept of 'challenging yourself' was over-rated, but I intended to stick with it. My ultimate aim after graduation is to do a weekly park-run, just to get me out of bed earlier on a Saturday.
Week 5 seems un-achievable until you do it. Then week 6 seems easy after managing week 5 and it's only a tiny bit more. It isn't! The best advice I can give you is to slow it right down, then it all becomes more manageable. Somewhere along the line I become addicted, but I do know a few who continue to hate it, but do it regardless!
Kudos to anyone who manages to keep at it when they don't enjoy it.
Well, W6R1 did seem easier by comparison, but it is a cunning program, the way they make you think you're getting breaks, but they are actually extending your active time.
The podcasts are much more robust as a presentation and some argue quite vociferously that the soundtrack does not constitute music.
I kvetched a good deal before starting that I liked to hear what was going on. I got over myself, just put in one earbud (obviously this doesn't work for people who are deaf in one ear) These days I don't often listen to anything, just the Runkeeper folk announcing from my phone in the depths of dog treat bag (but podcasts and audiobooks can be handy for long runs)
Well I used the podcast today for W6R1 and it worked flawlessly. But I did find the music was tempting me to up my pace. It was hard to hold back to what I knew was the more sensible speed i needed. Plodding on..
Ah, interesting - I don't *think* that happened with me during the programme ie with the podcast soundtrack but certainly it is all too easy to have something playing that isn't the right pace for your purposes. Well done for staying focussed.
I find Gardener's Question Time good for keeping it slow and steady!
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Surprised myself 
PROBLEM WITH THE COUCH TO 5K APP
Week 6 Run 2 - Surprised myself again ! :-)
W8R1 - surprised myself!
W5 R2 - I'm surprising myself!
