There have been a few posts about these three subjects recently, so thought I’d write a few words - which may turn into an essay, as usual, but not a lecture I hope!!!
I started C25k to lose weight, and soon realised the old adage that ‘you can’t out-train and bad diet’ holds true. Calorie burn estimates vary wildly between devices and apps. My running buddy’s app would say she’d burned 150 calories and mine would say over 500! If I allow myself to eat that extra I may actually gain weight!
I read our Mentor’s post saying that through this programme we run for about 8 hours in total. That doesn’t mean a huge calorie burn, to be honest. But the number on the scales aren’t everything...
I’ve noticed I put on muscle on my legs (even under the lard). These are big muscles and they weigh heavier than fat. My core stability muscles are stronger - my balance is much better. The pain from my arthritic hip stopped me even sitting on a horse, but now I can ride pain-free if I am careful. And while I didn’t lose many pounds I did lose a lot of inches. When I’ve dieted before (and I am a serial dieter!) I had to lose more than 20lbs before anyone even noticed (I’m tall). Within a few weeks of C25k people started noticing - and I had started noticing - and I got into jeans I’d bought and never managed to get done up.
What shifts the scale is food - and tracking calorie intake. But the other subtle effect of C25k is the impact a poor diet and high alcohol intake make to the running experience. Keeping hydrated lessens my cravings for food, unless I am actually hungry. I’m not just drinking water to stave off hunger now (water being a poor substitute for chocolate) I’m hydrating for a proper, positive, reason. On days I’d had a carb-heavy lunch I would get a stitch. Alcohol made my legs heavy the next morning. Eating a heavy dinner the night before caused me to need the loo halfway through the run, spoiling the experience and making me really uncomfortable. I have eaten healthier because I want to have a better running experience. Actually no.... It is because I now feel rubbish when I eat rubbish. There is a direct impact.
So, muscles are built now, my resting heart rate and blood pressure are way down, the diet is healthier and finally the scales are moving. I’m not perfect and there are days I lapse and pay the price! I have 40 years experience of ‘cheating’ on diets and I am finally getting my comeuppance of cheating myself. So I’ve lost only about 10lb since I started C25k in May, but it is shifting now in graduation.
The weight loss and running now mean my knees are no longer painful. First time in years. I am now in Bridge to 10K and starting to pick up the pace and ‘properly run’. BUT, while I was doing weeks 7-9 of C25k I was treading a fine line with being able to run and being on the Injury Couch, because of pain around my knees. I have often spoke of my ‘old lady shuffle’ and ‘slow running’. While others were blasting through the last 3 weeks and posting amazing stats, I was plodding along, fat and uncomfortable, at a pace beyond my years. But AT THAT TIME I couldn’t push my knees any harder, even though my lungs and pride were egging me to go faster. I’ve done enough physiology (equine!) to know we should train no further than the weakest point, and train for tomorrow. The bigger picture was to be able to run for 30 min, 3 x a week. Half the running minutes are done in the last 3 weeks. I am now benefitting from resisting temptation. There is life beyond Week 9 and plenty of time to run better. For the end of C25k I just did enough - and that’s worked so far. Now my knees only might grumble a bit at the start of a run and I know I reached my limits the run before.
My energy (motivation to do anything) levels fluctuate, and it seems to be different for everyone. Some people find it recharges mental batteries and they can get more done during a run day. Others find the physical and mental effort of running wipes them out for the day. I find I am more ‘wiped out’ after an interval run (faster and slower running) and more energised after a longer slower run when I can relax my mind into the session. But not always. Some days after a longer run I’ve not done anything else for the rest of the day. That’s ok - I’m not relying on running to resolve all my mental health challenges. Running hasn’t magically cured me of feeling lethargic or anxious - because the rest of my life is still there with all those pressures. I am feeling more able to concentrate most of the time and I think that’s being physically fitter and sleeping better after physical exertion.
Finally when I see people posting about ‘failures’ and disappointments at performance, or stats, coming ‘last’, or even being injured. I hope they realise that we are all learning a new skill and that means we make mistakes physically and in our expectations of ourselves. These are not failures. Our expectations of how we’ll do before a run, are not a fact, they aren’t real. What we actually do, during the run, IS real. The benefits and impacts on our health ARE real. And every time we step out the door, or do our repair physio exercises, or hydrate and eat properly in preparation - we are getting healthier - no matter what else happens during the actual running.
There really is no such thing as ‘failure’ or shame in ‘coming last’ because every day we run, or prepare to run, or repair to run, we all beat everyone who stays on the couch but we also beat our old selves. My C25k coach MJ famously quoted, ‘The only one who can beat me, is me’. He may have been talking about setting sprint records, but that holds true at a deeper level. You beat your old self, and you were the only one that could do that. And that’s something you don’t always see in the stats and ParkRun placings.
Have a great week everyone and keep running ❤️
Written by
Equi-geek
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Love this post, so very many really good points for people to acknowledge and remember on the days when we question ourselves. As a back of the pack runner I can also add it is a fun place to be. I have had some lovely conversation with people as we waited for the speedier runners to start.
Thank you for taking the time to put it all together and post.
Yeah, I enjoy being at the back too! On Saturday I bumped into someone I first met right at the back after the start. It was our first PRs, but we were both conditioned to walking, so we admitted we each had worries about being a pest for the Marshalls for being too slow, and we both had an escape plan if we got left too far behind on the first lap. We also discussed the possibility of coming last which bothered her, and not me, so we talked about that too, and power-walked it together in about 50 minutes. I made sure she finished before me anyway, which made the Marshalls laugh at the end following some 'you first...' 'no, you...' protestations, and we had a great time! She said then she couldn't run, wasn't going to run, but wished me luck with the rest of C25k.... well, she's running now! Couldn't resist it while feeling good and warmed up! She was so sure she'd be always be a walker :'D. I'd volunteer as tail-runner/walker now, except someone always beats me to that job.
"Eating a heavy dinner the night before caused me to need the loo halfway through the run, spoiling the experience and making me really uncomfortable."
This bit is what worries me most as the runs get longer and potentially take you further from home - the dreaded Runner's Trots. What the heck do you do if you are in the middle of nowhere busting for the lav? 😫
Lovely post - so much in there that lots of runners will identify with. I did pretty well on the weight-loss front, but I'm sure I had more to shift than you did, so it will have been easier for me. Even so, 10lbs is still pretty respectable and a lot less weight to carry around on your runs than you had in week 1 of C25K. The mental health aspects have been huge for me - more significant than the weight loss, although the two are probably linked. And yes, that sad post about coming last - I have never felt so sorry for anyone in my life. At my first (and only) parkrun there were over 500 runners, and I finished 500 and something. But I wasn’t running against those 500 people, I was running against the 'me' that existed before I started all this, and I have left him for dead. Permanently.
Don’t lessen your weight loss achievements Mike - you’ve done brilliantly and I’m happy with my own progress, but especially about my knees and hip. I thought once you got osteo-arthritis that was ‘it’ and this has certainly been true for all the women in my family. I can’t imagine the joints themselves are physically any better than they were, so something else has happened, perhaps to the nerves and the soft tissues, to lessen the pain. Certainly the sleep has helped with my mental health, the exercise is burning off surplus adrenalin from anxiety - using it up doing what it is meant for! Must help!
Great post. “Train to your weakest point” and “train for tomorrow” are coming with me. And I love that you can ride again.
The diet thing is really interesting.
I’ve pretty much always been overweight (except for that amazing early 20s period when I seemed able to eat/drink anything and burn it all off instantly).
I recognise completely that I am now eating fuel for running. I am properly hydrating. I use My Fitness Pal to the point where it starts to irritate me if I’m in the kitchen without my phone!
About 90% of the time I stick within the 2000 cal limit I’ve set (plus up to half whatever running cals I’ve “earned”) and the weight is shifting. My current clothes are now too baggy but I’m not quite into trousers the next size down.
I’ve massively cut back on alcohol, both through not wanting to have sleep disturbed or hydration affected for the next morning’s run and through not feeling anything like as stressed, despite going through the divorce and having a really stressful job.
Monday, Wednesday and Saturday have become my regular running mornings, so end up as relative “treat days”. Sunday, Tuesday and Friday are “eat/drink for tomorrow” days. And Thursday just is what it is. Not many cals to throw about and out of the habit of eating/drinking too much I shouldn’t.
All a long winded way of saying running in and of itself might not have that much impact on weight, but the lifestyle change of regularly running definitely has.
I hope your OP gets pinned - it’s really helpful for people starting out and those of us continuing x
Great post. We run for ourselves not for others. I have to remind myself of this all the time because I am mega slow and sometimes feel embarrassed as all the whippets sprint past me. I’ve lost around half a stone since I started back in February and I agree alcohol makes running really hard the next day. My consumption has really dropped because I’d rather have a good run than a drink the night before! When did that happen?😂😂❤️
😂😂 I know! Nothing like immediate feedback on a heavy night is there?! Our livers will be squeaky clean these days! It is/was my default mindset also - to be embarrassed or feel useless by how well other people are doing compared with me - but I have worked really hard to turn that around over the last 20 years or so, because it changes nothing and didn’t help me in the slightest. 🙏😁
Wow! What a wonderful post! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a thought provoking message, it really helps when people write about things that others are experiencing, it helps us get things into perspective! 😁
Thanks Matilda, glad that helps. There’s so many benefits to this programme and they aren’t immediately obvious when struggling through the first few weeks and just praying for the trainer to tell you to walk for a bit 😉👍
Oh the early 20’s- how I miss them!!! 🤣 My weight has always fluctuated since then - lots of ups and downs and mostly symptomatic of my mental health at the time (I’ve come to realise!) I have been 10st3 and 16st 9. ‘Obese’ threshold is 14st4 and I’m about 6lbs above it at the moment. It’s different this time though. Running is making it a much healthier lifestyle change like yourself Jay. Stress is a doozy and stuffs up weight loss attempts. It does feel great when the clothes get looser doesn’t it?! 😁👍
A great post, EG. Lots of food for thought, and inspiration - thank you for sharing. 😊❤️
Interesting comments about weight loss. I wasn’t overweight before starting C25k, and sometimes wonder if I’m the only one who seems to be gaining weight the more I run (despite recently getting asked by my mother-in-law if I’d lost weight!) I guess it makes sense that we are all gaining heavier leg muscles. 💪💪🏃♀️🏃♂️
Thank you for putting into words the debate that has been going on in my head since I had to put graduation on hold.
I did 30mins of cross-training to "compensate" for not being able to run on the treadmill today.....and haven't even given myself a pat on the back for "keeping active" whilst wrestling my feelings about not being able to run for a week now.
My old self would've jumped at an opportunity to have a "valid reason" for not running.....but here I am, on holiday, trying to find alternative ways to stay active because I can't get my "running fix"!!! To say my approach to fitness and exercise has changed will be an understatement!!!!
I'm very proud of how far I've come and am learning to stop being so hard on myself....and be gentle and encouraging for a change.
Thank you for reminding us that it's the journey that matters....not the end result. It's the lasting, hidden changes that you're making to your life than the immediate , noticeable changes.
Equi - you've hit the nail on the head with this post!!!!
Another fab post from you Equi, great reading! As with some of your previous posts, lots I can identify with here and lots to think about. Thank you! 👍😊
Pleasure owmeknees! It was reading this sort of stuff and picking up hints and help about stretching and staying well that helped me through so it's only me trying to pay it forward for all the support I've had. Thanks!
This is a brilliant post Equi-geek- I’m nodding all the way through it as so much is relevant to me 👍
I’ve lost a stone since starting C25k but that’s through joining Slimming World at about week 5 of the programme, and combining the two works for me- a healthy way of eating that fuels my running 🏃♀️
I’ve still got plenty of weight to lose but it’s not the be all and end all that it once was because I’m getting healthier by the week and that’s the important thing to me as I relax into this running malarkey and enjoy the journey 😊💕
Well done for the weight loss Beanjo! I’m looking forward to losing more weight now so I can run and ride more comfortably. But I soon found a bigger picture, like yourself 😁
I do feel better and like you say, running makes you want to eat/ drink well to have a good run. I have lost 2 stone so far, mainly from around and after graduation. Nobody I worked with was interested in C25K until they noticed I had lost the weight and now 3 colleagues have started running too, so I am also an inspiration 😂😂😂
Great post thank you 👍 x I too am a 🐎 rider so it's good to be reminded about what I would expect from my horse and what I expect from myself on a fittening regime. No great surprise I'm much more realistic about the horse! 🤦♀️ So note to self. Follow the program and don't worry about anyone else's opinions or times. I need to be kind to me.
Great attitude! I've been a good do-er for most of my life and I wouldn't expect a cob to go eventing with no training - or compete with a thoroughbred
I love this Equi and resonates very deeply with me and for me running has also been life changing. Pre-running I was counting every calorie that passed my lips, and also ensuring I got the right macro-nutrients. At the time I thought this was a good thing to do as it's science based, I never considered that maybe it was a about me controlling food. It was not only time consuming but at times exhausting having to plan, weigh and log everything! I'm not for one minute saying that people shouldn't log calories, but I was a healthy weight to start with, and the tracking and logging was almost obsessive.
I read a book called 'The Goddess Revolution' and essentially it's about ditching the diet mindset and eating to nourish your body. This coincided with me starting to run, and I was fully aware that just because you start running doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want, but I stopped tracking my food (which filled me with huge anxiety to start with as I was fearful about putting on weight). My weight has stayed the same but I'm not obsessing about food or calories and I'm just eating a sensible and healthy diet, with the occasional treat. I'm mindful about eating to nourish my body, pre and post run. At weekends if I'm running the next day, I definitely don't over do the alcohol as it will spoil the run. And like you, hydration is also important to me as I know this can impact on the run.
Being a slow runner (compared to other people) bothered me to start with, but now I see my own body growing stronger and it can run further and faster week by week. Only this morning, running up a slight hill, weeks ago I was gasping for breath and could barely utter a 'hello' to a passing runner. Today it was a sprightly 'morning!' as I breezed by!
Thanks for you post and well done on your achievements!
Great post, containing so many of the things that have been going round in my head. I lost 1 st through controlling food and alcohol intake before I started C25K then another 6 lbs during the programme. Normally put on half a stone when in France (sadly probably mainly wine related) but have carried on running and being more sensible than usual and have only put on 1lb in a month, which is amazing for me! You are absolutely right that running does make you think about what you are putting into your body so has health benefits beyond just increased fitness.
Really well done with all your health improvements. Good luck in reaching 10k!
Well said! I keep reading posts about people saying they failed because they had to walk for part of the run or repeat a run etc. They are out there doing exercise and making the effort to be active so how can that be failure?
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