Couch to 5K

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holy bleeding nipples batman!

Well, no one told me there would be blood; to be honest I should have expected it given the amount of upper body twisting of the arms but It still came as a massive surprise. I pushed myself from 5k all the way to 10k this morning and was very surprise to find that when I returned home my pecks were bleeding. Has anyone got any tips for preventing this?

Just for the record I was wearing a loose fitting cotton t-shirt.

18 Replies

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1. Never run in cotton! It soaks up and retains the sweat. Seek out some man made fibres. Depending on your budget, there are all manner of technical running tops but Amazon sell TCA-branded tops cheaply and Decathlon have their own-brand range. Football tops also work.

2. Get yourself some Nipeeze plasters for when this has healed. Again Amazon sell these. Whilst you have the current injury, a blob of savlon and a regular small plaster will be better.

Heal well.

any idea how long healing will take/?? or is it a couple of days like a standard wound.

I have been putting off buying a 'proper' running top, I am on a budget and have been losing weight at an average of 1 stone per month so clothes don't last that long, especially fitted ones like running tops but it may be time to bite the bullet. Thank you for the advice

Jay, thank goodness he didn't post a picture!!!!!

Well I was tempted

Don't!!!! I am still traumatised by the one Jay posted 🤮

🤣🤣 Jell6. Jay66UK on a more serious note & if you haven’t got a hairy chest, some plasters maybe just to stop the friction?

Bit of a hairy chest but will still give plasters a go.

Plasters won’t stick if you have a hairy chest. If you can afford Madges suggestion, I’d go with that 👍🏻

My OH tried plasters, even the fancy ones apparently ‘specific’ for this, all came off at some point......and still ended up sore.......Vaseline just stains your tops.....best thing so far a stick of ‘body glide’ it’s like a solid deodorant stick, can be used anywhere you get chafing.....😳....not cheap, but has had no problems since starting to use it.......he just has to remember to put it on......😂.....

Things do toughen up a bit over time.......

Thank you madge, I will also look into this.

Also available as “Lanacane” at Boots.

I’m hairy and the NipEAZE plasters really work well. I even found them still on after a bath (to soak legs) followed by a shower (to get clean) followed by a day at work!

Bluwind, I apologise, I was distracted by the bleeding nipple, only just reread your post, have you gone from week 4 in July/August , and have already got to 10k?

Did you do a 5 k and go straight up to 10k?

my first run (since child hood) was the W1r1 C25k on the 21st july; I followed the plan until week 5 , run 1 and then on the 15th August when I should have ran W5r2 I kept going as I was feeling fantastic and did about 6k. I then ran 5k every other day; and today kept going after my 5k up to 10k.

I know the plan is not just about getting to 5k,10k but also about doing it safely and injury free; however I walk about 15 miles per day in patrol boots with equipment so my legs are pretty well strain protected in that respect