W3R2 Pushing past the wall?

[NoiseCrime]

Hi all, so I started C25K a couple of weeks ago to try and increase my fitness levels as brisk walking no longer pushes me much. This was after 20 years of leading a sedentary life style due to work, which along with other bad life style choices (smoking) led to a heart attack at the age of 47, 2 years ago.

So having improved my fitness levels with brisk 45 min walks every other day for the past 2 years and a gym session once a week I found weeks one and two to be quite doable. I felt the 60 and 90 second runs to be hard but fair.

Then came week three and the first 3 minute run! Honestly the first session wiped me out completely. My legs were screaming to just stop and the whole experience was unpleasant. No doubt this was worsened due to doing it on a much colder day than we’ve had recently and a blistering wind. After the run I found my self having mild coughing fits.

This was quite concerning but something strange happened for the second session today. Firstly it was a bit warmer and I was wearing more appropriate clothes though the wind was so strong it was sometimes a struggle to move forward. The session wasn’t quite as tough as before, but I am learning to run slower so I think that helped greatly.

Anyway the big thing for me was that just over 2 mins into the second 3 minute run my legs suddenly stopped aching and complaining. By the time the 3 mins were up I actually didn’t feel I needed to stop! So I kept going for another 30-45 seconds and it felt great!

I’m wondering wether this might be something to do with going past ‘hitting the wall’? Sort of surprised if it is as I assumed that would be for people running 20 mins or longer and at a fast pace.

Anyway the experience has given me confidence a huge boost. I’m unsure if it will happen again next run but hope it does. I feel if it does I can see a clear path to being able to run for longer stints in the coming weeks which was a real worry before.

[Buddy34 Graduate]

Glad your health is better and also your fitness is better . Just follow the plan , no extra adding on and go slow you can do this good luck 😊

[Islesrunner Graduate]

I found that slowing down helped.

By the time I got to week 4, I was finally at the stage of enjoying the runs, rather than the fact that they were over and that I’d achieved them 😁

Focussing on where you start to tense up, and relaxing that area, breathing deeply and in a steady rhythm and not worrying about how slow you go are all key points to pushing on.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Great job so far. Be careful not to overrun the plan by much, it’s been carefully devised to minimise injury risk, not wanting to rain on your parade... you weren’t far over 😀

There’s a phenomenon in running known as the “toxic 10” where the first 10 minutes is noticeably tougher... it’s caused by pushing the body into oxygen deficit, which triggers the brain to crank up the respiratory system... for some people this is less than 10 minutes and for others it’s longer... I’ve had a toxic 20 before today 😂. So you may be seeing that as the brisk walk between runs wouldn’t allow you to fully recover as though you were standing still.

If you keep the pace conversational you’ll be fine and when the long runs come this becomes even more important in the first half.

Happy running... enjoy closing out the first third of this plan on you next run.

[NoiseCrime in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Interesting thx for the info.

The biggest difficulty I’ve had with running so far is my legs. Every stint of running and they just ache very quickly and often feel like they just can’t go on. Lungs and heart though feel fine even after the whole session. Weird is that after every walk stint my legs feel fine to start running again but within 30 seconds they are aching again.

I’ve put this down to lack of leg strength, but I’m not so sure as I’ve never found anyone else talking about the exact same condition. So I’m wondering if it’s some form of the ‘toxic X’ you mention due to perhaps being inactive for nearly 2 decades.

Anyway will see how things go and of course I’m not planning on over running. I was just interested this time in seeing how much further I could go without getting uncomfortable or pushing my whole body too far.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to NoiseCrime]

Have a look at the strength and flex programme, and forum, adding that into your routine will really help, gaining the leg strength has really helped my knees, and the flexibility makes the aches less. Also, muscles use a lot of water, stay on top of your hydration daily and the muscles will complain less on run days. I tend to do some upper body strength work now on running days... my arms aching really makes me forget what I did to my legs 😂😂

[MoverGroove]

Hi there, I on W7R2 and I have found that the first 5 or 6 mins are the hardest and I have found that by 12 mins I’m past my wall.....& that’s such a great feeling.....keep going!!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on your progress.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5... and explains the recommended easy conversational pace.

Enjoy your journey.