OK... another question, sorry, can tell I'm new to this... after going for a gentle walk round the block, just to raise the heat rate a bit, about half a mile, I can feel my achy legs... now, come tomorrow's W1R2, do I just push on through and be brave or, be careful? The walking will be OK, but the jog....
I struggled with the 60 seconds, but pushed as long as I could with W1R1,
What's your advise... I don't wanna do any damage when I've just started....
Thank you in advance Lizzie 🤫
This is what the forum is for - advice and support 😊
I think you could try it. Just slow down and slow down again.
Maybe take 2 days rest if you need to.
Ah OK.. I'm more than happy to give it a go, it's the anxiety of what ifs... I'm doing Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday.. kind of evenly split... i won't give up.. I've never been so determined to this.. I've tried other regimes but they're too much to soon.. this seems more kind... The fact I've got the fabulous Sarah Millican as my coach is fantastic.. I love her!
Thank you x
Congratulations on starting C25K with run 1 of week 1 and welcome to the forum, if you feel a little achy on the legs take a extra day off before you do run 2 of week 1, remember that you can repeat any runs or week's if you wish to, no running on consecutive days, no running if you are injured, drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration, I hope you enjoy your running journey with C25K.
My ankles and calves ached like billyo in the first few weeks. I pushed on if they were just achy but would have stopped if it became unbearable. I often had a couple of rest days between runs too if I was still aching. I always stretch after running, especially the calves and this really helps. I’ve only been running since May, so not long enough to give sound advice, but my legs don’t ache very much now, it does get easier 😊
Stretching immediately after every run, nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/h... while muscles are still warm and supple, pulls out contractions, avoiding carrying tensions into the next run and also improves recovery by improving blood flow, as recommended in the guide to the plan.
Many people do not hold their stretches for long enough or put enough effort in. Hold post run stretches for 30 seconds and make sure the pull is strong enough to be on the verge of discomfort.
Hi Lizzie, this is the place for questions - no such thing as a silly one! Make sure you drink plenty of water and not just on run days. And run really slowly - you can always run a bit slower, even if you think you can’t! If you feel like taking an extra rest day, then do - it’s not a race and you can take as long as you want to complete the plan. Your 5 minute brisk warm up walk should be enough at this stage to sort your achy legs- but don’t forget that if you haven’t run before, or are new to any form of exercise, your legs are bound to complain at you! If you want to do a bit more, there are some pre-run warm up exercises on the NHS website. All of these should help prevent any aches and pains but if you do get them, listen to your body and rest up. Repeat any runs you don’t complete (and put them down to practice runs!) and keep moving on to the next run/week when you’ve done them. If you move on a week and struggle you can always go back but what you don’t want to do is get yourself trapped in a week, not moving on for fear of what might be ahead. Keep posting so we know how you’re doing and most importantly- enjoy yourself!
Achy legs are perfectly normal... the best thing you can do for them is to move them (but not run) as this will increase the blood flow to them, and so also increase the nutrients given to those muscles to rebuild and strength. So, walking today is a perfect thing to be doing on rest days (so long as you don’t start trekking 20 miles over mountains when you’re not used to doing so regularly)
Take it nice and easily on the jogs... you’ll be fine.
On my w1r1 I pulled my calf muscle so badly I could hardly walk. I had 2 rest days and did run 2 at snail pace. If you feel ok give it a gentle go but stop if you need. I do a bit of jogging on the spot or a few minutes on the exercise bike before I go out to warm up my leg muscles
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