Hi all! I've just finished W2 R1. I was recommended C25K by a colleague. I'm a police officer and...Well...the other day...I....I...lost a foot chase!! I was mortified with myself. That was the motivation for me, plus I have my yearly fitness test coming up (Bleep test 🤢)
I don't think I've ever been this unfit.
I've been doing ok on the runs so far, aside from a nasty stitch at times.
Does anyone have any words of wisdom or tips for a stitch?
Please don't mock me - My team have been doing that enough 😁
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889Paul
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Thank you so much! I've had a look, there's some really useful stuff there. Already agree with the mental benefits - thought 'runners high' was a myth before I started.
This team on C25K would NEVER mock anyone, regarding a stitch, drink plenty of water to avoid that, welcome to the forum and C25K, you can repeat any runs or week's if you wish to, as I say, drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration, no running on consecutive days as that could cause a injury, good luck for your running journey with C25K, by the way those colleagues who are mocking you should be behind bars😂
I am not sure how many runners from the Police Force are on C25K or have done a bleeb test, many are retired school teachers, I hope stamina will help you with that bleeb test, I wish you good luck for that.
I've done bleep tests before when I was reserve forces, stamina definitely helps with them as you aren't wearing yourself out on the slower bleeps, and on the faster ones when you're using more muscle power to run faster therefore more respiration required, so stamina will be a huge help to you, in fact you could probably consider a bleep test more of a stamina test than speed, I was cyclist rather than a runner before so when I was doing things like bleep tests it was the only running I was doing but the fitness I gained from cycling really helped me.
In later weeks of c25k you can try increasing pace at the end of the runs (instructor will tell you when) and this will improve your stamina as well. I'd love to try a bleep test now I run recreationally actually as I'd be curious to see how much I improved on the ones where I was just cycling (if at all! 😂)
Follow the program , it might not magically make you pass your bleep test ..yet! When is it? 🤣
Sorry for laughing officer sir!
But I can Can assure you run by run, no matter how tough it feels..you Will Succeed.. take your run parts slowly. This will build stamina.. and hopefully by the time you hear that bleep.. you will wipe the smirks from team members faces 👍
And guess what...
You may ask?
Keep to the program, keep posting..
Would you believe.. someone in your position 8 months ago can run a HM?
Welcome! I'm not laughing, honest. Just got a bit of a (cough)..Following the program will help you get faster almost as a side effect, and it won't be instant. The primary aim is to build up your stamina. So your muscles strengthen and your lung capacity increases - and that ought to help with the stitch - and you shouldn't be running fast as you do it - slow enough to maintain a conversation. Once you are well on the way through the program (week 6 maybe?) you can think about increasing the speed for short bursts. (Sprinting for the last 10 seconds of a run, that sort of thing).
Maybe you can do some speed work alongside the c25k? Walk for 30 seconds, run 15 seconds, repeat ten times, something like that? Please don't pick up an injury though - you need to keep what's left of your dignity intact!
I'd bet that even after 2 weeks, you're in a better position than when you started. You'll know yourself that week 2 feels just as doable as week one did, and that's after just one week - the body adapts really quickly to the program. Best of luck!
Breathing is key to avoiding stitch. Concentrate on exhaling rather than inhaling. The science bit: stitch is caused because of insufficient oxygen reaching the muscles so they have to use anaerobic respiration. This causes a buildup of lactic acid which hurts. When you stop, clutching yourself in agony, it gives the body a chance to slow down so you can clear the buildup. By breathing correctly you can continue with aerobic respiration. My tip is to concentrate on exhaling hard - whoosh, whoosh, whoosh - with each pace. Don’t think about inhaling, it takes care of itself 😁I learned this at an exercise class years ago, I’ve never been a fitness fanatic but I’ve never had stitch since. My 25 year old son was most impressed when this worked for him when he was suffering.
Good luck with C25K and keep catching those baddies!
Firstly well done for starting the C25K, am on W6R2 and am a bit addicted to it! I had the stitch problem and it resolved when I had a drink before the run, seemed to do the trick. Good luck with the fitness test!
I hated bleep tests at school, it summed up everything in my mind at the time that was pointless and demoralising about PE. Luckily, eventually I got over school PE lessons.
My tip is to take it easy and stick to a conversational pace, as recommend above (The odd 60 second finishing sprint in the last few weeks is ok).
It's really tempting to try and ramp it up quickly, especially if you've been fit in the past or, like me, you're reasonably fit from other activities. But if you don't give your body time to adjust to regular running, you could really sabotage yourself.
You could add in some low impact exercise if you have the time.
No-one here is going to mock you - this is your safe space
Advice? Just keep at it and keep it nice and SLOW. You're aiming to be better in the beep tests... so this is counter-intuitive, but going slower makes for eventually faster running, by building a large aerobic endurance base.
So, don't push yourself, thinking you have to end up feeling knackered after each session, nope. You want to try finishing each outing feeling like you could carry on if you had to. So it's about starting off really slowly and keeping that going. Make it feel really easy and comfortable - if you're breathing too heavily at any point, that's your sign to slow down. Yes, I'm talking about JOGGING, *not* 'running', so get any ideas of 'running' out of your head.
That way, you'll breeze through the 9 week program and be in good shape to continue to build your fitness from there. This is only the start.
I’ve just finished my W2R1 so I’m definitely not going to mock. The support of the forum is great with lots of good tips that are from experience. I’ve never had stitch and I do keep hydrated.
I don’t have any advice for you - the commenters above have done a great job with that - but I do want to say thank you for your service as a police officer. Keep on running and keeping us all safe 👏!!
Someone told me a week or so ago, that if the stitch is on your right then clench your left fist tight for a bit and it goes ... and vice versa. And it seemed to work when I had stitch so worth a try
Sorry not able to offer any advice as I’m just a runner. Keep on with the process and you will be tracking down them “baddies” in no time PS thank you for being a “goodie”
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