1 2 3 4 .... 1 2 3 4 ....... oh heck

[newyorker570]

Tried the new stepping stone pod cast yesterday. Lovely to hear Lauras' voice again but wow couldn't keep up with the fast pace. I kept going though and every time she upped the pace I kept with it for a short while then back to my normal slow jog. It will be a while before I can up my pace for the whole run. Thats the fun of it though, its been great since graduating last week being able to mix it up a bit a few short runs followed by a longer run. Ran for 42 mins non stop yesterday, definate day to mark on the calender.

[doggymum Graduate]

Wow, well done!

I tried that one yesterday, it was a lot faster than my usual pace and only managed the 1st 5 minute jog, then got confused whether I was suppsed to be running or walking and was so breathless I called it a day after 16 minutes. Am going to try again tomorrow even if I end up at my own pace for most of it.

[happierswimming Graduate in reply to doggymum]

great badge, doggymum- that colour looks good on you

[doggymum Graduate in reply to happierswimming]

thank you, you too matches my eyes!! oh, and my colour after trying to up my speed on the new podcasts lol

[newyorker570 Graduate in reply to doggymum]

Yes I think that's the only way to do it. Keep up for a few minutes then drop back to our normal plod. It's great to be able to keep our options open, it will take me a long time to keep up with the whole pod cast. Need two days to recover now he he

[happierswimming Graduate]

I tried stepping stones this morning, newyorker, and I couldn't keep it up to the end either. But if you're running for 40+ minutes it shows you have good stamina so it won't be long before you speed up. I'm going to alternate between intervals and stepping stones until I can go faster and I'm going to keep telling myself I'm old enough to be Laura's Mother so I don't have to go as fast as her!

[newyorker570 Graduate in reply to happierswimming]

Thanks, I think I actually surprised myself with the stamina. They usually say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but I think I have blown that one out of the window :). I think the speed will come later, much later if at all but I'm happy to plod on. Yes think I will do the same as you switch between intervals and stepping stones.

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Its funny you girls saying it was really fast because I had something strange happen to me.

I have two Ipods one is very new with GPS and the other an old one which I use if its raining heavily so as not to get my new one wet. I downloaded the Podcasts to both and was sitting listening to stepping stones on new Ipod, thought thats sounds OK, fast'ish but I have been graduated for several months now and speeding up. - - - - Then I listened to stepping stones on my old Ipod, if I had managed 5 minutes at the pace it was going I would have broken the Olympic World Record it was incredibly fast but there must be a glitch in the way it has downloaded. When I listened to it again I realised that Laura's words were very fast spoken which is not her way. I'm off to delete it and try again, hopefully at the correct speed this time.

We would all be running around like the Keystone Cops if the same has happened to you guys and girls

[newyorker570 Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

That's made me laugh, I think she was speaking at normal speed but I really did think I would need four legs not two to keep up with her. I will have to have another listen. We are all going to be so fit, or fit to drop

[happierswimming Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

check your ipod speed oldgirl because there's a little sign at the top which is sometimes switched on by accident (2x). It happened to me early in c25k and gave me a shock but it's easy to reset it.

[GoogleMe Graduate in reply to happierswimming]

Yes, happened to me too.

[pitzpalu Graduate]

This is too funny

I`ve got the image in my head of OldGirl running like a Benny Hill clip

I think my MP4 is set on Dead Slow Hehe.

[GoogleMe Graduate]

I've found that if the 'run to the beat' pace feels too fast, you can give yourself a break and still keep up by taking smaller steps (well, I didn't 'find' it, the nice Audiofuel man's voice on one of their own products told me)

[newyorker570 Graduate in reply to GoogleMe]

Yes will have to try that, watch this space.

[as515646]

It's interesting to hear what you're saying - if the podcast is fast then that's good, completing it will be a new goal to aim for. Graduated a month ago and have been increasing distance rather than speed. Now doing 5 miles in 50 minutes, it would be nice to speed up although it's daunting to think of running fast up the big hill that usually leaves me purple!

[newyorker570 Graduate in reply to as515646]

Sounds like you're doing real well. Will soon have to start tackling hills for more strength in the legs. Prefer a nice flat surface

[rungirlrun69]

Hey folks - does anybody else have BIG hills in their regular route? I managed to keep to the Stepping Stones beat the whole way round but did a teeny weeny shuffle step up the big hill. Is this the right way to cope with a hill? I think with the C25K programme I just accepted I was slower up the hill but the new concentration on pace doesn't give me this option. I did it, but after my rest day yesterday I'm dreading doing it again as my quads are killing me.

[newyorker570 Graduate in reply to rungirlrun69]

Yes have watched many people going up a large hill around our way, all taking smaller strides or steps to get up it, have not tackled it myself, not brave enough yet.

[OliversDad]

With hills the key at the start is to lean slightly into the hill and take smaller steps.

[newyorker570 Graduate in reply to OliversDad]

Thanks will try that as soon as I pluck up the courage for a big hill.

[rungirlrun69]

Right! Thanks for that OliversDad - I used to run with a personal trainer and she used to say "dig in" - I'll check I'm leaning in too. I did the same circuit but the other way around so did the really steep bit on the way down. - I thing the focus on 1,2,3,4, really helps as I used to plod up and fly down. The tips on running technique re head and arms really help me too. I've done stepping stones twice now - has anybody done stamina or speed? I think the speed podcast is 5 mins warm up, 12 mins running intervals and 5 mins warm down - is this right? Are you guys including this in a longer run or just doing a shorter session? Should I do the Speed podcast on the flat - trust my luck I'll hit a big hill at 165 + and have a heart attack!

[Alaiyo Graduate in reply to rungirlrun69]

I tried Speed for the first time tonight. I might have gotten confused, but it was 5 min walk, 5 min jog (by which I mean 150 bpm), then 60 seconds run (165) and 60 seconds jog (150) repeating 6 or 8 times, then 5 min walk. I was expecting to finish with a 5 min jog, so I was kinda unprepared for it to just...end.

Anyways, I did it by itself as a workout. I could have kept jogging more, and rolled it into a longer workout, but that probably means I wasn't trying hard enough, truth be told. It was so much faster than I am used to that I took very small steps to keep the rhythm - bigger steps would have tired me faster, and I expect that would have been plenty of a workout.

Unfortunately, I misjudged my route (which is unavoidably hilly) so I went uphill pretty much the entire way... then had to walk home downhill. I don't recommend that either. I may go out of my way to find a flat route next time I try that one. It was nice to have the change of pace, and to be done so quickly though!

[GoogleMe Graduate]

I started Stamina the other morning as Stepping Stone had mysteriously disappeared off my iPhone, but I switched to Audiofuel's One Five Five (which I'd got as a free download with the Pizza Express Summer Pass I think) soon after the run section started as Stamina sounded a wee bit faster and that particular morning I wasn't up for it.