Using a pedometer brings bad news

[amelia123]

I had a dissapointing run last week. On my last run of week 7 I decided to use a pedometer to find out actually how far I was running. Up until then I had been out on my routes which I had not mapped at all and was guessing that I was running about 3 miles. The pedometer showed that I was over estimated my runs and that I was actually on running just over 2.

It was my first set back and I was gutted, so much so that 5 days passed before I went out for my first week 8 run.That was last night. I was not looking foreward to the run at all and was feeling very negative until about 10 minutes in when I thought about how comfortable I was feeling. Only 7 weeks ago I couldn't imagine running at all let alone feeling 'confortable'.

Anyway, my mood changed and I went on to really enjoy the run and kept going for 28 minutes!! Who'd a thought?

Maybe I have some work to do to reach the 5k but I'm still with the plan. I know now that I will complete the programme and run for 30 minutes - it's too close to give up now.

On another positive note, when I came home from the run last night feeling really proud of myself my 19 year old daughter said that she was going to download the podcasts and start running so that we can run together. How brilliant is that?

[happierswimming Graduate]

How lovely to hear you've inspired your daughter- very well done! Distance and speed are not as important as building up the stamina to exercise vigorously for 30 minutes and you've achieved that- isn't that great! Keep on going because after you graduate you can try the 5k+ podcasts and work on speed and distance, if you like. Good luck to you and your daughter

[Fred23]

That's so great! I hope she enjoys the programme too.

I'm really glad you managed to kick the disappointment, go you! I'm also not super speedy, but I figure we can work on our speed and distance once we can do the full 30 minutes.

[Lane]

Thats brilliant news...glad you 'got back on the horse' as it were.

[justmee]

You are doing brilliantly. I run with my daughter, when I first started she declined then a few weeks later expressed regret so off I went back to week 1 and we have since done it together. Week 6 now and cant imagine running on my own, its something really positive that we can share and its nice to be able to chat. Enjoy

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Well done on working the magic in getting your daughter off the couch thats a big plus these days.

Did you reset your pedometre to take into account that your running stride is perhaps shorter than your walking stride. My trusty ped gives me a whole heep of c?@p if I try to use it for running, love it for walking though.

[Deryn61 Graduate]

I wouldnt trust my pedometer for distance! If yours is like mine you have to set your stride length first? So the pedometer doesnt then take account of any variation in your stride eg you might have a longer stride when running?

The main way to gauge distance would be a gadget with GPS, others use a website/app called "Map my Run" .

I will give you an example, my Garmin told me I did 3 miles the other day and my pedometer said just under 3 kilometers!

Distance isnt too important anyway, sounds like you are doing brilliantly and the main thing is you are getting out there and building up the time you run for. The 5k bit of the C25K is just an aim. I wasnt doing 5k when I graduated but a few weeks later was able to do 5k in 42 mins, now I am trying to improve both the length of time I can run for and distance (have got to 7 miles now and again!) and have also as a result got a bit quicker at 5k parkruns.

[completerunner]

Forget pedometers, they are far to inaccurate for reasons stated above...

I would recommend google maps pedometer

gmap-pedometer.com

Just type your postcode to zoom in close (as with all google maps) and then double click your start point on the map and then just double click each turning point you took, or plan to take, until you get to your end point. Hey presto and you can even convert from Miles to KM or even save your route. Note if you save your route you will slao be able to then share it with others...

[FromLogToJog Graduate]

Like you I came home today and used a site similar to gmap and became very disappointed that I only ran 2 miles and not the 3 I was expecting.

After boring my family to death about it all they reminded me that 7 weeks ago they never would have believed I would ever run for a mile (and neither did I). So despite this set back I've decided I'm not going to let it beat me... Any tips out there to improve speed would be good however!!

Glad you've managed to inspire your daughter - how great is that?