Have I become a running obsessed bore? Don't answer that! :) Wk5 R 1

[arablue]

Has anyone else puzzled over stride length, cadence, breathing, posture, foot strike.....?

It started when I had trouble with shin splints, then knee pain a few weeks later. I read up on exercises, and watched videos which gave me lots of insight. Since that I have learnt about having a shorter stride, and faster cadence with mid foot strike (rather than heel strike). Also leaning slightly forward (with a straight body, not just with your shoulders) and letting the lean and gravity take you into a run.

All these things have helped me overcome the aches and pains my body had, with me trying to run while being 3 stone overweight! Am I obsessed? Well, I don't know about that, but I'm practicing the style and its getting easier all the time. I can now run faster without feeling so many joint pains, which means I don't get exhausted so quickly.

Couch to 5k suits me well because it is free, I can do it whichever day and time suits me, my daughter is a teenager now and is happy to be left alone if I need to go out, I love fresh air, music, and I am finding that I love to run too! I really want to lose weight and increase my fitness, and c25k is helping me achieve those aims.

It took me a long time to be ready to lose weight, and leave behind the emotional eating. But now I enjoy running, and each new milestone is a huge achievement for me. I am moving on from my relationship with the couch! Now I find myself on the computer looking at videos on youtube for running cadence, body posture, and signing up with Runners World. I felt a fraud at first, but have now convinced myself that I may be slow, but I am a runner.

Here is a link to one of the videos that helped me.

youtube.com/watch?v=qVM6vy8...(Not working as expected?)

I did Week 5 Day 1 yesterday and all was well. It hurt, I was hot and tired, but I did it!! Bring on Day 2. I can do this!

[runningwild Graduate]

Oh thank goodness, there's more of us! Some of your blog reads like ones I've posted! Good luck and happy running to you ...

[swanscot Graduate]

For anyone interested, you can get podcasts with the metronome clicking away at 180 bpm (or other speeds). The book I read about ChiRrunning suggests playing the metronome for 10 seconds every minute or so, just to check you're keeping a steady pace.

[arablue]

Glad to hear I'm not alone.... Thanks runningwild and swanscot!

[christian1 Graduate]

You are not alone. There's a coupla thousand other C25K'ers on here similarly obsessed - a lot of us surprised to have become so.

[arablue in reply to christian1]

Absolutely, it's the surprise. What happened to my love of couch, now I want to run and run! Did wk5 r2 today, and surprised myself again by completing both lots of 8mins. My feet hurt, my ankles, everything. But by the time I had finished the 5 min cool down I felt fine. What a feeling!

[Greg_M Graduate]

Can I just unhelpfully add - hehehehehehehehehehe!

[arablue in reply to Greg_M]

Thanks a lot Greg!

[psarapsych Graduate]

Hi Arablue - just found Mobile Metronome for Android. Rated 5 stars by 8,336 people and free to download. Thanks for your post 'cos I was hearing/reading a lot about cadence and just had to know what was it all about. Great videos - thanks so much - they made me go and find a metronome app :-).

Isn't amazing what we're all learning from having been couch potatoes!! Chi running, cadence, tempo, etc. etc. - all this terminology I'd never known about before C25K!!!