I've had a hard couple of weeks, mainly due to injury and illness. (got a recurring back problem and have had colds and whatnot). I've kept going on the plan, but I've added an extra rest day here and there a few times.
The last few days, I've been away on a short break and had a long couple of car journeys. I got back yesterday and went directly out running for my w4 r3. I found it mega hard. My legs killed and I had a massive stitch the whole way. I think this had a lot to do with sitting in the car for the previous 6 hours, and not drinking enough.
To top it off, I've just read a fairly negative post on another site about a different c25k programme. It was saying that the programme was not good for losing weight, or getting fit necessarily.
So, the combining of that coming back from holiday feeling with a difficult run, the recent health problems and the negative post has left me feeling a bit flat.
On a positive note, I'm looking forward to week 5. It's starting to get hard to wait for the next run. My aim is to run a 5k next spring maybe, and I'd like to lose a little weight. Finishing the plan will enable me to get running longer times/distances, and I guess this will be where I take over the reigns from Laura.
And even in these 4 weeks, I can tell that a bad run is not all bad news. Also, I should know better than to listen to internet negativity.
Ok, moan over. Onward and upwards!
Great forum by the way folks. One of the best and most positive/supportive I've ever come across.
Just read your post and sympathise and empathise completely! I haven't run for about 25 years and I have to admit that when I was younger I didn't enjoy it anyway. I'm on Week 5 and never thought that I would get this far but for the first time ever, I ran 3 days ago and felt that I could have gone on forever!! It was a beautiful day and I was off work in the morning so I thought that I'd take advantage and go for a run.
I packed in smoking just before I started the programme and did the running to try and put my lungs back into some sort of order. I've cracked that (I think) and I've also knocked beer on the head during the week. Weight is slowly dropping off and I've lost about 12lb since I started the programme.
Like yourself I wondered if this plan was working for me but I've really got into it simply because its by the NHS (so they don't want you to buy anything and they don't want to kill you) and secondly because I'm never going to be an athlete so I'm not in any rush to be competitive. What I do want to do is to be able to complete a 5k asap and then aim for the Leeds 10k next June.
Most advice on loosing weight say that the best way to do this is to combine exercise with healthy eating. Injury and life generally will always interfere to some degree in any plan, and the key is to get back on track as soon as possible after any blip. I have lost 13lb since starting in August and will start on week 9 sometime in the next couple of days, when my knee feels up to it. I am hoping to do a Parkrun the next Saturday that I have nothing on! Good luck with your plan, and I am sure that you will soon see the benefit of it all yourself. If we listened to all the health problems that may be related to running, we would all be sitting on the couch still!
As hufandpuff says, if the Nhs endorse this, it can't be that bad can it!??
Personal story: I started at the beginning of August, graduated a week and a half ago after running for the 9 weeks. In the 10 weeks to last Thursday I lost 12lbs, through a combination of healthy eating, going to the gym and the running. The previous 12lbs took from April to August to shift (I've been doing this a while), with the healthy eating and gym but no running. So 10 weeks instead of 15 weeks by adding the running in.
So as Caro says, you need the full monte for the weight loss. On its own the running WILL get you fitter, think how easy W1R1 will seem when you've graduated and can run 30 minutes at a time, think how hard it was 4 weeks ago. You're already a lot fitter than you were.
Keep up the good work, as Laura says, you CAN do it!
p.s. I could go on about muscle tone and the fit of clothes without losing weight, or how lean muscle (which you're building when exercising) uses more calories just sitting there than flab does etc, but I don't want to bore you and you've probably got a bed to go to sometime tonight.
Thanks for that Beads. Well done with all that. It's really great to hear about everyone's achievements on here as it gives us in the early stages a lot of encouragement. I guess you in turn had people encouraging you those months ago. It's part of what's great about the community/plan.
I know. Just being negative today. Tomorrows a new day. Week 5 run 1 here I come.
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Week 4 done!
Week 4 Run 2 Done :)
Week 4 and struggling 
W9R3 done! I finished :) but so slow :(
Week 9 run 3 - all done :-) 
