What are you doing after graduating?

[sergeant_tibbs]

Hi everyone,

I finished the program in December and decided to continue it for awhile, then moved on to some online beginners pilates videos for the next few months until I finished the Couch to 5k program. Now that I'm done with C25k, I find that I'm very bored doing pilates every other day, but I don't know what else to do without weights.

I'm in a weird location where we don't have a gym or park so I'm left to use my house for exercising. When I was a high school rower, we used to fill empty cans with cement and use those as weights, but I don't know if I'm that committed yet!

Are any of you still doing the S&F program or have you moved onto something else? Having something to do on rest days was key to keeping me motivated to run every other day, so I don't want to give it up!

[con-brio]

Done with C25K, but still running I hope!

Have you the chance to get yourself a medicine ball (or invent something like one)? I like the look of this equipment-free workout for runners... though not quite yet (still a newbie S&F-er):

youtube.com/watch?v=6ftrovw...(Not working as expected?)

[jenniej in reply to con-brio]

OMG that looks really tough. May have a go at some of these without a ball. I want to strengthen my stomach muscles an these exercises look good.

[sergeant_tibbs]

Still running! I just did my first post-program run, just a short 20 minutes after getting a bit sick, but I still feel motivated. That medicine ball workout looks great, and I bet I could improvise some weight here with a jug of water or detergent. Thanks!

[TheEditor]

Have you done the c25k graduation podcasts? They're available in the c25k section on nhs choices

[sergeant_tibbs in reply to TheEditor]

I'm planning on doing stepping stones next week. I hear it's hard, especially for us slow runners, but I'm still excited to work on speeding up!

[petal51 in reply to sergeant_tibbs]

Like you, I need to do something on rest days to keep motivated. Am thinking about getting a new bike. The on-line pilates sounds good, will take a look.

I plan to start stepping stones too, and maybe put a garmin down on my birthday list as people seem to get a buzz from seeing their improvement in this way!

Oh, and I've posted a question on c25k for ideas on how to find a running partner, as feel this may help too.

Any other ideas welcome!

[sergeant_tibbs in reply to petal51]

I've been doing 3 of the Livestrong pilates videos. Here's the first one: youtube.com/watch?v=rJguohC...(Not working as expected?) I also do the beginner's arms and abs videos found on the side bar. They're deceptively hard, even after finishing strength and flex!

Which garmin is everyone getting? I keep seeing it mentioned, but the only garmin I'm familiar with is my car's GPS. Right now, I use my ipod nano with the nike plus, which seems to work pretty well for tracking distance and pace.

[petal51 in reply to sergeant_tibbs]

Wow, the pilates lady makes it look so easy but I'm sure it's not! Will give it a go!

Thanks for that!

I was looking at a garmin Forerunner 10, but I think people use different ones and I need to research more.

I use my ipod nano too and was never too bothered about time and distance as I just wanted to complete c25k and s and f. Now I've completed them I think I need to calibrate it to get more accurate readings? I tried to do this once and it didn't seem to do anything so will try to do this again. I'm not technology inclined so it all seems a hassle to me, I just want to touch a button and go! But I guess it could be a useful motivational tool.

[sergeant_tibbs in reply to petal51]

Yes, the calibration is pretty confusing! But, the website says its default calibration is accurate for most people and if you run (don't do your warm-up or cool-down walk with it) for 1k or so, you should be given an option to calibrate it further. I like it because you can graph your runs on the nike plus website and see how steady your pace is and where in the run you get tired or slow down unknowingly. Let us know how you like the garmin, though. That might end up being a christmas request!