Topic: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread (Read 91004 times)

Redball · « **Reply #200 on:** 08 Jun 2012, 13:48 »

Calls up a silly memory: A local city councilman in a town I reported occasionally was John E. S. Scott. I didn't need the mnemonic, but I thought of him as John TMI Scott, for two middle initials.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #201 on:** 08 Jun 2012, 16:32 »

Week 2 Day 3 tonight. Ow my stupid ankle, and ow my arms & shoulders from trying to do monkey bars with my niece last night. Apparently I did leave my charger at my father-in-law's but my sister-in-law thought it was hers and took it. But I borrowed my coworker's and my husband also found his iPod charger so tonigh only suffered from weaknesses of the flesh, not the machine. We did 2.11 miles at 14:43 min/mile. The dog is still excited about leaving but I'm not sure if that means he's ok with it or if he just has a bad memory.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #202 on:** 09 Jun 2012, 11:31 »

I ran a fairly laid-back week 3 run today, the second but I think I'm going to deem it the third after doing two and a half hours of walking yesterday, and move onto week four on Monday. Otherwise I'll keep falling behind and eventually give up in despair. I'm feeling ready to move up. Today I didn't really break a sweat or ache much; I suspect I was running a little slower because I was with a friend and we were chatting as we ran, but the first time I ran week 3 it wasn't really hard work either. So week four it is!

Redball · « **Reply #203 on:** 09 Jun 2012, 13:04 »

Being able to carry on a conversation whilst (!) running is a Good Thing.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #204 on:** 09 Jun 2012, 20:28 »

I read on some running thing from Pinterest (a highly respected authority, I know) that you should be breathing enough to be comfortable holding a conversation, but not singing, while you run. So good job!

Barmymoo · « **Reply #205 on:** 09 Jun 2012, 23:20 »

That's what the podcast guy says. I don't think I was putting enough effort in really, but my knees were hurting a bit and I was really going so that I didn't just get so far behind I gave up.

Redball · « **Reply #206 on:** 10 Jun 2012, 05:40 »

Looked at coming a.m. temps and decided to run in today's early a.m. 60F instead of tomorrow's 68F.
After a comedy of errors, resembling a typical dream of continual frustration:
Friday: Went to a friend's for Happy Hour. Returned home.
Saturday, had a meeting at the same friend's home at 9 a.m. I was late. Couldn't find my wallet. Drove the 14 or so miles anyway.
Found the wallet by a picnic table we'd used for happy hour.
Time to leave. Couldn't find my keys, in the car, on the ground, in his home.
He drove me home. I had locked my house. I don't usually. I called a neighbor on my cell to her cell. She was away, but told me how to get into her house and where my key would be.
I collected the key, found my second set of keys. My friend drove me back to his house to collect my car.
Back at home Saturday night, I couldn't find my cell phone. It's in his car. I may collect it today.
So without the iPhone, I wrote out a timetable for W4R1. It worked quite well.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #207 on:** 11 Jun 2012, 12:18 »

Hooff. Just did the first run of week four and it was a push, but not hard. There was a brief moment in the last five minute run when I thought my legs were aching a bit, but I didn't feel like I needed to force myself to keep going. Considering I cycled to work and back today, I am calling that a triumph! Still don't feel like a Runner but I don't feel like it's impossible that I'll one day call myself that.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #208 on:** 12 Jun 2012, 18:21 »

Just did Week 3 Day 1 (1.93 mi, 14:30 min/mi) and holy wow 3 minute runs is a whole 'nother. We cut our loop through the apartments short and went straight home - usually we go all the way around and finish the cool-down on the path back to the house. Probably doesn't help that it's currently 77*F with 95% humidity, and feels like it.

Redball · « **Reply #209 on:** 13 Jun 2012, 07:26 »

W4R2 in mid-50s, breezy, dry, perfect weather -- and my legs are telling me I need more lifting strength, i.e., some squats.

Skewbrow · « **Reply #210 on:** 13 Jun 2012, 09:18 »

Lost last week nursing a lumbago. Striking back with a 55 minute orienteering course today. My wife and son also decided to participate, which made all the more pleasant. I enjoyed the course, in the mad sense that I enjoy "running" through a forest knee deep in fallen branches, twigs and such. I didn't really push hard, because my left foot is still sore, so the kilometers didn't exactly tick by.

But I'm back!

Redball · « **Reply #211 on:** 13 Jun 2012, 19:09 »

If you can figure out how to fit it into the grid, feel free to post progress.
In the 1980s, my wife and I "trained" to hike with packs in the White Mountains in New Hampshire by walking in some wooded trails in fairly flat southeastern Michigan. One Saturday morning, driving through the area, we saw a startled young guy in shorts, T-shirt, maybe with a number, and something kind of beige across the shirt, come out of the woods. He ran on across the road and back into the woods. At the park headquarters, we discovered that we were witnessing an orienteering event. I was fascinated, but not enough to take it up.
And that was before handheld GPS's. And I concluded that the beige across his front were burrs. It was that season.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #212 on:** 14 Jun 2012, 00:26 »

I always liked orienteering, although I did it as a Brownie Guide so I think it was a rather simplified version.

Just weighed in, and I'm at exactly the same weight as last week. Not very surprising, I've heard of people plateauing at this point. At least it wasn't an increase.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #213 on:** 14 Jun 2012, 17:24 »

Week 3 Day 2 tonight (1.92 mi, 14:35 min/mi). Much better weather, and apparently everybody and their brother thought so too, and decided to take their dog and/or toddler for a walk. Patrick was a wee bit distracted. I managed to carry on a phone call for the majority of the run. Unfortunately I started feeling unwell in the last 8 minutes or so, so when I got home I just dropped my phone and the leash and went into the bathroom, and when I came out I found that the handle of the 6' leash had gotten closed in the front door so Patrick was tethered in the entryway. I felt bad about that.

Redball · « **Reply #214 on:** 14 Jun 2012, 17:53 »

Quote from: bainidhe_dub on 14 Jun 2012, 17:24

Unfortunately I started feeling unwell in the last 8 minutes or so, so when I got home

Hope you weren't running on a full stomach.

Quote from: Barmymoo on 14 Jun 2012, 00:26

I always liked orienteering,

I've heard of people plateauing at this point.

Verbing with a vengeance! Is that vengeancing?

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #215 on:** 15 Jun 2012, 03:28 »

Yeah I went out right after dinner. Definitely a poor decision.

Redball · « **Reply #216 on:** 15 Jun 2012, 05:11 »

An epiphany today: My runs have been the same length since W1R1 (or is it W1D1?). They haven't varied by so much as 5 percent. I finally realized the sad truth that my "running," my jogging, my shuffle-jogging, is no faster than my walking. Oh, well....
It means that if I ever find a GPS-based C25K app, I'm in trouble.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #217 on:** 15 Jun 2012, 07:44 »

There's actually very little variation in the total jogging time over the first three weeks - just under half - it just increases the duration. I don't know what to say about week 4, it's 3/4 jogging, except that maybe the 5 minute jogs slow you down more? You could get RunKeeper and run it in the background. I find it doesn't match up perfectly with my C25K app in terms of distance, but it gives you your pace (or speed) for each minute. I haven't been using it lately but on the last run I tracked it definitely shows a change.

I'm actually kinda confused after looking at the coolrunning.com chart though. I think the app has had me doing 20 minute runs every time (plus the warm-up and cool-down) but only week 1 comes out neatly to 20 minutes. Weeks 2 through 4 are, by my math, 21 min, 18 min, and 21:30 if you go by time.

Redball · « **Reply #218 on:** 15 Jun 2012, 09:48 »

I did buy a Polar H7 bluetooth heart rate monitor transmitter which sends to my older model wristwatch/receiver but also to most iPhone apps that track heart rate. I suppose an ideal app would be one which tracks GPS, heart rate and issues C25K commands. The app I'd expected to use, MotionX, does heart rate and gps but so far is incompatible with the H7 transmitter. I'm still looking, although it's not an urgent quest. It all satisfies the gadget-lover in me, the kid who likes to hook things up and watch them go.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #219 on:** 16 Jun 2012, 08:25 »

Did my first week 3 run yesterday. It felt good (well, not during....but it felt good to finish it)! My shins have been ok, aside from a few small twinges near the lower portion. My calves started to cramp up yesterday during the 3rd set of running, but I paid more attention to widening my stride and straightening my posture and somehow, it did the trick!

My weeks are off in the sense that they're a bit staggered. Some days I don't feel comfortable moving up the running time, so I just do another from the previous week. Then, I need to complete my runs from the previous week because sometimes adding that 4th from the week prior doesn't give me enough days doing the actual current week. It's setting me back on the chart a little bit, but I'm ok with that. It's still getting done. And if my "week" needs to be a week and a half for my legs to cooperate, I'm ok with that too.

Redball · « **Reply #220 on:** 16 Jun 2012, 08:37 »

The commitment is more important than the frequency.

Next week may be a little harder for me: On the road Monday to visit my daughter in Nyack NY and some warm weather when I get there. I should run early Sunday, at least get a small jump on the week.

Aches and pains: Some in my old knees after I run, sometimes something or other in a hip, and one day I thought an Achilles tendon was trying to tell me something. But nothing persists, and the knees and hips were sending similar messages before I quit jogging 14 years ago. Heart rate usually maxes at about 120, and I could carry on a conversation with a fellow runner at any point in the run.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #221 on:** 16 Jun 2012, 18:47 »

My heart rate is pretty high...I've seen it at 180. The bizarre thing is that it's actually harder for me to run at a speed that would maintain a lower heart rate. I question whether I should worry or not, but I don't feel physically uncomfortable and I'm anxious in the first place so I'm thinking maybe anxiety + exercise = higher than "target" heart rate. Hmmm.

Redball · « **Reply #222 on:** 16 Jun 2012, 19:17 »

The heart rate/exercise charts say 180 is a good aerobic rate in your 20s. Take a look if you haven't recently. It might ease your anxiety. I have a vague understanding of being unable to run more slowly to lower your heart rate. I wish I had a better understanding; it might mean I'd have the same enviable problem.

pwhodges · « **Reply #223 on:** 17 Jun 2012, 03:07 »

The drugs they have given me following my heart attack mean that I have to work very hard to get my pulse up to 100; I only did it once in the 10 weekly gym sessions that they also gave me.

Redball · « **Reply #224 on:** 17 Jun 2012, 04:05 »

That would be, or be like, my metoprolol -- since my stent. I take it in the morning and if I start out without it, my heart rate's a good deal higher.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #225 on:** 17 Jun 2012, 07:19 »

I did Week 3 Day 3 this morning. I'm not sure if it was because it's my first morning run, or because it's hot already, or because I'm a little hungover, but it was not great. I ended up walking the last run. I would blame being hungover but the dog was dragging like crazy too. I basically hauled him through a run, and as soon as I slowed to walk he slowed down more and I had to drag him for that too.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #226 on:** 17 Jun 2012, 11:05 »

I'm pretty proud of myself, I did week 4 run 3 on Friday morning despite being in a totally new place where I wasn't sure there was a good route, and also knowing that I had a busy day ahead of me. I got up early, went out of the hotel and ran along the seafront and back, past all the old people having breakfast in their hotels. I was still alarmingly red when I went down to breakfast after my shower - is anyone else having this problem? I seem to getting more red-faced when I run, not less - but I felt great for having managed to keep up the routine despite being away from home. Hopefully I'll continue to do so even though I'm moving around a lot in the next month.

Redball · « **Reply #227 on:** 17 Jun 2012, 11:51 »

I haven't looked to see if I'm red in the face or not. I suppose if I thought I was unusually flushed, I'd check my blood pressure. I do occasionally, but never think to do it just after a run. I'm fair and I blushed horribly in my teen years, a true red Ball, so it wouldn't surprise me to be quite red during a run.

My C25K app tells me when I'm halfway done, and I turn around and head home since my route takes me from my house at the end of a dead-end road on out of the subdivision. My wife and I in our running and traveling days enjoyed jogging through a new downtown, or any new area.

And my total route is still 2.0, 2.05 miles, even with today's W5R1. I think the reason is clear enough: My jog and my walk are the same speed, and the iPhone app changes pace but within the same total time. I was 46 or 47 when Clara and I started jogging, 61 when I stopped. My usual pace was a 9-minute mile, my best perhaps 8 or 8 1/2, but with Clara I'd run about 10 minute miles. Apparently I'm closer to 15 minutes. Gotta work on that. Later.

pwhodges · « **Reply #228 on:** 17 Jun 2012, 12:23 »

Quote from: Redball on 17 Jun 2012, 04:05

That would be, or be like, my metoprolol -- since my stent. I take it in the morning and if I start out without it, my heart rate's a good deal higher.

Bisoprolol in my case - but I have to take four types of drug which together are the standard response to a heart attack, and given to everyone automatically - a beta blocker (bisoprolol), an ace inhibitor (ramipril), a statin (atorvastatin), and aspirin. I get irritated by the (admittedly slight) side-effects, not least because I had none of the conditions these things treat before the attack, at least not to the level that the doctors wanted to treat; but I can't argue with the fact that I actually had an attack, so reducing the risk factors further can only be seen as a good idea. On the other hand, twice, at the end of the supervised exercise sessions, after the end of the cooling down my blood pressure was so low that they wouldn't let me leave until it had gone up again; I have also fainted in shops when straightening up after looking at a low shelf for a period. I also have a stent, which was in place about 45 minutes after I collapsed (a major hospital is about 400 yards from my home).

Redball · « **Reply #229 on:** 17 Jun 2012, 12:29 »

My only symptom was angina. I have a minor hospital 15 miles away. The nearest I'd trust with heart surgery are 1 1/2 hours in opposite directions. Living alone, it's doubtful in an emergency I'd have a choice.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #230 on:** 18 Jun 2012, 06:24 »

Quote from: Redball on 16 Jun 2012, 19:17

The heart rate/exercise charts say 180 is a good aerobic rate in your 20s. Take a look if you haven't recently. It might ease your anxiety. I have a vague understanding of being unable to run more slowly to lower your heart rate. I wish I had a better understanding; it might mean I'd have the same enviable problem.

Ahhh, what worried me was the stupid thing on the treadmill. It made a note of 60% and 85% for 20 yrs old, 30, 40, etc. I figured that being 26 would put me somewhere between what is listed for those who are 20 and 30 and it still ended up being higher than the chart recommended. According to a tool on the Mayo Clinic website, my target is 136-165. I figured out that max is (should be?) 194, so if I assume that 85% is target, it comes out to roughly 165. I'm noticing that I average between and 87% and 92%.

When they say that 60% of your max rate is the optimal range for fat burn- does having a typical range that is significantly higher not burn fat as effectively? I'm sure it would do me some good to research this a bit more. Monitoring my heart rate thus far has done nothing but make me think I'm doing something wrong lol

idontunderstand · « **Reply #231 on:** 18 Jun 2012, 06:59 »

Quote from: lepetitfromage on 18 Jun 2012, 06:24

[I'm sure it would do me some good to research this a bit more.

Maybe. Or you could just keep doing what you're doing as long as nothing seems wrong and you get good results. Overthinking stuff is a major mistake when it comes to training. What works, works. No science can determine what's best for YOU.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #232 on:** 18 Jun 2012, 11:52 »

Hmmm...I like your idea better! I'm a qualified expert at overthinking things until I convince myself that something is tragically wrong. Perhaps I'll just....run.

idontunderstand · « **Reply #233 on:** 19 Jun 2012, 05:09 »

Sounds good to me.

Redball · « **Reply #234 on:** 19 Jun 2012, 06:44 »

My app wouldn't come up for me today. It kept throwing up a "look at these other great running apps" page. So I half remembered the routine and ran it from my wristwatch, sandwiched a 3 minute walk between 2 8-minute jogs. Close, it should have been a 5-minute walk. And I should have punched the iPhone a little harder to make the app work. Next routine is even simpler: A 2-mile jog, no interruptions. A major difference: In Nyack NY, running on pavement, noticeably harder than my dirt roads in Michigan.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #235 on:** 19 Jun 2012, 19:17 »

Did week 3 for a 4th day tonight, it went much better than Sunday. We went 1.94mi at 14:25 min/mi. It was pretty warm I guess (about 85F) but cooler than sitting in my car with the broken AC, and definitely better than tomorrow will be, with a high of 96F and a heat advisory from noon to 8pm.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #236 on:** 20 Jun 2012, 00:29 »

I haven't run since Friday and I feel like I can't be bothered - but I am going! This morning! Right now! Week five here I come.

Phew. Did it, and I'm roasting. Sweating and red and out of breath but I did it!

I'm really annoyed though, the headphones I bought just before I started this programme have totally failed. After about two weeks one of the earbuds stopped working, but I kept on using them because it meant I could hear what was going on around me. Now both earbuds have stopped working, and to hear anything at all I had to keep wriggling the wires and pinching them and trying to get them to stay connected. I'm applying for a refund and buying better ones.

Redball · « **Reply #237 on:** 20 Jun 2012, 05:28 »

Quote from: bainidhe_dub on 19 Jun 2012, 19:17

Did week 3 for a 4th day tonight, it went much better than Sunday. We went 1.94mi at 14:25 min/mi. It was pretty warm I guess (about 85F) but cooler than sitting in my car with the broken AC, and definitely better than tomorrow will be, with a high of 96F and a heat advisory from noon to 8pm.

Quote from: Barmymoo on 20 Jun 2012, 00:29

I haven't run since Friday and I feel like I can't be bothered - but I am going! This morning! Right now! Week five here I come.

Phew. Did it, and I'm roasting. Sweating and red and out of breath but I did it!

Do you two have an option to run early in the day? At this point, I won't run after it seriously warms up.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #238 on:** 20 Jun 2012, 05:57 »

I did run early in the day, I went out at about 8.30 but I usually go earlier. It isn't that hot here, the highest it's meant to reach today is 19c. It's the running which makes me so warm!

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #239 on:** 20 Jun 2012, 06:39 »

I don't think I'll be able to run much more this week. Went back to my podiatrist and he put this crap on my foot that made it swell up and ache. Can barely walk.

This sucks!

Although, hopefully I can get a run in on Saturday. then at least I'll get 2 runs in for the week as opposed to just 1.

Redball · « **Reply #240 on:** 20 Jun 2012, 09:42 »

Quote from: Barmymoo on 20 Jun 2012, 05:57

I did run early in the day, I went out at about 8.30 but I usually go earlier. It isn't that hot here, the highest it's meant to reach today is 19c. It's the running which makes me so warm!

If I'd looked at the edit time, I'd have seen that. Despite heat and pain and disability, it's cool that you're all hanging in, taking it seriously, even if the schedule gets delayed.

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #241 on:** 20 Jun 2012, 10:37 »

I guess in theory I could go in the morning, but I already get up at 6am and leave for work at 6:30 so I don't know if I could do it.

Redball · « **Reply #242 on:** 21 Jun 2012, 07:14 »

18 years ago this month, my wife and I did extra jogging, 4 miles in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, to prep for a relay race in upstate Michigan. She was still teaching, and left for work at 6:30. As I recall, we were up at 4:30. I don't know how we managed to do it.

Redball · « **Reply #243 on:** 21 Jun 2012, 07:15 »

Cracked egg.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #244 on:** 22 Jun 2012, 01:39 »

So I requested a return from the seller of the broken headphones. I just got a reply refusing the return because "there is no manufacturer fault". Well excuse me, but if a pair of headphones which is plugged into a functioning MP3 are silent while the track is playing except when you jiggle the wires in exactly the right way, there is a fault. I've emailed him back asking him to get his act together, but if he doesn't I will open a case at the eBay resolution centre. It wasn't a lot of money but I'm not going to throw away money on broken things because people are being dipshits.

nobo · « **Reply #245 on:** 22 Jun 2012, 13:18 »

I noticed that my headphones tend to break this way if I leave them plugged into my mp3 player and then wrap the cord around it. Eventually the wiring gets fatigued from being put in that position and breaks. Wiggling the wires around occasionally gets the 2 wires to touch again, but it is always short lived.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #246 on:** 22 Jun 2012, 15:07 »

I don't leave them plugged in when wrapping, and it seems odd that wrapping the wires maybe three times a week for two weeks would damage them so fast. Also, the left earbud wasn't working when they arrived, I think (can't remember for certain but definitely not by the second or third use).

Omega Entity · « **Reply #247 on:** 22 Jun 2012, 20:26 »

Although it sounds like a subpar pair anyway, wrapping wires around something still is bad for them, plugged in or not. S'why wired game console controllers often die, if it's a regular practice. Wires only have so much tensile strength, and repeated wrapping/twisting weakens that. So eventually, the internal wires break apart and sever the connection.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #248 on:** 23 Jun 2012, 02:14 »

Hmm. So possibly the guy is right in refusing the return? How should I store the wires to avoid them being damaged, but also avoid them being tangled?

Barmymoo · « **Reply #249 on:** 23 Jun 2012, 02:21 »

Decided on a new post because it's unrelated to the previous one.

I'm taking a week off from the programme, because a) my headphones don't work, and I'm finding it hard to run by time alone, b) I'm really busy this week and trying to find time to run is stressing me out, and c) my weight-loss has plateaued, and sometimes stopping exercising and then starting again can kick-start the metabolism again. I might go for a run a couple of times just for the sake of it, but I'll restart week 5 when I get back next Friday from my mum's. There's nowhere to run at hers anyway, she lives on a steep hill full of cow-mucky, windy narrow roads with tractors lurking behind every bend.

I'll update if I go on any random runs. I sort of want to go today, so I'll see how I feel later.

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Author Topic: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread (Read 91004 times)