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Fun Stuff => CHATTER => Topic started by: Barmymoo on 18 May 2012, 01:36

Title: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 18 May 2012, 01:36
Sorry, I am not inventive enough to make up an exciting name.

OK so this is what we're doing (http://c25k.com/). Join us! There are several different downloadable podcasts on that page to keep you motivated and give you some music to run to.

Dog owners, try Pooch to 5k (http://www.poochto5k.com/). And if you get your dog a little running vest, please post photos.

I'm starting this on Monday morning either at 7am or at 8am if I go to church. I've downloaded my podcasts, bought some jogging bottoms and psyched myself up. My schedule will be Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: snalin on 18 May 2012, 01:54
link broken - you've written http// instead of http://

Maybe if I hadn't been in cram mode for exams, but right now, thar is not enough time!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Welu on 18 May 2012, 03:09
I'll read up on it. I'll want to have a go.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 18 May 2012, 04:55
I think this did it for me :) I like podcasts and stuff to help know when to run/walk!
http://www.c25k.com/podcasts.htm

Edit: I will start on saturday or friday evening.

edit: though... the music is terrible.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 18 May 2012, 04:57
Thanks for fixing that, Paul.

Snalin, I know how you feel - I'm in exam mode too, they start in ten days, but I decided to make my day more productive by getting up an hour and a half earlier, and going to bed an hour and a half to two hours earlier. Those last two hours of the day never, ever get used productively - I sit on the internet wasting time until well after midnight and then wonder why I'm tired. So now I'm aiming for bed at more like 10.30, getting up at 6.30 (when I would otherwise be sleeping) and ta da, suddenly I can do more things without cutting anything out.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 18 May 2012, 06:59
edit: though... the music is terrible.

I could probably get over it, although it's not quite as hard as I like my running music. This site (http://web.me.com/iestynx/Couch_to_5K/Podcast/Podcast.html) has a music-free version so you can run to silence or add your own tracks in a music editing program. I used to have Adobe Audition and I really enjoyed using that, but I don't remember where the disk is and don't feel like shelling out more money for a new copy. I just found Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/) so I might give that a try.

Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 18 May 2012, 07:23
A thought: Are there any charting tools available on the forum permitting us to, at a minimum, check off our weekly participation? Would the poll mechanism or some other work for this? Would this reveal more about each of us than we might prefer?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 18 May 2012, 07:50
I could probably get over it, although it's not quite as hard as I like my running music. This site (http://web.me.com/iestynx/Couch_to_5K/Podcast/Podcast.html) has a music-free version so you can run to silence or add your own tracks in a music editing program. I used to have Adobe Audition and I really enjoyed using that, but I don't remember where the disk is and don't feel like shelling out more money for a new copy. I just found Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/) so I might give that a try.

I am going to use this one, I think, and add some music with decent tempos to it or just find an album of similar length and put it over that. Shouldn't be too hard in Garage Band...
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 18 May 2012, 08:17
A thought: Are there any charting tools available on the forum permitting us to, at a minimum, check off our weekly participation? Would the poll mechanism or some other work for this? Would this reveal more about each of us than we might prefer?

Chart off your participation here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE#gid=0

Player 1, the preview explains it all. Green is run, black is to run, the week player 1 is in is week 2. He has run the first day of week 2.

Have fun :)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 18 May 2012, 11:06
A thought: Are there any charting tools available on the forum permitting us to, at a minimum, check off our weekly participation? Would the poll mechanism or some other work for this? Would this reveal more about each of us than we might prefer?

I use  sports-tracker. (http://www.sports-tracker.com/blog/about) Requires (?) a smartphone (or whatnot) with a GPS-receiver. You can upload your exercises to your account on the site, review the workouts on google maps, share them with your facebook friends and all that. If you are of the techie type, you can also collect data from a compatible heart rate monitor.

[Edited the link. Hopefully this leads to a better starting point.]
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 18 May 2012, 11:52
I think it would provide everyone a bit more extra motivation if you all signed up for 5k's a few months from now. Nothing like an upcoming race to keep you motivated.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 18 May 2012, 11:56
Chart off your participation here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE#gid=0
Player 1, the preview explains it all. Green is run, black is to run, the week player 1 is in is week 2. He has run the first day of week 2.
Have fun :)
I'd wondered if we could keep it in the forum, but this'll work if others are interested. Thanks! And fun? The best part of it is the feeling when it's over, IIRC.

I use  sports-tracker. (http://www.sports-tracker.com) Requires (?) a smartphone (or whatnot) with a GPS-receiver. You can upload your exercises to your account on the site, review the workouts on google maps, share them with your facebook friends and all that. If you are of the techie type, you can also collect data from a compatible heart rate monitor.
I've used a Polar HRM in recent years, and for other things, own a handheld GPS. The iPhone has the potential to converge those uses, but the sticking point for me was the requirement for a dongle on the iPhone to connect to the HRM belt. Haven't checked the state of the art for a few months.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 18 May 2012, 12:03
I think it would provide everyone a bit more extra motivation if you all signed up for 5k's a few months from now. Nothing like an upcoming race to keep you motivated.
If we all get through this and graduate, maybe the same 5k? Considering the roster so far, an event not far from the Channel?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 18 May 2012, 18:42
If you don't like the music on the podcasts and have a smartphone, it looks like there are several C25K coaching apps out there that let you play your own music in the background. The official one is paid and published by The Active Network but there are lots of other versions too.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 18 May 2012, 18:46
I intend to check them out. I may not care for the offered music, but for exercise's sake, tempo and energy might be more important than whether I like it or not.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 18 May 2012, 22:42

I use  sports-tracker. (http://www.sports-tracker.com) Requires (?) a smartphone (or whatnot) with a GPS-receiver. You can upload your exercises to your account on the site, review the workouts on google maps, share them with your facebook friends and all that. If you are of the techie type, you can also collect data from a compatible heart rate monitor.
I've used a Polar HRM in recent years, and for other things, own a handheld GPS. The iPhone has the potential to converge those uses, but the sticking point for me was the requirement for a dongle on the iPhone to connect to the HRM belt. Haven't checked the state of the art for a few months.
It is possible to connect a smartphone to a HRM via Bluetooth. ST's own HRM apparently is not compatible with iPhone (not a concern for me, as I'm using an "oldish" device running on Symbian) nor Windows phone (may become a concern when I upgrade), don't know about Polar HRM. Hmm.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 19 May 2012, 01:12
I don't have a smartphone, so it would be good if we could use a tracking system that is either multi-platform, or web-based.

For personal accountability I'm going to print out a chart with Mon-Wed-Sat spaces to check off, plus Wednesday weigh-ins (Wednesday is the day I was weighed at the doctors last week so it just made sense to go with that). Then I've got a visual motivator over my desk if I'm thinking about being lazy!

Bit concerned that my jogging bottoms haven't arrived but maybe they'll get here today.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 19 May 2012, 04:07
Chart off your participation here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE#gid=0
Player 1, the preview explains it all. Green is run, black is to run, the week player 1 is in is week 2. He has run the first day of week 2.
Have fun :)
I don't have a smartphone, so it would be good if we could use a tracking system that is either multi-platform, or web-based.
For a group chart, DrPhibes' will do quite well. It's an anyone-can-edit spreadsheet, although I hope that means you have to be signed in and your edits are tracked. Take a look at it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 19 May 2012, 06:13
a tracking system that is web-based.

Try Map My Run (http://www.mapmyrun.com). It has a pretty intuitive interface that allows you to map out a run. It gives you options to follow roads and do loops and all that.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 19 May 2012, 07:33
That looks useful, thanks Nobo! My nearest park is frustratingly not shaped for nice circular 1km runs but I think I can cope with that!

I wasn't signed in when I edited the spreadsheet, maybe we need to look into that? Although I doubt anyone will bother sabotaging it.

My jogging bottoms and weighing scales have arrived, although not my headphones - but I can use my old, not very good ones for the first morning. I bought a sports bra and goodness me it makes a difference to have a well-fitting one. Did consider some new trainers but then I remembered I have some that I've never worn (really don't like how they look, but they fit fine) so I'll use those until I'm definitely sure I'm going to keep running long enough to justify spending £20 on new ones. Basically I'm all set!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 19 May 2012, 08:09
I couldn't get Nobo's link to open. Guess I would need to set up an account or something? For comparison I made my latest orienteering practice on ST public. Here's  the link. (http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Jyrki_63/6i2ikh7p5sq32oi9) It works on a browser that doesn't (shouldn't?) have my login credentials, so hopefully it works for you as well.

Edit: I did get Nobo's link to work, but only by opening it to a new tab. Otherwise "dot com" was left out from the address, so no wonder it didn't work. And, yup, orienteering is an off-road activity :-)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 19 May 2012, 08:13
I've made the spreadsheet open to all so anyone can edit ANYTHING. You don't need to have a google login because I don't like pushing google accounts on people.
Also, i just made a few quick changes to the look and the order :) I added comments! Though I might delete them... they seem irritating already :X
I updated the first row now called: Preset-guy, copy paste his week, 1 run, 2 runs or all runs to indicate how far you are that week. He's easy to copy paste from :P

I've given everyone a comment box for their week to also indicate how much they have done or what the troubles you had.

I don't have a good phone or anything that can track my run accept put it into google myself.
Map My Run does work pretty well :) Though I should start mapping some myself.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 19 May 2012, 08:39
Awesome!

I was going to wait until June to start but maybe I'll start next week. I think I'll have time on MWF...so...we shall see!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 19 May 2012, 08:41
Dunno what's wrong. Every time I click DrPhibes' link I get redirected to https://accounts.google.com. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 19 May 2012, 09:22
Otherwise "dot com" was left out from the address, so no wonder it didn't work.

I'm an idiot, I'm sorry. :)

Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 20 May 2012, 14:55
First run tomorrow morning! Got my running gear (minus the headphones - my old, not very good and not very comfortable ones will have to do) and my route, my podcast and my motivation. Now to get some sleep! Wish me luck, gang.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 20 May 2012, 15:37
Good luck, and don't forget to write!

Or post.

Or chart.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 21 May 2012, 00:11
Did it! I actually enjoyed it, although my earbuds kept falling out - I hope my new ones arrive before Wednesday. Achey now but feeling good. The walk-run thing worked well, I didn't feel tempted to stop at all except on the very last run when he said "only twenty more seconds". It was the first time he'd spoken mid-run and it threw me, but I kept going when I realised he wasn't saying stop.

Got to work out a more sensible route though, I went all over the place and ended up with a ten minute cool-down walk to get home.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 21 May 2012, 03:49
Skewbrow try this link as last resort: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE

I've changed the settings to:
Quote
Sharing settings: Link to share (allows editing)

Who has access: Anyone who has the link can edit Change...   
Robert Dorigo (you) [email protected] Is owner   

Editors will be allowed to add people and change the permissions.Only the owner can change the permissions.Editors can add people and change the permissions on some of your items.[Change]You have made changes that you need to save.Save changes

Sharing settings
Visibility options:
Anyone with the linkAnyone who has the link can access. No sign-in required.
Edit access: Allow anyone to edit (no sign-in required)
 

Nice running so far :) I'm gonna run tonight!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 21 May 2012, 03:52
I'm just checking I'm not somehow looking at an old sheet, am I the only one who's run yet?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 21 May 2012, 04:40
Yep barrymoo, you are the only one, Linds has run but has not updated the information sheet.

The link you have is correct, my name is now red :)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 21 May 2012, 05:23
Think of yourself as a starter pistol, for the project and today's run. Mine went surprisingly easy, but I've been walking for a couple of weeks, and spent quite a few days in February and March walking. I was concerned at heart rate. The monitor said it shot up to 165 or so, but quickly backed down to the low 120s, and never went above 120 in later run segments. How's your new gear working out? And remind me what app you're using. I used a free app tied to a breast cancer nonprofit, and the track is silent except for change of pace, halfway and nearing-end announcements. That's not all bad. In the countryside, I get to hear birds if I take the trouble to listen.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 21 May 2012, 05:42
The jogging bottoms are quite large - right length but baggy, but that's no problem really. Big pockets! Which means my MP3 player isn't escaping.

I've downloaded Robert Ullrey's podcasts (http://c25k.com/podcasts.htm) which play music and tell you what to do, but don't monitor anything because it's just an MP3. Which means that I don't actually know exactly what my calorie burn rate is, but MyFitnessPal is all estimates anyway. I have discovered that just by going on this run, my calorie intake has to be a lot higher today. Not sure how to get all the calories I need without eating too much fat.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 21 May 2012, 06:11
Lower the calorie density? I often use veggies in place of, say pasta or bread at midday, i.e., pouring a prepared pasta sauce -- in my case, from my Michigan supermarket, something like Prego's tomato-based Italian sausage and garlic poured over a defrosted vegetable mix. But I don't think I burned that many calories today.
I have a hard time using front pockets in pants when I run; an iPhone or a set of keys would bump against my leg, unpleasantly. So I clip the iPhone on my belt and if I'm taking keys -- I don't out on this rural dead-end road -- I often put them in a back pocket for walking/running.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 21 May 2012, 06:44
I need to increase the calorie density! I've put my planned meals plus all today's exercise into the food diary, and it's still saying I need to eat another 215 calories (that's after the 200 calorie deficit has been taken off my base rate). Breakfast was toast with peanut butter, lunch was couscous and a salad wrap with cheese, dinner will be spaghetti with garlic-fried spinach, and I've got two boiled eggs and a whole load of radishes as snacks. Might add some mushrooms to the spinach but even that doesn't get my calories up much.

I wouldn't worry about it, but people keep telling me that I need to eat the recommended calories or my body goes into "starvation mode". Other people say this is a myth. Can anyone clarify?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 21 May 2012, 06:56
How far did your run end up taking you? I'm trying to plot a route around the neighborhood that won't leave me a mile from home when I finish. I usually average about 3.5mi/hr when I walk the dog, but I have no idea what jogging would do to that. Plus I think I'll be running alone today, because it's raining, and a certain big scary dog is considerably less scary when faced with the prospect of getting his feet wet.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 21 May 2012, 07:01
I ran in loops - first round the edge of a small park, then along a track next to the river which looped round into the back of the village. Then through the village and back onto the park, round the other side of the park and across the river for a bit, before looping back round to the road at the side of the park to get back to my college. Basically it was a big tangle of loops, never more than 1km away from home.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 21 May 2012, 07:06
You could always supplement with some more protein- there are some protein bars that actually don't taste like ass and there are also powders that you can mix into shakes. They typically bump up your calories but give you good stuff instead of bad stuff.



But....I don't know if I believe that cutting out 200 calories will engage that whole Starvation Mode thing. I always thought that was brought on by a severe change in diet (like.....a decrease of 1,000 calories or more). Anyone else have any insight? I'm curious as well.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Welu on 21 May 2012, 07:30
Don't want to start by procrastinating but I'll be starting as soon as my school year is over. Too many deadlines right now but if I find a couple hours, I'll be in the gym getting ready as soon as I can.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 21 May 2012, 07:56
Yep barrymoo, you are the only one, Linds has run but has not updated the information sheet.

I haven't run yet! I am holding off until June to start. When I won't be freaking out about how my time should be spent doing work on my thesis. I thought about starting today, but I know I'll spend the whole time freaking out about how I should be working. So I'll be a few weeks behind everyone, but I will do it!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 21 May 2012, 09:23
there are also powders that you can mix into shakes.

Costco has an enormous 6 lb bag of protein powder that tastes like a delicious milkshake when you mix it up. Muscle Milk is another tasty one.

I signed my sister and myself up for the Warrior Dash at the end of July, so I'm joining you guys in a running regiment.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 21 May 2012, 09:29
I haven't run yet! I am holding off until June to start. When I won't be freaking out about how my time should be spent doing work on my thesis. I thought about starting today, but I know I'll spend the whole time freaking out about how I should be working. So I'll be a few weeks behind everyone, but I will do it!
There's a possibility that the 1 1/2 hours a week will clear your head and unjangle your nerves.

How far did your run end up taking you? I'm trying to plot a route around the neighborhood that won't leave me a mile from home when I finish. I usually average about 3.5mi/hr when I walk the dog, but I have no idea what jogging would do to that. Plus I think I'll be running alone today, because it's raining, and a certain big scary dog is considerably less scary when faced with the prospect of getting his feet wet.
As I recall it, the C25K program gives you an option of working by distance or time. Distance requires measurement, maybe GPS, etc., but 5 minutes of this and 60 seconds of that means you can simply use a watch, second hand not required, and head back when your half hour is half done. I used a C25K track in the iphone that told me when to walk and when to run, and also told me when I was halfway done. Since I was walking along a dead-end road, I simply turned around at the halfway point. I also walk at about 3.5 mph, and from my jogging memory, I may increase to 4.5-5mph. My feet at this point don't entirely leave the road; a shuffle jog, which I'm OK with for now.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 21 May 2012, 09:30
I don't know why 'm still reading this thread, but...  I did do a little research on starvation mode. 

Your body doesn't go there until you're below 50% of caloric intake (so the 1000 or so was pretty closse).  200 calories shy won't do it. 

Also, though the metabolism is slowed in starvation mode, it's not enough to offset the caloric defeicit; a 50% reduction in calories will give about a 10% reduction in metabolism - and you're still about 40% short, and losing weight!  You'll still lose weight until you're down to about 5% body fat, then the body takes more drastic measures to preserve itself. 

Also, if you've got more fat, you'll burn more fat than lean tissue.  The metabolic regulation takes care of that.  If you're already lean, you can lose a lot of lean tissue in starvation mode.  But not if you're "well stocked" in reserved fat (read: obese). 

Here's a link that summarised things nicely; http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/weight-loss/truth-starvation-mode
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Zingoleb on 21 May 2012, 14:02
I don't know why 'm still reading this thread, but...  I did do a little research on starvation mode. 

Your body doesn't go there until you're below 50% of caloric intake (so the 1000 or so was pretty closse).  200 calories shy won't do it. 

I've done research into this, too, and realised that I was actually getting maybe 20-30% of the calories I was needing per day. Which explains why, when I was adding a tub of ice cream into my daily diet every day for a few months straight about a year ago, I actually lost 30 pounds or so. (The first 80 pounds were easy. It's the last twenty that are killing me!)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 21 May 2012, 14:20
When you embark on any weight loss journey it is common knowledge that at 80% of the way to your goal your body says "wait a minute, fuck you!". I'm down 40-45ish from my peak and still want that last 10-15 lbs. I will get a six pack goddammit.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Zingoleb on 21 May 2012, 14:26
I just want my bust under 40 inches. Do you realise how hard it is to find decent clothes when your waist is 30 inches and your bust is 42? They don't make things in my size, ever. Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 21 May 2012, 14:27
Learn to sew and take in clothes! That's really the only way you're going to get clothes to fit you when you have a larger bust and tiny waist.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 22 May 2012, 00:09
My legs hurt.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 22 May 2012, 03:39
My legs hurt.
Rest? Or walk it off?

How far did your run end up taking you? I'm trying to plot a route around the neighborhood that won't leave me a mile from home when I finish. I usually average about 3.5mi/hr when I walk the dog, but I have no idea what jogging would do to that. Plus I think I'll be running alone today, because it's raining, and a certain big scary dog is considerably less scary when faced with the prospect of getting his feet wet.
I didn't answer your question: Monday took me just about 1 1/2 miles.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 22 May 2012, 06:04
Pain is just weakness exiting the body.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 22 May 2012, 10:30
Erm I have heard that before and it has done absolutely nothing to alter the discomfort of walking down stairs!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: The Seldom Killer on 22 May 2012, 10:40
Get up, move around. It'll probably be worth scheduling a little walking session for the morning after a training session. It'll feel horrible at first but it will get the pain out of your legs much quicker rather than it lingering all day.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 22 May 2012, 11:12
Try walking down the stairs backwards. That worked for me after particularly brutal soccer practices in high school.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 22 May 2012, 11:29
Or take tomorrow off. It's an advantage to doing this 3 days out of 7. See what it feels like in the morning.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 22 May 2012, 13:33
Had my first run tonight! My first 5 minute walk is down the hill, so back up was nice and steady upwards for the most part!
Went well so far :)

Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 22 May 2012, 13:35
I'm feeling less achey this evening. I've been gently stretching thoughout the day, and I think it'll be fine tomorrow. But I definitely need to remember to stretch properly after my cool-down walk and before my shower tomorrow.

Part of the problem is that I ran on Monday morning, then cycled hard on Monday evening. Today I did almost no exercise because I just had a day of revision scheduled. Tomorrow I'm just running. Friday I'm just cycling. Might do some form of strength training as well some mornings - my arms are pretty flabby.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 22 May 2012, 17:30
Just got back from run 1 :) My phone says I went 1.9 miles and averaged 17:28 per mile. Plus the 0.4 mile to get back home. I took the dog and I ended up kinda dragging him through the jogging so he might stay home from the next one, and we'll just go for regular walks on the days off.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 22 May 2012, 17:44
Good work! Can you train the dog for more endurance?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 22 May 2012, 17:53
In theory. The first 2 or 3 weeks of Pooch to 5K are the same as C25K but then it starts getting all wonky in the middle. He kept up but he definitely would have gone slower if I'd let him. He's still all sprawled out panting...
(http://distilleryimage2.instagram.com/6082c914a47111e1af7612313813f8e8_7.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 22 May 2012, 18:10
How old?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 22 May 2012, 18:25
About 5 and a half, 100 pounds. He was out of shape when we adopted him last fall but I started walking him almost every day a few weeks ago. He's fine walking but he gets tired from running pretty fast.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 22 May 2012, 18:33
Have you tried him with a Frisbee?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 22 May 2012, 18:59
Be careful as summer comes on - they're nowhere near as efficient at dispersing heat as we are from under that fur coat! 
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 22 May 2012, 20:10
D'aww poor puppy. They make cooling bandanas for dogs, maybe one of those would help? (I don't have a dog, so I have no idea if they're effective, but they sound pretty nifty.)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 22 May 2012, 23:51
Be careful as summer comes on - they're nowhere near as efficient at dispersing heat as we are from under that fur coat!

Very true.  Indeed, they don't even have sweat glands where they have fur, so panting is not so much their extreme position as the normal heat loss mechanism, the tongue and lungs being the main heat-exchange areas (the nose and paw pads not amounting to much in comparison).  When they are running, there's also the air-flow through the fur, at least in the less shaggy types.

A bandana would not help, as there is no sweat to wick into it and evaporate to cool it down.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 23 May 2012, 00:00
Second run complete. I'm buying new trainers today. Five different places where my skin is now gone.

I weighed in this morning before I went running and I've lost 2kg since last week. I think a large part of that will be down to the fact that last week I was weighed after breakfast, and in my clothes and shoes, whereas today I was just in my underwear before breakfast, but I'm still leaving it up as a loss to encourage myself. Also just reviewed my goals on MFP and discovered I'm actually working on a 470 calorie deficit, not a 200 calorie deficit, which I hadn't realised. I'd better be more careful to eat all my daily calories!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 23 May 2012, 02:14
I can differ 2kg on about 2 days, so remember to always weigh yourself at the exact same moment under the same conditions.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 23 May 2012, 04:29
That's the plan from this point onwards - as soon as I get up, after going to the bathroom but before getting dressed or eating. I just used last week's doctor's appointment weight as a starting point.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 23 May 2012, 04:40
That's my routine.

Truth be told, on the toilet, I sometimes push a little.

TMI
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 23 May 2012, 04:54
The way I see it, anything that is going to come out isn't actually your weight at all, just the weight of the rubbish you're about to get rid of anyway. You wouldn't weigh yourself carrying a bag of garbage!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Welu on 23 May 2012, 04:56
Gonna do the first workout tomorrow since I have a proper day off, at least until 4pm so loads of time to walk and get work done. Hoping even though my schedule is packed that once I start, I'll find the time.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 23 May 2012, 07:14
My new headphones arrived! I was a bit dubious because they didn't look like they'd stay in my ears at all, and the bits that hook over my ears looked a weird shape, but I just tried jumping up and down and waving my head around with them in, and they didn't move at all. Splendid. Now just have to buy new trainers and I'm basically sorted.

Glad I decided to run at 7am, because over the next week it's going to gradually get hotter every day. At the moment I'm uncomfortably warm inside with just a t-shirt and jeans on. No way I could run outside at the moment (I'm a wuss about heat, it's only about 20 celcius).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 23 May 2012, 07:35
Heat is the worst. Early mornings are good for workouts, because it's cool and I get eaten by mosquitos if I'm outside in the evening.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 23 May 2012, 07:37
It was 49F when I got up, 58 when I got out, and just beginning to feel warm when I returned. I'd better get used to it and get out closer to getting up, because lows will be in the high 60s some nights coming up, with highs in the mid-90s.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 23 May 2012, 10:35
I was out of town for a couple days so I could only continue today. 4+K orienteering. I spent 1hr 4minutes (the winner needed 36 minutes, and the last place time was 1hr 42 mins) and placed 72nd out of 93. Several bad news though:
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 23 May 2012, 11:07
Are you looking for the chart here?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE#gid=0 (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE#gid=0)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 23 May 2012, 12:27
I think I'm going to go for my first run tonight! There's some residual anxiety from the last running disaster, but I'm determined none the less! I'm going to give it a shot today without my compression sleeves and see if that helps my calves any. I bought new running shoes a few weeks ago, so hopefully that will help too.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 23 May 2012, 12:39
I think I'm going to go for my first run tonight! There's some residual anxiety from the last running disaster, but I'm determined none the less! I'm going to give it a shot today without my compression sleeves and see if that helps my calves any. I bought new running shoes a few weeks ago, so hopefully that will help too.


You go, girl!

Is that what I'm supposed to say?

Or do I have to be a girl to say that?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 23 May 2012, 16:51
hahaha I appreciate the sentiment! And of course you don't have to be a girl to say that  :-)

Oh and.....I did it! WOOOOOOOOO. I almost backed out because I was experiencing some slight nausea, but I decided to just suck it up and go anyway. I did some other stuff around the gym first and felt better after that, so then I wrapped up my gym time with the run. I felt a tinge of discomfort in my ankles (of all things...really?) but other than that everything was ok!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 23 May 2012, 17:30
My wife in her 60s avoided getting stodgy and conservative; maybe continuing to teach K-12 helped. She used to address our female cat as "girlfriend." "How're you doin', girlfriend?" I thought it was charming.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 23 May 2012, 22:16
Looks like the plantar fasciitis from last winter has returned. ... A lot of painkillers in the near future.

There are better ways.   (http://sportsmedicine.about.com/b/2007/01/05/new-stretch-decreases-plantar-fasciitis-pain.htm)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 24 May 2012, 00:35
Thanks, Carl-E! Trying that out as I type this.

To all: Go! Go! Go!

Update: The doc (starting with general practitioner) wasn't sure that it is plantar fasciitis. It may be problem in the bones of the arch of the foot. She gets it x-rayed, and will refer me to a physiotherapist specializing in feet. Walking/limping still hurts. Yesterday I rode my bike to grocery store, and that was waaaayyy comfier than walking. If it is ok, and my feet can handle it, I will do bike rides instead of running. Is 20-25k on bike about the same as 5k running?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 24 May 2012, 11:31
If you care to keep us up to date on the C25K, we can enter your runs on the spreadsheet, part of a group pat on the back.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 24 May 2012, 13:57
I WILL run tomorrow morning!
I had to many things to do tonight, for my internship :)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 25 May 2012, 02:16
I actually wanted to run this morning - what is this?! Although I didn't, because I decided I needed to sleep in a bit, and when I woke up at 8am it already looked like it was roasting hot outside. Argh. What is this madness, we don't get this kind of weather!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 25 May 2012, 02:32
You don't remember 1976, obviously.  Blake wouldn't have written "in England's green and pleasant land" that year!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: DrPhibes on 25 May 2012, 03:09
(http://i.qkme.me/3pfy4h.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 25 May 2012, 03:09
I certainly don't remember 1976, and it sounds like I should be glad of that! I am not a fan of summer.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 25 May 2012, 04:31
We haven't been too hot yet (that hits this weekend, highs around 90) but we've had crazy thunderstorms every day this week except Tuesday. So I only ran on Tuesday. The current humidity is 92%. It's like walking in a friggin cloud.
This is how I always felt at school: how can I be this far behind already, it hasn't even been a week yet!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 25 May 2012, 04:50
Woke up at 6, looked out, saw dark gray, like lowering clouds. Rain on the way? Looked at the temp: 70F. Looked at radar and humidity: no storms on the way, humidity around 60%, no excuses. Running was a little sweatier than earlier, but not bad.

As I might have said here, my wife and I trained for a long-distance 3-day relay race in the 90s, run in upstate Michigan, and heat, humidity and hills were part of it although neither of us old folks were assigned legs of more than 4 miles or so. So we trained in the heat and tackled hills in a state park nearby in Indiana. I wish I could regain that stoic attitude to running weather.

An annual pass to that park is about $45 for out of staters. I'm considering it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 25 May 2012, 05:56
$45 for an annual? That's great! I'd totally do it if I were you :-)

Just as it was starting to get nice again, the weather turned to crap. It's been less about sweltering heat than ridiculous humidity. Makes me thankful for the gym. Of course, the membership there is a bit more expensive than a park (but still pretty cheap as far as gyms go).

Anyone else doing this on the treadmill or am I all by my lonesome?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 25 May 2012, 06:00
If I get burned out or rained out, I'll be on a treadmill at the senior center's fitness room. I should be there nowadays just for the weight machines. There was a pleasant advantage to running in the park in the 1990s: greeting unafraid deer at 7 a.m. "Hi, how are ya? How's the family."
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 25 May 2012, 06:10
Aww, that is so cool! We've got tons of deer around here but they always spook so easily. I see them the most when driving- sometimes you can spot a bunch of them grazing in someone's front yard.

Since we live in a big apartment complex they don't usually hang out around here. We just get woodchucks. But I'll take them- they're adorable!  :-D
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 25 May 2012, 06:12
Not so adorable if you're a homeowner out in the country.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 25 May 2012, 06:37
Ah, marvellous, perhaps you can clear this up for me: how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 25 May 2012, 06:57
'bout as much ground as a groundhog hogs, if a groundhog could hog ground. 


They're the same critter, of course. 
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 25 May 2012, 11:01
A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood!

And judging from Redball's statement, I assume that groundhogs hog quite a bit of ground.  :-P

I know that they can be quite the pest but I just can't resist the Squeee Factor. I also have 2 fat pet guinea pigs so I guess you could say I have a soft spot in my heart for rotund rodents.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 25 May 2012, 11:50
I have one living under the slab of my A-frame. Some day I expect the A-frame to settle in, separating from the rest of the house. Well, probably not, but ....
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 25 May 2012, 12:05
Ack! Probable or not....that does not sound pleasant.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 25 May 2012, 13:01
They do like to dig, the fat little buggers. 
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 25 May 2012, 19:11
Just back from run 2 :) My sister-in-law is a better running partner than my dog, we averaged 4mph. We're going to meet up again on Tuesday.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 26 May 2012, 00:22
Just got back from the end of week one :) I could tell I hadn't run for two days, but it was fine. New trainers and earphones are much better.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 26 May 2012, 05:10
Good for all who've started this adventure. I count 13 runs posted to the chart. Is that missing anyone?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 26 May 2012, 19:18
Now there are 16! Go us!  :-D
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 27 May 2012, 01:03
Very good!
Patrick's over on the blogging thread trying to quit smoking. I wonder if it's possible to create a challenge/support group for smokers.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: BeoPuppy on 27 May 2012, 02:07
[...] a challenge/support group for smokers.
As in: how much can you smoke before you pass out?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 27 May 2012, 04:17
That actually might work.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Zebulon on 27 May 2012, 05:43
Hello!

I saw that some were trying to find a place to record everything.  I tried to read all the posts to see if anyone had mentioned http://www.fitocracy.com/ yet.

I didn't see any links to it, or maybe I missed it.  If so, sorry.  I use Fitocracy to track all of my bike rides.  It's kind of an RPG + Fitness.  You get experience for all your workouts, and there are quests, pvp, etc.  They also do really well with support groups!  I know there is a Couch to 5k group.  I've been a big fan of the site.  It also helps with accountability because everyone can see if you start to slack.  It's integrated with Runkeeper or something like that, so you can auto track and submit your runs. 

Don't mean to be advertising and all that, but this site has really helped me out.  I like seeing all my progress in numbers.  Also leveling up is kind of cool.

Just checked, there's a QC group.  But it only has 4 members.  :(
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 27 May 2012, 06:17
Did you see this one? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE#gid=0 (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AozrBvNXfeOndEVHNk1tbnoxZnFVQlNZdTJzYkVNelE#gid=0)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 27 May 2012, 09:34
It was about 80 F outside when I went for my run today. Made it to about 50% of my goal before I  had to start doing walk/jog intervals. It is going to take a while to get accustomed to the heat.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 28 May 2012, 04:09
I just did the first run of week 2, and it was harder going. I'm not sure if that's because it was more running, or because it was warmer, or what. I got masses of sleep last night - lay down for a nap at 8pm, lay snoozing but awake for two hours, and then decided to go to bed properly by 10.30pm - so I wasn't tired, but I guess I might have been hungry. Anyway my legs are already feeling more defined and my feet have stopped bleeding thanks to the new shoes.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 28 May 2012, 04:49
There wasn't a lot of difference in the running, but it was 70F and more humid. Flies were buzzing my bald head and one tried to bite my arm. I might have to take countermeasures, but I don't want to wear a tilly in that temp and humidity. Apparently my legs and wind are OK, and I wear running shoes much of the time anyway. May, did you start out with blisters on your feet? Have you ever used moleskin to protect "hot spots" on your feet -- padded adhesive? When my wife and I hiked with boots that took quite a few hours to break in, it was effective at preventing blisters, and on a three-day hike, prevention was crucial to enjoyment.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 28 May 2012, 05:37
I got the blisters on the first day, because my trainers were so awful (I knew they were bad, I'd already picked out replacements but I hadn't bought them just in case the old ones turned out to be ok). I cut and drained them, and wore plasters for the next couple of days whenever I wore shoes, but they still bled the next time I ran - in the new trainers this time, and no new blisters arrived. Thankfully they've now healed so there are just some scabs from where the drained blisters bled. I've never put anything on as a preventative because I always forget that I'm likely to get blisters, or don't even realise until it's too late, but once I've had one I try to avoid getting them again.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 28 May 2012, 06:06
Recognizing a "hot spot" on the foot was the key to prevention. As I recall, it literally felt warm. On a trail, that called for an immediate halt for a moleskin application.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 28 May 2012, 06:25
Oh that makes sense, I guess it's the friction which both causes the warmth and the blister. I just need to be more prepared really, and carry plasters with me to places. And not wear shoes which I know will be uncomfortable...
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 29 May 2012, 07:43
I've never tried it but I've also heard that liquid bandage stuff tends to work pretty well as a preventive measure. I've heard it burns like crazy on ones that already exist though.

This is going to be a tough week for me since I'll only be home one day....going away tonight, coming home Thursday evening, leaving again Friday morning and coming back Sunday. I'm aiming for running 3 times, but I'll be content if I only squeeze in 2.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 29 May 2012, 18:30
Run three has been postponed due to an almost-rational fear of drowning. We lost power about an hour and a half ago and it's still raining pretty good.
(http://p.twimg.com/AuGxupiCMAAPAoh.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 29 May 2012, 18:45
Swimming's a lot easier on the joints.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 30 May 2012, 00:20
I've gained half a kilo and lost 3cm round my waist. I think I'm pleased.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 30 May 2012, 04:30
Perfect weather for jogging this morning. Sun low in the sky, temp 55F, cool at first in a T-shirt, but warmed into it. Looks like Friday's will be equally nice. But I know they won't all be for the seven weeks to follow. My weight's down about five pounds, as much watching what I eat as exercise. But the only thing worth measuring is my pot belly, and I refuse to do that. If it shrinks, friends will probably ask me if I've been losing weight. I suppose if they were close friends, they'd know, right?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 30 May 2012, 04:38
I didn't run this morning because of my exam, but I'm going to go tomorrow morning. I've no longer got to choose between running and morning prayer, because morning prayer has annoyingly been moved to an hour later. Which means I can do both, especially once exams are over, but also means my early morning starts are going to be entirely self-motivated now.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: The Seldom Killer on 30 May 2012, 13:48
Perhaps some of you might like to consider this as a little bit of motivation. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-18248823)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 30 May 2012, 14:05
Who would have thought they could run fast enough to be a worry?

And Barmy, the self-motivated starts are the best ones. But you know that. Other motivators: The 3 cm and that weight gain in your running muscles. And the rest of us.

The physician's assistant I saw today (for what she thinks is carpal tunnel syndrome; I'm not so sure) was suitably impressed that I was starting on the C25K. She's heard of it, and seemed half inclined to try it herself. I think that's part of why I'm doing it: For bragging rights. Whatever works.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 30 May 2012, 14:49
Another motivator (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18218878)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 30 May 2012, 16:47
Some more motivation.

(http://ziprage.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/mri-660-e1327976033140.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 30 May 2012, 17:06
I had just heard a health report that we start losing about 30% of our muscle mass from the age of 50 on to the mid 70's if we're sedentary. 

And that we can keep all of it with just some moderate activity. 


So anyway, the pain in my leg really is a nerve, the deep peroneal nerve that runs along the femur under the muscles and two crossing tendons, which is why, when it gets irritated, I can feel some swelling.  It's a lower branch of the cyatic, which is why it bothers my hip, and it runs to and controls the flexor muscles in the foot, which is why it gets irritated from a long walk. 

But the other day, having forgotten something in the store, I was able to jog from the checkout to the aisle and back, with no bad twinges!  And I'm able to take longer walks with the dogs with less irritation at the end.  I've gone back to taking naproxyn sodium (for my left knee), and that helps some also.  I just don't want to be eating ibuprofins the way I was, 800 mg four times a day for over four months - that stuff messes with your liver after a while. 

So, seven months out from the accident, it's the only thing that hasn't healed yet, but it's definitely getting better.  t will probably be a few more months, maybe up to a year - nerves heal sooo slowly, and I'm over 50 now.  Which brings me back to the start of this post.  As soon as I can, I'm getting up off my ass and starting some kind of program. 

And I hope y'all will hold my feet to the fire! 
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 30 May 2012, 17:30
Do you want to add your name to the grid for eventual use, or is that pushin'?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 30 May 2012, 17:40
....right now, it's pushin'.  But I may try the annual walk/run when I go to the AP reading in 2 weeks.  We'll see how I feel after walking to and from the convention center each day! 


For the last two years I came in 3rd in the men's walking division.  Out of three. 
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 30 May 2012, 18:03
Just back from run three (and a shower, because Dear Husband claimed he could smell me from upstairs when I came in). I took the dog again, and we did 2.08 miles, avg 14:26 min/mile. Better than my first and second days :) I'm thinking I'm going to do the week 1 run at least once more before I move up to week 2, in hopes of not feeling pukey 3/4 of the way through. I need to work out a route that doesn't make me run up every hill both ways.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 31 May 2012, 00:03
I need to work out a route that doesn't make me run up every hill both ways.

You shouldn't go via Escher Road.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 31 May 2012, 04:49
I haven't run my second run this week, although I might possibly go this evening. The stupid thing is that the reason I'm resisting the idea of going at any other time than 7am is that I don't want my friend who runs to see me. She might see me from her window as I go out, or I might bump into her as I run. It's pathetic but I'm not telling her about running until I am a bit better at it. I can't work out why it's bothering me so much but it is.

Anyway, I could always run on different days now anyway - since morning prayer has been moved, there's no reason it has to be on those days. So perhaps I'll go tomorrow, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or something.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 31 May 2012, 05:06
I need to work out a route that doesn't make me run up every hill both ways.

You shouldn't go via Escher Road.

Yeah I wouldn't have guessed it but apparently my elevation went like this:
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b291/bainidhedub/elev.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 31 May 2012, 06:47
Anyway, I could always run on different days now anyway - since morning prayer has been moved, there's no reason it has to be on those days. So perhaps I'll go tomorrow, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday or something.
Whatever works for you. Hope you don't fall behind. I think I read on the c25k site that the third week is rough for some.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 31 May 2012, 07:18
It's not so much it being the 3rd week, as it being exam week(s). I don't want to get up at 6.30am on a day with an exam, because I'll be falling asleep at around 11am which is mid-exam. I guess I'm not fully recovered from the fatigue, I need a nap most days.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 31 May 2012, 07:41
Coffee?  Or really strong tea?  Caffeine can be your friend...
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 31 May 2012, 08:40
No, I just crash even harder three hours later. I just have to accept that I need more sleep than most people, and not wear myself out. Certainly I don't want to be on a caffiene high during exams, that definitely wouldn't help me think properly! Also, interestingly, caffiene is thought to be a contributor towards fatigue disorders, as in it makes them worse.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 31 May 2012, 10:27
No, I just crash even harder three hours later. I just have to accept that I need more sleep than most people, and not wear myself out. Certainly I don't want to be on a caffiene high during exams, that definitely wouldn't help me think properly! Also, interestingly, caffiene is thought to be a contributor towards fatigue disorders, as in it makes them worse.
Then take your time. If you bump into your friend, tell her we said hi.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 31 May 2012, 11:56
It's ok, she's gone to Scotland! Going running this evening. I had decided this before I knew she'd gone away, so I guess that's maybe some maturity showing.


Hmm. Made the foolish decision to eat dinner before going running. Now I have to decide whether to run on a reasonably full stomach, run in the dark, or not run.



ETA: well, I went! I ran an extra two minutes at least, just because I wanted to, and although I did have a tiny twinge I didn't get a proper stitch. Did discover when I got back that my friend is not actually in Scotland yet, but she didn't see me bright red and sweaty. Another friend did though, we chatted for about ten minutes when I was on my five-minute cool down walk. So I definitely cooled down...
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 31 May 2012, 16:19
Good work! I'll run after coffee and a bowl of oatmeal, but not more, and as C25K continues, I might be moved to cut out the cereal.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 01 Jun 2012, 13:27
Day 3 week 2 this afternoon, putting the iPhone in a Zip-loc against a threat of drizzle. It was harder than the previous 5, breathing harder, and no idea why. I'm using the iPhone app to walk and run by the clock rather than distance. My distance this week from warmup to cooldown is almost exactly 2 miles, and hasn't varied by more than a few yards.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 02 Jun 2012, 17:04
Have all of you posted your latest runs on the chart?

It would be good to hear from DrlPhibes, Linds, bainidhe_dub, lepetitfromage and Nobo, and Barmymoo if you did a third run for week 2.

There's a row of the chart for Skewbrow as well, entered on spec.

I assume if you delay long enough between runs, you should delay advancing, but I'm certainly not an expert. Youth ought to give you an advantage there.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 02 Jun 2012, 18:56
Remember...I'm 2 weeks behind you all. My first run will be Monday morning - I will update then! I currently plan on running MWF, but that's because it correlates with my work schedule and I can easily go to the gym* on those days next week. It may change when I get my work schedule for the rest of the summer.

*It has a track. I'm moving shortly and don't really know the area well enough yet to not get lost. :D
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 02 Jun 2012, 19:09
Naw, I forgot.

Indoor track? I wonder how that would compare with running outdoors. I dislike the treadmills at the fitness center, but it doesn't yet have TV screens. An indoor track might be preferable to that, but I like the freedom and scenery if the weather's OK. Tell us how it goes next week.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 02 Jun 2012, 21:07
Will do! To be honest, the only running I've done when not chasing a ball has been on a track, so tracks don't bother me. Actually running on a sidewalk will be the adventurous part!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 03 Jun 2012, 02:00
I've just done my third run this week. It was probably the hardest so far, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because I woke up feeling sad about my friend's boyfriend having died, maybe because I'm tired (two late nights in a row), maybe because of the weather. Anyway I was proud of myself when I got to the end.

Any idea why my shoulder might be hurting though? It aches all the time, and there's a sharp pain when I inhale. It started during the run.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: BeoPuppy on 03 Jun 2012, 03:27
Running with tight shoulder muscles? I get told to relax my shoulders all the time and it appears that I tense them unconsciously.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 03 Jun 2012, 04:40
I thought about that, but I think I hold my arms fairly loose (the podcast guy keeps reminding me to) and doing the shoulder exercises I do for the soreness in my neck and back doesn't help. It's faded now, although it's still there. I'll keep an eye on it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 03 Jun 2012, 06:58
I was worried about the difficulty of week 3, so I went out and did it this morning. Not that bad, although I got a little into the first jog, dropped the iPhone and restarted the whole thing. Sunny, 60F, nice breeze.
Against all the forces that can persuade me not to run on a given day is the possibility that when I'm all ready to run, it'll be pouring cats and dogs, or the roads will have iced up, or I'll be really sick. But I give into the negative forces more than the positive ones, I think.
A problem, and a solution: I'm running with a clocked-based app, and I suspect I"m running below a pace that will yield 5k in whatever the allotted time is. Next run I'll put a GPS in my sleeve. In the old days, I was comfortable with 9 and 10 minute miles,  my wife with 10-11 minutes. I suspect mine's more like 12-14.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 03 Jun 2012, 07:10
Personally I'm not all that bothered about hitting 5k by the end of the 9 weeks. I'm rather hoping that by that point, I'll actively enjoy running and just keep going out and running for fun. If we do decide we're all going to enter a race, then I'd start training a bit more seriously for distance, but for now I just want to get fitter and lose some weight. It's working so far :)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 03 Jun 2012, 07:20
Personally I'm not all that bothered about hitting 5k by the end of the 9 weeks. I'm rather hoping that by that point, I'll actively enjoy running and just keep going out and running for fun. If we do decide we're all going to enter a race, then I'd start training a bit more seriously for distance, but for now I just want to get fitter and lose some weight. It's working so far :)
I agree, and I seem to be losing some weight too. Funny to think that we'd all enter local 5K races.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 03 Jun 2012, 08:28
Mostly I just want to get back in shape. My preferred form of exercise is swimming laps, but other than the campus gym, finding a place with a lap pool that isn't overpriced is challenging at best, let alone finding one in a convenient area. Running is easy to do anywhere and I need to get over my distaste for it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 03 Jun 2012, 17:24
I did a 4th day of week 1 today. We had more crazy thunderstorms last week (Friday: tornado warnings & no power after 6pm) so my "week 1" has gotten way stretched out & I wasn't feeling quite up to starting week 2. I took the dog and we did 2.1 miles avg 14:18 min/mi. Hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday evening will be nice and I can do W2/D1.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 03 Jun 2012, 19:23
I have my mix ready to go! Woo!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 04 Jun 2012, 03:29
Running is easy to do anywhere and I need to get over my distaste for it.
My morning commute to high school was a mile or so by bike, 3 miles by school bus. My mother used to send me out of the house with, "Look around you!" I think of it often as I jog and try to notice changes. Now if I could recognize birds and birdcalls....
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 04 Jun 2012, 05:04
See, I love walking and I do it a lot*, it's just running that I hate. But I think that's because of all the drills gym teachers made us do - which SUCK when you are terrible at running. And sweat easily.

*My boyfriend and I specifically chose the house we're moving into because there are so many things within walking distance.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 04 Jun 2012, 06:20
I did a 4th day of week 1 today. We had more crazy thunderstorms last week (Friday: tornado warnings & no power after 6pm) so my "week 1" has gotten way stretched out & I wasn't feeling quite up to starting week 2. I took the dog and we did 2.1 miles avg 14:18 min/mi. Hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday evening will be nice and I can do W2/D1.

I'm with you- last week was ridiculous so I only got to run one day- and my shins started to act up a bit. I ended up doing the Week 1 run and actually made it through. Much better to complete a slightly easier run than fail miserably and feel defeated by a harder one.

I'm planning on doing the Week 2 workout Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday this week. While I may not be following the program exactly, I learned in my last program that it's better to listen to my body and go a little slower than push myself and burn out.

...Now if only I could figure out how to chart this.
Edit: Just checked the chart and I'm following your lead, Bain. Makes sense to do it that way.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 04 Jun 2012, 06:56
I figured it makes sense to do it that way since it's the week 1 schedule again. I don't know what I'd do if it was one of the weeks when the days are different... day 3.5?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 04 Jun 2012, 14:00
I did day 1 today and...it was hard. I had to skip two of the runs because I pushed myself too hard on the first two and I was having breathing problems. (I really need to go to the doctor and try to get an inhaler for when I exercise.) But I slowed down for the rest of them and that seemed to work. Depending on how Wednesday goes, I might repeat or do an extra day of week 1 before I move onto week 2. But the cycle itself doesn't seem so bad. I'm really thankful for that podcast, it really helped.

So far I don't have sore legs, I was worried I would earlier would, but I'm walking just fine. I did notice some stiffness when I would transition from running to walking, but I haven't felt much pain or stiffness since then. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow questioning my existence, who knows.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 04 Jun 2012, 17:07
I did w2/d1 today - I definitely noticed the added 30 seconds of running, mostly in my legs. I was a little wheezy at first but not too bad. 2.12 mi, 14:38 min/mi.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 04 Jun 2012, 19:30
The rest of you may be more accustomed to doing things like this with others at a distance, but I'm still bragging about being in an international running group. Also neat that you're willing to do repeats. Other folks might find it easier to quit.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: BeoPuppy on 05 Jun 2012, 03:50
Going to skip an extra juijitsu training to go running this evening. this is so against my nature it gives me goosebumbs.

(I'm not doing the c25k thing, though ... I run until I'm done. No clue how long/far.)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 05 Jun 2012, 04:06
Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow questioning my existence, who knows.

Not questioning my existence, but my thighs, hips, and shoulders are sore. I guess I'll have to stretch a bit today.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 05 Jun 2012, 04:37
I was doubtful that stretching after the run would actually do anything, but the day after the day I didn't stretch I could barely walk, and the day after the day I did stretch I was totally fine. So definitely stretch immediately after running, before going to bed, and when you get up the next morning.

I'm planning on a run tonight some time, but I've got to do some intensive revision so it depends how that goes (starting at no later than 2pm, hopefully earlier). Running at 8.30pm worked well last time, I'll try to make sure dinner is early enough that I don't get stitches again.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 05 Jun 2012, 05:33
I always stretch before and after workouts - it helps immensely. And since yesterday I spent a lot of the day moving around, I was pretty ok, I only have problems when I have to sit for long periods of time.

Did anyone feel a little stiff in their biceps after their first run? I'm trying to figure out if it's because of the running or if it was because I was carrying my water bottle with me.

I also really need to keep track of how many laps I do tomorrow. I lost count after 3 and the track isn't a 1/4 mile long like your average track, so the number of laps to get to a mile is weird. Were people using an app or something?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 05 Jun 2012, 05:47
I was running on the treadmill so it was pretty easy for me to track it. I know there is an app but there is also an MP3. I'm planning for an outside run this weekend and I'm going to be using that.


I don't always stretch before, but usually I do some weight training and/or the ab circuit at the gym before I start my runs that way I'm at least warmed up a bit. I ALWAYS stretch after- my calves are so tight that they cramp up if I don't stretch them. Plus, it feels soooooo good.


Redball- I never though of it that way! Makes us sound much cooler  8-)


(Edit: aahahahaha- found the easter egg. Nice one, DrPhibes.)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 05 Jun 2012, 06:25
I'm not sure how far I run. Perhaps I'll use MapMyRun today to figure it out.

My arms did ache a little after the first run, and I must have pulled my shoulder in some way on Sunday morning (it's still hurting today, I had to take painkillers to get through the exam). Perhaps you're holding too much tension in your arms? If you're gripping a water bottle that could very well be the problem.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: BeoPuppy on 05 Jun 2012, 07:33
That was an excellent suggestion, that MapMyRun thing. After some careful clicking and guessing it turns out that I run about 5K ... and usually amble 2 more. Big surprise, that.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 05 Jun 2012, 09:41
International running group: very cool. Next step: http://www.runningintheusa.com/race/List.aspx?State=MI (http://www.runningintheusa.com/race/List.aspx?State=MI). Something in the Midwest during May's visit? That site's quite searchable, by state, date and distance.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 05 Jun 2012, 12:37
I'm up for that idea in theory, although I have no idea when I'll be where or what I'll be doing.

I had just typed out that I had decided not to run tonight. Then I checked my diary and realised that if I didn't, I wouldn't manage three runs this week - I'm going on an adventure on Friday to celebrate the end of my exams (taking myself out to breakfast, then cycling out to a nearby National Trust property for the day, and coming back home to watch a film and eat popcorn) and on Sunday I'm going somewhere with the choir for the day. So. Running. Now.


Did it! That was so good! It is the first time I got to the end of the run and thought "What, that's it?!". I think having two run intervals instead of five or six is a lot better for me. The three minute run was a tiny bit tiring, but only because I picked a route that took me up a small incline. I was avoiding repeatedly running past a group of teenagers in the park - not because they were causing any trouble, just because I automatically avoid groups of teenagers. Also I was avoiding the route under the trees because it was getting a bit dark, so I ended up going all over the place round the perimeter of the park and along the side of the road.

Now for a shower, into my pjs and another hour of work. That's got me in a really positive mood :D
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 05 Jun 2012, 13:57
Did it! That was so good! It is the first time I got to the end of the run and thought "What, that's it?!".

That's how it's supposed to be. Not that it's always fun during, but ooooh! it feels so good when it's over!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: A Wet Helmet on 05 Jun 2012, 14:55
About a year ago, my wife and I started going for a walk once or twice a week.  After a few weeks, we tried to run "just a little."   At first, we would pick a mail box maybe 100 meters away and we'd run to it.  Then we'd have to walk for several hundred meters before trying again.   After four or five times of doing that, we just wouldn't run any more.   I'd be winded by the time we were done with our walks. 

A couple of weeks ago, I ran a half-marathon.

13.1 miles (21 Km) of pure run.  It was fantastic.  I'm going to run my first full marathon this fall.

There is no great secret to running.  Just run until it sucks, and then keep running. 
Get up the next day an do it again, only further. 

I have some pretty significant lower body injuries that have kept me from running for years.  I found out that by doing a little reading on what good running form is, and then concentrating on actually doing it, it put a lot less strain on my body.  I also found out that the shoes all the 'experts' recommend to correct the gait problems inherent in my injuries actually made things worse.  Now I wear shoes that don't try to force my feet into unnatural positions and I accept that I have a different foot strike with each foot.  I've also learned to pay attention to my body and learn the difference between "this sucks" and "this hurts!".  If it sucks, keep going.  Sucks is good.  Running through what sucks is what makes you better.  When it really and truly hurts, I stop running.  In fact, five days before my half marathon, I ran less than two miles because I was in pain and didn't want to risk aggravating injuries.   I rested, I iced, and when it was time to run for real, I felt great.

As kind of a "born again" runner (I ran a lot through the 90s, but quit when I got hurt), I hope that everyone gets off their butt and hits the street once in awhile.  No matter how slow you're going, you're still kicking the ass of everyone who is sitting on the couch.   Stick with it!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 06 Jun 2012, 07:47
W3R2: Technical problem: Didn't plug in the earbuds sufficiently, didn't recognize it until 6 minutes in, took some extra jogging as a penalty. Weather issue: Temp was 48F when I woke up, 57 when I started out in shorts and T. That was too warm in a morning sun and little breeze. Leg problem: I shuffle-jog, and realize that it's a slow pace. I tried lengthening the stride, and felt it immediately. Something to work on.
But WTF: I'm alive!

About a year ago, my wife and I started going for a walk once or twice a week.  After a few weeks, we tried to run "just a little."   At first, we would pick a mail box maybe 100 meters away and we'd run to it.

Does anyone remember doing something like that in childhood? I can recall walking on the sidewalk down a tree-lined street at the age of 8 or so, hearing a car coming up behind me, and running as fast as I could to get to yonder tree before the car did. It was suddenly Extremely Important, a matter of Life or Death.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 06 Jun 2012, 08:14
I challenged myself to run an extra bit a couple of runs ago by first running to a lamppost, and then after a bit of walking running to the point where I cross the road. It's a good motivator to make some extra effort.

I'm considering going out for an extra run tonight, maybe week 3 run 1.5, because I just accidentally ate a litre of cheap mint choc chip ice cream and I'm weighing in tomorrow.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 06 Jun 2012, 08:42
Accidentally. A litre. Ice cream. Awesome! One minute it was in the container, the next it was inside me and I don't know how it got there ....

I understand, and I understand that I can't make fun of anybody. I can lose weight as long as I'm feeding myself, but when I'm away from home, I'm in trouble, and the last few days have been a real clusterf***.  Friday: Happy hour at a friend's home, and the invitation, for wine and snacks, came after I'd eaten and had a glass of wine. Saturday: The neighbor's potluck picnic for their Scottie club. Monday, the same neighbors have invited me to dinner once a week since my wife died. There was still a lot of ice cream left. I might have had a pint. And the pork tenderloin was delicious. Tuesday, a wedding reception down the street for an honorary granddaughter. My weight hasn't seemed to suffer much through all of that, but I'm holding my breath.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 06 Jun 2012, 09:58
About a year ago, my wife and I started going for a walk once or twice a week.  After a few weeks, we tried to run "just a little."   At first, we would pick a mail box maybe 100 meters away and we'd run to it.

Does anyone remember doing something like that in childhood? I can recall walking on the sidewalk down a tree-lined street at the age of 8 or so, hearing a car coming up behind me, and running as fast as I could to get to yonder tree before the car did. It was suddenly Extremely Important, a matter of Life or Death.

I still catch myself doing this from time to time!!  :-P

Re: weight gain- I didn't want to post anything for fear of jinxing it, but I'm down about 8 pounds since we all started and I've definitely had a few dietary missteps- specifically at a wedding over the weekend...and that whole bottle of wine on Monday night.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 06 Jun 2012, 10:38
Well done! I'll find out tomorrow if I've lost anything this week, after two ice cream mishaps, but I'm not too bothered as I can see that I'm slimming down even if the scales aren't changing.

Ice cream is my weak point. I try really hard not to buy it, but other people persuade me - friends come over and bring it with them, or suggest we pop to the shop and buy some. This particular tub was given to me as a thank you for letting the welfare team store 30 litres (30!) in my freezer. I didn't eat any of them while they were being stored, and only a tiny amount at the actual event, but then they gave me almost two litres of what is actually really cheap nasty ice cream and I just can't resist it. Ugh. I don't even like it that much. I'd throw it away if I weren't so opposed to wasting food. Perhaps a friend will take it off me, what's left of it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 06 Jun 2012, 11:18
See, if mint chocolate chip tasted that bad, I'd have to put Hershey's syrup on it to make it taste better. I too stored the 3 large tubs of ice cream which were served at the picnic and again Monday night. My neighbor invited me to partake, but I was stronger than the ice cream while it was in my care. I find that one dietary binge, one mishap, doesn't have much impact on weight. But four in five days should have interrupted the downward trend. Still, the C25K program apparently is making us more conscious of what we're ingesting, and that and moving about are enough to show up on the scales. Good work, ladies!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 06 Jun 2012, 12:55
I was already fairly concious of what I ate because I started using MFP (a calorie tracker) at New Year, but it's not consistent and some days I'm perfectly aware that I'm over my calories and I still eat the ice cream. I'm paying for it now with a horrible stomach ache.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Akima on 06 Jun 2012, 17:57
I was already fairly concious of what I ate because I started using MFP (a calorie tracker) at New Year, but it's not consistent and some days I'm perfectly aware that I'm over my calories and I still eat the ice cream.
The key to healthy eating is in the shopping basket. If you don't buy ice cream in the first place, it won't there to tempt you. That way, you only have to be strong once at the supermarket, rather than every time you open the fridge door. :police:
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 06 Jun 2012, 18:52
I try that, but then I just get sad when there's no sweet/salty junk in the house when I want it, and just end up grazing while looking for a substitute.

I did week 2 day 2 tonight, more or less. I have no distance/pace data because Stupid Reasons.
(click to show/hide)
And it was stupid and the moral of the story is the Droid whatever-it-is sucks and I hate the touchscreen and the navigation and I want my charging cord back so I can just use my phone and the programs I've gotten figured out.

And something is up with my feet/shoes, in that my feet hurt and I think it's the fact that I'm wearing $30 shoes from Target that I ordered without getting to try them on. It almost seems like if I could get the tension on the laces just right it would be ok, but really I just think the arch support is in not quite the right place.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 06 Jun 2012, 19:11
Would drugstore/Walmart orthotics help? I've used them full time since I originally started running.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 07 Jun 2012, 06:20
I'm thinking of picking up a pair of orthotics myself but I'm nervous about wasting my money if I buy bad/wrong ones because I know I won't be able to return them. I definitely need some more cushioning. Where did you get yours? Would you recommend them?

I did my 1st Week 2 run yesterday and it wasn't too bad. I could definitely feel more stress on my shins, but not as much as I anticipated. Something happened that amused me though- I try not to pay attention to the timer on the treadmill and just watch the tv to help the time pass faster. Every single time I looked down to check because I thought I was nearing the end, the timer was just about to hit one minute so then I was super aware of the time difference! I guess my body remembered what I wanted it to do previously, even though it's been a while!


Bain- I'm the same way with sweet stuff- sometimes I just neeeed it. Good luck finding your cord! I hate when stupid stuff gets in the way when I actually want to run. It's hard enough getting motivated in the first place!

I've started having a bowl of cereal when I'm craving sugar. I'll have apple cinnamon cheerios or chocolate chex. And if I'm really feeling like misbehaving, I break out the Lucky Charms.  :-P
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 07 Jun 2012, 06:37
I've bought mine from a podiatrist, paying $21 the last time I got them. They're generic. When I was first prescribed them, they were measured and fitted, cost $300 and health insurance paid. I believe they provide a little cushioning in the heel, a little arch support and a little anti-pronation. If I forget to put them in -- which is rare -- I notice it immediately and don't like it at all. I've worn them for 28 years, so it's hard to say what would happen if I didn't.
When I'm eating by myself, I can avoid all but a very occasional candy bar. At home, replacing ice cream for dessert after dinner, I have a 60-calorie vanilla low-fat sugar-free yogurt and put a dollop of Hershey's on the top.
And morning cereal is oatmeal and skim milk, with artificial sweetener and cinnamon. I'm capable of cutting calories, but not when I'm dining with friends in their homes. I'm beginning to think that if I saw myself as they may see me (What am I saying? That they're very polite?), I might cut back then as well.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 07 Jun 2012, 07:43
My favorite cereal right now are the Peanut Butter Multigrain Cheerios. I have a weak spot for peanut butter desserts, so I just try to eat some cereal instead of ice cream or cake or whatever. Also if I really want candy, I'll go for Twizzlers, because they have less calories than most other candies.

I need to make a serious diet change. Last year when I was living with friends (one of which was studying nutrition), I was fine, but then I moved home with my mom and I immediately gained weight and went up both a size and a cup size. Which is annoying. When I move in with the boy in a week or so, I'm going back to what I did last year - not buying so much crap. It's easy not to eat junk food when you never buy it. Also it's easier to eat healthier when you plan for the week in advance. So my goal is less processed foods, more whole grains. I'm also going to look into healthier baking options, because I do bake a lot and I don't want to completely give it up.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 07 Jun 2012, 08:49
The key to healthy eating is in the shopping basket. If you don't buy ice cream in the first place, it won't there to tempt you. That way, you only have to be strong once at the supermarket, rather than every time you open the fridge door. :police:

You're absolutely right and I am usually very good about this - I only buy ice cream or any kind of dessert if I know people are coming over, and generally it gets eaten while they're here. This ice cream was given to me by someone, who wouldn't take it back. Hmm.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 07 Jun 2012, 09:09
Hmmm, indeed. You didn't say this "someone" was a friend. Hmmm.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 07 Jun 2012, 09:12
Well, a friend and also the college welfare officer ironically! But not someone who particularly knows about my diet and certainly not about my problems with food, so not culpable.

I weighed in this morning and I've lost about a pound. It's tricky to know because I've been weighing in kilos, and for the last two weigh-ins I just rounded up or down. Then I realised that 1 kilo was several pounds, so the reason the numbers were not changing was because I wasn't recording them accurately. I think last week I was on 65.4kg though, and this week I'm on 64.9kg, so that's about a pound.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 07 Jun 2012, 09:39
I'm at 177, with what I think must be a 20-pound potbelly, so somewhere south of 160 would be grand.
The gift of ice cream reminds me that friends find it easy to dismiss attempts to lose weight. "What do you need to do that for? You look fine!" I assume it's threatening.
And a last thought: You're aware that the U.S. is the last major holdout against metric conversion, although it creeps into our manufacture, hardware, repair. I'm OK with grams, kg, cm, meters and km, less so with hectares. Are you saying you use a home scale measuring in pounds but weigh in, say, at a clinic on a metric scale? I assume at your age that you're quite comfortable thinking in metric measures. More so than in feet and pounds?
My country is so damn backward in that arrogance. And we'd be worse if we didn't export and import.

Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 07 Jun 2012, 12:41
I gained most of my weight from the munchies and from buying whatever was on sale/cheap/free with coupons in mass quantities without reading much of the nutrition info. I've gotten muuuuch better, thankfully. One of the perils of shopping with coupons- if you get it for 10 cents, you buy 8 of them.  :-P

I tend to gain everywhere, which is a blessing and a curse. It's great in the sense that I don't end up with one large section when all the rest are small, but it sucks in the sense that as soon as I put on anything more than 10 pounds from my ideal weight, Voila! Double Chin.

I'd really like to lose 30-40 pounds (or about 13-18 kg. Thanks Google! I'm one of those people who suck at conversions, even if it's not in metric). I know that the "recommended" weight for someone my height it a little higher, but that's the range when I feel really good- I'm content with what I look like but I'm not so skinny that people start to assume I have an eating disorder.

Linds- Those Peanut Butter Cheerios are awesome. Have you tried the Dulce de Leche yet? They're pretty good too :-) Twizzlers are a godsend haha. No fat either!

Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 07 Jun 2012, 13:32
I haven't! But the Banana Nut and Cinnamon ones are both good as well. Mixing the Peanut Butter and Banana Nut is also very good.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 07 Jun 2012, 14:00
Because I'm a) English and b) in my twenties, so the child of parents who grew up during the conversion period, I'm comfortable with feet and inches, miles, kilograms and ounces. I measure my height in imperial, distances in miles, my weight in kilograms (but only because that's what the doctor weighs me in - I used to use stone) and I bake in ounces but cook in grams. It is confusing.

My weighing scales are set in kilograms, because that's the unit I was weighed in on the first Wednesday, at the doctor. But I'm aiming to lose about a pound a week, so that's what my calorie counting website is set in. Which means lots of google conversion!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 07 Jun 2012, 17:36
1) You can't change the units on MyFitnessPal? That is unexpected and weird. 2) Have you tried onlineconversion.com? It is my favorite site ever for converting anything to almost anything. It is also the first result when you (I) Google search for "convert" so it's easy to find.

I really have no sense of metric conversions beyond centimeters, because they are on rulers too, and meters, but only up to like 3 because that's about 10 feet. I find it awkward not to have anything between them though - it jumps from measuring things by the width of my pinky finger at a time, to half my height. Apparently 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds and 1 pound = 0.45 kilogram.

Oh yeah I tried to run around with my niece at the playground tonight (in flipflops) and dude my ankles were not happy. Boo.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 08 Jun 2012, 01:57
You can change the units, but for some reason weight loss in my head is always in pounds. A pound a week is the healthy rate. I have no idea what that is in kilos.
Title: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: A Wet Helmet on 08 Jun 2012, 03:15
A little under half a kilo.

Actually up to about a kilo a week is generally regarded as a safe rate of weight loss.  Above that and you start getting into potentially unhealthy situations. Below that-- eg a pound a week-- is perfectly acceptable as well.  I've found that there is very little rhyme or reason to the rate of weight loss when I'm being very disciplined about my diet and exercise regime. Sometimes is glacially slow, sometimes I'll drop three and a half pounds in a week.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Akima on 08 Jun 2012, 03:33
You can change the units, but for some reason weight loss in my head is always in pounds. A pound a week is the healthy rate. I have no idea what that is in kilos.
Technically, it is 0.453kg, or near enough half a kilo. I'm not sure that bathroom scales are even accurate (or readable if they're old-fashioned analogue dial) to that fine a measure.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 08 Jun 2012, 03:39
Mine read to .2 pound. I haven't checked them against my physician's scale in a while, but I hope they're reasonably accurate for total weight and for changes. The readings, at least, are repeatable. As for my physician's scales, they don't care if I'm wearing street shoes, sandals or flipflops. I think they offer to hold my parka in cold weather.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 08 Jun 2012, 05:08
Finished week 3, but I think my app left out a walk-run repetition. I'm sure I'll make up for it next week.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 08 Jun 2012, 10:42
Mine are digital scales with one decimal point, which is enough for me.

Ugh. I did a lot of walking today, but I also ate a lot of rubbish. Amazingly, once I've eaten what I've got planned for dinner I'll only be 66 calories over my target, but the amount of processed sugar I ate made me feel very ill (and ensured that a lot of those excess calories came back out again not long after, sorry if TMI).

I think being on a "diet" aka eating sensibly according to daily recommended limits has made my body not tolerate junk food. I only had 50g of toffee popcorn, about 20g of white chocolate and probably 20g of milk chocolate, and I feel like hell. So much for a delicious treat with my film!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 08 Jun 2012, 11:34
TMI? Not to worry. This forum, maybe this thread, passed that particular point weeks ago. Passed? Unintended.

I think eating sensibly gives you some intolerance for junk food and for too much food. If I pig out once, on one day, it may not show up on scales at all, or not for more than a day. If I repeat for several days, it usually will. But I was lucky with the last long weekend's pigging out: I'm back to dropping, and below where I was a week ago.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 08 Jun 2012, 13:32
I wish I had that problem with junk food!! My body is "rejecting" all the good food I've been eating. I've had nothing but whole grains and veggies all day today and my stomach is at war with me.

In other news, TMI is my middle name....
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 09 Jun 2012, 13:04
Being able to carry on a conversation whilst (!) running is a Good Thing.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub 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!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub 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 (http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/98079201) 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 13 Jun 2012, 09:18
Lost last week nursing a lumbago. Striking back with a 55 minute orienteering course (http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Jyrki_63/8epq3fsolf7tk3j0) 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!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 14 Jun 2012, 17:53
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.

I always liked orienteering,

I've heard of people plateauing at this point.
Verbing with a vengeance! Is that vengeancing?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 15 Jun 2012, 03:28
Yeah I went out right after dinner. Definitely a poor decision.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub 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.
(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b291/bainidhedub/run.png)
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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 17 Jun 2012, 12:23
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).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 18 Jun 2012, 06:24
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
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: idontunderstand on 18 Jun 2012, 06:59
[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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage 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.  :-)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: idontunderstand on 19 Jun 2012, 05:09
Sounds good to me.  :-)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: 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!

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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 20 Jun 2012, 05:28
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.
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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: 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!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 20 Jun 2012, 09:42
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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 21 Jun 2012, 07:15
Cracked egg.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Omega Entity 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo 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.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 23 Jun 2012, 07:03
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.
Steep hill = great path for power walks. I read your post at 6 a.m. But I couldn't find my wallet (what if I collapse on the street in a strange town, hey?). Couldn't find my iPhone (although I could have used my wristwatch; W5R3 is pretty simple). I finally found everything and decided to go, worried a little about getting too far out in front of my international pack as to discourage. So walk as you can during the week. And hope to hear from you -- and the rest, too!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 23 Jun 2012, 08:10
Wires should be coiled, not wrapped around something with corners.  It's the repeated sharp bends under tension that destroys them, the finer the wire, the quicker the damage.  If you always wrap the same way, you just keep bending them back and forth in the same places.  Not to mention the act of wrapping puts the wires under tension around those corners...

I've had earbuds that came with spools before, but they always bend somewhere, and do nothing for the wrapping tension problem.

(http://thesatchelpages.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/earpod.jpg)

I can't tell you how many computer charging cords I've spliced becauses of wrapping around the charger...
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Omega Entity on 23 Jun 2012, 10:38
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?

A few times of it won't kill them - it's repeatedly doing so over time that does it. The headphones sound like they're junk.

Proper storage would be how you find them when you first open the package, secured with a rubber band of twist tie, like so:

(http://www.accessorypower.com/images/products/large_usb-08-wrapped.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 23 Jun 2012, 10:41
My MP3 player doesn't have corners, it's got rounded edges. Obviously they're still sort of cornery, but certainly not sharp. I'll get new headphones and store them more carefully.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Omega Entity on 23 Jun 2012, 10:49
It's not so much how the corners are, though, it's the repeated pulling against the object itself, and the strain on the cord being often in the same places, if you wrap it the same way every time. When you wrap it around something, you pull it tight against the thing, and that's what causes the wire fatigue.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 23 Jun 2012, 10:58
That makes a lot of sense, thanks. I'm still not convinced that the headphones weren't just a bit rubbish, because they were cutting out almost instantly, but I will not bother pursuing a claim against the seller.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Omega Entity on 23 Jun 2012, 11:35
Oh, no. I said that the headphones sounded like junk - if they don't hold up for even that short a time, I hardly think it's your fault. It can take a while for the wires to break down, and a week or two isn't going to do it. I'd still go after the seller for selling a sub-par product.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 23 Jun 2012, 15:31
Yo, just back from week 4 day 1, after 3 days off with excuses of varying quality (heat advisory, left my phone at work, decided to get drunk and eat pizza instead) and it went... okay. We lost a minute or two around the end of the first walk when we stopped to meet a little pit bull, but I went back and restarted the second run, and I had to take about 30 seconds and walk during the middle of the last run, but overall it was okay. We went 2.23mi at 14:10 min/mi, which I think is my best time and distance so far. We actually had to go past the house and double back to finish the time, which the dog did not think was cool.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 24 Jun 2012, 01:15
The ebay seller has agreed to send me new headphones if I return the broken ones, which is good. I'll be very careful with the wires, and if they break again I'll know it wasn't me this time!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 24 Jun 2012, 09:50
We lost a minute or two around the end of the first walk when we stopped to meet a little pit bull...

See, this would be my whole problem.  And not just the dogs, but the neighbors and kids, whether I ran with the dogs or not. 

In other news, my leg is (slowly) healing.  I was in KC MO last week grading AP exams, and having forgotten something I jogged from the hotel to the rehearsal room (about a block and a half) with no ill effects from the shock, and walked all over the damned convention center with minimal soreness showing up in the evenings.  I've actually been more sore since I got home, but I think it's all the stairs...

But they feed us so well I've put on nearly 5 pounds... Dammit,dammit, DAMMIT!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 24 Jun 2012, 10:01
Patrick has been unpredictable around small kids so we generally give people space - plus enough people seem nervous of a 100-lb german shepherd, no point in upsetting anyone who's scared of dogs. But if there are dogs out that seem calm and the owners are ok with it, I don't mind stopping for a minute to let them do the whole butt-sniffing thing.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Akima on 24 Jun 2012, 16:42
I use  sports-tracker. (http://www.sports-tracker.com/blog/about) Requires (?) a smartphone (or whatnot) with a GPS-receiver. You can upload your exercises to your account on the site, review the workouts on google maps, share them with your facebook friends and all that. If you are of the techie type, you can also collect data from a compatible heart rate monitor.
Somebody very nice bought me a Garmin Edge 200 (http://www.cyclingnews.com/reviews/garmin-edge-200-gps-computer-first-ride-review) GPS cycle-computer for my birthday, and I've been messing around with the "free" Garmin Connect (http://connect.garmin.com/features) web-based tracking tool. It has the usual tracking, analysis and sharing tools. The biggest drawback is that it is strictly proprietary, and only works with Garmin devices.

It is nice that the Edge stores my rides (supposedly it can store up to 130 hours-worth before the memory fills up) automatically and allows me to upload my data once a week instead of keeping notes by hand and manually updating a spreadsheet. It is also nice that it has one rechargeable battery, instead of the three annoyingly short-lived and unreliable "coin" cells that my old wireless set-up needed for the computer and its sensors. I can live without the missing features of Garmin's more expensive comps; a cadence sensor would be nice, but I've never used a heart-rate monitor, power-meter etc.

Don't expect me to share my rides on Facebook though. I won't have anything to do with Suckerborg's mothership. Hmm... Maybe I should have posted this on the cycling thread instead?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 25 Jun 2012, 17:28
I just did week 4 day 2, went 2.36 mi at 13:21 min/mi. I feel like - I dunno - a ninja or something! An awesome, butt-kicking, disgusting, sweaty ninja. I'm gonna go shower now.

Oh yeah I remember the other reason I don't want to run in the morning. I don't like to shower in the morning, and I definitely need a shower after running.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 25 Jun 2012, 17:38
Did W6D1 this morning, about 7:30, temp about 60. It didn't get past the mid-70s here today. But I'm nowhere near ready to run at 80 or above. And since I'm retired, showering isn't an immediate necessity for me.
I learned 15-20 years ago that I could run in hot weather, but it was training for and during an upstate Michigan relay race in mid-July. So if running becomes a daily or near daily routine again, I might take the heat more in stride.
Keep up the good work! Brag a little!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 25 Jun 2012, 18:10
Oh yeah it was breezy and cooler today too, I can't find any sites that will tell me what the weather was just what they think it's going to be, but it's 72 now. I don't doubt that helped. I don't know if I'll be able to run much next week though... We're doing fireworks in Shepherdstown, WV from Friday to Sunday, Suffolk, VA from Tuesday to Thursday, and Fulton, MD Friday and Saturday. And temperatures will be back in the high 90's! Oh boy!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 25 Jun 2012, 19:02
Doing = producing the display?
Check this site for local weather reporting: http://www.wunderground.com (http://www.wunderground.com). Enter the city and state. Go to the bottom of the page that opens, and it should show you local weather stations. Choose one that looks like a familiar neighborhood or intersection or community. At the bottom of that page, it should show you the temperatures recorded during the day.
My station, for example, is here: http://classic.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KMIREADI2 (http://classic.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KMIREADI2)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 26 Jun 2012, 05:07
That is pretty cool. I looked at Weather Underground but I guess I was on a different page because it only had a couple readings for the day. This is the one closest to me: http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KMDGERMA9 (http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KMDGERMA9)

Doing = producing the display?
Yep! Building, shooting, and breaking down the shows. So it's not so much a matter of finding a time or place to run, as whether I'll have any energy left.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 26 Jun 2012, 05:34
At the bottom of the page you linked to is tabular data since midnight, updated every 5 minutes. Above that, you can change the date and review 24 hours of data, updated at the same intervals.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 26 Jun 2012, 08:00
Yeah I was looking at this page (http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KGAI/2012/6/25/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA), which looks like a general city report instead of a specific station, and it doesn't have any temp readings after 2:15pm.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 26 Jun 2012, 08:08
Surprising since it looks like an airport station. But it happens, including sometimes to my $200 weather station. Then you look for data from the next nearest.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 27 Jun 2012, 05:11
W6D2: This is getting serious! And today was the last of 60-ish morning temps for at least a week.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 27 Jun 2012, 05:13
So it is... It's actually the little airport next to my husband's warehouse, which is a 10 mile drive from our house (about 6 miles directly) and technically in a different city. And has really sketchy temperature readings.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 27 Jun 2012, 11:51
Still no running, but I went to the zoo today and we walked a good deal - a woman I spoke to was wearing a pedometer and had walked 3.3 miles. We went round the entire zoo and did a lot of doubling back, so I'm assuming we did a similar distance.

They're actually doing a 5k run on September 29th, which I would love to enter. The problem is that I think I need to back at uni that day, and it's hundreds of miles away from uni. So I will keep it in mind and look into it nearer the time. You can sign up until midday the day before so no hurry!

Tomorrow night I'm going to a Zumba class with my mum, which will also help me keep up fitness this week.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 27 Jun 2012, 11:57
I continue to be somewhat constrained by my assorted aches. Anyway, adding another orienteering course (I mostly walked) and 25K on my bike. I commuted to and fro. That counts, right?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: nobo on 27 Jun 2012, 12:48
I ran an actual 5k this past weekend, and it sucked. My wife called on Friday to see if I was interested in running on Sunday. My runs had been suffering recently due to the heat where I could not manage more than 15 minutes at a time before giving up. I ended up doing fairly well in this race, but it was a struggle the whole time. Looks like I have to work on my endurance some more.

Here is a blurry pic of me getting close to the finish.

(http://i.imgur.com/r38QN.png).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 27 Jun 2012, 14:41
I've discovered that there is a group in Cambridge that runs 5k every Saturday morning, and it's free to join in. I'm considering going in the autumn, by which point hopefully I'll have reached 5k and be running that distance reasonably regularly. I've also found a 10k run in early October, but I'm not sure whether I'll be up to it or not. I'll see how the summer goes.

The more I think about the weekly runs, the more I like the idea. It would be a nice way to keep fit, meet new people who aren't students, and get going on Saturday mornings. I'll be a little lonely next year because most of my friends are graduating this weekend (of the ten people I spend the most time with, seven of them are leaving).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 27 Jun 2012, 17:21
I came home from my run to find an invitation on Facebook to do a 5K in September with some girls from the area who are just starting the program. The run was good except for the part where the dog suddenly decided, about 50 feet from the house, to take a shit in the middle of the sidewalk. I stuck him in the backyard in case he decided he wasn't done yet and went back to clean it up. I was Not Amused. Patrick did Not get any ice cubes tonight (his usual treat after a run).
Week 4 Day 3 - 2.28 miles, 13:50 min/mi, 83 degrees.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 27 Jun 2012, 18:46
I don't know of any 5k groups in my rural part of Michigan, although there might be one in the nearest town, Hillsdale. But if I'm comfortable with 5k, I may run, say, 2 miles more days than not, which I was doing before I retired.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 29 Jun 2012, 19:06
I did Week 5 Day 1 tonight in the hotel gym. I go much slower on the treadmill apparently, I went less than 2 miles. We got to the setup at 9am, and worked until about 1:30pm. The heat index was something like 115F, but after dinner I was feeling good and went down to run. For the last 20 minutes or so now we've been getting hit with the severe thunderstorms that came across Ohio this afternoon, the parking lot lights went out, and what sounds like a tornado siren has come on and off twice. Should be super fun to see how much water is inside our fireworks tubes tomorrow...
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 29 Jun 2012, 19:24
Those are empty tubes, I assume, so I don't have to imagine the sight and sound of igniting damp powder and oxides. I'm sure I'll end up on a treadmill sometime this summer. I have a hard time with extended work on a treadmill. 15 minutes is my usual maximum. I think I managed 20 minutes once. At the same time, with a little forbearance, I can use the iPad for a movie or the iPhone for an NPR podcast. It all sounds slightly forboring.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Carl-E on 29 Jun 2012, 23:52
It all sounds slightly forboring.

Forboding + boring, or a typo? 
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 30 Jun 2012, 03:16
[bad(bad pun)] No TV in front of those treadmills, and the personal entertainment doesn't quite cut it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 30 Jun 2012, 04:19
Those are empty tubes, I assume, so I don't have to imagine the sight and sound of igniting damp powder and oxides.

Yeah, we're dropping shells today. We built all the racks yesterday, then tipped them on their sides or upsidedown so they wouldn't fill up with any rain, and somebody was supposed to put tarps over the finale, but that never got confirmed. But the way it was raining sideways last night, plus the fact that some of the racks were tipped uphill, we'll have to see... Fun fact about black powder, though - it won't fire when wet, but it's all ready to go once it's dry again.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 30 Jun 2012, 04:55
So do you have a very careful way to dry powder? All I've known about gunpowder was learned in series of historical novels: Flashman, Aubrey-Maturin, Hornblower. And I don't remember much of it. One of the funniest moments in the 20 Aubrey-Maturin stories (Master and Commander was the movie) was when Aubrey's ship went into battle with gunpowder intended for celebrations. The dazzling colors during the battle stupefied captains and crew, friend and foe.

OT: I thought I was funny when a friend would announce she was going to the powder room. "Keep your powder dry." It never got a laugh. Hmmm.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 30 Jun 2012, 11:20
Basically, yeah. If a shell doesn't go off, and for whatever reason you can't just attach a new fuse and try again, you have to use a special pin (it looks like an eye bolt without threads, but it's made of a metal that won't cause sparks & set the thing off in your hand) to puncture the charges, and then soak the shell so the powder all gets wet and goes into the water.
If a shell goes into a tube with an inch or two of water at the bottom, there's a chance it will soak into the lift charge (see diagram (http://www.roundeyespyro.com/images/fireworks.jpg), we use shells like on the right) and when the fuse is lit, the shell will not get to full height before the effects charge goes off, aka a low break. I guess it could also maybe weaken the paper-tape cone that attaches the lift charge to the effect, and they could separate. If the shell goes off inside the tube that is a Bad Thing and can destroy the entire tube and several around it. Here's my husband with a 5" tube that had the shell go off in it, from a show two years ago. Fortunately that was on a barge so it was electronically fired, so nobody was close when it happened.
(https://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/37996_421092316462_1665007_n.jpg)
Title: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 01 Jul 2012, 09:44
Update - good show, good strike, might go running this evening when it cools off. I need to get new steeltoe shoes today, my old ones finally died on Friday so I had to wear my running shoes and a spark burned a hole in one of them, and I'm really not interested in risking more burns for the 2 more shows we have this week.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/458fc956-7e8c-7fe8.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 02 Jul 2012, 05:29
Stay safe!
My big toes poke holes through my shoes, but I gather that's fairly common.
 
Week 7 Day 1 today and a reminder that 25 minutes is not 3 x 8 minutes. It's not 3x harder to run; it's easier. 
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 02 Jul 2012, 15:16
I repeated week five day one yesterday morning. I was going to do day two tomorrow but I think I'll be too tired, we're recording 10am-10pm and I need to be awake for all of that. So I'll maybe wait until Thursday when I have less choir.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 02 Jul 2012, 17:57
10 to 10! Exhausting! I have mixed memories of making recordings: pleasure, frustration. It helps to like the result.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 03 Jul 2012, 01:39
Well, I went running anyway! I woke up at ten to eight with no hope of getting back to sleep. We will have time off 1-3 and 6-7 for meals, so maybe I'll have a short nap (although I have elaborate plans for cooking curry which might take up that lunchtime slot).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 05 Jul 2012, 01:32
Hoof. Week five day three finished! I also discovered that running for twenty minutes takes me no further than for 16 with five minutes' walk. Actually it took me less far, but I think I started running sooner than on other days (I normally don't start the five minute warm-up walk until I've left the college grounds). I think it's a mental barrier for me that is the problem, rather than any physical issue - I slow down because I think about the fact that I'll be able to stop in x number of minutes, and then I can't get myself to speed up except for the last two minutes.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 06 Jul 2012, 08:35
W7D2 in 72F and 95% humidity after dithering between running on my road or going to the fitness center and running on a treadmill, which I've resisted. The outdoor run wasn't bad, even though it was clearly warmer than 72 once I got out in the morning sun -- it's headed into the low 100s today. My heart and lungs seem OK with the effort so far, and the legs can push my 180 pounds. But they're not lifting me very far, and that's something I should probably work on, with squats at home and similar moves on machines. Now that I see I can jog 25 minutes, I'm thinking of some of the mountain hiking my wife and I did in the 80s in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I'd love to be able to do that when my grandkids are ready for it. But that's serious lifting: 25 pounds on the back, a maximum climb of 3,500 feet vertical in 3.5 miles. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it wasn't easy when I was in much better shape. Those posting on the spreadsheet, there are easter eggs -- plural. If you post, you might add. Just be sure they're hard-boiled.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 06 Jul 2012, 14:36
Repeating last weeks plan of a single orienteering course and 30+k on my bike. I expect to add to those numbers in weeks to come. Feeling much better - even though my choice of underwear today was not right for riding a bike :-/
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Akima on 08 Jul 2012, 18:30
my choice of underwear today was not right for riding a bike :-/
I strongly recommend cycling shorts and no underwear at all to avoid chafing. You can always wear baggies over the cycling shorts if you are shy.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 10 Jul 2012, 00:17
I was planning on starting week six before I left (I go in three hours) but just discovered that I am meant to be out of my room in an hour, so I can't. Looked up the weather forecast - Boston is currently warmer than where I am now, and it is 3am there. I am potentially not going to be able to run during the choir tour, because I won't be able to be up early enough to miss the heat - hopefully once I get to Eed's, I'll have more control over what time I get to bed, and therefore can get up at 5am or something to try and find some cool weather.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 10 Jul 2012, 03:28
It's 6:30, the temp here is about 18C and I'm about to run. The temp in Fort Wayne is 17C. I think you can get used to running at temps in the 20s, though. Youth helps, but I was able to run in the high 20s as I reached 60, although I only did that as part of a team, and briefly.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 12 Jul 2012, 06:11
I'm kicking myself because the hotel we stayed in had a gym, but I didn't find that out until I was showered and dressed - I had been lying silently in bed waiting for the other girls in my room to wake, so I could have gone and run there. But I have decided to accept that I won't be able to run much on tour, and start up again at Edith's.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 12 Jul 2012, 06:21
Maybe you'll be able to walk a lot.

Discrepancies, discrepancies:

1) I did Week 8 Day 2 today, which didn't match my spreadsheet entries. I checked the iPhone app, which shows dates of each run. I hadn't logged runs on the spreadsheet.

2) My app says my last run is Week 8, Day 3, which is 3mi/30min. But a C25K website says Week 9, three days of 3mi/30min, is the last. Doesn't matter to me.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 13 Jul 2012, 20:39
I did week 5 day 3 today, a 20 minute run, with only a short walking break around the 12:00 mark to try & fix my hair clip, because the first time I tried I kept running and it really didn't last. My husband has been out of town so I ended up going out to run at 9pm yesterday and today, and I think I prefer it. It's marginally cooler (this week was better than last week anyway) and there aren't so many people out to deal with. And I'm not really concerned about safety because my running partner is a 100lb German Shepherd. People tend to give us space.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 14 Jul 2012, 06:10
I guess I finished C25K this morning: W8D3, 30 minutes.

But 5K? Not even close: More like 3 1/2K. I don't feel too bad about that, considering age. My heart rate was 115-125, my cardiologist will probably be pleased, and I'll start using a GPS app to track speed and distance as well as time. The C25K app I used didn't use GPS. I did track it today. My total distance, warmup and cooldown included, was about 2.9 miles, max speed was 5.8mph.

Years ago, I used to do 9-minute miles. A 10-minute/mile speed would give me 5k in 30 minutes.

I intend to keep posting in the thread, hoping it'll keep me on course.

Thanks for the participation and interest. I'm not sure I would have tried this if May hadn't asked for support, if we hadn't started the thread, if you hadn't signed on.

I'm not ready to add a dog to my household, but running with a four-legged friend sounds like a pleasure. As for time of day, I'd run at night if that was the only time available, but it was about 68F/20C when I started out at 8 a.m. today, and it's likely to be 80 at 9 p.m. Clara and I prepping for an event in the late 90s would drive into an Indiana park late in the evening, running in the dark on a paved road we could hardly see. It's a good memory.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 16 Jul 2012, 08:52
Last week I did two orienteering courses (the other one I only walked through) plus I cycled everywhere for a total of 70k+. I am inclined to discount those about 40 minute bike rides for the purposes of exercising. It has such low intensity. It might show a benefit (e.g. burn a lot of calories) if I did at least an hour and a half at a time. Vacation time here, so I just might...
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 16 Jul 2012, 09:11
Depends on your goals. 2 x 40 minutes in calories burned is close to that hour and a half. How long, duration and distance, are the orienteering courses? Through what terrain? I wrote a while back of my first impression of the sport nearly 30 years ago, pre-GPS, and I haven't paid attention to it since.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 16 Jul 2012, 13:41
The local orienteering clubs offer a choice 2 km (beginners), 3-4 km (intermediate), 5-6-7 km (advanced) courses all according to skill, endurance, speed, whatever. Lately I've been taking only those 3-4 km courses as my speed is what it is (15 + min /km). That is sort of average among the local hobbyists (or somewhat below, if I elect a tougher course). Of course, the athletes do something like 8 min/km, and (depending on the terrain) world class runner do around 6 minutes/km. The local terrain is relatively flat with patches of marshland interspersed with rocky areas. Mostly wooded (this is Finland, after all) of varying density of trees.

I would expect you get more variety in type of terrain in the US (or central Europe, or, for example Norway) than what I'm seeing here. In Finland you get very different terrains, if you go the areas where there are eskers, ridges and other formations dating back to the ice age, but locally it is more monotone (altitude variations about 100 ft or thereabouts).

This year my streak of 13 years of participating  in our annual main event  (http://www.jukola.com/2012/en/) came to an end due to my foot injury. In that relay I have done legs between 8 and 12 km with more warying terrain (12 km is like a marathon to me). My teammates are somewhat faster than I am, but they don't
seem to mind too much.

Did you do orienteering while serving in the army or how did you get interested? IIRC it is not a big sport in the US, though it could become so, if suitable terrains are found within, say college towns.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 16 Jul 2012, 13:58
I wrote about this somewhere, maybe here: My wife and I did some light hiking and camping in a Michigan recreation area not far from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the 1980s. It was light enough, but we camped out there at least once in every month of the year. One day, driving down a dirt road, we spotted a man in shorts and a T-shirt darting out of the woods to the side of the road; I think he eventually crossed the road and continued into the woods. There was something beige and indistinct on his T-shirt. We came to the park hq and discovered that there was an orienteering meet. I asked enough questions to understand the concept. We hiked, saw some of the stations with their punches or stamps. I was fascinated, enough to buy a book about it, but not enough to engage in it. My army basic training 20 years before was far too limited to teach overland navigation. And the indistinct beige on the man's shirt? I'm pretty sure he'd collected burrs as he bushwhacked.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 16 Jul 2012, 18:24
I haven't managed to run once yet, but I've done so much walking that I think my fitness won't have suffered too much and I can start running again next week. Hopefully I'll have acclimatised to the heat by then!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 16 Jul 2012, 22:26
I asked enough questions to understand the concept. We hiked, saw some of the stations with their punches or stamps. I was fascinated, enough to buy a book about it, but not enough to engage in it. My army basic training 20 years before was far too limited to teach overland navigation. And the indistinct beige on the man's shirt? I'm pretty sure he'd collected burrs as he bushwhacked.

Nowadays we carry a small piece of plastic with some electronics (a timer chip and a little bit of memory) inside. Next to each control point I can stamp it and the device records the visit. At the finish the organizers can read the data, and verify that I have visited all the control points in the correct order.

Burrs? I have carried some, but that's rare. Occasionally a misjudged choice of route has taken me through bushes of nettles. A more common thing is to end up thigh deep in mud while wading through a swamp or after misjudging my ability to jump across a ditch. Part of the charm, I would say.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 17 Jul 2012, 03:49
I haven't managed to run once yet, but I've done so much walking that I think my fitness won't have suffered too much and I can start running again next week. Hopefully I'll have acclimatised to the heat by then!
In this climate, it definitely helps to be an early riser. At 6:45 a.m. an hour north of Ft. Eed, it's 23C.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 17 Jul 2012, 04:54
While the high heat index in DC today is 40C. To which I say: fuuuuuuuuuck that.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 18 Jul 2012, 12:02
38C here today. We're in an air-conditioned cafe with ice cream sundaes.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 20 Jul 2012, 18:24
Has anybody spent Real Money on shoes before? I have a pair of Champion C9's from Target and I'm starting to get a blister because there's too much room/movement around my toes-ball of foot-arch area. I'm liking the whole running thing (I got a girl from work to start too!) but I'm still reluctant to spend the however-much ($100? I dunno) on actual fitted shoes. Plus mine are black and teal and pretty.

Oh yeah I did Week 6 Day 3 today. Not as brutal as Day 2 but something funny happened to my left calf about 10 minutes in? Not sure what to make of that. Plus the fucking blister. And I need to find a longer route, I was up to 2.72 miles today, had to loop back around a bit.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 20 Jul 2012, 20:33
The one time I failed to spend real money on running shoes, I got gout. OK, there was almost certainly no connection. But I think running shoes are too important to be bought at Target. I bought my first in the early 80s, and spent $60-90 then and ever after. Unless you can work into the shoes you have -- different socks? tighter lacing? -- I'd spend the money. Meantime, can you use moleskin to protect the blistered area?
And good work!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 22 Jul 2012, 08:57
Siding with Redball here. You probably don't want to buy the most expensive running shoes the sporting goods store can offer, but you shouldn't go with the cheapest sneakers either. I don't run, but both my main sport activities require special footwear (orienteering cleets and indoor game shoes). For safety, support and such. I paid about 90 euros per pair the last time I went shopping. My country is on the expensive side for most things, so you can get away with less. Age and weight taking their toll, I need the extra support from my shoes. 60 sounds about right.

A side benefit of spending a little bit on the shoes is that then you feel compelled to use them regularly. That's how I used to justify it to myself (and my fairer half), when I didn't by the cheapest fitting pair.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 24 Jul 2012, 17:25
I got the biggest blister walking around in New York, I think, and then I got another blister on top of that. Ugh. I will start figuring out places to run here soon, so I hope I don't get another blister there. My shoes are not great.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Welu on 26 Jul 2012, 09:19
Hello all. I'm sorry I'm so late to the party but better late than never I just finished my first run! I kind of botched the fifth running section because even though I planned a route, I improvised on the go a little and found myself on a steep hill for that one. It was both harder and easier than I thought it would be. Mostly harder because damn, it's hot today. Easier because running on solid ground is so much nicer than running on a treadmill.
I'm not sure how far I went but it registered about 450 moves on my move counter.

I'm gonna be using this podcast (http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/couch-5K-running-plan.aspx) because it's the most bearable music out of all I've heard.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 27 Jul 2012, 09:38
Good luck! It's not too late to start, I'm stalled at the beginning of week six until I've got round to buying some more suitable running clothes for this ridiculous weather - I haven't run for about three weeks now. I am hoping I can go straight into week six without repeating week five for the third time.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Welu on 28 Jul 2012, 04:25
Good luck with that. Hopefully all the walking around in the big cities has been keeping you fit.  :-)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 29 Jul 2012, 13:17
I am considering not running at all for now, until it's cooler in the mornings. Just walking the dog for ten minutes is wearing me out and making me sweat. I'm doing a lot of cycling on a fixed-gear bike which attempted to kill me yesterday but was fine today, and that will hopefully maintain some fitness.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 29 Jul 2012, 13:26
Maybe it's the sleeping in. Low temps in Ft. Eed the next few days, before the sun climbs, are 16-20C. But the humidity is apt to be high.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 04 Aug 2012, 14:04
I largely missed the previous week (just one shortish orienteering course) due to a bridge tournament. This week I have been rebounding with one medium length orienteering course and 3 20k+ bike rides. I really should make them a bit longer. Targeting 30-40k later this month.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 06 Aug 2012, 08:05
Recovered today from a relapse, only ran a couple of times each of the last couple of weeks, but ran a full 30 minutes this morning. Morning temps the next 10 days will be in the 60s max, in the 50 several days, even the 40s a couple of them. No excuses. And they shouldn't be that much different an hour south of here in Ft. Eed.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Akima on 06 Aug 2012, 15:31
It has such low intensity. It might show a benefit (e.g. burn a lot of calories) if I did at least an hour and a half at a time.
You need to find some hills!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 06 Aug 2012, 22:53
Appreciate the advice, but that's a tall order!

Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 07 Aug 2012, 11:52
Edith has lent/given me some suitable clothes for running. I planned to start up again today, but then I woke up at 10.30 (oops, sorry dog who was waiting for a morning walk and breakfast!) and it was already hotter than a toaster oven outside. So I guess I'll start tomorrow instead! I'm not sure whether I'll go back into the programme or just run round the local park for a while, and restart the programme when I'm back in the UK and get hold of some decent headphones again. I'm not sure if the faulty ones were ever replaced: if they are, they'll be waiting for me when I get back. If not, I'll kick up an almighty fuss about it!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 07 Aug 2012, 12:34
Have you tried going out later in the evenings? It usually cools off once it starts to get dark.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 07 Aug 2012, 12:38
And were the headphones several cuts above the white Apple-style, i.e., in-the-ear, over-the-ear or behind-the-neck? I do OK with the Apple style. They don't seem to fall out of my ears while running. And I have a couple unopened, I don't know why.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 07 Aug 2012, 13:23
The ones which broke after two uses were over the ear ones which were great apart from the whole no-sound part. I apparently have small inner ears, because almost all ear buds make them ache badly and usually fall out when I move or breathe.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 07 Aug 2012, 15:26
The same thing happens to me- but I have TMJ and have discovered that I can blame most of my ailments on that...


I found a nice & cheap pair that work for me- look for earbuds that come with multiple...umm...squishy things. I found a set with 3 sizes and the smallest size tends to work for me. The standard apple ones hurt like hell.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 07 Aug 2012, 23:59
The expensive answer is to get ear moulds made and go to a manufacturer that sells in-ear monitors that are made to fit, e.g. Shure or Etymotic.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 27 Aug 2012, 06:23
After missing the preceding week I report back with two orienteering courses (and one day of commuting with my bike) from last week. Hopefully all the others have filled up their respective columns on that worksheet.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 27 Aug 2012, 08:10
I'm not going to try this again quite yet, but I am going to be going to the gym at least 3 days a week! Starting either today or tomorrow. (I have a bag packed, but I didn't sleep well last night, so I might make up for it tonight a little and tomorrow afternoon.) I think my workout schedule will be cardio/core workouts (stationary bike, stuff with a pilates ball, possibly some weights, and so on) on Mondays and Wednesdays and swimming on Fridays. I think after a few weeks of this, I'll try the C25K again and see how I handle it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 27 Aug 2012, 08:18
After I finished the 9 weeks, up to 30 minutes but not 5k, I eased back to 20 minutes. And found excuses in the last week to run just once. Gotta restart. I'm nervous about my knees. No pain during running, but they complain to me the rest of the day.
Whatever, it's been a neat adventure with this crew.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 27 Aug 2012, 09:02
I'm on week 9 now, but I keep putting it off or it's raining or whatever. My last run was 3.12 miles in 40 minutes so I'm not up to 5k in 30 but I'm still working on it (or intending to at least).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 29 Aug 2012, 14:11
I simply haven't run since we got back from GenCon - I went twice in the hotel gym and did some of week six, or was it seven? Either way I will start again on week seven when I get back. I want to join a 5k running group which meets on Saturday mornings so I'll see if that happens, I might not be able to fit it into my schedule but I'm going to keep running. Having discovered that I enjoy running on a treadmill, I will use the college gym more often too.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 29 Aug 2012, 15:11
I tried to do Week 9 Day 2 yesterday and totally flaked. I just didn't want to do it and ended up walking for like half of it.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 10 Sep 2012, 06:55
Hey, all! What's with this thread? This is about a lifestyle change! Not just some fad that will fade away in a few weeks, right?

Last week's exercising: 25K on bike  :-\, one orienteering course, one hour of floorball (I'm so outta shape!?) Prospects for this week are slightly better.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 10 Sep 2012, 08:49
Yeah I was doing good and then I worked at the county fair every day August 11-18 and didn't run during that and then I kinda stopped. Now I'm trying to get back where I was because I'm still planning to do a 5K with some people on September 22nd and I hope to not die. (On the plus side, I've lost 15 pounds so far!)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 14 Sep 2012, 07:58
I wish I were doing a 5k on September 22nd :( I wanted to do the one round the zoo but I couldn't get out of choir. So I am instead going to join the 5k running group who meet on Saturday mornings, and go to the gym when I get back. Couple of weeks and I'll be back in the saddle!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 14 Sep 2012, 08:25
I ran Wednesday. Hoping to again tomorrow; cool weather should make it easier, but I had no good excuse.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 14 Sep 2012, 15:13
I'm officially registered for my 5K! I should run tonight but I'm going to eat pizza and drink beer instead. I swear, the people we deal with must get together and plot how to make our lives difficult.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 14 Sep 2012, 15:26
I think you're ahead of the rest of us. Enjoy the race.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 15 Sep 2012, 11:54
This week like the preceding one. One hour of floorball, one orienteering track, and I just came back from 27K bike ride. Testriding a new route. It was a pleasant ride, but it is getting a bit nippy out here. I'm glad I had a pair of gloves with me.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 22 Sep 2012, 08:40
I did it!!! Our official time was 36:26.
(https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/423621_10101294468287028_1118509229_n.jpg)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 22 Sep 2012, 14:27
Good job! How did it feel while you were running and once you finished?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: idontunderstand on 22 Sep 2012, 14:36
How much is 5K? 5 kilometers or... as always, idontunderstand.  :roll:
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 22 Sep 2012, 16:52
May - It was good. I was with my friend and her sister and we stayed together. The second mile was going down a big hill, then it went onto the highway and looped back about half a mile to the finish line. We walked for about three minutes in the last half mile because we were just too tired to keep running.
idontunderstand - yes, 5 kilometers or 3.1 miles (plus a bit because we were a little ways back from the official starting line)
Here's my runkeeper data: http://runkeeper.com/user/bainidhe/activity/119831672
Title: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 22 Sep 2012, 18:55
What an accomplishment! If this C25K chapter was a contest, you won! In fact, I'm thinking of resuming a C25K program, and I"ll take all the encouragement I can get.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 23 Sep 2012, 18:49
I'll give you some more- you can do it!! :-)

Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 10 Oct 2012, 12:36
Good luck to anyone contemplating a couch to 25K program!!

I have been a bit busy with the semester starting (and my sleep schedule out of wack), so I have missed most of the cycling I was hoping to do (rain, rain go away...). But our 35+ floorball gang of local dudes started yet another season. Meaning I'm getting 3 hours of fun cardio per week (2 hours with them, one hour with the younger dudes at work). I also started going to gym. It's been only a week and half so too soon to tell, if I can continue to fit it into my schedule. Anyway, the last couple of Wednesdays have put a lot of strain on my joints (knees in particular) given that I have first done an orienteering course in the late afternoon, and then floorball in the evening. In early September I tipped the scale at 110+kg, but last Wednesday I got a reading of 108.6 and tonight a 107.4!!!!! Ok, so I was horribly dehydrated after the days workout, but THE TREND HAS TURNED. The first goal is to keep this up. The second goal is to get back below 100 (I was there two years ago). To be on the safe side I should set a target in the low nineties (which is what I weighed in my early thirties), but I'm not gonna rush things.

And I gave myself an imperial pint of beer as a reward. That may have negated some of the days work, but ...

The sad thing is that orienteering season is drawing to a close. I may try night time orienteering once or twice, which should be fun.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 11 Oct 2012, 02:00
I haven't been running yet, I am exhausted all the time at the moment, but I'm still doing a lot of walking while my bike is stuck (found another place that might cut the lock off, but would involve carrying the bike, locked, for twenty minutes across the centre of town) and last night I carried £35 of shopping home in four very heavy bags and I feel like I've run a marathon.

Running will 100% start again some day. Some day when I do not ache in every muscle of my body.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 12 Oct 2012, 07:04
Running restarts tomorrow! I have some headphones, although they are not perfect, and I have all the requisite clothes. I am going to run off all the biscuits I've eaten this week.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 12 Oct 2012, 19:04
OK, dammit, this began as a challenge, so I'll run tomorrow if it isn't raining. The chance of rain tomorrow is 100%, but that doesn't mean all day.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 13 Oct 2012, 01:20
My getting up at 8am plan was foiled by my body's reluctance to acknowledge the plan, so I will run at 8pm instead!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Skewbrow on 29 Oct 2012, 13:35
The week before last was good for my exercise schedule: Monday - floorball, Tuesday - gym, Wednesday - floorball, Thursday+Friday -rest, Saturday - floorball, Sunday - 1½ hours bike ride. Last week started out the same, but the 6 inches of snow we got on Friday sorta ruined the outdoors for me. I barely made it home safely as my car did not have winter tires on (I had to push the car off snow once, as I couldn't keep it on the road in a bend even though I was going really slow).

Well, the car has studded tires now. If I find the time I will put some on my bike, too. Otherwise I will either wait for the snow to melt away (half gone already) or more snow to come so that i can go skiing.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 29 Oct 2012, 15:55
I haven't run at all yet - I did think about going tonight when I had some spare time, but I couldn't face it. I seem to have lost any enjoyment I had for running. I am doing yoga on a weekly basis though, and I can feel the ache today. Perhaps when I get out of the habit of being up til 2am I might feel energised (and guilty!) enough to go to the gym.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 29 Oct 2012, 18:15
Is it possible that The Boy runs?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 29 Oct 2012, 18:41
Soo I haven't run since I finished the 5K a month ago. I took the dog for a few 3+ mile walks, but it's not the same. I'm committing: once this hurricane blows through (Wednesday? Thursday? Friday? we'll see) I'm going for a run. Even if I wimp out and only go a little bit, at least I'm running, right?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 30 Oct 2012, 01:50
Bob, The Boy rows sometimes and does yoga with me, but I don't think he runs. What he does is lots of science. He shames me into working more, without meaning to (or probably realising it).
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 30 Oct 2012, 10:04
Bob, The Boy rows sometimes and does yoga with me, but I don't think he runs. What he does is lots of science. He shames me into working more, without meaning to (or probably realising it).
That much impact? That's a relationship!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 31 Oct 2012, 02:55
Yup, it is :D
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 13 Feb 2014, 09:44
Rebooted C25K today, a sunny day in the 60s in Tucson. As exercise goes, it was a Piece of Cake. Anyone wanna run with me?
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: ev4n on 13 Feb 2014, 10:08
It's a bit early, but I'm going to have to decide soon.  One the snow starts to melt, I'll either go back to running, or pick a bike ride, perhaps a double century, that I want to train for.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 13 Feb 2014, 13:07
I'm getting ready to start up again too! But apparently I'm not supposed to have a sustained heart rate over 140 bpm while prego? I don't think I've ever registered a heart rate over like 120.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: ev4n on 13 Feb 2014, 16:08
Def talk to a doctor.  Pretty sure I've run, at least casually, with pregnant people.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: bainidhe_dub on 13 Feb 2014, 16:47
That's what the doctor told me when I asked if it was ok to run!
Whatever, I'm going to start back at the beginning because it's been since October, and see how far I can get.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 13 Feb 2014, 19:32
Wow, crazy stuff! I guess if I decide to work out when I get pregnant, it'll have to be reeeeeeally low impact lol. At peak I'll usually top out at 170/175ish. "Average" while working out for me is about 150.



......does that say something about how (un)fit I am? Or do some people just have higher heart rates??
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Lines on 13 Feb 2014, 19:35
The only pregnant person I know (currently) that still runs was a marathon runner before she got pregnant. I think everyone else did pretty low key stuff.

Also my heart rate always gets very high when I work out. Even when I was fit for the most part. I don't remember what to, though. Guh. I really need to start working out again, but I really don't like running when I am not already fit. (I only tolerate it when I am.)
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: lepetitfromage on 13 Feb 2014, 19:47
I miss running....I really do. It was such a great stress relief. Then the shin splints started. We don't need to go over that again.....ugh. Suffice it to say that the one thing I found that made the shin splints go away- compression sleeves- made my calves cramp up. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I have since made friends with the elliptical. Now, if I could make it to the gym more than twice a week and put the damn cookies down. :-P
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 14 Feb 2014, 03:24
Necessary caveat: I'm not qualified, I'm barely even trained. Talk to your midwife/doctor for more advice, but the basic thing about exercise in pregnancy is not to suddenly start doing anything your body isn't used to. If you were already running, you can carry on doing that (as long as you don't push yourself too hard). If you were already weight lifting, that's still an option - but obviously falls, drops and so forth are a more serious risk.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 15 Feb 2014, 19:25
So May, are there hills in Oxford, Shropshire, Yorkshire? I expect there are, from what little I know.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Barmymoo on 16 Feb 2014, 05:17
I've never been to Oxford (well that's not true techincally; I have been to the ice rink and a nearby hotel) but in my head all of that bit of England is flat like it has been steam-rolled. Yorkshire and Shropshire, at least the bits we're going to, are nothing BUT hills. If you are planning on running while you're here I guess I'd better pack my running gear too!
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 16 Feb 2014, 10:58
Oxford is in the Thames Valley between the Chiltern Hills, the Cotswolds, and the Berkshire Downs - that's why the Thames is so full of water!  Headington (where I live) is up a hill inside the Oxford ring road.  OK, they're not mountains here, nor even like the Yorkshire Moors, but it's definitely not flat.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: Redball on 16 Feb 2014, 11:50
From the B&B, there appears to be a riverside walk toward town, so I suppose that's flat.
And May, from the other thread, maybe I should bring my wrist BP monitor along with the GPS and the running gear.
Title: Re: Couch to 5K Accountability Thread
Post by: pwhodges on 16 Feb 2014, 11:55
That section of the towpath alongside the Isis was flooded in parts until yesterday, but I believe that today it is no longer under water.  The path from Abingdon Road to the towpath might still be flooded, though.  I hope that the weather will have eased off by the time you come!