The C25K Dynasty (Couch to 5K)

[Lorena]

I purchased an app called C25K which stands for "Couch to 5K". It's a beginner's running plan to get people off their couches and running 5K (3.1 miles) in 9 weeks. I found 2 applications at the app store but went with this one: Couch to 5K since it can be integrated into Facebook and Twitter.

I tried it today for the first time and am very impressed. I had Pantera playing in the background while the app was on. The first part is a 5 minute brisk walk, then it alternates from walking to running. After the 5 minute walk, you run (or jog in my case) for 60 seconds and walk for 90 seconds. It repeats for about 20 minutes and you finish with a 5 minute walk. The cool thing is that it tells you when to jog/run and when you're halfway done. It also tells you when the last run is coming so you can haul ass.

So yeah, I was a little nervous cuz I'm not in any kind of shape (well, round is a shape, I suppose) but it went very well. At the halfway mark I didn't think I had it in me to finish but kept telling myself, "It's only a 60 second jog... it's only 60 seconds" and yesssss, I managed to jog when I was supposed to... victory!

I started this dynasty to hopefully get some people to join me but if not, it's cool. It'd be cool if I actually inspired some people to get off their couches to join me Like I said earlier, I'm nowhere close to a runner but I think this is actually possible. Subby was actually a big inspiration as well, so thanks Subby

[Lorena]

Looks like I ran/walked about 2.79 miles on Friday; I finished my workout at the exact same spot as it did on Friday.

I'm posting my stats on Facebook but posting here will keep things a little more organized and will also allow me to be more detailed on my workouts.

So this is what happened Friday:

Lorena just completed Week 1 - Day 1 run of C25K running plan.
Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

I ended up buying Nike Air Pegasus which will help me keep track of my workouts with a little pedometer that goes in the shoe. There's an app called Nike+ that's already on my iTouch so I use it at the same time as C25K app. This is what happened today:



I'm slow as heck but it looks like I'm close to 3.1 miles which is much better than expected. At the halfway mark, I felt much better than Friday, although I sorta dreaded hearing the prompt to run, not a runner... at least not yet.

Oh yeah, and it was H U M I D this morning. I've never sweated so much that it dripped into my mouth. Another thing that sort of irritated me was hearing the same System of a Down song throughout the entire workout. Not sure how that happened but SoaD is much better than jogging to classical music. Definitely something I need to fix.

[Lorena]

Week 1 Day 3 (31 minute workout)

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

My pedometer didn't register the distance for some reason, but it did the time:



I cheated myself for 30 seconds trying to figure out how to make my playlist not loop on the same song. I ended up getting my Pantera playlist to play, but somehow I messed up on the Nike+. Anthony's also doing this with me and his app doesn't seem to have a problem. He showed me what he did and I'm gonna try it on Friday and see if it works.

I had a great workout though. Even though the first 30 seconds of my brisk walk was spent trying to figure things out, I can feel my endurance getting better and noticed that my body was tense while running. Don't understand why I tensed up, but after I relaxed, the running part felt much much easier. At the halfway mark, I was ahead a considerable amount from the past 2 workouts and when I finished, I was ahead about 1/8 of a mile and that's including the 30 seconds in the beginning which has me completely stoked, I didn't think my distance would improve in just 3 workouts.

Oh and one other thing, the 2.79 miles I supposedly ran on Monday might be off; I drove around the route I ran and it was only 2 miles. Hmmm... 0.79 miles is quite a bit and at first I was discouraged, but had to convince myself that I've made improvement from the first workout and it will only get better.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 2 - Day 1

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.



So I went down quite a bit from Week 1 Day 3. The music issue was solved and I was able to get Nike+ to work in the background, thanks to Antmeister. Things I did different this time around that might have impacted my performance: 1.) Didn't stretch, 2.) Didn't eat before the workout, and 3.) Ate crappy on Wednesday and Thursday. I hate making excuses, but I have to take note of what I did to cause the slowdown. I was a little discouraged but at least, I identified the impact food has on my body. I started out fast and finished really really slow. After the first run I felt sluggish and I seriously felt like walking the whole time and quitting actually crossed my mind.

Okay, it's 9 hours after my jog and I can't believe quitting actually crossed my mind. I'm on my 2nd week and although I went back a bit, I have to make minor changes to my diet and definitely get rid of the toxic food that's making my body feel so blah.

[Dodgerchick]

Wait a second, I just noticed my workout changed.

Wednesday it was - Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

Friday (today) it was - Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

No wonder! That explains why my numbers went down. OK, feel much better now. I actually feel encouraged knowing that I was able to run for 90 seconds straight... that explains why I felt so sluggish.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 2 - Day 2 run of C25K running plan. Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

Before the workout I told myself I had to at least finish at the 2 mile mark. Sadly I did not accomplish this goal, as a matter-of-fact, I went down... again grrr Not much, but still went down. Running 90 seconds and walking 2 minutes is harder than I thought. I need to learn to pace myself, I started fast and ended slow again.

So here's what I did today:



We'll see how it goes Wednesday. I keep eating junk though, I did it this weekend again. I'm disciplined enough to do this, but not disciplined enough to say no to junk.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

I keep eating junk though, I did it this weekend again. I'm disciplined enough to do this, but not disciplined enough to say no to junk.

Not to encourage junk food eating, but you will be able to make huge fitness gains regardless of whether you can succeed in cutting out junk food. I've been running now for about 18 months and I'm in much better physical shape than when I started, even though I think I look basically the same (I've lost 5-10 pounds at most). I'm terrible for junk, but for the first 6-8 months I made big strides in performance regardless.

You might be better off focusing strictly on making the running a part of your life at first, and then start cutting out junk food later on. Trying to do it all at once may end up being discouraging when you falter on one or the other. One of the things my running instructor tries to hammer home to us is that we need to push ourselves to get out and run, but also not beat ourselves up when we fail.

Stay positive and remember: Running is fun!!

[JetsIn06]

I agree with Fidatelo.

The few times that I've gone on a fitness kick, I lost a lot of weight without changing my diet at all.

Lorena, good luck! You're doing great. I wish I had the discipline you had but I know once I get into a good schedule I can do it.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 2, Day 3

Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five-minute cooldown walk.

Thanks for the advice Fidatelo, JetsIn06. It's not like I eat cheeseburgers everyday but I'm a sucker for sweets, always have been. My 5 year old actually hid them from me. Well, not really hid them he put them out of sight so I don't munch on 'em.

Today my Nike + didn't register any stats, dunno what happened. I might have to email the developer and see if he has any pointers. I'm pretty sure I did everything the same, but ya never know.

Today was a nice day for a run, it was a tad chilly, clear and I felt good. Even though my pedometer didn't register, I finished in the same spot I did when I was on Week 1, Day 1 which is awesome. The distance isn't quite there yet, but in a week and a half my endurance has improved so I'm stoked about that.

Friday's a new workout.

[Dodgerchick]

Okay, I skipped Friday because of weather, but ran today.

Week 3 - Day 1 (28 minute workout):

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
- Jog 90 seconds
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



Knowing I had to jog for 3 minutes straight, I jogged really really slow since I didn't wanna burnout at the end. At the halfway mark I was surprised where I was in the workout; not surprised by distance, but how fast it came. So ran for 3 minutes, then walked, etc. At the last 3 minute run, I went as fast as I could, but it wasn't fast at all because, again, I didn't wanna burnout. I thought the walk following the last run would be the cooldown but it wasn't. I ended up walking for the last 8 minutes which I didn't expect.

In the end, I could have pushed myself harder but the 3 minute jog had me a little intimidated.

Next jog will be Monday.

[Dodgerchick]

dola,

I contacted the developer about my issue with the music and he responded right away, problem solved. Here's what my workout looked like. Distance was really really bad, but I'm running for time, not distance:

[Dodgerchick]

Week 3 - Day 2
Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
- Jog 90 seconds
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



I'm surprised it was the same pace as Saturday my lower back was seriously hurting. I jogged so slow it was almost a walk. I'm determined though, I'm not planning on walking when I'm supposed to run as much as I can help it. The real test is gonna be Week 5 Day 3 which is when I go from jogging 8 minutes to 20.

After Wednesday's run I'll be 1/3 of the way through this thing! But I've a feeling I'm not gonna reach 5K in 6 weeks. Still, I'm determined to finish this program even if I'm at a turtle's pace.

[Subby]

This is really fantastic.

Definitely add some simple core strengthening exercises if you haven't already. Planks are great and I like the stuff you can do on those big exercise balls.

It's impossible not to improve your running economy and speed if you stick with a regular program. The more weight you lose, the faster you go, the faster you go, the more weight you lose.

A half a cup of coffee is a great pre-workout drink. The caffeine energizes you, helping to get the blood flowing through the muscles.

Hang in there!

[Dodgerchick]

Week 3 - Day 3 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
- Jog 90 seconds
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



1/3 of the way through this thing!!! Distance has improved a little bit this week and my fanny pack needs to be adjusted so I'm losing inches. I'm so stoked right now. It was humid today and I sweated so much my arms were shimmering.

[JetsIn06]

Great job! Keep it up.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 4 - Day 1 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 5 minutes
- Walk 2-1/2 minutes
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 5 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



New workout today. Went from running 3 minutes on Wednesday to 5 today. I wasn't really sure if I could do it, but surprised myself. I also changed my route because I think the previous route actually slowed me down, this route I run straight lines with the occasional turn, so my distance improved. I did run 3:27 more and the difference was 0.33 miles. The halfway point came super fast and I actually had more energy at the end of my run so I coulda hauled ass but still not sure how hard to push myself.

[Abe Sargent]

This is a fun read

[Dodgerchick]

Week 4 - Day 2 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 5 minutes
- Walk 2-1/2 minutes
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 5 minutes



Went down 0.05 so I'm not too happy. I heard drinking chocolate milk post workout is better than any sports drink or water to replenish thirst and tired muscles ( Got Milk? Try Chocolate After Your Workout ). So I put in some skim milk, ovaltine a banana and ice in a blender and blended away. Wow did it hit the spot.

[GoldenEagle]

The only thing to watch about chocolate milk is the calories. A cup will set you back 220 calories and the low fat version 160 calories.

[Eaglesfan27]

Keep it up! I'll be following along.

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

The only thing to watch about chocolate milk is the calories. A cup will set you back 220 calories and the low fat version 160 calories.

Good point, I hadn't thought about that.

[sabotai]

Good luck DC. I'm following.

[Dodgerchick]

Thanks everyone!!

Week 4 - Day 3 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 5 minutes
- Walk 2-1/2 minutes
- Jog 3 minutes
- Walk 90 seconds
- Jog 5 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



The pedometer wigged out on me Not sure what happened but at the end of the workout, I grabbed my iTouch to stop it and it was trying to activate the sensor again. I might have to ditch the fanny pack and use one of those armband thingies.

Aside the pedometer messing up on me, the workout was great. It's getting easier running up the mini-hills in our neighborhood. Saturday is the dreaded Week 5 where I go from running 8 minutes to 20 On Saturday I will no longer be running 3 minutes but 5, then the following will be 8 minutes, then 20. In a way I'm dreading it but at the same time, looking forward to it, if that makes any sense. I wanna see how far I can push myself 'til I can't no more.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 5 - Day 1 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
- Jog 5 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Jog 5 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Jog 5 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



Tough workout today. The hills are much easier than last week so that's encouraging. Knowing I had to run 5 minutes I took it real slow and it shows in the distance. I'm halfway through this thing and even though I keep telling myself that I'm running for time not distance, the 2 mile distances in half an hour are discouraging. Of course if I lost the extra weight I'm carrying it'd be much easier.

Next workout I'm jogging for 8 minutes and walking for 5.

[Dodgerchick]

Yesterday

Week 5 - Day 2 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
- Jog 8 minutes
- Walk 5 minutes
- Jog 8 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



I was actually able to jog for 8 minutes straight twice in yesterday's workout and I'm pretty stoked about it since I felt I could have run for longer. It was muggy when I started and finished drenched to my hands in sweat. As I was jogging it started to drizzle and I told Mother Nature to bring it but she didn't listen.

Next workout is the ultimate test as I go from running 8 minutes to 20... the dreaded Week 5, Day 3!

Edit: Also, I've been playing around with different music to see what gets me going and found out that 80's metal goes very well with my pace.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 5 - Day 3 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 20 with no walking. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.



Well, I was able to do it without walking so yay me, I guess. Apparently I'm fast-walking my way to 5K with how slow I'm going.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 6 - Day 1 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
- Jog 5 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Jog 8 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Jog 5 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk



Since I was going relatively slow last workout, I really pushed myself this time and ended up dying towards the middle. I was listening to the soundtrack to Run Lola Run and it didn't go with my running pace at all, music was too fast. So at the end of the 34 minute workout, I ended up nauseous, extremely tired and with swollen hands but I finished and ran when I was supposed to. 3 weeks left and I'm 0.72 miles short of the ultimate goal.

There's a new app update since Friday's workout; they added a play alert when there are 10, 5, 2 and 1 minutes left for the running intervals. Knowing how much time is left, I can now push myself a little harder towards the end of my runs. They also added a 30 and 45 minute run so we can run anytime we want after the program's over.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 6 - Day 2 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
- Jog 10 minutes
- Walk 3 minutes
- Jog 10 minutes
- Five-minute cooldown walk

[Dodgerchick]

I just realized that on my next workout I'm gonna be running 25 minutes straight!! 20 minutes was doable and today's workout went well, but 25 minutes... whoa.

Edit: Also, I peeked at the rest of the program and no more walking... it's all running from here on out!

Here goes nothing...

[Dodgerchick]

Week 6 - Day 3 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 25 minutes with no walking. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.



I did it! I ran the whole 25 minutes w/out stopping! I started pretty slow, knowing I had a long way to go, but at the 15 minute mark, I was actually shocked that I had so much energy so I stepped it up a bit. At the 17 minute mark, I don't know what happened but I felt so much energy I felt this rush. I don't know if it was the song "Demonoid Phenomenon" by Rob Zombie or 2nd wind, or what but it felt amazing. At the 20 minute mark I still had a lot of energy and kept my pace; at the 23 minute mark, I went faster and when there was a minute left, I went even faster. When it was over I checked the distance and was impressed that at Week 6, Day 3 I'm less than half a mile from accomplishing goal.

I feel incredibly invincible right now.

Demonoid Phenomenon:

[sabotai]

*applause*

[duckman]

Very proud of you!

[Dodgerchick]

Thanks Sab and Duckman!!

Week 7 - Day 1 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 25 minutes. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.



I took a day off cuz I've been having back pains. Don't know what's wrong with me but I've been feeling dizzy and really really tired... actually considered not running today but if I took another day off, I was afraid I'd go backwards and I've worked too hard to go back so I just went ahead and did it. My pace has improved (surprisingly) and there's a point in the run where I felt like my legs were carrying me... I mean it's hard to explain... it's like I don't think about running, my legs just move on their own.

I'm 2/3 of the way through this thing and I'm getting closer to goal. This week I run 25 minutes straight, Week 8 I run 28 minutes, and Week 9 I run 30. My goal is to finally hit 5K (3.1 miles) by the end of Week 8... fingers crossed.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 7 - Day 2 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 25 minutes. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.



Went back a little and I'm not happy. I know there are days when it's gonna be inevitable, but still. I changed playlist and had my "power songs" in the beginning. Big mistake, it burned out at the end. I was still able to run for 25 minutes straight though.

One more 25 minute run then I go to 28 minutes of non-stop running.

[Dodgerchick]

Yesterday:

Week 7 - Day 3 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 25 minutes. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.



Ran with my usual playlist and had the power songs towards the middle/end. It was rough at the end because my knee tightened up on me. I stretched it out and massaged it a bit and today it feels much better.

Tomorrow will be my first 28 minute non-stop run. I should be ok and expect my distance to improve.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 8 - Day 1 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 28 minutes. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.



Man this one was rough. When I finished I felt lightheaded for a few seconds and everything around me seemed to be pulsing. Not sure if this is normal or if I'm overextending myself.

The distance and pace is including the 5 minute walk before and after the actual run, so I'm pretty sure if I tried running 5K, I'll be able to accomplish it. There's a 5K distance workout on the Nike+, so when the C25K program is over, I'm gonna run 5K straight and see how I do.

Thanks for following my journey to 5K.

[Dodgerchick]

Yesterday (11/22/09)

Week 8 - Day 2 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 28 minutes. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.

No distance info, since my pedometer wigged out on me but I'm guessing it was about 2.80 or a bit more since I finished at the same place I did on Thursday.

[Dodgerchick]

dola,

My goal of reaching 3.1 miles by the next workout seems a bit out of reach, but if I don't, then the final week will get me really, really close. Let's see how close I get.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 8 - Day 3 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 28 minutes. Finish with a five-minute cooldown walk.



OMG guys, I'm really really close!!!!! I should hit goal by next week! Can't believe I went from shaking from a measly 60 seconds of running-90 seconds of walking, to being able to run 28 minutes straight. Un-freaking-believable, this program absolutely works. If any of you is on the fence about trying it, just do it.

[Dodgerchick]

Week 9 - Day 1 run of C25K running plan.Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 30 minutes. Finish with a five minute cooldown walk.



Well guys, this is the final week of the C25K program. I've come a hell of a long way in 2 months. If you were to ask me 3 months ago if I could run 5K, I'd tell you you were nuts. And now, here I am at 3 miles. There's still room for improvement and I have 2 workouts left but you bet your sweet ass I'm gonna bust it.

[sabotai]

Next stop, 10K!

[Dodgerchick]

That's my plan, eventually. My immediate goal is to reach 5K in half an hour. When I reach that I'll be goin' for 8K, then 10K. There's an 8K app from the same developer that made the app I'm using now. 10K I'll pretty much be on my own but by then I'm hoping to have the pacing down.

[Dodgerchick]

oops, forgot to update. Yesterday-

Week 9 - Day 2 run of C25K running plan. Today's workout consisted of:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 30 minutes. Finish with a five minute cooldown walk.



Welp, this is my second to last workout and went down a bit. Let's see if I can reach 3.1 on Saturday. If I don't, I'll be happy knowing that this program has helped so much with something I didn't think was possible.

[PilotMan]

I give you a major credit, Lorena. Way to stick with it! Are you going to keep up the jogging?

[Dodgerchick]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I give you a major credit, Lorena. Way to stick with it! Are you going to keep up the jogging?

Absolutely! I think I finally found my thing. When this program is over, I'll continue to run and improve my time. The immediate goal is to run 3.1 miles in 30 minutes. There's a "Resolution Run" on January 1st I'm looking to participate in. The run times you see in this dynasty are including the 5 minute before and after walks so I feel pretty confident that running close to 30 minutes is doable. After January 1st, I'll be working on 8K (I already bought the iTouch application for it), then 10K.

Thanks for following along PilotMan

[Dodgerchick]

Week 9 - Day 3 run of C25K running plan. Today's workout consisted of:

The final workout! Congratulations! Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 30 minutes. Finish with a five minute cooldown walk.



My final workout YEAH!!! Although I didn't quite reach goal, I'm so happy that in 9 weeks, I literally went from couch to 3 miles. I never EVER would have thought this was possible. On Tuesday I'm gonna run the whole 5K and see if I reach 30 minutes which is my goal for the end of the year.

[Dodgerchick]

My first "real" 5K workout and I'm way off my goal of reaching 5K in 30 minutes by the end of the year. Oh well, I'll just run (pardon the pun) with it.

[hoopsguy]

Been meaning to comment in this for awhile ... great job following through with this, Lorena. You've shown big-time improvement and it is cool to "see". Hope that you are able to keep pushing ahead as the 5K program concludes and other goals await.

[Dodgerchick]

Thank you hoops! Yes, most definitely. I've always been a competitor and running is the best way to complete against myself.. to always strive for a better time and distance.

[Dodgerchick]

I'm doing myself a disservice by not losing the 70+ lbs. I need to run faster. On Monday I bought Nutrition Menu which helps keep track of my weight and calories. It's a really nifty application because it has a database w/ nutritional information on food items and restaurant menu items to help keep track of my daily caloric intake.

If I was as dedicated to trimming down my weight as I was with the C25K program, I would have lost some serious weight by now. I haven't lost any weight but my legs have changed shape. If I'm gonna do this running thing for real, I need to buckle up and start watching what I eat.