Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
I didn’t know I could suck-wind so well! I didn’t make it to 20 minutes this morning. Nor was I able to “run” for 60 seconds after the 1st attempt. By the time I made it 3/4 of the way around my loop I wanted to rip off my training watch every time it beeped that it was time to run and stomp it into the ground, but my right calf hurt so much, and my left calf (which never bothers me) was starting to burn as well, and I was limping when I walked and would probably have fallen over and then I really would have been in a pickle. Neither of my calves hurt though when I “ran.” Go figure.
I kept having to tell myself to relax because I felt like I was trying to pull myself up by my shoulders. Then I felt like I was trying to take too long of a stride. You know those foreign army marching videos you see where they’re shuffling along…that was me. Without the gun. Or that’s how I felt anyway. I did, however, cut 2:15 off Monday’s 1.2 mile walking time. I’m trying to remind myself that I can take 2 weeks to accomplish week 1. It’s now 5 hours since I stopped and I just popped my first ibuprofen.
You can do it! I know you can.
I don’t know when (or if) I’m ever going to make that 5 miles running on the treadmill that I want, but I’m rapidly moving towards 10 on the stationary bike.
You can do this! I have faith… just keep yourself stretched out today and take a walk (not run) tomorrow to keep things loose or you won’t want to move on Friday.
I’m going to watch your progress closely cause I need to do this too and if it works for you…
You go girl! I found that when I was alternating walking and jogging that my calves actually did like to jog slower than my brisk walking. Even if I just barely lift my legs up, but I’m in “jogging” mode, my legs like me better.
Good luck to you!
You can do it, Terri! I can’t give any advice, that’s for sure, just kind support. 🙂
Hi Terri – A friend of mine shared something with me recently that she used during Ironman – “it doesn’t hurt more to run” – and honestly, sometimes, for me, it hurts less when I’m running and I’ve been able to build up some endurance this year which has really helped. One of my goals for ’08 was to run more than I walk in training and races. That is one goal that I have been able to achieve.
WTG, Terri!! I’m very jealous that you’re starting the C25K. As you know, I would LOVE to get back to running, but need to give my body more time to heal from the surgery before I even think about it. Maybe next year we can run together. 🙂
Just remember – baby steps, Terri – way to go! You can do it!
It is soooo much harder to run outside than on a treadmill. I expect that a lot of people do the couch-to-run program on a treadmill where it would be a lot easier. So you’re starting off the hard way!
I had been running 4 miles on my treadmill for a number of weeks before I attempted running outside. I was out of breath before 1K outside!! I was shocked at how much harder it was (on a relatively flat route).
You’ll be amazed at how quickly it will get easier though. Keep going!!
yeah, on the treadmill i find that i have to set it to a 3% grade to get it to be “similar” to running outside. go terri go. i want to do the c25k as well. kudos to you for starting!