Couch to 5k - The Beginning

I'll write up about my Starting Strength experience in one of the next posts. Today I wanted to share my experience with Couch to 5k so I can start updating this blog with more current content instead of history. Couch to 5k is a 9 week program designed to ease you into running, you can read up on it and see the details of each week here.

August 22nd, I'd taken a few weeks off from weight lifting and thought I'd give running (very slow running) another try.

My back has been pretty good since August 8^th. My main goals with the running are to quit smoking, get more energy, improve my heart and lungs, and do better at weight lifting when I get back to that as my primary exercise. I figure the smoking or the running will need to stop at some point. So I'm not going to give up on the running.

Progress August 22nd - September 27th

I'm not progressing as fast as I hoped, but the further I'm getting the better I'm feeling. To keep track of my running/walking time I use an Android app called ExerTime, it has the times for the C25k program preloaded and speaks what to do when the alarm goes off "run for 90 seconds". I've been running in the evening just after work as there's a park on my way home where I can run. The running does seem to be helping with my neck pain which is currently my biggest physical problem. As of September 27th I still have some neck pain but it's much better compared to before I started the running. Here's my progress so far week by week.

August 22nd Week 1 M W F

The first day was really tough for me. I fell short of completing the first run by a few seconds. The same thing happened during the rest of the run. There was lots of coughing. Wednesday and Friday I improved a little.

August 29th Week 1 again Monday only

This week I figured I should stick with week 1 plan again. I did better this time, but ended up taking the rest of the week off. Once due to work and once because I just didn't feel like it.

September 5th Week 2 M W F

Labor Day morning, I have the day off from work. I was going do do Week 1 again. As I was getting my interval timer ready, I just figured I'd load up Week 2 and give it a try. Since it was the morning and I hadn't smoked much yet that day I actually did great. Wednesday and Friday evening I did it again, though not as well as Monday morning. Thinking at this point I need to switch to running in the morning at some time in the future. 

September 12th Week 2 Monday only

Going for Week 2 of the program again. Completed, but ended up with some pain in my lower back that has since gone away. It was nothing like my previous back pain, just perhaps some nerves? I take the rest of the week off. I also find the following video, some things to be aware of I didn't know about to help me out.

September 19th Week 2 Take 3 M-W

Monday night's run was great. Wednesday night's run was my worst yet. I completed each timed run Wednesday but I felt like crap. Half way through my legs were killing me, I was out of breath, and I thought about giving up. Later that night, I read through some Reddit posts in r/fitness, r/c25k, and r/running and got some inspiration back (thanks everyone there!). I also went out and bought some new running shoes on Thursday night. Since I like simple stuff, “barefoot” running seemed appealing to me. I read through some reviews of the NB Minimus and Nike Free Run series. I ended up going with the Nike Free Run +2 since it had good reviews for road running, that and that's what the sporting goods store had. I needed some change right away to keep me motivated and didn't want to wait for an online order. So I'm trying them on and running around the store a little and they felt great and I'm looking forward to trying them out on my next run. I took Friday off due to heavy rain; I'm not that committed yet, maybe someday.

September 26th Week 3 Monday

Three weeks of week 2 isn't helping me at all. Having taken the past 4 days off of running and really cutting back on smoking I went for Week 3 of the program. I did it. I had some yogurt about a half hour before running as I read it is a good pre run snack. I had slowed down my pace considerably as suggested by a Redditor and I think this was the major factor in me completing the runs. If I had been running like I had been in previous weeks I never would've made it. I must have misread my C25k timer app because I thought there were 3 three minute runs. At the end of my second 3 minute run I was forcing myself to keep going and wait for the alarm to say start walking, thinking to myself 'a little bit more then you can walk for 3 minutes'. I was quite surprised when the app told me “5 minute cool down walk”. Those 25 minutes flew by and I felt both relieved and accomplished. The shoes felt great and are much lighter than the Skechers I had been using. I had some new soreness mostly in the calf area I hadn't felt before, can't say if it was the new shoes or not; but I'm feeling better now and ready to go out again.


So, now I'm all caught up here for the running. I'll add posts as I keep up with the program.