Starting Couch to 5K Run...Any Joiners?

Hello Everyone....

I am going to be starting the Couch to 5K run Tomorrow and would like to know if there is anyone that would like to start  or join in with me and track our progress together?  Here is what the program consists of:

Here is the plan:

Week 1
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk.
-Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Week 2
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk.
-Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Week 3
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
-Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
-Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
-Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
-Walk 400 yards (or 3 minutes)

Week 4
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
-Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Week 5
Workout 1:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Workout 2:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
-Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)

Workout 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.

Week 6
Workout 1:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Workout 2:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
-Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
-Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
-Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)

Workout 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 25 minutes) with no walking.

Week 7
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
Week 8
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).

Week 9
Workout 1, 2 & 3:
-Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes). 

I am going to assume that if you feel you can go a little harder or longer in one area push yourself!!

With support, motivation, and determination people can accomplish things they have never dreamed of doing.  This is the case for me and I just want to be able to support other people that would love to reach the same goal as I!!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO JOIN!!!

i was just about to start a thread on this...and then i found this one!

i just started couch 2 5k today and am excited to do it!  the first workout was a good start.  it wasn't as difficult as i thought it would be, but it was definitely a good start. a few months ago, i jogged often...and could do about a mile.  i really loved jogging, but i was totally out of breath and definitely pushing myself too much.  so i stepped back and just did walking at a high incline...which is a great work out, but gets really really dull after awhile...and i missed jogging.  ten years ago when i was in high school, i used to run 3-5 miles every day for tennis practice...and i really want to get back to being able to do that!

i'm doing it on a treadmill, which i think helps tremendously...not sure i would have the self-motivation to do it without the treadmill.  for those of you who are doing it on a treadmill, i'm curious as to what speeds you are using?  i'm walking at 3.0 and jogging at 4.0 on smallish incline.

i've been using the radio stations at slacker.com, but i'm definitely going to check out the podcast link!  thanks for posting it.

yay!  i'm excited to start this with you all! 

aasil: i do some  outside and some on the treadmill,..on the treadmill i started at 3.5 and 5 with no incline.  i am trying to work up so now I am walking at 4.0 and jogging at 5.5-6..whatever I can do.  run 3, workout 3 i made 2 miles all together, so i guess that is like a 15 minute mile....just call me turtle! 

glad you asked this b/c i was wondering this about others too, as well as how far their runs are ending up to be.

I just finished couch to 5k run two. I am the worst for getting discouraged half way through things so hopefully knowing other people are going through the same thing will help me stick with it, also my "perfect" older sister just ran the Sydney marathon and won't let me forget about it so maybe that will help power through it!

does anyone know of a cheap gadget that will keep track of intervals and overall time, so you don't have to keep checking your watch? (i don't have a fancy sporty watch, just a plain analog thing.)

 

 

if you have an iPod or MP3 player you can download the couch to 5k podcasts for free and it tells you when to do what, and for how long.

If you don't, you can get a very cheap digital watch at walmart or something and time yourself. I have an ironman timex but it was actually pretty cheap (and it has lasted forEVER). There are different variations on how fancy - all you need is one with a basic timer.

when i was in college, we used to make mix tapes to drink power hours (a shot of beer every minute for an hour).  we would make it so that each song would only play for a minute, and then would switch to a new song (and we would take a shot).  surely, you could do something similar?

 

thanks amy! much appreciated.

ok,..just finished week 4 run 1.  I was a little intimidated by this week,..i mean 5 min of jog/running, with no walking!  but I made it!  I took one of the shelter dogs with me,..that always helps and she loved it!  Good job to everyone who is just getting rolling on this!  You guys are doing great! Just keep showing up!

awesome job beachchica!  i definitely agree that week 4 looks intimidating.

wek 4 run 2 done!...and a little easier!  I took red, a pit bull mix from the shelter.  she did a great job and was a sweetie.  Running outside and with a shelter dog makes it much more fun!  Happy couch to 5k all.

i just started week 2...so far so good!

i'm a little worried about going to my grandmother's house over the holidays.  i can go for plenty of walks, but i think it will be hard to keep going on the couch 2 5k.

My fiancee and I are newbie runners just starting this program.  We bought running shoes, we downloaded the podcast, we did Week 1 run 1 together for the first time this morning!

I feel great!  He has a little further to go so it's a little harder for him, but we finished without complaints.  (I'm pretty sure that, being a boy, he'll catch up and pass me pretty quickly.) It's so good to see that a lot of people have succeeded with this program, we will too!

Anyone have any suggestions for cardio on the off days?  I am a long time rower, they are dissimilar muscle groups, do you think I would be ok alternating with rowing workouts?

on my off days, i either walk to or from work or play basketball or tennis.  i think rowing sounds good.

I started this program a week ago.  I will now being doing the second workout for week two tomorrow.  Unfortunately becasue of working full time and being a full time mom to a two year old, the only time I have to run is like 5:30 in the morning.  I love having the hour left over to myself AFTER I have done the run, but getting out of bed at 5:30 isn't the most fun I have ever had in my life.  I am hoping to keep motivated and this this program will help get me back in shape.  Another early morning tmw morning for me yay!!!

wooohooo,..I have made it thru week 5, 4 more to go....and I made the first 20 minute run with no walking! I was kind of intimidated, but i quickly realized my boody was fine, it was all in my head.  I am realizing that running is so much the mental game!  But i did it, 20 mins of runninf or jogging in my case,..and it turned out to be just under 2 miles!

I ran the week 6 run 1 on monday.  It was cold so i opted for the indoor track.  The 1st time I have run there.  It worke dout ok.  i accidentally put the wrong podcast on my mp3player, so instead of 6 i had 9.  I figured i would run 8 walk 3, run 8, walk 3 run 5,..not remembering what i was suppose to do.  Seems I did a few extra minutes so woohoo.  I felt pretty good.  Hte first part is always the most challenging, but once i get past that I feel  like I could keep running.  So I think that is good.  Anyhow,..hope you all are dong well! despite the crazy holiday schedules!