i had hoped to have started this by now since I am officially 6 weeks out but have been waylaid by pains and sprains, which brings me to my concern.

If you can't get through one of the days they have, what do you do? Do you just go back and do it again the next day until you get it? Sorry if this is a stupid question, my ignorance about it is unblemished, but I am worried that if I get an RA flare-up or something and can't exercise one day, that I will never be able to go through it in the manner in which I am expected to.

I also want to get my younger son doing it with me, and since he is only with me 4 days a week, if he skips a day while at the other house, I want to know how to accommodate that.

Thanks for patiently asking silly, newbie questions.

Hi--I'm pre op, but started c25k in June with some family...they raced through it as prescribed and I went along as I could:-). I never made it past week 3, so I just keep repeating the workout. We all did a 5k in August--my first and I ran some of it and finished in 51 minutes. You can use the App as a "trainer" but proceed at your own pace. My frustration with not being able to progress was one of the final reasons I went back to the surgery idea. It's a lot harder to get off the pavement when you're 235, as I am! I sincerely hope to be doing more 5ks in the Spring/Summer along with my skinny/runner husband:-). You can use the program on a treadmill as well--just don't expect you'll get it done in the prescribed sessions. You will see progress though!

So my question is, I run the amount of time but never the distance... Should I run longer to hit the distance??

i had hoped to have started this by now since I am officially 6 weeks out but have been waylaid by pains and sprains, which brings me to my concern.

If you can't get through one of the days they have, what do you do? Do you just go back and do it again the next day until you get it? Sorry if this is a stupid question, my ignorance about it is unblemished, but I am worried that if I get an RA flare-up or something and can't exercise one day, that I will never be able to go through it in the manner in which I am expected to.

I also want to get my younger son doing it with me, and since he is only with me 4 days a week, if he skips a day while at the other house, I want to know how to accommodate that.

Thanks for patiently asking silly, newbie questions.

Do the C25k if you believe it to be a worthy goal but I believe in the end you're jogging or running. For what it's worth, we all walked the 5K that the group and I did just this past weekend and at different paces (I came in at 102 out of 102 participants ).

I think at some point to graduate to truly running a 5k, you'll have to jump to distance...but the time intervals are the key at first. Week 4 jumps to running 5 minutes, in a row! I just haven't conquered that yet. But I did slow down since the race and deciding on surgery. I can't lose anything until after they send my insurance off, cause I'm a 40.5 BMI...

I've repeated days before. I've got the app on my phone so you just click on the past ones vs going forward. The idea of the program is to build up your tolerance of jogging. If you can't jog, you can walk to the walks and increase to a power walk on the jog portions. Maybe do the whole program like that and then when you finish, restart the program at a jog? Just a thought! It won't be as hard on your joints at first

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I've repeated days when I either waited too many days between (rainy days or whatever) or when I felt that I could do better. BUT... I've had to slack off doing c25k bc my blood sugar keeps dropping. I'm sticking with the 1st week and alternating with walking days until I can get my calories up a bit.

So my question is' date=' I run the amount of time but never the distance... Should I run longer to hit the distance??[/quote']

I did the whole 8 week program (it took me about 10 weeks because of illness and injuries). When I was finished I could run for 30 min, but not fast enough to do a 5K in 30 min, so I added a minute to every run after that to get up to a 5K. My pace is around 12:30, so the 5K took me 38 min. My next 5K race is Oct 5th and after that is done I'm going to use the Bridge to 10K program.

Deedadumble: I hope to be you someday!

I am planning on starting the C25K program on Sept. 30th. That will be about 6 weeks post op for me. I know I will probably have to repeat some of the weeks. I will just be going at my pace that I can handle. In the last 10 years I have had 2 knee surgerys and one on my ankle for a partial torn achilles. I will not be in any hurry. If it ends up being a 12 week program for me...so be it.

gamergirl...just go at your pace, what is comfortable to you. Try to stay with the program, but if you have some issues on certain days, just do what you can. If at the end of the week, you don't feel you are where you should be, repeat that week. I don't see any harm in that. None of us are trying to be marathon sprint runners this soon in the game so adjusting the workout a little to suit your needs shouldn't be a problem. As for your son, I would encourage the same for him. Maybe even see if he can at least walk 30 minutes on days he is away. Maybe work together to map a course for him or see if there is a track at the school near him that he can maybe walk or run on his own. Most tracks at schools are right at a 1/4 mile if I am not mistaken. I think it would be great if ya'll did that together. Good luck and keep us all posted.

Deedadumble: I hope to be you someday!

Aw thanks! All it takes is persistence. I started when I was around 235 (1 month after surgery). I did a 5K in May running/walking in intervals and finished in 45 minutes. I got sick right after that and started back in July. The key for me is signing up for a race so that I have the motivation to keep going. I have a lot of health issues to deal with (Hashimotos, Fibro, osteoarthritis, chondromalacia, etc.) and have had multiple surgeries on my right knee. I'm finding it's getting easier, but I still have some days that are really rough (yesterday). I don't try to beat anyone to the finish line... just finishing is how I win

If you're interested you'll find lots of support on the "Started 'Couch to 5k today' Anyone keen?" thread.

Start it and see how it feels. No shame in repeating a day but you never know til you start.

I'm on week 5 right now and am amazed at how well I'm doing with it. The encouragement on the thread Dean started is fantastic also