My weight loss has been at a stand still for the pas month or so. I have very little restriction which doesn't help.

I've been using the treadmill for the past few days and it has been helping quite a bit.

My question is, how quickly did you increase your running time? Like yesterday I ran for about 45 secs.(I know, not much, but it's a start), then today I tried for 50 seconds. It felt really good to be running, but my legs were quite sore.

Did you all increase your time faster than that or is 5 secs. a day a good starting point? I've never really been one to like running so I'm not quite sure where to start.

Hope this all makes sense.

Thanks.

Karyn

I think I should have clarified that with the 45 sec. "run" I also did 15 minutes of fast walking. I didn't just hop on the treadmill for 45 sec. I'm not tht out of shape :thumbup:

well, exercise has never been by problem. I actually work on increasing my speed rather than my time. So I started out at a 3.5 and every 10 minutes I increased by 0.1 for a full hour so that I finished at a 4.0 I would do that 2-3 times then start at 3.6 and do the same thing so that I worked my way up to a 4.1.

The point is to do what your comfortable with. When I can finish the full hour at my current speed while feeling tired but not like I'm going to puke, I up the speed by another 0.1.

If you're going for time, and you can manage 50 seconds without feeling horrible then go up to 55 the next time, then 60. But if once you get to 60 you're just barely able to eek it out, then stick there for a few ork-outs until you're more comfortable. You want to push yourself to get better, but you don't want to push so hard that you feel like you're going to pass out or you're having chest pain or anything. Just take it day by day and see how you feel.

Its impossible to compare really because the first time I tried it, I could run, (well, not RUN, jog) for half an hour. I did 3km my first attempt.

I did build very slowly though, many many peopel take up running and are doing their first half marathon 9 months later. For me, it took over 2 years to get to that point. What I found was that my cardiovascular fitness increased almost daily, very quickly but it took a loooooooong time to build the muscular strength and endurance to carry my body that far. That was a slow process.

I would highly recommend the Couch to 5K program to give you some structure to what you're doing - google it, its on coolrunning.com and I believe you can now get MP3 downloads as well. You can move the program around a bit to suit you, like do each week twice if you're finding the progression too fast.

Best of luck!

I agree about the Couch to 5K! I have an ipod and have checked out a couple different podcasts...some with better music than others. I am now on Week 4!! ( 2 mos post op). I am amazed every day that I can run up a hill and not die!! I especially love it when someone I know drives by and 'catches me running'!

I like the structure of being told when to run and when to walk!

I use an ipod shuffle...cost $52 at walmart...or cheaper at Amazon.com (used)

Thanks for all the replies!

I love my ipod when it comes to exercising! It helps so much! I will definately have to look into the couch to 5K. I hope to some day be at a place where I can run for extended periods of time. Just the very little bit that I'm starting with helps me feel so much better.

Thanks again for the responses and advice!

~Karyn