I would not change anything this close to your first race, the progress you have made is fantastic, get this race out of the way and then plan the training for the next one.

Well done !

G.

Thanks Granty, but Im not actually going to race. The couch to 5k challenge was on a website mentioned on this forum to get fat lazy lumps like me off the couch and being able to run 5k but im not doing a race im just coming to the end of the schedule then ive got no where to go from here, I hope that makes sense??

Last night was a real schocker!!! its the first time I actually hated running, from the very first stride I just didnt feel right, I was out of breath and breathing heavy all the way round, I managed to do 2.75 miles in 28 minutes which is only .15 of a mile faster than we normally do but I just couldnt get into it there was no way I would of been able to hold a conversation like they suggest so any advice why this would be?? also normally when we finish within a couple of minutes my heart rate drops to its normal rate and after the stretches im fine again but it took ages for my heart rate to drop and even then an hour later I was still sweating and red in the face.

Is there any ways or excercises to improve my cardiovascular fitness? as after all this time im still out of breath going up stairs and that was the main reason I decided to do excercise and start running.

In that case, why not enter a 5K race somewhere local to you, that way you would be able to follow a training schedule again with the 'reward' of a race for your efforts. you could then increase the mileage of each race you enter as you continue to improve your distances.

As for last night, don't worry .............. we all get them, I tend to find that I ocassionally have a shocker after a bad / busy day at work and my preparation has not been what it should be (either that or a slight 'mars bar' lapse to the diet . Are you sure you are not over doing it as well, rest days are equally important as part of a training schedule.

As for improving general cardiovascular fitness, swimming, rowing and cycling are good and also give the legs a break from pounding the streets.

that was quick Granty, thanks for that.

I cant do running locally yet, one reason is I dont feel fit enough or confident enough to either join a race or a club for reasons I dont want to get into just yet.

Not sure about over doing it, We usually do 2.6 miles in 28 minutes yesterday was only 2.75 miles in the same time so not really at much of a quicker pace than normal, but according to those charts to work out max heart rate etc I should be 220 minus age of 34 so total 186 which means 60% is 111 and 80% is 149, well just jogging the 28 minutes my average heart rate is about 165 and last night my peak was 181 and average was about 169 so those figures just dont seem to add up because my average is 165 just jogging and I cant get any slower than that.

Maybe the route I take could be the issue, would that be it??

Hiya,

All the heart rate stuff confuses me, I've never bothered to try and understand it but others on here will certainly be able to shed some light on it. I'm not a member of a running club (and do understand your concerns about joining one) but do go running regularly with mates but running a race is very different, your times for a 5K race are spot on mate and you would certainly find people running slower.

Go for it.!!

Don't get despondant mate. I'm much the same as you. I have two runs I do, one is 2 miles and the other is 3 miles. I can do the 2 mile one comfortably in 20 minutes but to get it down to 19 minutes absolutely kills me. It's like it requires 10 times as much effort. Maybe you just went off a bit quicker than usual.

As for the heart rate stuff, there are lots of other factors that can affect this. If you're starting to go down with a bit of a cold your resting heart rate will be elevated long before any other symptoms appear, and recovery patterns will also be disturbed. Also things like coffee, spicy food, tiredness etc can all have quite a dramatic effect that normaly we're not aware of.

I'm sure it's just a blip, so I wouldn't get too hung up on it or you'll start to over analyse everything and before you know it you're reading all sorts into it.

When I check my heart rate on treadmills & things it's generally around the 180's if I'm running at speed. Neither of us have keeled over, so I imagine it's nothing too terrible.

Try running a little slower and seeing how your heart rate is then?

Anyway, it sounds like you've made great progress, congrats

Hello there,

I've only just started reading this thread, and it sounds like you're doing great to me. Being overweight myself, I can relate.

I'm 16 1/2 stone (105kg) and I just keep pushing myself.

I think you'll find that you'll have the odd day where the running is harder and you just aren't feeling it. Thankfully, those should be few and far between.

You're doing great and that fact that you're getting off the couch and running at all is really impressive and certainly something to be very proud of.

I ran 10k in 59 mins and 57 secs on the weekend and it was the first time I broke the 1 hour mark and I beat my previous time from July by more than 5 1/2 mins.

Stay focused and perhaps booking yourself on a 5k race/run in the future will give you a goal to aim for? That's what I did and it helped me to stay focused. I've got another on 14 October! lol

All the best on your running! Keep going!

__________________


The Virtual Runner
Where is he now?

Well done on the 10k time Quizquam.