Hi all - everyone seems to be at about the same place as I am.  Definitely making progress but not necessarily at the rate we want.  Small set backs, but nobody giving up.  I am right there with you all!!   Proud of us all.

I had to run inside this weekend due to thunderstorms.  I did really well and then had to take an extra rest day.  Yesterday I was back outside, but it it was a comdey of errors.  I started the app on my phone, but forgot that since I ran on the treadmill, I needed to skip a day.  Ugh - realized when it told me 1/2 way through that it was on the wrong day   then it paused without me realizing.  Final straw was near the end when I started having tummy issues and had to stop.  The good news was that since I was on a loop, I pretty much knew how far I already ran/walked.  I ended up running a full 2.5 miles which I am guessing is right around 28 minutes since I know I cannot run a 10 mm!  LOL  I am going to count it was W8D1 completed, even though I don't know for sure.

I am running about 11:05/mm.  That is what I set on the treadmill.  I am not very good at pacing myself outside, but it is around the same.  When I try and speed up, my breathing gets very difficult.

Geo - does your cumulative time per mile of 15 include the walking time and that is your average time?  I know I can't just tell the running average which is a bit frustrating.

Keep up the good work everyone.

mom2katon:  Most of my times include the warm up and cool down walks but the last one was the 2 tens and the 3 minute walk.  I actually seem to be covering less distance with the longer run times.  I lose a lot of speed in the 2^nd half of the jog.  I was really hoping that with the longer jog for today I’d cover a much better distance but I had a lot of problems.  I wrote a really long post below.  

Awesome that you are covering that much distance.  I’m so jealous.  I’m sorry that the app paused on you, but you are only bit shy on the distance right now.  Sucks about the tummy issues too.   Hopefully you won’t have either of those problems on the next one. 

MB:  No movement on the scale for me either.  Very bummed about that.  I have been a bit of a slug on the off days and that is a really bad thing.  I need to get past that.  I was feeling a lot better with more energy about 3 weeks ago and then I started tanking.  I can’t get one of my new medication it’s back ordered or something and it’s very annoying to have to take the old one which seemed to have stopped being as effective.  Plus 2 weeks ago I ran out of my shots and we haven’t gotten down to S. Houston to pick them up.  I think they were a huge reason I was feeling so good.   We are going tomorrow because I do not want to miss a 3^rd one.  It’s a 70+ mile drive down but they won’t ship them without some sort of account that I don’t have.  They don’t take credit or debit cards.  Crazy.  The doctor has  an injection that is supposed to help you lose weight and I’m thinking about asking for that too.  But they are $10 each and if they don’t work…  I wish I knew some magic.  The only candy I’ve had since I started this was the candy bar my husband gave me that I just couldn’t resist after a rough day.  Been trying to make a lot of healthy choices.  I think a huge problem I have is I can’t eat breakfast.  I want to but I wake up queasy almost every day.  When I was losing a lot of weight back when Joe and I first became a couple the one thing I was doing differently was eating breakfast every day.  I’d make it for him and I’d eat too.  Honestly I think I was eating more losing weight than I ever did gaining .  Bacon, eggs and toast every day.  Sometimes pancakes.   I’m going to try and force myself to at least eat some toast.  They say eating as soon as you get up jump starts your metabolism.   I’ve cut way if back on soda and if Joe would keep it out of the house I’d only ever have it with things like pizza and… well I can’t think of anything else I really need it with.  Sometimes I go for days without any.  But I do slip up on things that I shouldn’t and it makes me angry at myself.  A few chips here or there.  A few bites of some dessert that I can’t resist or one of the apple turnovers Joe makes.  I just don’t feel like it adds up to enough that I shouldn’t be losing at least some weight.   I guess I need to start tracking everything I eat.  And I need to find something for the off days that makes me feel as good about myself as much as jogging.  I mean pulling weeds in the garden for an hour makes you sweaty and all, but I guess it doesn’t burn a lot of calories.  Nor does pushing a 4 year old on a swing or playing hide and seek.  I keep saying I’m going to do Wii fit or something like that but today I spent about 2 hours playing Lego Starwars a la couch potato.  Sure it made Daniel so happy he was raving about how great I was, but it wasn’t giving us any exercise other than the little bit he was doing jumping up and down when he got excited.  Hopefully soon the weight will start melting off.  In the meantime I’m focusing on how healthy I’m getting and how much stamina I’m building.  We are doing such an amazing thing for ourselves.  At some point we have to pass the line where we are doing enough to drop some lbs.  So hang in there.

Here is the long story of what happened tonight.

I should never have left the house on this one.  Honestly my nose was stuffy.  Everyone was cranky.  Daniel wouldn't put his shoes on and then he wouldn't keep them on.  I was having a panic attack and at least 5 times I thought "forget it I'm not going, I'm so out of sorts and it's 25 minutes I'm never going to do it when I don't feel great to start.  Then I have to chase down my phone for my music and the C25K app.  The freaking battery is dead and I've used it for less than 5 minutes today.  I didn't even unplug it until 2 or 3 this afternoon.  Even more pissed.  I can wait 20 minutes to jog or I can plug it in, in the car and let Joe tell me when it’s time to jog and stop, but I won’t have any music.  I can’t have Joe turn up the radio because his window won’t roll down and he won’t drive on the wrong side of the road.  I should just do this tomorrow night.  Plug the phone in, unplug it because duh, if I don’t go now I’m so not going.  Plug it in the car charger and open the music.  Stupid me, I don’t need the music it will drain the battery even plugged in.  Try to turn off the music and it won’t freaking turn off.  Exit all the apps and it still won’t turn off.   Give up go to open the C25K app hoping for the best.   Hit the apps button – blank screen.   No matter what I try the apps won’t open.  Turn off the phone hoping that will work and while it’s coming slowly back up Joe snaps at me about it taking so long.  I’m already breathing hard and so frustrated I want to scream.  I snap back.  OK I yell at him.  The phone finally comes up and yay I get the apps.  I’m halfway thinking this is an omen and I need to just “give up.”  But now I need to work off all this anger too.  So I start walking with Daniel trying to hold my hand.  Sigh.  My mind is not getting into it at all.  Daniel is wearing clunky rubber boots and slowing me down.  25 minutes sounds like forever.  I remind myself that even the app says 25 minutes the program only says 22 so if I can do that I will be thrilled.  Then I think “who am I kidding?  I already want to quit.”  Daniel doesn’t last long and I’m really missing my music even though I haven’t even started jogging yet.  So I decide that I’ll just jog as far as I can and repeat the run, because this was clearly a bad idea.  I’m thinking 10 maybe 15 minutes and I won’t be too disappointed.   Joe calls out the window – Jog.  My mind is on depressing things and I smell something dead.  Then I pass the 1^st of several squashed frogs along my route.  Makes me think about death.  Ok that is so not going to help.  I’m thinking “I need a happy song, I know I know some songs, come on, song, song, song.”  Can’t think of a blasted song.  Finally I decide on “Amazing Grace” and I start singing in my head.  OK that’s a little better and start chugging along.  I think I’m somewhere around “thru many toils” when I see something out of the corner of my eye and hear a snarling, barking dog as it comes lunging from the edge of woods, right toward me.  To say I was a bit freaked is an understatement.   I jumped to the side and tried to put the van between it and me as it followed snarling and snapping less than 5 feet from me. I had to stop running for fear it was going to bite me.  Joe yelled at it and I told him give me that big flashlight.  I was going to hit it if I needed to defend myself.  He shined the light in its eyes as he handed it to me and the dog backed off some.  I started to cry some was that release after fear and some because the darn thing messed up my jog.  But when I felt the weight of flash light I started jogging again.  I figure I was stopped less than 15 seconds, but now my heart was racing and the lump of fear that I might get bitten was still sitting high in my chest.  The heavy flashlight felt good in my hand.  Safe!  Jogged past all the known dogs before it started to feel just plain heavy.  Handed back to Joe on the fly.  At some point I remember him saying I was ½ way there, but I was busy trying to think of another song.  Why do I know so many depressing songs?  Oh wait I’ve got one.  Spent the next couple of minutes jogging to what I could remember of “Tequila makes her clothes fall off.”  I think I was actually smiling until I got tired of the same parts over and over.  My legs were starting to ache and I needed a song.  I picked my spot to make it to.  About the time I got there I thought of a song.  “If you’re happy and you know it.”  LOL  So started singing as I choose a new spot.  My legs were feeling better and I decided that I’d jog to the top of the little hill up ahead, knowing as I thought it that I’d never stop at the top when it’s way easier going down.   “If you’re happy and you know it, move your feet.”  If you know me you know I’ve never been one to stick to the script.  I made up new verses to suit my, cheer myself on mood, until I got sick of the ditty.  Honestly I can’t remember what I did next.  Tried to keep my feet moving up the next hill.  I asked Joe near the top “How much longer?” “2 minutes something.” It occurred to me that I could quit when I hit the 2 minute mark because I really only needed to do 22 and that was 23, but I could go downhill and in another 30 seconds and I was pretty sure if I pushed hard I could make 25.  That would feel awesome!  Only problem is my feet were barely moving me forward even though I was jogging.  Joe suggested I turn around and head downhill now.    So I did.  I had to start back up the last hill before my time ran out.  I hollered “give me a count down.”  I was so thankful when he started with 15-12-10-9-8…  I did it!  I was so proud of myself, but even though I tried to do a little victory dance and raise my arms over my head in triumph I just didn’t have the energy.  My cool down walk was uphill and even though I was moving my feet they were barely moving.  Not sure I made it a 10^th of mile in the next 5 minutes.  I know I was really slow because Joe kept having to stop the van to keep from passing me.  I hate that I covered less distance this jog than I did the last one.  But I know better speed and stamina will come with more practice.    My pace (including walks) was a pitiful 18.56 minute/mile.  Total distance 1.85 miles.  Really, sad considering you need to take off close to a ¼ mile on the front for the warm up and something on the back for the cool down.  I want to say that Joe said I was at 1.68 when I started the cool down.  Which would mean that in 25 minutes I covered less than 1.5 miles in 25 minutes.  I want to get that 5K inside the 45 minute mark so I’m hoping that the next 3 days of 25 minute runs will add some speed to that.  I am holding on to all the little things that messed with my breathing and slowed me down here and there.  And I know if I switched to a flatter road I could improve my time some too.  But I want to build my strength up for at least some hills.  Just wish  I didn’t hit them quite so late.  They really don’t look that high, but they sure feel hard compared to flat or downhill.  My legs feel like lead as I jog up and then when I head down it’s such a relief that I feel good and stronger. 

I will say again how thankful I am for this thread.  It really feels great reading where everyone is and how they are doing.  It makes me want to try harder to keep up.  Inspires me to go when I might not.  It’s a wonderful thing. 

@mb: I have lost about 7 pounds so far, mainly in the last 4 weeks since I started using myfitnesspal to count my calories.  It makes me really think twice before I eat anything!  I don't like having to look back at the number and type of my snacks that I "crave". HAHA!

Just a quick update:  I ran a practice 5K this morning and I RAN the WHOLE THING!!! I am so proud of myself!  I did it in just over 41 minutes which was about a minute/mile faster than I had been running! I felt pretty good the entire time and didn't struggle too much.  I think I am ready for Saturday!!!

Well, it definitely wasn't always easy, but I have successfully completed the C25k program!  I did W8D3 today which was a 30R (or 3 miles).  Well, about ten minutes into my run, my dang phone froze so I lost my timer and tunes.  So, without stopping, I managed to pull it out of my armband, pulled the battery and restarted it.  By this point I was nearly a half a mile down the road so I just figured I'd try and go the distance instead of go by the time. Well, I made it to the three mile mark and decided to go the last quarter mile to my house (usually where I do my cool down because it is a steep climb).  I plan to continue with three mile runs 3x a week for awhile until I feel I can do them with ease, then I'd like to start pushing the distance again.  Thanks again for everyone's support!

Ran my 5K this morning and I rocked it!!!  My final time was 40:44 which was about 30 seconds faster than my practice run.  I wanted to run the whole thing, but I went out to quick on the first mile (which I didn't want to do) and had to throw in a couple 1 minute walk breaks in the second mile.  Plus, there was a huge hill right at the 2.5 mile mark that just about killed me!  But, I finished and my 2 boys and husband were right there at the finish cheering me on.  That is the best feeling--to cross the finish line and have your kids run up and hug you!!!  Thanks everyone for your encouragement and support.  Gonna be back to finishing the program come Monday.  I think I have 7 runs left--my program is 9 weeks long for some reason.  Now I know that those runs should be much easier. 

Keep it up, everyone!!  Daughter and I have a 30 minute run today and then plan our final (35min) run for Wednesday.  We're going to the shore for a week starting Friday.  I'm going to work on my speed starting with 2 mile runs for that week.  Congrats to Kristi and Camaro for your successes.  You are all inspiring me to keep my feet moving!

Sorry I haven't responded sooner -- I read the emails as they come to my phone, but can't respond from there.

Congrats to everyone with all of their accomplishments -- whether it is finishing the program, running an ACTUAL 5K (woo-hooo) or making progress and not giving up!!!  So proud of you all.  You definitely inspire me and helped me to finish the program.

I wanted to sign up for our local mud run, but couldn't find enough people to fill a team   Now I am looking at doing a 5K Labor Day weekend.

I have finished the program and now am starting to add strength training on my off days and improve my time and distance.  Today I ran 3.1 miles after the warm up period and then added some extra walking time at the end to go a full 4 miles.  I am running on the treadmill as going to the Y is the only way to get my kids to join me.  My 14 yo son likes to work with the machines and my 16 yo daughter will not walk/run outside -- sooooo off to the gym we head!  I don't really mind, because it really helps me keep my speed.  I ran most of the time at 5.4 (which is an 11:06 mile) and then did some intervals of 6.0 (10 mm).  Since I run on a treadmill, I don't do hills -- I guess I really need to ad some incline during parts of my run to simulate outdoors better.  That scares me a bit.

I also have not lost any weight, but I have noticed my clothes fitting better.  I am going to try and start doing a better job watching what I eat so that hopefully I can lose some weight.  Would love to drop 20 pounds, but I think I like food too much!!  LOL  Also, I start back to work in a few weeks and am nervous about getting in my workouts when things start to get really crazy again.  Hopefully I can make it a priority.

Keep up the good work everybody.