almightyD I will be done before you start - well, I sure hope I'll be done.  I'm on the East coast and it starts at 9 am as well which is 6 am your time.  Check the forum before you leave and hopefully I can write something encouraging about my attempt to do this. 

Jeb - I agree that starting a run at 0500 is insane!  Who's muscles are awake at that hour??? LOL!  I think you are doing so great and I keep wondering if that little incident with your Seargent kinda pushing you to do more gave you the confidence to keep going and go farther each time.  You are going to dust all of them one day!  Sorry you don't get the 12th off, thats bizzare.  Vetrans working on Vetran's Day.  Federal Goverment in the U.S. - Closed.  Ummmm, yeah, that makes sense.  NOT!  Well Keep on running!

Shelly - your story is inspiring! I love how encouraging people are with running.  I've had nothing but encouragement the whole time from friends to the hottie that sold me my running shoes!  I hope we can meet eventually.  I might do the Reindeer Run on Dec 1st in Lakwood.  Depends on how I do with the 2 I'm already registered to run and also the weather. 

I think my knee is improving everyday.  Yesterday I went to the gym and did a cycling class that kicked my butt!!! It was great!  By the end, my knee felt completely fine and pain free.  This am, I woke up and it hurts but I can walk without limping.  I haven't had ibuprofen in over 24 hours.  I've been taking 600 mg 2-3 times a day to get through my days.  I will go to the gym tonight and do Week 5 Day 2 again and see what happens. 

I won't give up, I've got to run......

And good job toeveryone who has completed/signed up for a 5k!!

As for me, I did my W7D2 run yesterday. With the time change, by the time I got home and changed, it was pitch dark outside! Also, it was freezing! I didn’t want to trip on anything or get hit by a car, so I changed my usual route so that I would stay on sidewalks, (which have the added bonus of street lights!). But wow, it was dark and scary out there, and for some reason most of the street lights in mytown are motion-censor, so they don’t even light up until you run near them! I was a little creeped out, but I’m sure I will get used to it. On a more positive note, at least in the dark no one can tell who I am and judge me forbeing such a slow runner, haha! As far as aches and pains are going, I have been feeling a little knee pain on my left knee- I think I might need to use that roller-method again, and start back up with the quad strengthening exercises. Also, with these longer distances of running, my Morton’s Neuroma isaching a bit… I think I may not be able to ever do more than 3 days a week of running, because I seem to need  a day or two to let the Neuroma rest before I start running again.

As for the discussion going onabout whether you can ever enjoy running, here are my 2 cents, haha:

Though I can’t deny that I am still very slow, I am really shocked with the progress I have made… in.. idk how to describe it.. I guess I would call it the “feeling” of running. Whenever I have tried to run in the past, and at the beginning of the C25k, I would feel sooo out of breath, red, and over-worked, hardly able to keep going, etc,during and after I finished a run. It was this uncomfortable feeling that mademe hate running… now I know what it was- I was incredibly out of shape and trying to do way too much, way too fast! I don’t exactly LOVE running now, but I can stand it much, much better than I could when I was huffing and puffingand hardly able to keep going. Now it feels a bit more casual, and when I get back from a run (even though I am sweaty and smelly), I have more feelings of happiness, energy, and accomplishment rather than “OMG THAT WAS TERRIBLE HOW DOPEOPLE LIKE RUNNING! AHH DON’T LOOK AT MY FACE IT IS SO RED! LOOK AT ME I LOOK LIKE I AM ABOUT TO DIE!” J

Wooohooooo!  Ran my best 5k 40.35 in class tonight!  Sooo happy!  Think that will be my goal for my race on the 18th a 40 min 5k.  Got myself a new pair of shoes so that I don't have to run in wet sloppy shoes (love to run in the rain) and I will have a new pair broken in when these are done.

Greenybeany -   I so agree.  I run really slow and don't really try to push it to the point I might pass out :-)  so running to me is not so bad.  I love what it is doing for me and am in awe of the fact I am running 3.5 mi since I was one of those people who avoided walking at all cost.  Spent many hrs going round the parking lots waiting for that close spot so I wouldn't have to walk far.  Now I feel so accomplished after each run, and more in shape each week.

Nicolette- I'm sorry your are having ankle problems. I hope you get an answer soon and can fix it.

Hi all,

Hello DaddioBraddio: Glad you are checking in! 

Nicolette 78:  I hope you soon figure out what is causing your ankle pain.

I just finished W8D3.  It wasn't too bad today, and I even lost count at one point of how many times I'd run around the track.  I'm a little nervous to attempt week 9, but I know I can do it.  Or, at least I'm pretty sure I can. 

I hope everyone is doing well.

Jeb- I think he was intimidated by your awesome presence ;-)   Your nicer than me. I would have jogged until i got in front of him and then started walking just to see if he did it again and screw with his mind.  Good job on week 5 I'm hoping someday I will have a steady 11:?? pace. :-)

Thanks for the advice and welcome to our thread.

Everyone is very nice and supportive so you chose a good group! Lol

Wow, Nicolette! Those are some heafty goals!!! Can you please explain your thought process as to how you decided that it would be a good idea to do a half-marathon... and a.. WHOLE MARATHON?!?! I wish I had the guts to decide on such large goals!! At this point I'm trying to decide weather I should even try training for a 10k... running for an hour plus seems like a lot right now!

As we are nearing the end of this... what are other people thinking in terms of goals?

On another note, I did my W7D3 run last night. Week 8 here I come! I remember when I first started C25K and would see people (on forums around here) on weeks 7, 8, and 9. I felt like that was just so far away, and that those people were just "on a whole different level," haha. We have all come so far!! Good job everyone! I would say we should have a party or something when we finish, but, alas, we are on the internet!! But each of us should celebrate in our own way and tell each other about it!! hehe.

Greenybeaney-  I think it would be totally ok!   I will be on week 8 when I run my 5k  next week end and my goal is to be 40:??  I have looked on several result sites and there are many who finish slower.    I don't plan to run the whole thing, my plan is to walk the top of each mi.  And as for your other question my long term goals are to run a 5k once a month and to increase my time until i can do it under 30 min, and thats as far ahead as i can fathom right now.