Hi!

My name is Lisa--I'm 38..! I too am a newbie to running. I am so excited I stumbled across this site, it is nice to see others that share the same goals. I am definately couch to 5K. I have been jogging/walking for about a month now. I am unemployed and my son is 16 so I have plenty of time to dedicate. My DH got me a nice Polar F6 heart monitor, I got a jogging bra (I really needed one) I had some shoes as I was a tester for New Balance. They were not supportive enough soI bought a pair of NB off 6pm.com - it is a great site and great prices!!

I am overweight -- 245 pounds!! I have lost 29 lbs in 8 weeks. I attribute that to diet change and exercise. I go to the park near my home early and walk/job for about 1 hour, for me that is about 4 miles. My dr said before I can really train harder for the sake of my shins and kness I need to get another 2o pounds off..

For optimum fat burning I try to keep my heart rate at about 120-125 average. I tend to get REALLY bad shin splints, I was on strict no walking for a week last week.. now I am allowed to walk and jog for 30 sec increments in the grass.

Anyone else have problems with shin splints? any good ideas for avoiding them?

My goals=

11/26 (Thanksgiving Day) Turkey Trot, 5K

12/9 - Jingle Bell Run - 5K for charity

2/27/2010 - Gasparilla Run - 15K (I really hope I can make this, I want it so badly)

I am excited to hear how everyone does!! It will be great motivation! Any pointers.. I am all ears!

Hey guys I just wanted to say congrats to everyones efforts. I did a 5K in September and I can honestly say that I was overwhelmed by the way I felt at the end of the race. Not tired but VERY proud of myself!! I think that signing up for the 5K made me be aware of the task at had. Even if it is a few months away I say sign up now. Once you pay for it with your own hard earned money it will make it not something that you feel you can blow off.

The reason that I really wanted to write was because I noticed that a lot of you run by yourself in the morning when it is still dark. I doubt if any of you carry id on you. Not saying that anything bad will happen, but you never know when that car will come out of no where. I ordered a bracelet thru www.roadid.com. It is a reflective bracelet that is engraved with all of your info. Name. phone number emergency contact person. It cost about $20 and i think it is a really good investment. You can also get one for your shoe or a necklace type. You can put any info on it that you deem important. I rollerblade and run a lot by myself and hope that i never need it to be useful.   But accidents do happen. On that note, I hope everyone has a great workout and good luck on you future 5K. You will be very proud of yourself when you are crossing that finish line!!!!!

Yeah everyone is doing fantastic on here. The motivation buzz is working for me to keep me keen - I'm actually looking forward to Thursday's run and that's SOOOOO unlike me.

Peaches: could I ask how you use the podcast you currently use (the ones without voice overs) please? I like the music but would like a chime or voice or something to tell me when to run and when to walk. Does the song change when you're supposed to change?

I've registered for a 5km on 11th Jan when I should be able to do this 5km easily. There was one just before Christmas but I think that would be too keen

Gotta go do my strength training now AAAARRRRGGGHHHH

Wow, our group is growing large! My W1D2 run is tomorrow, and I'm actually really looking forward to it! Hopefully it goes as smoothly as it did yesterday.

Podcasts - I think I'm going to stick with the Robert Ullrey C25K podcasts (go to iTunes and search "Robert Ullrey") for now because I really like it so far, but my friend recommended an iPhone C25K app where you can input your own music and it automatically inserts the cues to run/walk for you. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch (what I have), that's probably a great thing, but it's not going to help much if you don't, lol. There's info about the app at http://www.c25kapp.com if anyone's interested, and you can buy the app from your iPhone's app store.

Identification - I think I'm over prepared in terms of what I take with me: I always bring my house key, iPod, driver licence, health insurance card, a credit card, and my cell phone (small and light). It's probably overkill, but I figure it's not really very heavy to take with me, and it makes me feel better since I'm out on my own.

Does anyone else get pain in the inner ears when they run? I've noticed over the years that whenever I do outside activity where wind rushes past my ears, they always hurt and continue hurting for a while after I come back inside. I did some googling, and found that this is pretty common, but I'm wondering what runners do to prevent this. Tomorrow I'm going to try using a knit cap pulled over my ears to see if it will help.

Hey Cosmo, what do you do about your shinsplints? Do they eventually go away? I ice and take Aleve.. Just wondering if you might have some tricks?

Shin splints are the devil! Make sure you are doing ice massage, not just putting ice on them. Best way is to take a dixie cup (stop me if you have heard this before) and fill it with water and freeze it. Then tear off the top of the cup and run it up and down your shins.  Also, when your shins get better, you can strengthen them to prevent this from happening again. Sit on the couch, put the phone book or a 5 lb weight on your toes. Life the toe up while keeping your heel on the floor. You will have ripped shins in no time!

Cheers,

Well I just finished week 1 day 2 and it went much better then the first run. After the first run I felt like I couldnt catch my breath after each run this time my breathing was still labored by the end of each of the runs but I had no time catching it in time for the next run. I also noticed I went a little bit farther today Up to 2.12 miles from 1.88 the first day.

I also recommend the C25K app on the iphone for those that have it. This is what I have been using and I love it because it tells me when I am at the halfway point so I know it is time to turn around and start heading back towards my house. I also like that I can choose whichever music I am in the mood to listen to that day to play in the background.

Just out of curiousity am I the only one that is paranoid when I am doing these runs? I am running at around 3 in the morning simply because I work the graveyard shift so that is what time works for me but I still feel like ever car that is driving down the road is staring at me. I guess it is just becuase in the past if I had seen a guy my size (about 6'2 275lbs) running in the middle of the night I probably would have though he was crazy.

Anyhow keep up the good work everyone! It sounds like everyone is doing great!