slinky

liz - come into the chat room here and u will see that not only r u not alone, but this phase is completely normal. u arent doing anything wrong. its called bandster hell. its the period where your band isnt starting to be fully functional yet. it may also take a few fills to get it right. one friend described it as a nail w/o a hammer. another tool image: imagine a tool belt with several tools in it. the band is only one of them. theres exercise - which is good but, you should only start with your doc's approval, since this is the time to HEAL. another tool in your tool belt is the choices you make in general. good food choices, etc. the band is only one tool in your arsenal. Congrats on starting C25k though. it will help a lot. i hope this helps and if u want to come chat, im there pretty much every nite. tc, Carol

Rained out + 30 mph winds + LOTS of lightning = It WILL be rescheduled. TC, Carol

Hey Kristen - best of luck tomorrow! I'm a bit nervous about tonite too. Mostly excited! trying to drink plenty of water and eat right. will be hot tonite I'll post my time later. tc all, Carol

april - is it free? whats the link? Carol

VERRRRRY pretty new pic Suzanne! and thanks for the good luck! this is what im told about caffiene - coffee specifically. coffee is a heat producing food. extra heat in hot weather is not good. also caffiene in general is supposed to dehydrate. ive heard that since the first time i went to wt watchers many, many moons ago. here's a copy/paste a friend emailed me when i griped about running in the 91 degree heat here last week: Coffee, red meats, processed grains, dairy. They tend to produce more heat during digestion than other foods. Likewise, some foods are cooling. Shellfish, for instance. he and his wife are into whollistic stuff. she is a accupuncturist and studying to be a naturopath and he is a massage therapist with a lot of studying in macrobiotics. if i get a headache, though i may have a little coffee if necessary. tc, carol

wow, it feels like forever since i posted here. with my new job ive had less access to this forum during the day and nite time has just been crunched. ive also had some probs with my band lately too. ive been getting stuck a bit. and not just sliming and pbing, but lots of pain with it. i think i caught it in time and went on to mushies today. that i can handle just fine so it makes me think im not slipped again. whew. Monday nite, i did a practice run at the park where saturday's 5k will be. i had been stuck most of the day, but wanted to give it a try. did ok. not phenomenal but ok. ran most of it. im hoping to keep it together the rest of the week so i dont get stuck again b4 the race. i am committed to running the whle thing even if it means doing slider foods that fill me up without getting stuck. i dont even mind if i gain a few lbs due to the sliders. i know that sounds weird, but after the race, i will concentrate on the wt loss and fitness combined. another goal in addition to the wt loss and running on a regular basis, after my race on saturday, im gonna start working on strength training. i havent b4 now since i wanted to get to the point where i feel succesful with the running. "one step at a time." y'know? literally and figuratively. will let y'all know how things turn out after sat nite since the race is at 7 pm. i know most of the foods i need to stay away from on race day like caffiene and dairy, but i'd appreciate any suggestions on what i SHOULD have considering my band issues and the fact that i'll have almost a full day of eating to get in b4 the race. tc and thanks, Carol

ok friends, i need some advice. im getting sick. hubby and daughter have been sick. son not yet, seems im next. sinus infection is my usual. im trying to fight it off. my question is: how do i keep my momentum going? if i can adequately fight it off till tomorrow, should i run or if i just feel like crap, just stay home. im really sad especially since i havent been sick since b4 the komen in january. that was b4 i started the c25k. my race is in 12 days and im trying to be in denial. never know it might work. TC Carol

yeah, Kristen this is my official C25k "graduation" run. planning to stick around though. i gotta tell you though its the first thing in a long time that i set out to challenge myself with and i did it! well im doing it. have 2 weeks to improve my time. now, if the weather cooperates, i'll be fine. since i dont have a stopwatch of any kind except for my on my cell i, really have no idea how fast im doing. i figured out that just adding up the times of the songs isnt working since there's time (like 1-2 secs) between songs. gotta go run theres some daylight left and the thunder seems to have ended for now. TC all, Carol

i just registered for my race on the 18th!

very cool cake kathy!

Welcome back Lyn! Woo Hoo Malissa. Im getting psyched for my race on the 18th! trying to convince a cpl of friends to do it with me as its also a fundraiser for a homeless orgainzation here. i didnt know that part till yesterday and i have a friend who is the dir of development there. a coincidence, but it'll be nice to know that i'll defintely have a friend there. may bring my kids too, hubby has to work that nite :smile2: ssdd unfortunately. the other nite (thurs), i did 3.1 miles again. im happy knowing i can do it. im going for a RUN completion this race. i'll worry about speed another time. Kathy WTG on your loose jeans. My scale is finally going down again so i hope to be right behind you with my jeans. since its the fourth of july, im not planning to run tonite. too much going on. so, im planning to go tomorrow nite. will plan on 3 times next week and once the following week then taper till the race. whatcha think, my running buddies? sound reasonable? one final thing! my sound is fixed on my puter so hopefully i'll be able to put together a good mix for the race to keep me motivated. yay me! YAY all of us!!!!!!!! TC, Carol

minxz - it took me a while but i finally found the exercise that saved my shins. i started getting shin splints when i began walking not even running. when i researched stretches for running and preventing shin splints, a lot of the exercises just felt like they were ineffective for me. I found this picture (scroll down to the pictures) and its helped me a lot. the only difference is that i do the third position sitting in a straight-backed chair, and my legs at 90 degree angles. hope this helps. let me know if it does. tc carol About.com: http://www.runnersweb.com/running/deb_june2000.html Woo Hoo. i just read Kathy's post, and it gives a great description of the one i do. its the same as the one in the 3rd pic.

i forgot to add something cute. I was talking to DH today about running. he told me ive gone from half-baked couch potato to hot tamale!!! lol its a play on the couch to 5k. cute, huh? Carol

Kathy im with Ktork and Jane. but if they don't select you - theyre insane. just make sure they know what an inspiration u are to all of us. if you need an endorsement, i'd be willing! definitely keep us posted. lufferly, i really applaud your decision to start today. just 1 word of advice: patience. several of us have had to repeat weeks here and there, and this is by no means failure in the event of an extension IF its necessary. ive told the ppl here that my mantra is: improvement is better than perfection. and IF you dont get to the graduation by your birthday, you are still giving yourself a wonderful gift by working on YOU. you're worth it and EVERY step makes you stronger physically and emotionally! that last sentence goes for all of us. Bill welcome back. its nice to see men post ere again too. gives me a different persective. thanks. oh, and i love the shirts too. i feel really cool wearing them. :thumbup: TC, Carol

i love it jane. a friendly competition. :rolleyes2: im just hoping for 45 minutes or less on my run. i'll let u know, friends. i forgot this part. i do have another friend who i wish could see my post about the run. hes been absent for way too long, and i miss him. i'll think about an email after i get my official time. im getting a lot of confidence in so many areas from the running, but i just need a bit more to send that particular message out when i get my stats. tc, Carol

thanks Kathy and Sizanne, youre both inspirations to me. so i feel like im learning from the best. suzanne every time i think about crapping out i think of you when you ran w/ the navy guy at work. lol. something really motivating about that for me. :rolleyes2: Kathy, glad things went well, hope to see you posting a bunch again! Jane, i run at nite. now, i know thats not for everyone, but two suggestions - 1. try www.active.com and look up the areas where u r tarveling. and 2. look up on the net any running stores in that area to see if they know about any running clubs u can connect with. maybe meet a buddy to run with so youre not running at nite by yourself in an unfamiliar area. hope this helps. well i have happy news. another long time friend of hubby and me commented to me on facebook that my posts about my running stats have inspired him to get back into running. its been over 3 yrs since he did any running, and of course hes passed me in like 5 days. lol. he's run every day since he started (like 4 days) and has gone from 1.5 miles to over 3 already. but i did invite him to do the 5k with me. i told him not to wait for me to catch up since hes probably got a much longer stride than my short stubbies. but it'll be nice to have a friend there if he does. i'll ttyl. shooting for a run tomorrow. was almost considering running again tonite, but im being snsible for now. tc all, Carol

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DID IT! WOOOOOOOO!!!! 3.1 MILES! (5K) YAY ME!!! wow Jane CONGRATS!!! that makes 2 of us. granted yours is real and official, and mine is only in my back yard, but still - we both have a right to be proud of ourselves! im so happy, now i know i can do this and more. i get an official time on the 18th when i RUN my next 5k. TC All, Im gonna go savor my running high now :thumbdown: Carol

Minxz - LOL i hate any bra, and would rather go braless most of the time... so i totally understand. you should see some of the contortions i go thru with the sprots bras. :thumbup: Thanks for the other map link Jane. it seems a bit easier for me than the one Kathy posted, but maybe i didnt give that one enough of my concentration to be honest. Last nite i did 2.5 miles and im only a bit sore today. my plan is to go again tomorrow. i'll need the stress reduction since tomorrow is the last day at my current job. im starting my new job complete with promotion and a new agency on saturday with some systems training and officially on monday with everything. im nervous and excited just like i was when i got banded. and ive done well with that. Kathy - its amazing how much the new ppl we're becoming is being shaped not just physically but emotionally too. I can really relate to what you experienced a few months ago. i think its partly the wt loss and increased confidence in myself since i dont feel so fat/ugly. but i also think a bunch of it is due to the running. i set a goal for myself and im working on meeting it. im not sure i want to say ive reached it. but i have definitely knocked off a very large chunk of it. everyone - thanks for all your help! tc Carol

minxz - i love that description of running bras. good news though as u get smaller, u will find it easier to get them on. the other challenge is getting them off when youre all sweaty. lol

well the other day, it was sooooooooo hot. it was 90 at 10 pm, it made it impossible to run for me. i did only about a mile. was thinking aobut another run last nite, but was stuck w/ food, and i learned my lesson on that score the hard way (if you look back a few pages, you can see the post). so my goal is to run tonite weather permitting. hoping i can do it since its been since last week that i did so well. anyway, will keep y'all posted. do any of you have suggestions for increasing/improving my stretching? the stretching is totally boring for me. its the one area i NEED to improve alot! all other areas can be improved of course, but the stretching is my biggest challenge right now. tc, Carol

Malissa, I agree with Kathy. I wish the program used the phrase level instead of week. Thinking that advancing in a week and not accomplishing that goal can be intimidating and frustrating. I deliberately took longer with most of the weeks for the extra conditioning. I moved on when I was able to do the intervals like they were laid out in the outline, just like Kathy said. A few of the weeks I did a "graduation" run of sorts. If I was having a hard time completing the intervals or felt like I was "dying" during or after the run I waited, and kept adding single days, but in the format thats laid out - basically every other day. When I felt like I could do it I did another one to be sure the one b4 wasnt a fluke. Then one last run as my graduation to the next level. Next time I moved on. That worked for me. Now, I was plateauing too at the time - still am but even though the scale isnt moving - yesterday i managed to put on over my fat a$$ and button/zip a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt skimmers (just below the knee capris) in size 12!!!!! I'm still convinced that they were sized wrong, but maybe not. I have some Gloria jeans in 14 that are getting a bit less tight. (I won't go so far as to say they are loose.) I tried several other size 12 pants that were just not happening, though, but I love gloria vanderbilt. hoping to run tonite. have plans in early evening at friends, but it will definitely be an evening run. TC all, Carol

i agree completely with kathy. my legs spasmed a lot when i startedd running. also when i stopped for a week. when i started back i got them. still get them occasionally. another thing is i try to get some banana in on those days. the potassium helps me too. good luck malissa and mary. tc, Carol

2.7 miles last nite!!!!!!!!!!!! for the first time 3.1 miles (5k) actually seems do-able! i mighta been able to do more too if it wasnt pitch dark on the lake where i run, by the time i got to that point. Jane...WTG...just keep doing it next to those hot sweaty guys. eventually you will be showing them up and some will take notice. always an ego boost. :sad: busy weekend ahead, full of dancing and hanging with friends. running sunday nite is my plan. TC all, Carol

Woo Hoo CONGRATS Mary. welcome! Im hoping for my run tonite. weather permitting cuz i'm gonna be busy tomorrow and saturday nites. whew im gonna be exhausted by sunday. lol tc all Carol