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CONGRATS Whosya!!! you've done awesome! I hope you are as proud of yourself as i know i am. Good tips too. I know u posted them to answer Bea's questions, but i'm gonna use them too! I wouldnt have known about the dairy thing. Thanks Carol

i couldnt have said it any better than this Kristen...and THATS saying something...LOL Carol :sneaky:

I dont know why i feel compelled to report every run i do, but here it is. Last nite confirmed for me that im ready to move on to week 5. i'll do one more run at week 4 then i'll bite the bullet and go for it. since ive been doing week 4 for 2 1/2 - 3 weeks, i was feeling like week 4 was gonna always kick my butt. sunday nite, i did fine as i posted and last nite i did fine again confirming that sunday wasnt a fluke and im looking at my last run as a graduation of sorts. a mini graduation to the next level. i have a suggestion for the couch and pod runner ppl though--- maybe they can rename them from "weeks 1-9" to level or stage 1-9. maybe it wouldnt seem so daunting to reach the next week in a calendar week. what do u think, friends? maybe make a bulk suggestion from those of us who need to catch up to real life runners but do it in our own pace...just a suggestion. tc all, Carol

chula, my advice is also to wait till your doc clears u for more intensive exercise. usually 4-6 wks post op. also start off walking and build up, unless u were a runner b4. too much too soon and its easy to burn out or feel too much pressure to do the program. keep reading here and wehn u r really ready then start the program. hope this helps. Suz, wow 48 and change is nothing to sneeze at. thats great for a start. as whosya taught me... every run is a learning experience. he also told me to taper the running about a week b4 the race. if i remember the point - its to only do as much walking or light running to stay in the game. i think its supposed to give the body time to repair and energize b4 the intensity of the race. tc, Carol

Ok, Mac another novice question here: Why would using an ipod disqualify you in a race? I did not run last nite, hubby got home late and I hadnt gotten dinner together at a good time for the kids... excuses excuses. Anyway I got GREAT news last nite after work. Last week I saw my pcp for a check-up. Of course she had me do lab work. It was the first comprehensive lab panel I did since b4 the band. I have somewhat mixed results, but I really couldnt be happier! My cholesterol was too high. Thats the bad news. It was 265 with the bad cholesterol at 185. So there's work to do there. Im going to try some natural herbs first because I do not want to go back onto statin drugs since Ive reacted badly to them b4. Couple theories about why it was so high: first a strong family history of heart probs - which was a large factor in why I decided to get banded in the first place. Also since Im concentrating on the proteins I may be taking in too much red meat. Cant help it Im a carnivore. lol. But that can change. Now for the good news!!! My a1c blood glucose test result was 5.7!!!!!!!!!!!!! What that means is that my diabetes is GONE! I took myself off the diabetes meds after the surgery. So the wt loss, and expecially the exercise has helped me beat it. According to what Ive read on the net and what the doc said anything under 7 is good anything under 6 is perfect! WOO HOO for me! Word of pause here for me. This is not the destination, just a happy step in the journey I started when I walked into my Bari office the first time! I really want to thank all of you for the words of encouragement, But I especially want to thank Whosya. Thanks for the inspiration and support you gave me when I was trying to decide if I could do this running stuff or if I even wanted to. Its really something I feel successful and motivated to do, but I feel stronger with every step I take running/walking. So thanks again, Whosya, and best of luck on your first official 1/2 mary, saturday! TC all, Carol

Good news: Last nite's run was the first time that week 4 didnt kick my butt to the point where i was questioning the wisdom of me doing the program. I was actually considering moving back to week 3 and staying there. but now........ i"ll do 2 more hopefully good strong (if slow) runs doing week 4 with more strength/endurance and move on to w5d1 as Kathy suggested. It took me 2 1/2 weeks to get to this point with week 4. Carol - reminder to self: you started this, and you are doing it slowly and surely just like you planned! :smile: TTYS friends Carol

Hey Lips... U and i have chatted in the chat room. since you said u can run for 2 mins, u can start this program any time. Here's the link that Kathybad sent me. Caution: the music is horrid, but motivating. the link also lets u print out the written outline of the intervals if you click on the triangle to the left of the tracks. Podrunner: Intervals - Free Workout Music for 5K Training. Thats how i started. Now, I was totally out of shape and my endurance was very low when i began. It's gotten much better thanks to the podcast and the support ive gotten here and in the chat. I do more than the 3 recommended days of each week, but i do rest a day (sometimes 2 - but no more than 2) in between runs to build stamina and endurance. Im by no means an expert. Mac, Kathy Renewed and Whosya are by far more experienced runners than me, but if i can help i'll be glad to. I can be a cheerleader, or even kick (virtual) butt when needed. I hope you start the program, and if u see me in the chat let me know if you do! Bottom line: DO NOT WAIT. DO IT NOW, YOU WONT REGRET IT! Best of luck, Carol

thanks for the suggestions whosya, glad to see u still posting here. if i dont see ya online b4 your 1/2 mary next weekend - best of luck to you. i think you'll definitely be able to hear me cheering for u from all the way down here. i'll take your suggestions and "run with them." LOL i crack myself up sometimes. anyway, i have some of the protein shots, and its a quick way for me to get the grams in a short time, but i'll use these up and stick to real food after that. addicted? me, nah... i can quit anytime. i really miss the days i dont run, maybe im on my way to being addicted. besides it feels awesome to call myself a runner even if im a novice. i still get looks of "really? u run-run? and i just sit back and let the coolness of that sink in. :sad: ive actually had a couple really neat conversations with ppl who run and i can talk to them on a different level. tc all, Carol

wow tonites run was just the way i like it! it was about 65-70F. perfect here sunny but breezy. i did ok with week 4 again. since i didnt do a full run of any sort last time i feel like i need to do it a few more times. i MIGHT run again tomorrow if the weather is as nice as today. next week will be a bit more complicated since its week 5 and the program varies. not sure if i'll do each variation a few times or if i'll just do it in sequence and repeat it till it feels ok. any suggestions for week 5 when im ready to move on since i am being methodical in adding extra days for each week? one extra question: how do the more experienced of u banded runners feel about extra protein after exercise? Ive been adding protein shots (bullets?) to boost the protein in general every few days, but ive heard its supposed to be helpful for muscle recovery. any thoughts??? anxious to hear from u on this... TC, Carol

WOO HOOOOOO Kathy! u did it and on a hilly course too. so that will explain the "slower" time. LOL yeah right...as if that was slow. YOU freakin RAN 5K!!! Imagine yourself a year ago Kathy. Feel better now? Hope so :smile2: Mac, thanks for the reminder. walking in the heat is do-able, running isnt. But i needed to prove to myself that i could try. I'll keep at it in the evenings till late fall. MAYBE the mornings if i can get up that early. take care all, ttys carol

Today I learned that I cant run at noon down here. It's currently 85F with a heat index of 91. Either that or I cant run the day after a whole day of marathon shopping at an outlet mall. LOL Im not totally sure what factors all went into me not running well today. I'll just say that I did not do well. See Whosya (if you're around...) Im not beating myself up about it. Just mentioning that I didnt do well. I'll plan to walk again tomorrow NIGHT and run on Tuesday night. Im extending week 4 since Im not doing as well with the first 3 min interval (lung-wise) and I want to feel stronger on the 5 min intervals b4 moving on. ttys, Carol

Suzanne Here are my words of wisdom...take them for what they're worth as a novice runner. I did 2 5k walks and 1 6k before I started training the C25k program. At one of the 5ks and the 6k, I sprinted a bunch of times. (my own version of the program) Im not sure what to tell you about the time/distance training, but heres my suggestion. Find a way to run outside a few times b4 your race. Even run (or walk/run) the course if you can. The treadmill and the road will be much different. I cant do a treadmill at all, but ive noticed that on different roads and textures of running surfaces, I run differently. Just look at my post from the other day...about trying to run on mulch. Hope this helps! Carol

oops forgot to add this: YAY WTG Kathy!!! u will do great at your race, i know this, cuz i see your dedication to yourself and your fitness in all of your posts! and WOO HOO on the clothes. i just love finding 1 or 2 pieces to mix and match w/ old stuff when i find something that looks great. Keep it up and u will start to fit into those 14s to the point where u feel comfortable in public! Very proud of u! Carol

here's another of my long-winded posts... tonite i had an interesting running/learning experience. i ran at a local park after dinner which consisted of bbq at the park with friends. lesson 1: dont run immediately after eating. I did fine, really. i wanted to make sure i got my run in so when i realized i was losing daylight and we'd need to get the kids home soon, i asked if anyone minded that i go for my run. and i did since hubby and all there said go for it. like i said i did fine, but wasnt the most comfortable during the first run interval. Im on w4d2, BTW. not as easy as w3. but completed the whole 16 mins of running! lesson 2: this is a lesson for me for right now, and hopefully part of it will change. dont listen to nonrunners who tell u its easier to run on mulch than asphalt. i listened to one of our friends who said hes "run a cpl times." said he likes running on mulch (chopped up bark-for u northerners) since its easier on his knees. I tried it. i hated it. felt sluggish and not sure footed at all. i felt that because of the uneven texture that i had to work harder at staying level and balanced. my feet hurtmuch more because of it. as soon as i switched back to the asphalt i did much better. I may go to the park again. it was very nice seeing other ppl there and lots of runners too. everyone smiled at me, and i didnt feel like i was the fat girl trying to run and looking ridiculous! also it was the first time any of my family actually saw me run. the kids were very very supportive. hubby - who knows? he said hi as i went by. we'll chat about that another time. :/ thanks for reading, Carol

WTG Kathy!!!!! thats awesome. See, the hard work really does pay off. I'm excited for u and cant wait to get there myself! Carol

Thanks, DE. I'm already on active.com and get their announcements about upcoming things in my area. I'm looking other places too. theres a race coming up but it's next week i think and it has swimming in it. Even though i live in FL, i'm not a swimmer. I can hold my own in the shallow end of a pool, but not sure i could do 500 yards. may take an adult swim class over the summer, but not sure of the time committment and work issues right now. But i appreciate the suggestion! Suzanne, I did the Komen in January. Thats when they have it here because of the heat around mothers day. I did ok but that was one intense race mainly because of the sheer number of ppl. It was also flippin COLD on race day. In the 40s which is a very big deal here on a typical day, let alone for a race. Great suggestions all, and thanks for the support. I'll let y'all know if i find something. Carol

GA - hope y and your family are on the mend. It'll be good to have u back when u r ready. Kathy - do i need to kick butt? Mom - i didnt know u b4 but wb, since there are new ppl like me, go ahead and join on in. none of us will hold the past against u. we'll just be happy u r back to get healthy again. i know i barged my way in. lol. Whosya - miss your posts. let us know how u r doing. Renewed - best of luck on your new exercise program. Mac - just... WOW! ktork and suzanne - hey girls! this is what i put on my tag line tonite on facebook. back from my run. threw in 2 extra minutes of running! i discovered that i can do 1/4 mile in 3 minutes. YAY ME!!! Im ready to move on to week 4. i actually enjoyed week 3 a lot! today was an add on of an extra day. and like most of u know i decided to take more than 3 days to do each week for extra conditioning. feeling pretty proud of myself even with no loss at yesterday's weigh in. like i said to the staff at my bari center, its entirely possible that im FINALLY building muscle from my running! i hope its true! trying to look for a 5k for when i finish the c25k, but its getting to summertime and here summer is way too hot for races most of the time. hope i dont have to wait till the fall. late fall will be a better time weather wise. maybe i should come up to one of u for a summer race...lol <jk> :cursing: tc all, Carol

wish i could join y'all in the challenge. but nike+ is sooooo not in the budget, and im not sure im up to your level yet. I skipped running today...had way too much fun last nite and have very sore muscles from dancing. i will run tomorrow without fail. first time in 5 weeks that ive gone for more than 2 days in between runs. and i miss it. hope your week is better than mine will be. tc all, Carol