corinnak
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- Joined
- Jan 25, 2006
Hey guys!
I was talking to my dad this morning and he pointed me in the direction of another "slow guy" runner, Dr. George Sheehan. I think his ideas for winter running gear are a little old fashioned (no one actually recommends cotton in winter these days, do they?) but he's got this great little stretch and exercise program designed to help the muscles that need it from running. He says, "When you run, three things happen to your muscles. Two are bad. The prime movers-the calf, hamstring, and low back muscles-become tight and inflexible. The Antagonists-the shin, quadricep, gluteal, and abdominal muscles-become relatively weak. This creates a strength/flexibility imbalance that must be corrected."
http://www.georgesheehan.com/essays/essay18.html
I tried some of these this morning and they felt soooo good, I wanted to share them.
marshallandcartersmo - hello! You ask a good question about level of fitness upon starting C25K. I can understand your concerns - everyone starts from a different place, of course. When I started, I had previously been trying to get regular with walking on the treadmill, but was seriously struggling to keep any kind of regularity about it. The clear plan of C25K was intensely helpful to me.
Depending on the person, C25K can be too much right out of the gate, I think. It wasn't right for my DH, for instance. The longer someone's been sedentary, the more excess weight a person carries, etc. can definitely lead to a minute of running being too much to start with. Some other beginning running programs suggest that if you are starting from zero, you may want to pursue a walking program before you begin to run. You could start by walking 10-15 minutes and work your way up from there, or use the week 1 podcast and walk slowly for the "Walk" portion and try to pick up the pace a little for the "run" portion. Then when that doesn't seem to bad, do week 1 again and do every other run. Before you know it, you'll be cruising along! The beauty of C25K is building slowly on what you have.
It sounds like you will probably be fine, but there are options if it just seems like too much, too soon.
Have a great day!
I was talking to my dad this morning and he pointed me in the direction of another "slow guy" runner, Dr. George Sheehan. I think his ideas for winter running gear are a little old fashioned (no one actually recommends cotton in winter these days, do they?) but he's got this great little stretch and exercise program designed to help the muscles that need it from running. He says, "When you run, three things happen to your muscles. Two are bad. The prime movers-the calf, hamstring, and low back muscles-become tight and inflexible. The Antagonists-the shin, quadricep, gluteal, and abdominal muscles-become relatively weak. This creates a strength/flexibility imbalance that must be corrected."
http://www.georgesheehan.com/essays/essay18.html
I tried some of these this morning and they felt soooo good, I wanted to share them.
marshallandcartersmo - hello! You ask a good question about level of fitness upon starting C25K. I can understand your concerns - everyone starts from a different place, of course. When I started, I had previously been trying to get regular with walking on the treadmill, but was seriously struggling to keep any kind of regularity about it. The clear plan of C25K was intensely helpful to me.
Depending on the person, C25K can be too much right out of the gate, I think. It wasn't right for my DH, for instance. The longer someone's been sedentary, the more excess weight a person carries, etc. can definitely lead to a minute of running being too much to start with. Some other beginning running programs suggest that if you are starting from zero, you may want to pursue a walking program before you begin to run. You could start by walking 10-15 minutes and work your way up from there, or use the week 1 podcast and walk slowly for the "Walk" portion and try to pick up the pace a little for the "run" portion. Then when that doesn't seem to bad, do week 1 again and do every other run. Before you know it, you'll be cruising along! The beauty of C25K is building slowly on what you have.
It sounds like you will probably be fine, but there are options if it just seems like too much, too soon.
Have a great day!
I was always the one in school to make every excuse not to play sports. I hate the idea of sweating and running to say the very least. However, my girlfriend asked me to start walking with her every morning and the feeling I had afterwards was great. That walking stint only lasted 6 months. Then two years later another friend asked me to do a 5K with her, she was crazy but I accepted the offer. 
And sweating for fun----oh please. I'd rather clean a bathroom.
Hooray! Not that the 30 minutes isn't intimidating as well, but somehow, the w5d3 is the turning point where you realize that if you can do that, the rest is going to fall into place. Great work!
