Wingz, thanks for making me an admin. I'm happy to be here and help other newbies. jb, thanks for checking in. I pumped myself full of Chinese herbs and vitamin C and I'm feeling much better. So much better that I was able to do OHR W8D3 today. 49 minutes, 3.84 miles! Wow! The plan is to take a brief break from OHR now and do a 5k distance Wednesday and 2 miles Friday, because I have my second 5k race next Sunday and I want to give my legs and lungs a rest. Happy day off today!

I finished W6D3 yesterday - now it's all straight running without walking for me. This week will be tricky, since my DH is out of town and I will have kid driving duty in the mornings, which is when I usually run. I think I can keep it going, though. Good luck with the 5K, obiebyke. I'm thinking of signing up for a July 4 5K.

obiebyke - glad you are feeling better. Good luck with your race! kiwi - doesn't it feel great to join the ranks of those that have finished that 20 minute run? I found once I got through that, I was ready to finish the program. It's a big mental hurdle and you made it! runswithdogs - you are almost done, too! Great job! Jen - you may be amazed that you can move on, but if you don't - so what? Adding another week to the program is no big deal. A lot of us did that. I'm still on the sidelines this week, but walked a little over 3 miles yesterday after biking the 47.5 miles on Sunday. I'm hoping the doc will let me start running again next week. In the meantime, I'm trying to be good. Keep up the good work, everyone!

W7d1 done! Top of feet still sore from biking over the weekend. Shins sore at the end. I iced and guess I need to try the toe taps someone was talking about earlier. I guess that getting lost and going down 3 dead ends didn't help my attempts to not increase mileage too much. Added an additional 10+ minutes uphill at the end of my cooldown walk to get home. Ooops. I had plotted the course before I left and then had managed to forget the streetnames. I don't think I will forget I need to turn left on Marie in the future because my goof up added another 1.5 miles to my outing. Happy surprise that I wasn't out of breath at the end of the run. I was running slower on purpose - 1st solid 25 minutes off the treadmill - and enjoyed the run - except for the sore shins and getting lost part... Anyone know if my legs or lungs are supposed to get tired first at this stage???

Checking in for...well, nothing of note, really. I was going to go running tonight but I think I'll save it for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be my last run of the C25K program! I did my second-to-last run on Friday and...wow. By the end, I was in SO much pain. Both of my legs just felt like jello. I chalk it up to it being my 4th run that week. Too much, too fast. I took the weekend off (well, mostly--a 4 mile hike on Saturday didn't help my legs that much) and am definitely going to do my last run tomorrow. I'm feeling all better and pain-free and ready to go. Just not tonight. I just want to make sure I'm rested. Tell me I'm not a lazy bum, and a giver-upper, because that's how I feel right now.

Today was my first run of Week 4. I started where I usually finish my run and ran backwards. That worked well. It seems to help me if I don't know where the time markers are (ie. I usually reach the playground by x time and the crossing at x time...). It was a good run. I needed a quick peptalk at the midpoint when my shoulder muscles started feeling tight; first time that's happened, but it went away so it might've been mental. I suspect I wasn't well enough hydrated before I went out; it was just that kind of day. Another fan of toe taps here. Mine are mostly preventative though.

CanadianMeg - I used to reverse my route occasionally, too. Especially when I was adding on to the time. Keep up the good work! gruetzgirl - welcome! I used the podcasts by Robert Ullrey. He tells you when to walk and when to run. You can use a watch, but I found it too annoying to always have to keep looking. Some people made their own podcasts. You just need to find what works for you. Sounds like you have a busy week - no problem if you repeat a week before moving on. A lot of us did that.

I did it! W5D3--made it through the 20 minute interval slowly, but did it. I'm fighting off tears today and yesterday for two good things related to running: 1. I cannot believe the difference between the end of March when I started C25K and now. I cannot count the number of times that I've tried and failed to do what I'm doing now. I'm so excited, proud, and in awe that I'm overwhelmed. 2. I got a totally surprising donation to my Race for the Cure fundraising from a family friend that I haven't seen in years. He and my dad were track and cross country coaches at competing schools for forever, and he is an amazing coach. EVERYONE who knows me is kind of taken aback by the whole running thing, and the encouragement that he has sent is really touching. OK, now off to do what they pay me to do