"Couch to 5k" question

Are you trying to create your own C25K program?  You could just go to the website http://www.c25k.com and follow the instructions there.  I went from barely able to sustain 90 seconds the first week to finishing a half marathon in 6 months.  It all started with following the plan outlined on that site. 

Resist the urge to push harder than what it outlines if you are new to running.  The run/walk times are designed to help you progress without injury.

Good Luck

+1 on that!  I am not up to a half yet, but I am 6 months out and have worked my way up quite a bit past 5K, too, after following the program Batlou mentioned.  Every other time I tried to exercise, I would burn out, get too sore, etc.  Take it really slow the first few weeks, and you will be amazed at how quickly you ran ramp it up more after you've built a little bit if a base.

OK here is my take on it..... I biked alot last year. I mean alot, I was still fat but biked alot. Winter came and I gained everything back I lost.

I got the crazy notion to really look into Tris, so here I am trying to run.

I downloaded the 9 week C25K program for my Ipod and away I went.

My take is this. I follow it to a "T" I dont alter anything. It is designed the way it is for a reason. I could have started on week 2 or three. But I didnt. I started on week one. Im very glad I did. Even running at 280ish pounds at a speed of 10.5-12 min mile pace I pushed through every running portion I could. I have not sustained a single shin splint yet. Very little knee pain that was corrected with a patellar band, and really I think my tendons are strong enough now to go without it.

This is my person opinion and suggestion to you -

Unless you have an injury or some other issue preventing you to make the entire run portion. thats just a little disclaimer for you.....

You MUST run the entire portion. You (well your brain) needs to win, by win I mean you have to keep advancing. If you quite/walk/sluff off. All you are doing is training your brain to lower its expectations any time a challenge gets tough. I have to slow way down at times, but Im still running. You know what. Once my brain learns each new lengthened interval that I can do it, I can survive and I wont die. The next run is much easier (I run M/W/F) its a mental wall you have to push through. A goal, a chance to succeed. I tell myself every time I get on that tread mill. I wll NOT lose today. I refuse to let myself talk my way into walking - its what resulted in this fat sitting in the chair typing this now. I lost respect for myself, and my abilities.

I wake up each run morning with the notion that today is another winning day. I dont care what speed I run at (that will come....well I hope) but I will not walk during any of the run portions. I will bump the speed up a few times just to make sure I even get one final kick and feel one more ounce of validation that I am overcoming my personal hurdles one step at a time.

So my words to you are "Refuse to lose" win every battle of every step you take. Every minute you are supposed to run (according to the program) you run it.

Whats the point in even looking at the program if you are going to change it.

If you dont feel like you are progressing on each week like you should, stay at that week another time or two. I would rather continue to run for a lesser interval a few extra days, than have to walk during my scheduled running times. For the last few years I gave up too easily. Putting one foot in front of the other, is my first step in accomplishing many more things physically, mentally, emotionally - at home and at work.

Smile - it could be alot worse.

I do have a thread in the weightloss area of my journeys so far.

Thanks for the replys people.
 I have had a good look at the c25k site and plan and it is very impressive, especially the idea of using the podcasts on your runs.  The training plan i am following is the BT 16 week couch to 5k plan, again, a walk/run plan but a lot more conservative than the 6,8 or 9 week plans that are available. The plan tells you how many minutes to run each session, but leaves how you do them up to you. Just wondered the best way to do the runs and keep progressing.

The BT plan is the one I used to get the run times I needed. My strategy for week 1 was 8min walk, 1min run x3 then a 3 min walk. Week 2 was 7w/2r x3 then a 3 min walk. Week 3 6w/3r x3 then a 3 min walk. 

Sounds like you have a good idea.  I used the Cool Running c25k also, which is more specific in how to break up the run/walk.  Your plan sounds similar.  As mentioned above, feel free to repeat a week if you don't think you are quite up to tackling the next one.

Mine was an application for my Ipod touch....the app is awesome. You start your music and then cue this up. it then shows the timers and how much tme you got left in each interval. it talks through the music already playing etc

X2 on the app.  I used the one for the iPhone and it worked great.  I could listen to my own music and it mutes the music for the prompts to Run/Walk.  Also has a nice countdown so when you are freaking out and legs are burning I could look and see it was only 30 more seconds.  I can do anything for 30 seconds, right?

Anything but walk

I've been "coaching" several friends in a C25K plan.  I tell my runners to do their run minutes whatever way is the easiest for them but to make sure to do minutes of walking for warm-up and cool-down before and after the running minutes. 

So, you could do your run intervals in increasing increments every run day in a week (as you described) or break them up uniformly or do them in a big clump.  To time your intervals, you could use the training partner on your Garmin or use an app for your i-phone/i-touch or use a watch or do laps on a track.

However, having said all of that, it would drive me crazy to time more than one interval of running.  It is hard enough to run without falling if you don't have to look at your watch every minute.  And, at a certain point, you are going to have to do what the poster above said and break through your running minute records so why not do that from the start?

I also tell my runners that no pace is too slow.  Do your walking at a brisk pace, but run at a pace at which you can carry on a conversation.  Your goal is to build your endurance up so that you can run.  The speed will come later, I promise.

Please note, however, that this advice is no good if you are injured.  If injured, just walk until you can do that without pain.

Best wishes on your c25K!

If you have certain Ironman Timex watches they have intervals timer that you can set two different times like if you are doing 6/1 you can set that and it beeps every 6' then every 1' but there is no limitation to how it's set so it could be you run 9:34 and walk 55 seconds. I agree with what someone that having to look at your watch and figure things out is challenging so having a watch beep works great.

That is certainly a way to do things within the same minutes per week.  Pay attention to the last session where you run the 6 minutes straight if you were having problems running 2-3 minutes straight.  If you are having a lot of trouble getting to the full 6 minutes of running straight (or whatever it is that week) take a break and insert some walking until your breathing and heart-rate slows, then finish the remaining run minutes.  As long as you get the total run minutes in, every week your total walking will be decreasing anyway so regardless of how you split up the run time, by the plans-end, you will be a runner.

If you find it easy to run a full 6 minutes or whatever the plan calls for, the easiest way to split up the run minutes is to put all of them right in the middle so you get a good walk for a warmup, then you do the run minutes, then the cooldown is the other half of the walking minutes to get to 30 minutes.

Good luck.