# Couch to 5k when you "can't run"



## nataliadonnelly (Aug 21, 2022)

Hi, has anyone on here used the couch to 5k app who really really couldn't run before?
I'm a terrible runner, can't run for 60seconds! But I started the couch to 5k app this week and I'm already noticing a vast improvement!
Just wondered if anyone else started this from being utterly useless and is now running "comfortably" or at least without being metaphorically dead after 5 minutes!


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## redcoloured (Aug 25, 2022)

The couch to 5k really works. I ran 8 miles a day in my teens and early 20s but stopped when I couldn't justify the time after I became a wagie. Fast forward a decade and I have high blood pressure and decided to take up running again, and was surprised to find I could barely jog a minute without gasping like a drowning fish. If you can't finish the first week, just do as much as you can and repeat the week until you can. I'm halfway into it and doing a lot better. You really have to push through the suck and hang in there, a human body is one of natures best endurance runners, you will be able keep going as long as you ignore the logical part of your brain telling you to stop and take a rest. Once you hit a certain point everything clicks and your body will stop fighting you.
Some advice:
Wear good shoes and exercise your quads or you will develop knee pain. If you do get knee pain shorten your stride, it helps a little.
Eat some complex carbs before you go to bed and run in the early morning, beginners tend to throw up if you have anything in your stomach.
Treadmills are good for autists because you just have to plug in the number and listen to music, you don't have to worry about setting your pace but if that's too boring run on a trail or a track, it's better for your joints than cement or pavement.
You'll probably get shin splints, can't really avoid it but it will go away eventually.
Look up how to use a foam roller, it's undoes a muscle pain in a few minutes that usually takes a few days to go away.


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