Couch to 5K

Alex and I are running the Chicago Half Marathon September 12, 2010. We are asking all of our family and friends to donate to this worthy cause. Would you join us too?

We are looking to raise $5,000 to supply water to those who need it most. Pledge $1 a mile or more to help us.

The next time you enjoy a refreshing clear glass of water you will know that you helped someone else experience the same benefit. Donate now!

www.mycharitywater.org/runhelper

The major feature in the 2.6 update is the support for multitasking. Multitasking support is available on the following devices that have iOS 4 software update installed:

• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• The third-generation iPod touch (32GB and 64GB models from late 2009)

Changes in the new update for Couch to 5K, Ease into 10K and Bridge to 10K

1. You can now run Pandora, Nike +, answer phone calls, email, SMS, and use any other app while you are working out and you will still get the voice prompts telling you when to run or walk.

2. When you click the Home button the workout will not stop like in the previous versions, but it will continue running in the background and the voice prompts will still play. Therefore, if you need to stop in the middle of a workout you need to “slide to pause” the workout, instead of just pressing the Home button and dismissing the app.

3. The Pause Music feature in the settings is only effective when the app is left in the foreground.

4. Make sure your iPhone’s mute switch is off before the workout. When the app is in the background voice prompts cannot be played if the mute switch is on.

5. The in-app music player will continue playing music even when your workout is complete and you have exited the app. You can use the built-in iPod controls to pause music.

6. To reset your progress back to Week 1 Day 1, please do the following:

• Tap on the Settings tab and turn on the  ”Reset on next start” to “on”.
• Tap on Home button to return to home screen.
• Double tap on Home button.
• Scroll to find the app icon in the app switcher bar.
• Press and hold on the icon and then tap on (-) to close the app.
• The next time you reenter the app it will be reset to Week 1 Day 1.

New update for C25K, Bridge to 10K*, and Ease into 10K* apps are here!  Many of our customers have given us suggestions and we’ve been listening. The new feature in this update is the ability to enter a journal log of your workout.

*Pending Apple’s approval.

Read on for  descriptions of how to use the new feature.

The first thing you’ll notice is the new “History” tab on the main screen. This is where you’ll see a history of all your completed workouts:

New history tab

History screen

Enter your journal entry by tapping on the Journal icon on the  tool bar:

Accessing Journal screen

A journal entry screen pops up where you’ll be able describe your workout and write a note about it.

Entering your workout note

Entering your note

Saving the workout note

In addition to the journal feature, there are a few other improvements:

With this update the app changes the audio alert behavior and by default now it plays the alerts on top of the music you are listening. If you liked the old behavior of audio alerts pausing the music you can turn that feature on by setting the “Pause Music” to ON in the Settings.

Turning this setting ON will pause your music while the audio alert is played

Also new in this update is a redesigned help screen.

Improved help screen

If you have any questions about these new features please let us know at support@runhelper.com

Yes National Running Day is tomorrow June 2nd. Didn’t know about it? Well neither did I until I came across their website http://bit.ly/cCfwL4

You may not have heard about National Running Day because it is fairly new. This year marks only the second annual year for the event so check out their website and find out more about this great event.

We are encouraging everyone to get up and run/walk. Choose a friend or two or three and make this year the year you all get up and GO!

It has been a while since I have talked about the “Bulge Battle.” I am happy to report that I am still heading in the right direction. A few things that I have changed to help me on my journey. I now workout on my days off from running. In the past, I just ran three times a week and that was it. I thought that running would be enough, since before running I basically did nothing. However, I quickly realized that it wasn’t. The other thing that I altered was my diet. Since my eldest daughter was diagnosed with several food allergies: wheat, soy, and nuts. I decided to cut out these things from my diet as well to help her through this process. I do eat nuts for protein on occasion, but we have eliminated wheat products which are mainly breads and pastas. I have also been trying to eliminate sugars from my diet only, which, let me tell you, is not easy but I am trying. Honestly, I don’t even crave the bread and pasta anymore.

In light of all these changes is when I found a new routine for working out. I figured running wasn’t getting me the results I wanted. I started to do circuit training with and/or without weights to help me boost up my cardio while also doing some strength training. Since doing circuit training on my days off from running I have noticed that my running pace and distances have increased. The great thing about circuit training is that I can do it anywhere and my kids join in when I do jumping jacks and kicks. It’s real fun watching them workout with me!

I have seen so many benefits in this new workout program that I just had to share it not only in this blog but to everyone else who wanted to workout the same way. I spoke to Alex and together we started brainstorming. I am happy to announce that we are developing a “Circuit Trainer” app. It will have the same simple user interface that you have come to love with all of our running apps, but with a few bonus features.

I know “Circuit Trainer” will help you with your running goals including strengthening, increasing endurance and weight loss. I can say this because I have seen results in myself. The “Circuit Trainer” app should be up and running soon. I will be posting the app’s features soon so stay tuned.

Now that I have told you how excited I am about, “Circuit Trainer” and how well it worked for me I can tell you that I am now 157.4 pounds and maintaining my weight. I am 6.6 pounds down from my starting weight and 12.4 pounds from my goal weight.

If you are struggling with weight loss lets cheer each other on!

Here are pictures from WeightBot with my progress so far.

Several weeks ago I had mentioned about my desire to lose a few of those pesky annoying extra pounds that even with my running three times a week doesn’t seem to be going away. Perhaps some of you may be experiencing the same thing, but if you’re not, I’m all the happier for you. See my problem is, how do I put it, oh yeah “Chocolate, ice cream, and Starbucks coffee”. The three loves of my life, only second to Alex and my kids of course.

On March 7th, I bought an iPhone app Weight Bot (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id293642937?mt=8) to track my weight loss. My starting weight was 164 lbs. I wanted to weigh myself weekly in the AM and track my progress if any. I had been around 164 every since my youngest was born now she will be 2 years old next month. With everyone around me shedding their poundage I needed to take action. I decided to “commit” to a lifestyle change. I decided to say no to second-hand helpings and no to chocolate every day. I realized that it felt good to feel hungry and not just to eat when it was time to eat. I actually felt great. So much so that I decided to weigh myself again 5 days later on March 12th. Again, in the AM and in the buff. To my overwhelming surprise the scale read 159.8. I had to re-weigh myself again just to be sure. I was more than ecstatic! My hard work of self-control had paid off and I was feeling great.

The weekend was tough for me. We always have a big family get together after church and everyone brings a dish to share, so I honestly wasn’t as committed. On Sunday we went for a 6 mile run and that made my meal feel more like I deserved a break from the self-control that I had exhibited the previous week.

It was Monday again and I needed to refocus my efforts of self-control. I kept reminding myself to take smaller portions, eat only when hungry, and above all “NO SWEETS.” On Tuesday March 16th I weighed myself again at 158.2.

Now, unfortunately the days turned into weeks and I had gotten busy with our house sale, moving sale and a trip to Canada to visit friends that I had left my “Commitment” plan slightly behind. I had become disappointed in myself especially when I came back from vacation. Because as you all know, vacations are not made for losing weight actually the exact opposite, at least for me. I felt bloated, constipated, and above all defeated by my own self will. I decided not to get back on the scale until I settled back into my daily routines back home.

I am happy to announce that I am back in the game again. I weighed myself this morning at 160lbs. Obviously not as great at 158lbs, but then again it isn’t 164. I know this will be a journey of up and downs for me, but as long as I stay true to myself and my goals and achieve them slowly, this will only strengthen my journey.

Knew news, Vibram Five Fingers is coming out with a new shoe, the Bikila, specifically designed for runners. I knew I should have waited when I bought my Sprints. The release of the Bikila should be sometime in April this year and the shoe looks nice. Their arrival has been sited in various cities already.

Check out this awesome collage from www.birthdayshoes.com a great site for all your VFF questions, updates, and five fingers news. Collage is located at http://bit.ly/aKv9Uj

I sadly had to put my VFFs in the closet for now so that my toes can heal. Since I last wrote I had mentioned that I had a blister on the inside of my right heel which after healing somewhat has now again reappeared creating an even bigger blister. My left pinky toenail is bruised under my nail. I should polish the rest of my toenails purple so that they all match. My right pinky toe is also considerably swollen and hurts whenever I try to manually move it up and down left and right. I don’t think my foot problems are necessarily the shoes fault, but sadly they aren’t working really well with my toes.

On the other hand, when I run with the VFFs I experience no hip and back pain. My running style has improved with a more forward step on the ball of my foot rather than my heel. I believe in doing this I have drastically lessened the pressure to my lower back and decreased any and all hip pain.

I have had to go back to my regular Nike Bowerman Series running shoe to continue training for the 1/2 marathon in September. On Sunday Alex and I ran 7 miles. We finished in 1 hr 10 minutes. Half way through the run my hip joints couldn’t take it anymore. I had to slow down my pace and then I realized that I should try running on the balls of my feet like I did with the VFFs. I wanted to just break free of my shoes and bolt out barefoot, but that wasn’t going to happen. I decided to run on the balls of my feet in my shoes, it definitely didn’t feel right, too much cushion and instability when the shoes hit the pavement, but guess what? No hip pain.

There you have it! I’m stuck, how do I stay a runner and still enjoy my runs without any additional pain?Does anyone have any suggestions? Comments? or are you in same situation. I am making an appointment with my physical therapist to get my “back” back on track. Wish me luck!

I am happy to present a new motivating and inspiring interview from one of our C25K app users. Conan had emailed us last week with his emotional testimonial of how the app has changed his life for the better. His fitness level has improved as well as his marriage.

After reading his email I had to respond with gratitude for sharing with me his good news. I couldn’t resist asking Conan to share his story so he graciously volunteered. Our hopes are that through our growing community of runners we can help motivate and influence each other through fitness and health awareness. By sharing our experiences with each other we can learn from our mistakes as well as our successes.

Conan has also been posting his progress on his blog http://lloydhouse.wordpress.com where you can visit and perhaps encourage him on his fitness journey.

In the Q&A section below Conan shares with us his running success story:

1. Question: How did you find out about the C25K program? When did you start the program?

Answer: I had been using a treadmill as an attempt to get healthy but wasn’t really serious about it. One day I was cruising the forums of another iPhone health app called LoseIt! and noticed several posts about the C25K program.  I replied to one of the posters and she pointed me to your app. I immediately liked how it eased me into running.  I did not expect to end up liking running itself or to be looking forward to the next run, but I now am. Best $$ I have spent at the App Store yet!

2. Question: Share a little bit about yourself? (i.e. age, gender)

Answer: I’m a 39 year old, (40 in August) IT geek with 3 wonderful kids and a beautiful wife.  I come from a line of men with heart issues but still allowed myself to get about 70 pounds overweight.  June 09 I had a minor heart attack and changed my diet for about a month before falling back into old habits.  I couldn’t seem to make myself stick with any exercise plan either.

What made it worse was that my wife felt that I didn’t care about my health and it would eventually kill me, probably sooner rather than later.  Since she lost both her parents due to their not taking care of themselves, she started pulling away from me. Since then, seeing me take up running and stick with it has helped us get over those issues and we are a stronger couple for it.  So I literally believe C25K helped save my life & my marriage!

3. Question: Do you use any other gadgets during your runs?

Answer: I just started using Nike+ to better track my distance & speed when I run outside.  I also just purchased a heart rate monitor to keep better track of my heart rate & calorie burn.

4. Question: You said you ran your first 5K? How did you decide that you wanted
to run the race and what was your experience like?

Answer: I decided to run a 5K because that was the goal of the program and I needed a concrete goal to work toward.  I chose the particular one I did because it was reviewed as a fun run and good for beginners.

The race was fun.  Since it was a chip timed race, I wasn’t worried about my starting position and waited for the initial crowd to disperse before taking the road. I ended up having to switch to walking a few more times than I wanted to, so I started setting a goal to run to instead of a time. “OK, I’ll run to that light, then see how I feel” and the like.

Funny thing happened at the end of the race. My friend had previously told me to pick a person at the end that I wanted to pass as that would give me the final “umph” to finish well, so I picked my person and looked to pass them as we rounded into the last .1 mile. I realized I had picked a walker which would be no challenge to pass and that annoyed me, so I looked for the next person.

That person was quite a few strides ahead of me and I would not be able to catch them at my current pace. That’s when something weird happened. I suddenly found myself running full speed to the finish line. As I curved onto Market and could see the finish line ahead of me, I was running full out. In the back of my mind I realized that I had just heard Wee One scream “Go Daddy!” but I didn’t see her. I was focused on that guy I wanted to beat. I passed him just before the finish line and staggered to a halt right after the line. I had done it.  I got a bit teary when my kids & wife met up with me for hugs, but it was awesome.  Can’t wait for my next 5K, which I have already registered for in May.

Oh, and my time was 41:29

5. Question: Any big motivators during your workouts that have helped you to keep running?

Answer: The way C25K has small goals helped immensely.  Running the whole thing, not possible.  Running for 3 minutes, sure!  OK, I did 3 minutes, can I do 5? And so on.  More importantly, I now “own” my health.  C25K helped ease me into running and I discovered that I like it.  I would not have been able to turn in my time at the 5K without the app and I would not have continued with running or even registered for another race.

6. Question: Have you lost any weight, if so how much?

Answer: I have lost about 15 pounds so far.  More importantly, all my clothes are looser and I have more stamina.  I can play with my kids without getting as winded.  My 12 year old son even goes out for runs with me when he’s at my house.

7. Question: Since you completed the 5K what are your future plans? 10K? 1/2 marathon?

Answer: I actually had 3 goals for the 5K:  1. Finish the darn thing, 2. Finish in under 50 minutes, & 3. Run the whole distance.  Due to weather & real life issues, I only got to Week 5 in the app before the race came so I was not able to check off that 3^rd goal yet.  As a result I have already registered for another 5K.  My plan is to keep doing 5K races until I finish with ease, then start 10K races and do the same with them.  After that, who knows?  I’d like to do the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC just to say I did it and the idea of a triathalon intrigues me.  Have to get my shoulder fixed and some swim lessons before I tackle one of those though.

8. Question: Would you recommend the 5K to your family, friends, and co-workers? If so, Why?

Answer: I would absolutely recommend a 5K race to anyone.  Doesn’t matter if you run the whole thing or walk it.  Early on in the program I mentioned to my friend that I was afraid of coming in dead last.  She said something that has become my mantra since then.  “Even if you do, you still have come in ahead of all those people still at home.”

I can’t describe the feeling of finishing that race, everyone should feel like that sometime.  C25K works, especially if it can get a couch potato like me to enjoy running.  Your app made me feel like I could do it, so I did.

Another reason I would suggest it is that it’s fun to hear “You did what?  YOU ran a 5K?” from friends and then see the wheels turning in their head.  “Hmmm, if he can do it, maybe I could too”

———-

Thank you Conan for sharing your story with us.

If you have a success story and want to share it with us please email me at tanya@runhelper.com

Ever wonder why sometimes you just can’t lose those extra pounds? Weight loss programs, television shows, magazines, and fad diets galore are all around us. We can’t hide from the fact that we are just getting bigger and bigger. Anyone seen the movie Wall-E? How everyone aboard the ship was obese, not exercising, floating around in their hover chairs. That movie made me think twice the next time I wanted to gulp down a mocha frappaccino. Odd how an animated movie can have such an impact, but soon even that fades back in my memory, and I am back to the mocha.

Ideally, I believe that we have to be happy with the way we look and feel.I’m not saying one needs to be thin to be happy, but that everyone needs to find out what is best for them. I always told myself, yeah “I could lose a few pounds,” but then continued eating whenever and whatever I wanted.

Over a year ago, Alex and I started running. He has slimmed down quite a bit, but I on the other hand, did not lose even an ounce. Why was life was so cruel to me? Why did I not reap the same benefits? After all I was running 3 miles 3 times a week as well. I just didn’t get it.

That’s when our recent ski trip put things into perspective. My friend, the expert skier, wanted to show me that I could go down a bigger mountain instead of all the easy, now boring, slopes I was skiing on. She told me that I just needed to “Commit” to turning left to right, and then just do it. See, I was scared to go down an intermediate hill because I knew I was going to speed down at top speed fall and quite possibly injure myself in the process. However, she saw my potential, she saw that I mastered the easy slopes without a problem. I thought to myself “commit to the turn,” “commit to the turn.” Needless to say that became my new mantra, basically the whole way down the mountain and then I realized that I did it. She was right I just needed to commit myself to making the right moves.

During our ski trip we shared a condo with one of my friends who had lost over 30 pounds herself in the past year and I just envied how good she looked and her new sense of accomplishment, pride, and renewed self confidence. I thought “I want that.” I noticed how devoted she was to her new weight loss: making sure she ate smaller portions and not overdoing it on sweets. I thought to myself how could she possibly be happy rejecting a bite of that delicious chocolate smothered cake? I of course ate as much of the chocolatey goodness I wanted, and then groaned in the morning when my ski pants were tighter than the day before. I was frustrated and so then I asked her, “how did you do it?” She said one word “Commit!”

I wondered if my two friends had something going. Commit to turning down the mountain, commit to a healthier lifestyle. Why had I made the decision to go down that mountain? Because of my friend? or the fact that deep down inside I knew I could it. After all I just needed to commit to the turn! The end result? An overwhelming sense of achievement, pride, and the desire to go down again and again this time without fear, just fun!

Now I  am going to choose to commit to losing weight, the healthy way. Which means I have to give up a lot of the unhealthy foods I eat on a consistent basis, like chocolate. Wish me luck and I hope that you too will choose to just, “Commit!”