Best products from r/C25K

I can't address all of your issues, but I can address some.

First, struggling with depression, and having it sap your motivation. There are a number of things that can help. Fish oil supplements can have a huge boost, although just eating more Omega-3s would be better. (Supplements can always have side effects, so better to change your diet.) That means fatty cold-water fish like tuna and salmon, nuts like walnuts and almonds, replacing fatty oils with canola/flaxseed/walnut oil, replacing grain-fed beef with either grass-fed beef or bison, using flaxseed in recipes, etc. Its amazing how much this simple change can help you with both depression and health- EAT OMEGA-3s!!

Other things that help depression are getting sunlight, so either going outside for half an hour a day, or getting a sunlamp. Exercise, which you're obviously doing. Socialization and/or a hobby. I'd recommend this book- check out the reviews on it. You could buy the audio version and listen to it while walking/running!

About being scared to try the second week- that's OK, for now. It sounds like you need to work on pacing. Just slow it down! If at any point during jogging you start to feel like you're gasping for breath, immediately slow your pace to a very light jog. Don't feel like you have to force a certain speed. Try a week where you pay very close attention to pacing, and force yourself you slow down each time you start breathing too hard. If you run your first two cycles faster and slow down for your third, that's fine! I usually run on a treadmill so my pace is forced, but when I run outside- that last jog, people out for lesuirely walks are passing me. Its OK! Getting through the program is simply about doing it, you can work on speed later.

As for your shin splints- I used to run hurdles in track and that KILLED my shins. So much so that I gave up running for 10 years. The most important things you can do are calf stretches and shin-strengthening exercises. Stretch your calves daily, even rest days. Stretch them both before and after a run. Maybe even take a quick break during one of the walks to press back on each heel, keep the muscles loose. On your rest days, do a few of the following exercises:

• Sit on the floor with your legs in front of you, bent at the knee. With your right toe, draw the alphabet on the ground, moving at the ankle (not the knee). Repeat with your left toe.
  
  
• Sit on an elevated platform with a weighted bucket hanging off your toe. Lift your foot up and down, bending at the ankle. Do 8-10 reps on each foot, 2 or 3 times according to your ability. You can increase reps and sets as you build strength.
  
  
• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, hands at your sides or on your hips. Extend your right foot and touch your heel to the ground, with your ankle flexed, keeping your toes up in the air. Bring your right foot back, and repeat with your left foot.
  
  Do one or two of those exercises every day, stretch your calves, and you should notice your shin splints going away. If they don't, switch to the elliptical for a few weeks while you continue to do the exercises- you may need to build shin strength before getting into a high-impact workout like running.
  
  Once you get your shin splints under control and work on pacing, you should be ready to head into week 2. Just keep in mind that you can work through the program at your own pace, and you don't have to be ashamed of repeating a day or week. Just don't give up. Keep pushing to the best of your ability, but if it actually is too hard, or you're physically hurting yourself (like worsening your shin splints, which can turn into fractures), then there is absolutely nothing wrong with stepping back for a week and working on improving your overall health. I'd recommend adding some strength training into your routine, maybe on rest days. It doesn't have to be anything crazy- start lifting 5 pound dumbells for 2 sets of 8 repetitions. Do a Google search for exercises that work a certain part of the body. I personally feel like my arms have too much flab hanging down, so I work on my triceps. I also like having a toned butt, so I work my glutes. Pick a section you want to work on, google some simple exercises for those muslces, and pick your favorite exercise. Building some muscle and gaining strength will keep you motivated even if you have to cut back on the running to heal your shins. I love working my biceps because those muscles seem to grow the fastest! Within a week of doing arm curls, you can feel a difference when you flex.
  
  The basic point is don't give up. I know it can feel daunting when you have so many problems in your way. But I can promise you, once you work on your shins a little, stretch your calves a little, work on your pacing a little, and switch your diet up a little, you're going to breeze through week 2. And you will feel amazing beyond words when that happens. It will be worth ALL the time and energy. It will motivate you to push through week 3, all the way to running that 5K for the first time. Think about how it will feel when you finish running over 3 miles. You will be on top of the world, and everything you've needed to work through will just prove how much stronger you are.

Sure, I generally listen to fantasy style books so it might not be to everyone's taste. If so try /r/fantasy for some great threads of lists of audio books if your interested.

I listen to Terry Pratchett books (plenty of info on where to start with these on the web but I always recommend the guards books ) when I'm walking or jogging because when I start laughing it doesn't mess me up as much. Sometimes Ill slip in an "Iron Druid Chronicles" book by Kevin Hearne these are still light enough to let you enjoy your surroundings and are great for outdoors stuff because there is lots of nature waffle :D

for running I try to stick with something that draws me in like the Dresden files by Jim Butcher. or anything by Brandon Sanderson his stuff tends to jump character perspectives from one chapter to another so you find you run through a chapter to get back to find out what happens. Well I do anyway.

I listen to a large spectrum of stuff really but my core library is Fantasy so here is a list I prepared for a friend earlier in the year Hope it helps:

Books List

• Literally anything by “Guy Gavriel Kay”
  but mainly “Under Heaven”(Asian theme beautiful book), “River of stars” (semi sequel like a thousand years later) “The Lions of Al Rasan”. Most of his books are connected and there is this thing called the “Fionavar Tapestry” that connects them. His books can also be considered stand alone.
  
  
• Under Heaven
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Heaven-Guy-Gavriel-Kay/dp/0007342101/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421678636&sr=1-1&keywords=under+heaven+guy+gavriel+kay
  
  
• River of Stars
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/River-Stars-Guy-Gavriel-Kay/dp/0007521936/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y
  
  
• The Lions of Al-Rassan
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lions-Al-Rassan-Guy-Gavriel-Kay/dp/0007342063/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421678693&sr=1-5&keywords=guy+gavriel+kay
  
  
• Tigana
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tigana-Guy-Gavriel-Kay/dp/0007342047/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421678693&sr=1-4&keywords=guy+gavriel+kay
  
  
• Promise of blood
  Best use of gunpowder and magic I’ve ever seen it works really well kinda like a “Mistborn” magic system. (If you haven't read mistborn you might want to its another Brandon Sanderson series) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Promise-Blood-Book-Powder-trilogy/dp/0356502007/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421677263&sr=8-3&keywords=powder+mage
  
  
• Mistborn
  Really cool Magic system that revolves around swallowing Metals and “burning” them for access to their powers.
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Final-Empire-Mistborn-Book-One/dp/0575089911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421677588&sr=8-1&keywords=mistborn
  
  
• Bloodsong
  Classic young lad raised by crazy monk types turns into renegade general / gladiator type trope but with an interesting magic system that guides him.
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Song-Book-Ravens-Shadow/dp/0356502481/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421677442&sr=8-1&keywords=bloodsong
  
  
• Rivers of London books
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rivers-London-1-Ben-Aaronovitch/dp/0575097582/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421677738&sr=8-1&keywords=rivers+of+london
  Metropolitan police have a secret devision that deels with spooky stuff that stems from the time of Isaac Newton. Has some interesting inner city London stuff with Newtonian magic and river gods and avatars of stuff.
  
  
• The Painted Man (The Demon Cycle, Book 1) [Also called “The warded man”]
  Humans are a primitive people living in small isolated towns and require wards painted on their houses to keep them safe from demons that rampage each night. This young lad is then forced to survive in the wild one night and decides he would rather fight than cower in fear. HE then seeks out a fabled tribe of demon fighting warriors and wants to join up with em etc. Pretty good a little dark at times.
  
• http://www.amazon.co.uk/Painted-Man-Demon-Cycle-Book/dp/0007492545/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421677832&sr=8-1&keywords=warded+man
  
  
• The Dresden Files
  Slow building but a great series that everyone ends up recommending. Dresden is a modern day Wizard / Private Investigator. Carries a revolver and a staff etc battles the dark forces of the world and starts a few wars with spooky gangs as you do.
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Storm-Front-Dresden-Files-Book/dp/0356500276/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421678098&sr=1-1&keywords=dresden+files
  
  
• Iron druid chronicles
  Bit of a guilty pleasure this one I love ancient mythology and modern day wise assery so this hits the perfect combo of no higher brain function required tuning out on the bus good natured talking dog companion nonsense. plus there are like 9 of em
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hounded-Druid-Chronicles-Kevin-Hearne/dp/0356501191/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421678198&sr=1-1&keywords=iron+druid+book+1
  
  
  
  

I don't have the armband anymore. It wasn't spectacular looking and I am fine with my phone in my pocket. Since I don't have it I am not sure about the size, but Nexus 6 is a big phone, I doubt it will fit.

For me, regular earbuds never always fall out, the in-ear models only stay in if I push in in to where my ears start to hurt. Because of that I always use something with a hook or a band. I had the http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-PMX-685i-Neckband-Headphones/dp/B0094R4Q6Y/ before this, but the wire started to annoy me. So I started looking for something:

• Doesn't fall out and no in-ear hurt
  
• Since I'm using it mainly outside in traffic nothing noise cancelling. Anything on/over-ear was pretty much out fore me.
  
• Bluetooth wireless
  
• Volume / Pause / Next track control
  
• Decent battery life
  
• Good reviews
  
• Sweat resistant
  
  I ended up on this. You can twist the ear pieces a little bit for best fit and you can't really feel you're wearing it. The neckband is really flexible (unlike the sennheiser i had before), which makes it easy to store and also helps comfort a bit. Sound quality is good.
  
  If it is worth the money, that comes down to what you biggest priorities are. For me I couldn't find much that compares and meets my demands. I don't regret buying it.
  
  Jabra makes some models but the get pretty poor reviews:
  http://www.amazon.com/Jabra-SPORT-Bluetooth-Stereo-Headset/dp/B005FVNHBI/
  http://www.amazon.com/Jabra-SPORT-Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B00DV9O0GC/
  
  Plantronics has a cheaper model, but it needs their custom charger (BackBeat FIT has micro USB) and I don't like the design as much: http://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-BackBeat-903-Headset-Packaging/dp/B00428N9OK/

Try the seated v stretch and see how that feels. Do NOT try to drop to the floor like the photo shows, but gradually ease yourself forward a little at a time each time you exhale, supporting your torso with your hands on the floor. Sometimes tight "hamstrings" are actually tight adductors, and this stretch will loosen those up.

You may want to invest in a foam roller, too. They're very helpful if you have chronically tight hamstrings. Or quads. Or IT bands...okay, they're just the greatest stretching tool ever!

Sooo I guess I should make a summary post to accompany this very sweaty selfie!

This is my 4th attempt at C25K. Usually I make it to somewhere along week 4 before life gets in the way or whatever. This time though, I signed up for a race (this Sunday!) when I was on week 3, and I think having that deadline helped me to keep going.

I ran the first 6 weeks on the treadmill before bringing it outside. I found outside running to be MUCH easier than treadmill running.

In addition to C25K, I'm a dance fitness instructor, so I did have some basic cardio endurance before starting, but it is a completely different type of workout. I also swam when I was in high school and we had to "run" 2.4 miles a few times a week, but most of us walked a decent amount and told our coach that "swimmers don't run."

I picked up a LOT of gear over the past few weeks. None of it was essential, but all was helpful. A Running Buddy pouch to hold keys/bus pass/phone, some wireless earbuds, a few nice bras, decent socks (prevented blisters- were important actually), and a few clearance things from Nike, UA, and Old Navy. But in my defense, the bras I had were 5+ years old and basically garbage, and I've been losing weight, so I needed to downsize my active wear anyway.

The last few weeks, I haven't really been following the trainer. I just run til I don't feel like running anymore, and so I did hit 3.1 a few times before today. But I've never had faster than a 10:20 pace, so being under 30 minutes today was exciting!

Next up: /r/b210k

I use these, and I find them great:

http://smile.amazon.com/Sennheiser-MX-680-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B0035JKJ40/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1406251532&sr=8-3&keywords=sennheiser+sports+earbuds

I'm generally not a fan of earbuds at all, but these are comfortable, stay put, sound good, and still allow me to hear things going on around me.

I'm not a big guy but I sweat like one. I don't do well in the heat. Oddly enough I signed up for my first 5k that is on July 4th. Haha

Sam's club/Amazon sells them. They are an energy drink mix.

https://www.amazon.com/Zipfizz-Healthy-Energy-Drink-Lemonade/dp/B007R1RNUU/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1525804704&sr=8-1&keywords=zipfizz

I got an arm strap (Amazon Link) for my iPhone 4S a while ago, and it seems to work well. What I had a hard time finding was some headphones that wouldn't be escaping from my ears so easily... I probably bought and tried at least 6 "sports" models, and finally settled with these Sennheiser/adidas branded ones (Another amazon link). I was running with the volume control thingy on my hand, mostly because I just didn't try to clip it anywhere, but still my main concern was not having them falling out of my ears. My ears are rather small, so YMMV.

Those purchases were a while ago, which just reminds me of how long I've been putting this off... so there may be newer models of those items. Just wanted to share them in case they may help anyone on their gear-spending decisions.

[https://www.amazon.com/Plantronics-BackBeat-Fit-Bluetooth-Headphones/dp/B00KJLMBQQ/ref=sr_1_21?s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1499216237&sr=1-21]

I have these and they are awesome. Around $80 though but it comes with an arm strap too. Typically, I hate running with my phone strapped to my arm but this one works really well and doesn't chafe me!


Edited to add - Don't get these: [https://www.amazon.com/Motorola-S10-HD-Bluetooth-Stereo-Headphones/dp/B004QWOSLK/ref=pd_cp_107_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004QWOSLK&pd_rd_r=BQAGNDN83A2KVMESAS6S&pd_rd_w=6gVJV&pd_rd_wg=PjzsT&psc=1&refRID=BQAGNDN83A2KVMESAS6S]

They work fine and sound quality is decent but it pinches the tops of the ears after a while. If you plan on running for more than 30 minutes, these are not the ones for you.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00PUO6KCI/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o1_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I love mine! And I have a huge phone and have not had any issues whatsoever.

Why/where are you chafing?

Chaffing is almost 100% preventable. Are you wearing anything cotton? Stop. 100% Polyester will almost always prevent chaffing. If that doesn't stop the chaffing, you can try tighter fitting clothes or I personally love Body Glide. The 0.45 oz bottle will last quite a while. You just apply it before the run, wherever you think you'll chafe, and it helps prevent it!

The best headphones I've seen recommended over and over here are the MEElectronics Sport-Fi M6 and the Sennheiser PMX 685i Adidas

I got these when breaking in my brand new sneakers! They're amazing.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019H3L9Q4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Body glide works well too! :)

LG Tone Pro's... Wouldn't recommend it, the sweat just destroyed them. They make a sport pair, which might be better. I'm looking at these for my next purchase: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KJLMBQQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=C0S21L3TCGN3&coliid=IWVOUU4P27Z88&psc=1