From what I have read there is no more benefit except for enjoyment and that usually comes with season. Your muscles need down days to rest and repair in the beginning.

Today will be w1d2 for me and my jogging partner....excited but I am still a bit sore. Looking forward to it still though.

W1D2 down.

Rose you are doing such a great job! 25 minutes is such a huge accomplishment....I am glad you are proud of yourself because you should be. You are inspiring me!

Jackie congrats on completing day 2!!! And knowing I've inspired you has just made my day! I just completed W7D2 and I feel amazing! It was hard this morning and I may have to repeat W7 but I don't mind! I am loving my new athletic abilities! :)

Curious Rose...have you taken your measurements and found that your body has changed quite a bit? Have you seen yourself changing clothes sizes?

Jackie, I did take my measurements on June 5th and then again on July 3rd. In those 4 weeks I lost 1.5 inches from my waist and 2 inches from my hips! I definitely see a difference. I have a pair of size 16 jeans that I simply cannot wear. They are just huge on me now and don't look good anymore. People have noticed the weight loss and I've only lost 8.6 pounds in the last 7 weeks.

I had lost close to this same amount of weight from February of this year, when I weighed 205 pounds, to April when I dopped down to 198. The difference between those first 7 pounds is I did no exercise at all. I lost the weight through calorie restriction alone and no one noticed a weight loss. I felt a little better in my clothes but my body did not change as much as it has now, doing the c25k 3Xweek plus the 30 Day Shred 3Xweek. It's a total of 2 hours of exercise per week, definitely not that difficult to squeeze into a regular work week.

Hope this helps!

*Update* I am doing 1 mile (4 laps on a 1/4 mile track) 3 times a week. Each lap I run 1/4 lap and power walk the rest. So, in total I'm running 1/4 mile and 3/4 mile power walking. The running is really hard and the walking is a breeze. I'm hoping to gradually improve. Keeping my calories at 1800 or less per day. Love my new running shoes. 8)

W1D3 done...but it was soooo hot! I struggled with the last set of running but we did it.

Rose...that is very encouraging and it sounds like you are doing great and seeing results regardless of the scale. I love the hear stuff like that...our bodies tell a better and more truthful story than the scale. Thanks for sharing.

You guys are doing amazing!

I'm about to start running again. My back still hurts a bit but I feel I'm ready to start trying to run a bit. I'm going to start at week 3 and see how it goes. I may just do one day of week three, one day of week four and so on and see how much endurance I've lost in the past three weeks. It is so frustrating to have lost all that effort I put into this program.

i just started the couch to 5k program- lightly adding in jogging into my daily walking routine 3/week.

I am on the third week- i am running 6 minutes and walking 24- but man...it is starting to hurt; shins are killing me.

also the thought that i could run 3 miles scares me a bit- it doesnt seem like it could happen...?!

Avelina, good for you for getting right back on the c25k horse! I hope you feel back to normal sooner than expected!

Kaitlin, believe me I never ever thought I'd be able to run 3 miles. My whole life I thought running was awful and I couldn't understand how anyone could enjoy it... but then I started power walking and one thing led to another and here I am on Week 7 of the Couch To 5k program and I am LOVING it! Just try it and don't put any pressure on yourself. If you don't feel ready to move to the next week, repeat the week you are currently doing. I repeated Week 6 and I might repeat Week 7 too.

A very funny thing happened to me this morning! I was running day 3 of week 7, so 25 minutes of running, and I use an iPhone application to run to. Well, when there was 4 minutes of running left my phone rang and I answered it only to say that I was running and would call the person back. The phone call must have lasted 10 seconds, so I didn't miss a beat. I kept running and running... and running and thought that this was the longest 4 minutes of my life. I was thinking that there was no way I could move on to week 8 because these last 4 minutes of my 25-minute run felt like they were going on forever. Finally I became convinced something was up so I looked at my iPhone and wouldn't you know it the Couch To 5k app was on pause! So I had actually been running for 11 minutes! No wonder those 4 minutes seemed so long. In the end I ended up running for a full 31 minutes continuously! So I guess I am ready for Week 8.... BRING IT! :)