Hello,
I want to run a 5k Oct 20th, but I am pretty much a beginner runner. Is it possible? Can anyone please suggest a running schedule? Currently, I am doing run/walks as suggested by Coach Adam.
1 Like
It’s definitely possible, and I’d encourage you to look up “Couch to 5K” programs. Runners World has one that looks reasonable at a quick glance.
Oh my goodness I am so excited for you! YES it is doable. ^^
There are countless resources online for “couch to 5k” plans.
I am personally a fan of RunningExplained podcast and she has a free 5K plan.
There are lots of other reputable plans out there too.
^^ Happy Running and Welcome!
As someone who is still relatively new to running and has taken the same journey not that long ago and much later in life than most, here are some of my reflections. It is not how I did it, but instead the advise old me would have given younger me with the benefit of hindsight.
The first question to ask yourself is “why” you want to run a 5k.
If the answer is that it is just a bucket list type of thing where you are looking to challenge yourself but don’t really have any continued interest in it, then I would say just try to run about three days a week between now and then, using whatever strategy feels most comfortable (run/walk, jog, etc.). Just getting 6-10 miles in a week, regardless of the pace, will almost certainly allow you to run without stopping for a full 3 miles a couple months from now.
If the answer is that you want to use running as a vehicle for health and fitness, and anticipate it being a new lifestyle, this is what I learned. Run as much as you can. Keep it entirely slow and easy for the first few months. Don’t even worry about pace. Try and make it so that you are running at least every other day. The more consistent and more frequent you do it, the easier it gets. If you skip for several days, it always feels awful to restart. If you aren’t feeling motivated at any given time to get your run it, follow the ten minute rule. Commit to running for 10 minutes. After that you allow yourself to quit if you still don’t feel like continuing. This mindset helps you get out the door, and typically once you reach the 10 minute mark you will choose to continue more often than not. It is better to run 3 miles on a day you planned on running 6, than to bail completely because you couldn’t stomach running a full 6. It is better to run for three miles per day for four days than to run 12 miles every four days. Listen to your body. You’ll have an intuitive sense of what is just soreness, and what is injurous. Don’t flaunt with injurous pain. Warm up before your runs. Do some legs swings and lunges. Even just a couple minutes is huge in prepping your body and joints for the activity to come. It is the single biggest thing you can do to avoid injury, and injury is the single biggest thing that will come between you and your goals. If you know when you would like to run, get everything setup ahead of time. Prep your clothes and shoes at the door so that they are ready to go. Work towards finding a pace you can maintain continuously if you are not already there. Come up with games that help set the stage, such as run to one power pole, walk to the next. Then run two and walk one, etc. until you are comfortable chugging along at an even pace. Run at a conversational pace. If you can’t sing or carry on a conversation with someone because you are breathing too hard, then you are going too fast. After about 6 months of the above, you will find that it eventually becomes automatic. The running just feels easier. Your easy pace will progressively get faster without any increased effort. It morphs into a habit, so motivation becomes less of a factor. Your muscles, joints, tendons, lungs, and vascular system all become conditioned and achieve the endurance needed to make it such that you feel good after your runs instead of drained or tired. In “runners speak”, you have developed an aerobic base. It is the foundation for which any further distance running goals are built upon. Don’t stress about form at all. Focus on two things. Land with your feet beneath your center of gravity and run with as little possible tension as possible. If you do the later, the center of gravity thing almost happens as a consequence. Any tension, whether it be in your neck, arms, legs, shins, core, etc. just causes you to fatigue. Staying “full body” loose and landing under your center of gravity seems to lead to most of the other common form cues happening naturally without even consciously focusing on them. Throw in some strides at the end of your runs. Three or four of these go a long way towards acclimating your body to increases in speed without being physically taxing.
Once you have made it that far, all the more complicated stuff starts coming into play. Speed work, form, time goals, race specific workouts, long runs, lactate thresholds, VO2max, etc. There is little point in complicating things with this stuff until you have the aerobic base to benefit from it.
With regards to the “beginner” running plans, the real value isn’t in the exact content itself, but that it is in fact a plan. Having a plan, regardless of the specifics, provides the structure to create consistency. Something that you can just mindlessly follow. It frees you from having to create your own expectations. It makes it more likely that you will stick with it. Pick the one you are the most likely to stick with.
Best of luck!
4 Likes
Hi @Lydia_Michael, I wanted to check in and see how the run/walk program is progressing for you and your brother. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to chat during the first XC workout, but you’re welcome to come to do the warmup and strength exercises on either side of your run/walk workout for the day. Hope you’re working your way up in running minutes!
Thank you so much! You’re awesome for doing this! I appreciate it. I have been flooded recently but I have been training on an treadmill so far.
Good! Glad you’re sticking to it, and if things lighten up, we look forward to having you join us more at workouts.