But I overcame the laziness (HA! Take that, Bruno Mars!) and after a month, ran my first ever 5K race. However, I had a little accident a week ago which left me unable to do my usual routine. Haven’t had a decent run in 7 days, so technically I am in one might call a ‘slump’. Just yesterday, the doctor gave me a go signal that I can carry on with running and tried to on that evening. Oh boy, it felt like I haven’t run in ages. The dreadful has happened: I am back to square one.
As the diligent and resourceful blogger that I am (wink), I have scoured the world wide web to look for a training regimen I could follow to get me back on track. I stumbled upon Cool Running’s Couch-to-5K Running Plan. Read through it and it’s a pretty good training plan. Decided to follow it and put a few tweaks to the plan.
Basically, I have shortened it to 7 weeks (instead of 9) and do the routine between 30-45 minutes 4-5 times a week (instead of 3). I have also incorporated short distance running on weekdays and long ones for weekends. If you are a first time runner, you can try this training plan with me, because if I can do it, so can you!
))The first step to this plan is COMMITMENT. The start of everything is the hardest, but you have to decide that NOW is the best time. Saying YES to this training plan is already a fourth of the battle. Decide to commit to begin with it and stick through it and half of the battle is won.
For the next few weeks, this is the routine you and I need to follow:
**Do stretching each and every time you begin your training**
**Alternate run days with your rest days. (Eg. Mon-run, Tue-rest, Wed-run, Thu-rest, Fri-run, Sat-rest, Sun-run)
WEEK ONE: DAYS 1, 2, & 3: Start with a 5-minute brisk walk for warm-up, then alternate 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking. Bring your total minutes to 30 minutes. (You do 15 rounds of walking and 10 rounds of jogging, ALTERNATELY.) DAY 4: Do the same routine for 45 minutes.
WEEK TWO: DAYS 1, 2, & 3: Start with a 5-minute brisk walk for warm-up, then alternate 90 seconds of running with 2 minutes of walking. Bring your total minutes to 30 minutes. DAY 4: Do the same routine for 45 minutes.
WEEK THREE: DAYS 1, 2, & 3: Start with a 5-minute brisk walk for warm-up, then alternate 2 minutes of running with 60 seconds of walking. Bring your total minutes to 30 minutes. DAY 4: Do the same routine for 45 minutes.
WEEK FOUR: (This is tricky, but you’ll get it) DAYS 1, 2, & 3: Start with a 5-minute brisk walk for warm-up, then alternate 2 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking with 3 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking. (2 min run, 1 min walk, 3 min run, 2 min walk x 5) Bring your total minutes to 40 minutes. DAY 4: Run/walk freely with a 3K distance.
WEEK FIVE: DAYS 1, 2, & 3: Start with a 5-minute brisk walk for warm-up, then alternate 3 minutes of running and 1.5 minutes of walking with 5 minutes of running and 2.5 minutes of walking. (3 min run, 1.5 min walk, 5 min run, 2.5 min walk x 3) Bring your total minutes to 36 minutes. DAY 4: Run/walk freely with a 3K distance.
WEEK SIX: DAYS 1, & 2: Start with a 5-minute brisk walk for warm-up, then alternate 5 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking with 8 minutes of running and 3 minutes of walking. (5 min run, 2 min walk, 8 min run, 3 min walk x 2) Bring your total minutes to 36 minutes. DAYS 3 & 4: Alternate running for 15 minutes with walking for 3 minutes x 2. Bring your total minutes to 36 minutes.
WEEK SEVEN: DAYS 1 & 2: Start with a 5-minute brisk walk for warm-up, then alternate 10 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking with 15 minutes of running and 3 minutes of walking. Bring your total minutes to 35 minutes. DAYS 3 & 4: Alternate running for 20 minutes with walking for 3 minutes x 2. Bring your total minutes to 46 minutes.
In following this training plan, keep the following in mind:
- Assess yourself. None of these weeks will be easy, but you have to keep trying and trying. If you fail a week, don’t hesitate to repeat it. It doesn’t matter if you fall off schedule, as long as you finish the whole plan.
- Take it easy. You will feel terrible body aches especially at the beginning, so take two successive rest days if you must. You will also feel that you can run in successive days sometimes. If you are fit, then it might be okay. But if you are on the heavy side, take precaution and watch out for injuries.
- Stretching is very important to prevent injuries. Don’t forget to do this before beginning any workout.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
- And most importantly… HAVE FUN! Load up your iPod with songs that can carry you through the long runs and have a friend do this program with you.
)- TFR
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(Originally posted at http://thefatrunner.tumblr.com/post/14208945032/couch25k)
