Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

There is a lot of information in books and on line about what to do and how to do it if you are one of the many people wanting to start running for the first time, or making a return after a long break with a view to a race.

It can be bewildering, with an overload of programmes all saying similar things. So how to choose? I believe there are some practical things that can be done to construct your very own training program.

Are you ready?

Before doing anything, fill in a PARQ form to find out whether you need to visit a doctor before starting training.

Planning

Take time out to ask some fundamental questions:-

• How much time can I initially take out of my week to run?
• Have I discussed this with my partner or anyone else that may be affected by my new venture ?
• What am I hoping to achieve?
• Do I have a goal, short and long term, no matter how trivial it may appear to other people?
• Where am I going to train?
• Is there someone to train with?
• When should I look at a race?

At this point the ground work is taking shape and will mean you are much more likely to, not only start, but keep on going. Now a couple more questions:-

• Have I got a decent pair of running shoes and some reasonable kit?
• Do I have a diary to log my activity and improvement?
• Am I ready to formulate my programme?

Going Out for the First Time

Everyone’s requirement will be different so follow these tips and they will take you towards your first 5k:-

• Choose a route that is safe and easily mapped for distance. It should be a maximum of 5k.
• Walk it. You now know the ground you will have to cover in your eventual race and how it made you feel.

This route should be your longest distance of the week . If, in your planning, you had time for two more sessions in the week that will be really useful.

For absolute beginners take half the distance you are looking to race and plan to do a walk-jog programme (or even a walk) twice in the week. Getting in the habit of training regular is as important as what you do during training to begin with.

Walking and jogging your way to fitness is a recognised programme but as every single person is different here are the fundamentals:

• The programme should take about 10-12 weeks up to race day.
• To begin with always have a 5 minute brisk walk as a warm up.
• If everything feels ok try a 30 sec to 1 minute jog, always stopping if you feel distressed or the onset of injury.
• When jogging, if you can’t talk because of the effort go back to walking (you will learn more about the talk test)
• Now walk briskly for a minute and repeat as you feel capable.
• Be sensible  with how you are feeling, remember you have 3 months to build up to your race.
• Always finish with a 5 minute walk to help you feel less sore the following day.
• Learn to do static stretches at the end, they definitely help.

So the initial programme for 2-4 weeks should look something like this:-

Sunday 5k- 10 minute warm up walking, 5 x I minute jogging with 1 minute walk in between , 10-15 minute walk to finish.
Tuesday- 2.5 to 3k- 5 minute warm walking warm up, 5 x 1 minute jogging with 1 minute walk in between with 5 minutes walk to finish.
Thursday- same as Tuesday

Next Step

As there are big differences in people’s fitness and how quickly they progress these are the sensible options for the next step.

As and when you feel ready , on one of the shorter runs try linking the first two efforts together ie a 2 minute effort followed by a 1 minute walk. Hopefully it is becoming obvious what you are looking to achieve and that is eventually to jog these distances by linking up the efforts and doing less walking, some will get their quickly and some not. But remember, you will get there.

Towards Race Day

The last 4 weeks could look like this:-
Sunday- brisk 5 minute walk warm up, jog 4-5k at 12 minutes per mile (or around 7 minutes per kilometre)
Tuesday - jog 2.5k at 11-12 minutes per mile
Thursday - jog 3k as Tuesday

Race day you should feel well prepared and confident you will get round, even if you are rightfully feeling nervous. When you have completed the race and get the buzz you will hopefully be looking to move on and improve.

I look forward to helping you with the next stage.

Click here to move on to the intermediate 5K training programme.