beginner's running program
Running can be one of the best ways to get fit and healthy in a relatively short period of time. The important thing about beginning any running program is to train at a level that your body will be able to handle so that you get stronger, fitter and healthier. The biggest reason people fail on a training plan is because they either run too much or are running too fast. Make sure when you start out you pace is easy and conversational. Listen to your body. If it feels too quick, it probably is.
Start out running a distance that you know will be easy and work up from there. A ten to fifteen minute run is a great time to start with. Increase that “base run” by five minutes every seven to ten days.
Incorporate walking into your routine to get more time exercising. Dr. Philip Maffetone, an endurance expert, recommends using a five to fifteen minute walk at the beginning and end of your run for a warm up/cool down and to add minutes to your aerobic workout. Just make sure this is a continuous effort with no rest in-between the run and cool down walk.
Lastly, remember the formula WORK+REST=FITNESS. This is the key to getting faster and fitter with the best long term results. If you overwork you will get tired and won't get the most out of your body. If you rest too much the body will lose fitness
Beginner and Intermediate 5k
- Have a Goal, Before you start any exercise program, especially running, you should have a goal. For some people its a certain time, or place, others just want to lose a couple pounds or just finish. Always remember what your goal is and use it for motivation.
- Sign up for your race early so you are committed to your goal and better yet guaranteed a shirt or other hand out.
- Run your own pace. Runs should be easy and conversational. You should feel better after a run than you did before. Work on being more patient. Whenever you have a day or two that feels hard, you should always follow it with at least 2 days of slower/easier runs.
- Be flexible, but consistent in your training; meaning if it snows one day and it seems like it would be detrimental to your running, take the day off and run the next day. But be consistent in how many days you are supposed to run in a week.
- Run for Time, Instead of miles you can use minutes if you don't want to measure or estimate the distance of your running routes. For every 1 mile, substitute 10-12 minutes. This will make it so you don't focus on the distance.
- Keep a log so you can track your progress. Don't only write how far you ran, write how you felt, who you ran with, where you went. Make it almost like a diary.
- Find a Training Partner or group (Athletic Performance has various running groups), It always helps to have people to train with who are at similar abilities and are training for the same goal. It makes it more fun and harder to not run certain days.
- Always remember to listen to your body. Everybody is different and only you know how you feel. Just because the person you run with has progressed to 5 miles, doesn't mean you are ready.
- HAVE FUN! You won't continue to do it if you don't like running on some level. Find what you like about it.
The Plan:
We would recommend someone do at least a month or two of the Beginner's Running Program before they start, but the "Beginner 5K Plan" below is designed for the individual who wants to finish the 3.1 Mile race. The intermediate plan is for someone who knows they can finish a 5K and wants to improve their time.
Walks can be anywhere from 5-35 minutes.
your first marathon
Your First Marathon in 16 Weeks!
In order to do this plan you must be able to run 3-4 miles 4 times a week (If not, see Beginner’s Runners Program above and do for two months.)
Doing a race once every 4 weeks might be a good idea to get used to the race atmosphere and to increase your leg speed. Do them on a Saturday or Sunday with a good warm up and cool down to equal what your long (Sunday) run would have been for that week. This should not be done the week of the first 10 miler, the 12 miler, 16 miler, or the long 20 miler.
Walks can be anywhere from 5-35 minutes.
Some advice on your marathon weekend:
Practice everything you will do during the marathon, ie. what gels or drinks are they going to have on the race course, how does your body react to those? Don't do anything new on race day or the day before. It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement of the race expo and try the new recovery drink on the market. Try and resist and stick to what you know your body can tolerate. You will only make that mistake once!
Whether you are trying to run 2:15 or 6:00 make sure you don't go out too hard in your marathon. Use the first 3-6 miles of your marathon to ease into your pace. Start out a minute or two per mile slower than the pace you expect to run. Even Olympic medallists use this philosophy to help pace themselves.
workouts to take your running to that next level
Below are four examples of workouts that one could do if they wanted to take their running to that next level. We would recommend doing 1-2 years of base running (aerobic training) before someone moves on to the more faster and specific (anaerobic training) workouts. A solid base is the best way to stay injury free and to get faster over time. The workouts below will have their greatest benefits for races from 5K to 10 miles.
1. Long Run, A consistent long run is one of the best ways to stay fit and strong, even if you are only running 3-4 days a week. This should be an easy aerobic run that is built up over time. Work your way up to where you want the long run to be by 1 mile per week per long run. The long run should be about 20-40% of your total weekly mileage (example: if you run 50 miles a week, long run should be 10-14 miles.) Some people also like to use the equation that the long run is 3 times your ideal race distance (example: 5K runners should run 9-10 miles for their longest run.) This method can become very problematic, what if your ideal race is a mile or 10 miles, making your long run too short (3 miles) or too long (30 miles)?
2. Tempo Run, duration is 10-30 minutes, ideally 20-25 minutes. pace is 30 seconds per mile slower than your 10k race pace or about 1:00-1:30 per mile slower than your easy runs.
3. Long Intervals, These increase your bodies ability to run at a faster 10k pace for a longer period of time. Each interval should be 3-6 minutes in length with 2-4 minutes rest and repeat 3-6 times. Start these out at slower than 10K race pace and work down so the last interval is just slightly faster than race pace.
4. Short Intervals, For most people these provide the least amount of benefit. This helps increase your short term speed and natural leg speed. Length is 30 seconds to 2 minutes of about 1-2 miles of total hard running. Pace is mile to 5k race pace.
Always remember to keep your long and easy runs going. Don't substitute a hard day for an easy days if you took off easy days already in a week. Your everyday runs are your Base.
young runners training program
This training philosophy is based on a 2-3 day on and 1 day off training program for younger runners. All of us at Athletic Performance firmly believe that a drastic increase in mileage is unnecessary and is in fact harmful to the physical, mental, and emotional well being of younger runners. It should be you goal as a young runner to gradually increase both mileage and intensity as your running matures from year to year. Below is a suggested guideline for a training schedule. Always remember that consistency is the key to long-term success.
Age Group Mileage Amounts per week
(2-3 days of running followed by 1 day off)
1st year running or 10 years & under – 1 x 3 mile run a week with others of 2 miles
2nd & 3rd years running or 11&12 years - 1 x 4m run a week with others of 2-3m
4th year running or 13 years - 1 x 4.5-5m run a week with others of 3-4m
5th year running or 14 years - 1 x 5-6m run a week with others of 3-5m
Goal Setting
Every person, no matter what age should have goals for what they want to accomplish. Long-term goals are set for an event months or years in the future. Example of long term goals: becoming a teacher, going to a particular college, running a 5 minute mile, having perfect attendance at school or getting on the honor roll. Short-term goals are those for the current day or week ahead and usually help us reach a long-term goal. Example of short-term goals: make it to school on time today, get outside everyday this week and exercise, get a particular assignment done in school, get a B or better on a test.
Find a race you want to run. Set a Goal. Train for that goal.
From all of us at Athletic Performance, HAVE FUN!
