Health and Fitness: 5K Race Training for Beginners

Hey everyone;

I could definately use some extra exercise and I'm sure many others are in the same boat, so here's the newest fitness goal. Sign up for and run a 5K. This turns out to be a little over three miles, which depending on the course is most often completely do-able in a couple of months of consistent training. As always, a healthy diet high in good protein, whole grains, and vegatables while avoiding foods high in fats, salts, and sugars will help with endurance, and always drink lots of water. Also, remember to stretch before and after your workout. Attached is the training program as suggested by Christine Luff at About.com. Adjust it to meet your needs, but it's really straight forward. 

Good luck with your fitness goals everyone, and have a fantastic day!

5K Training Program for Beginners

By Christine Luff at About.com. Link 

This schedule is geared toward runners who can run 2 miles comfortably and can run 4 to 5 days per week.

Notes about the schedule:

Mondays and Fridays: Mondays and Fridays are rest days. Rest is critical to your recovery and injury prevention efforts, so don't ignore rest days. Your muscles actually build and repair themselves during your rest days. So if you run every day without taking days off, you won’t see much improvement.

Tuesdays and Saturdays: After you warm up, run at a comfortable pace for the designated mileage. Make sure you cool down and stretch after your run.

Wednesdays: Do a cross-training (CT) activity (biking, swimming, elliptical trainer) at easy to moderate effort for 40 to 45 minutes.

Thursdays: These runs should be done at your 5K race pace. If you're not sure what your 5K pace is, run at a speed that you could sustain for 3.1 miles. Make sure you do a warm-up before your run and cool-down after.

Sundays: This is an active recovery day. Your run should be at an easy (EZ), comfortable pace, which helps loosen up your muscles. Or, you can do a run/walk combination.

Note: 
You can switch days to accommodate your schedule. If you're busy on another day and prefer to workout on a Monday or Friday, it's fine to swap a rest day for a run day.

5K Advanced Beginner Training Schedule

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	Rest	1.5 m run	CT	1.5 m run (race pace)	Rest	2 m run	30 min EZ
2	Rest	2 m run	CT	1 m run (race pace)	Rest	2.5 m run	30 min EZ
3	Rest	2 mi run	CT	1.5 m run (race pace)	Rest	2.5 m run	30 min EZ
4	Rest	2.5 m run	CT	1.5 m run (race pace)	Rest	3 m run	35-40 min EZ
5	Rest	3 m run	CT	1.5 m run (race pace)	Rest	3.5 m run	35-40 min EZ
6	Rest	3.5 m run	CT	1.5 m run (race pace)	Rest	4 m run	35-40 min EZ
7	Rest	3 m run	CT	1.5 m run (race pace)	Rest	4 m run	40 min EZ
8	Rest	3 m run	CT or Rest	2 m run	Rest	Rest	5K Race!