Fitness Fiend: The Running Plan

I have never run more than here or there in my life.  I'm so out of shape, but I know that a) I need the cardio and b) I want to run a half marathon next year!  I'm thinking I may run a few 5Ks, too to keep me on some good goals.  But for now my aim is to run a half marathon in exactly one year.

As a result, I started looking at some training schedules.  It seems that I would need 3 months leading up to the race to train, so in the meantime I'm going to work up to running in general and then train for a 5K.  I'm picking the worst time of the year (fall moving into winter) to start training, but that's okay.  I'm going to do it anyways!


Here's my goal...use the training guide outlined at Running Planet to get myself up and running in the next 8 weeks.  This will get me running 2 miles comfortably.  So by the end of this year, I should be comfortable running 2 miles.  Good goal for January 1, eh?  Then I will do some strength training and biking interspersed with my running for the coldest and grossest months of the winter.  I'm thinking I'll probably run 2 days per week with the other 3 days of workouts being either stationary biking or strength training to try to tone up my muscles some.  So then in the beginning of March, I'll start a 6-week 5k training plan.  This will put me ready to run a 5k in mid-April or early May at a time when there are plenty of 5Ks around to run!  I'll see about running a few throughout the summer and then will start training for my half marathon by August.  So that's the plan!! Any recommendations for some charity 5Ks in May and June are definitely welcome!

Week one of the training guide to start running referenced above is the following:

Monday - Rest. You will have two rest days per week. If you feel you need more rest days, take them. In these early stages you do not want to do more than your body is ready for.

Tuesday - Walk for 30 minutes at a comfortable pace. Since this is your first workout, take it nice and easy. Walk at a pace that gets your heart rate up and makes you breath heavier than normal, but you should no be out of breath. 

Wednesday - Walk for 30 minutes at a comfortable pace. Same workout as yesterday.

Thursday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and then jog for 30 seconds. Follow that sequence for the entire workout. This is your first taste of running. Do not run for more than 30 seconds at a time. Run at a pace that is fairly comfortable.

Friday - Rest. Let your body recover from its first encounter with running.

Saturday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 30 seconds. This is the same workout as Thursday. Keep your pace comfortable.

Sunday - Walk/Jog for 30 minutes. You make a slight increase in the jogging interval here. Walk for 5 minutes and jog for 1 minute. You will start making consistent increases in the time of your running intervals.

So my training will start Tuesday, October 23! Here we go!