Well, I just signed up for my first 5K. I am a non-runner, but need to get my butt in gear. I figured that the best kind of motivation is to actually sign up for a race....eeeek! The race is in the middle of April. I think that 3 months should be enough time for me to train up for it. Any tips or ideas/plans for my training would be VERY welcome! wish me luck!!!

I recommend the Couch to 5k program. You can download free podcasts, by an ipod add or google it on Cool Running. It is what got me running so if I can do it, anyone can!

Yep Couch to 5k, if it increases too fast for you just do over a week... Good luck...

Join the Running through January thread for more motivation...

woooohooo!

Good for you! Another vote for C25k. I'm doing my first 5k in April!

Welcome to the C25K converts! I'm doing the conservative version because of my ancient knees (but I'm finding it too conservative). Also, I realize that running might never be possible for me because of my knees, but race walking is a definitely possibility!

I just finished my first 5k this morning. I didn't do any specific program, just tried to have a faster time everytime i went on the treadmill. I finished in 48:14. My next one is March 13th. I think I am going to try the couch to 5k program for it and see if I can improve my time to 40mins or below. So yeah, I would go with some kind of program if I were you. It was really hard, but once I saw the finish line and sprinted to it, I felt AMAZING and so accomplished. Good luck to you.

I just signed up for a 5K in mid-April as well! I'm hoping that having a specific goal in sight will keep my butt in gear. (I"m going to do a modified C25K.)