Does anyone know where I can get a running program to help me get ready for an upcoming 5K? I found some website with a free program designed for you depending on what your mile/5K time is and how long you have and what kind of race it is, but I didn't bookmark it...

Otherwise, does anyone have advice? Cos from here I'm having trouble with my running. I graduated the couch to 5K program and I can run for 30 minutes straights (or jog rather lol, my mile time is down to ~12:30). But now that I don't have a structured program, I find it hard to move up at all. The thought of increasing my time seems too hard, and I keep trying but after 30 minutes I'm like "ok I'm done!"

I have less than a month and at this point, I can only run a little over 2 miles. Maybe 2.5, but definitely not 3.1...

You could use the booklet we got in the meetings last week for WW 5K.

Search for the Couch to 5K program (C25K) on here - there are tons of posts about it. I think you can get the complete program at Coolrunning.com. Plenty of people have even made free podcasts you can download to listen to while you're training. Got me through my first 5k!

Hal Higdon

http://www.halhigdon.com/5K%20Training/index.htm

Jeff Galloway

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/5k.html

Cool Running
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/146.shtml

I've used them all. Probably like Galloway best.

HTH!
A.

But see, there's my problem! I've completed the couch to 5K. I can run the time but not the distance lol.

I need to be able to increase my time... preferably in a structured program, cos left to my own devices I run around like a chicken with my head cut off.

The only thing that sucks about the C25K is that it assumes you're going to be running at around a 10 minute/mile pace, which I don't. I run super slow, so I finished the program but I'm like "uhh what now?"

Well, I'm slow.

And that is why I liked Galloway. During the week, it was time based. Then on the weekend it was distance based, up to and past the distance of 3.1 miles. There's a few times there that it is 3.5 and 4 miles.

So you KNOW you can cover the 3.1 miles when the time comes.

Then I moved to higdon's beginner, intermediate and advanced. That got the speed going. (This was over several races, not just one).

A.

Miss Oodles,

You may want to research doing intervals. You sprint (or run faster) for a short period, then cool down to your regular jog, repeat. Also, working on stamina will improve your speed. If you can sort of make up your own c25k Masters program and aim for longer jogs followed by shorter walks, but doing it for an HOUR... that will make a straight 30 minute jog much easier, thus improving your overall time.

Maybe doing something OTHER than jogging/running will increase your stamina and endurance. Doing a high impact aerobics workout for 30 minutes on a regular basis, alternated with your jogs will make your jogs seem easier, and again, making you able to run fast.

Do you work on your core? Pilates or Yoga will build up your back muscles, your abdomen, your chest, shoulders, posture, etc. and make it easier for you to jog faster. Do you do any resistance training? 5lbs of fat is a lot to carry, but if you trade that 5lbs of fat for 5lbs of muscle that would ASSIST your moving (jogging) which could make all the difference!

Just some thoughts. Good luck! I look forward to other people's advice. Great thread topic!!!

It doesn't really matter how long it takes you to do the 5k as long as you finish it, and if you've run for 30 mins you can definitely run a 5k in 40 mins ... Just do the 5k and have fun with it... You can do it!!

here in my area, they have a running/walking program just for women. it's always jam packed. regardless of which speed group you end up in, you do the same intervals, just at different paces.

for example, as a beginner you would walk for 90, then jog. the cross country runners would use this same time mark, just running for the 90 seconds, then sprinting for 60.

are you opposed to doing a c25k again, but making your baseline a jog?

Haha, yeah - I know what you mean. I finished my first 5k race in 52 minutes - I was listening to the final podcast during the race and when it finished, I was like, "Oh crap, what now?!"

I'm actually repeating the program right now with a focus on increasing my speed. Since it's been winter here, I've been running on the treadmill, so I can push myself to go faster. I'm trying to do the whole program at 5.0 mph, although I'm stuck on Week 5 right now, since my body doesn't want to go that fast for more than 5 minutes!

Oodles. I know EXACTLY what you mean...! Technically today was my last day of C25k and I went to the gym without my ipod. I decided to try distance instead of time. I ran the first mile in the stupendous (not!) speek of 14 minutes-- then I had to go to the bathroom-- then I ran another mile, which I paced faster but ended up having to walk a little. Final pace? 14 minutes. Then I did some sprints interspersed with walks. That was fun...
but I need STRUCTURE. I'm going to try the programs listed here.

I used to do cross country (long distance running) in school and this is what I was taught. It seemed to work & it is similar advice that you would read in a running site.

1) Build a base of distance first. Don't worry about speed. Increase the number of miles slowly per week, by 10%. For example if you run 10 miles on week, increase to no more than 11. Build slowly. Most injuries occur when beginners take on too much too soon.

2) After you have a decent base (not sure what's best - in cross country it was at least 20 miles per week), do speed work. Run an interval, rest a minute, and repeat, etc. In college, we did 3, 1 mile intervals with only 1 minute rest. That is too advanced. I would suggest 800 m or 2 times around a track and try to do it 3 times.

If you are not ready for intervals its okay to do sprints for 50 yards or so back and forth. We used to do it after practice. It doesn't need to be super fast, but faster than you normally run. It helps your body learn about being faster without the hard labor of intervals.

3) Hill workouts are good for strength. Run up a hill as fast a you can and then trot down and repeat multiple times.

Base building + intervals will make you faster. But please don't do intervals too soon. Without a base, you don't have the endurance to finish a 5K. By the way, intervals hurt like **** when you are doing them, but there is an amazing endorphin rush afterward.

FYI- I am in the base building stage right and running maybe 12 miles a week. I won't consider intervals for about another month.

Thank you MC (lol MC)! This is awesome.

Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, the country lane I run on is a bit hilly. There's a huge hill at the very end (it dead ends) that I always skip, but I think it's the perfect length/steepness for what you're describing. And as for distance, I'm figuring that I run somewhere around 2.5 miles right now per session, so I guess for now I'm going to try to get up the road once more.

So with intervals, should I do time? Because I don't run on a track, I sort of count how many times I run up and down the street. If I run from end to end, the street is 1/2 mile, but like I said, I skip the big hill at the end so that shortens its distance. Can I do like 30 seconds of running fast, and then like 2 minutes of jogging? Or should I walk to rest? What would be a good amount of time to start with for speed work?

Sorry for the questions, but this is definitely helping.

Also how many times should I run each week, and how many days should I do each of the things you described?



And uber, I knowwwww. I'm the same way! But try this!!! I think I've stumbled upon gold here.

Thanks for the advice/encouragement ladies!!

You can walk or do a light jog, it just depends on your ability and preference... I would start with 20-30 mins of interval speed work... I would do intervals of 1:1 ...

You should run every second day, the days inbetween you can do some cross training like biking, weight training .....

K. I'm going to try to get my distance up for now. Today I added another "lap" on my road, so I suspect I'm very close to the 3 mile mark now. It brought my run time to a total of 35 mins. I'm going to do that this week, then add another lap next week, and etc etc.

Halfway through next week I'll try adding a little speed work in there. Would 2 days of distance, 1 day of intervals, and 1 day of hills be good for my running week? Or should I do something else on the hill day?

Thank you for your help. I really really appreciate it.