This is the first in a series looking at 5k training. It will explore how to train for the distance, looking at a beginner runner, intermediate and top-level training.

Why a 5k? 

For someone who is just starting out with running, or perhaps getting back into running after an absence, running a 5k can be a brilliant goal to aim for.

Due to the explosion in popularity of the park run, it is a distance that is becoming more and more popular. The group and community feel of a park run, means there is a real sense of achievement when you do cross that line. 

Just over three miles is, of course, still a challenging distance to run around, and requires some focused training.

Progress to Park Run

 This week I am spending a significant amount of time designing twelve different 5k training schedules, each lasting ten weeks. This is for the twelve lovely people who make up the first cohort of my Progress to Park Run course.  The attendees all get a personalized schedule and a weekly group run.

My philosophy in my coaching is to make things really manageable and to get to know the people I am supporting. As the run with company name of this website would suggest, I also really believe the weekly group runs are what will bind this group together, encourage them and motivate them to persevere when the nights get dark and the temptation to stay at home grows.

The group will finish by running a park run together in 10 weeks. Again, I’m hoping this will be a really positive collective experience for them, with the feeling of an accomplishment helping them to continue with the running habit.  

Consistency

 There are different running abilities in this group, ranging from individuals who are keen to build up to running the whole distance, to those who want to aim around the 30 minute mark or sub 30 minute mark.  

Consistency is most important at the start, so each member of the group will aim to do three thirty-minute activities each week. That helps to secure the running habit over time, and is hopefully a manageable goal. It also means there is plenty of recovery time, and reduces the risk of injury.

I have written before on this blog about how new runners often go out far too fast, exhausting themselves and putting them off running. My plans build in times that are for walking and for running very slowly at the start. It helps individuals get used to the demands that running puts on our bodies, and builds in recovery time.

This acts as a sequence, so an individual might run/jog for two minutes, then walk for two minutes. That varies, but the key is it should feel manageable and not leave anyone finishing like they never want to run again!

Building fitness

Over time each plan builds incrementally into less walking and more running. So by the last week, there will be five minute warm ups, then twenty five minutes of running. The members of the group will see how this changes each week, helping to build motivation as they can see they are spending more time running – and still finishing feeling strong and not exhausted.

I’ll write more next week about some more specific training runs you can do to build on your 5k training, especially if you have a goal training time in mind!

I’ve still got a couple of places left for this Progress to Park Run group. I’m charging a very discounted rate of 50 pounds for the 10 week course and group runs, as it is the first time I am doing the group.

Get in touch via the website if that sounds like something you would like to be involved in. The group runs are in Cramond, Edinburgh – but you can still be added to the WhatsApp group and follow a schedule if you can’t make those runs.

Thank you for reading!

Listen: NHS coach to 5k podcast series: 

Read: ‘Runners High’ by Jenni Falconer.