Total Focus Health and Fitness

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao-tzu

So you’ve decided to commit to your first race?  Congratulations!  Welcome to the world of addiction.  Racing is a good way to gauge how well your training is coming along.  It’s also a fantastic goal to get you started training.  While the task for preparing for a race may seem daunting to some, it’s actually much easier than you think.  What I’ve found from my experience training endurance athletes, it’s not telling them what to do, but telling them what not to do.

For beginning runners who have set a race as a goal, know that for a race two months or more away, you do not need to be able to run that distance right now.  When I speak to people about running a 5k race they tell me they cannot run 3 miles, and that may be true…today.  But the goal isn’t to run the race today; it’s to prepare our bodies for some date in the future: Race Day.

For training purposes, I use, and have my athletes use, time and not mileage as a measurement.  If your goal is to run a 5k race at a 10 minute mile pace, that translates to about 31 minutes total.  So now your goal isn’t 3 miles, it is 31 minutes.  Below is a table mapping out 6 weeks to Race Day for a 5k (approx. 3.1 miles).  Off days should be used for strength training (yes, runners do lift weights) and improving flexibility.  

Mon	18 min	20 min	22 min	25 min	30 min	25 min
Tue	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off
Wed	18 min	20 min	22 min	25 min	30 min	18 min
Thu	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off
Fri	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off
Sat	22 min	25 min	27 min	30 min	35 min	RACE DAY
Su	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off	Off

If you’re just beginning to run, start by walking 3 minutes and light jogging for 30 seconds, then repeating the interval for the duration of that training session.  Try to decrease walking/recovery periods while increasing jogging time (for example, running for 5 minutes on training day 2, then walking for 25 seconds, and so on).  Remember, the goal here is to finish the time, and that will lead to completing your targeted distance for the race.  

This 6 week workout is sure to allow you, as a beginner, to complete the race you started.  Follow it, and by Race Day you’ll be cruising along.  And by your next race you’ll be thinking, “I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner”.  If you feel as if you need to progress to the next level, or would like information on proper strength training programs to help you with your running, please feel free to contact me at the email address below.  Thanks and enjoy the run!

Regards,

Chris Pickett, CPT
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Chris Pickett has trained multiple endurance athletes for events such as 5k runs up to Ironman distance triathlons.  He is a co-founder of Total Focus Health & Fitness.  Please contact Chris via the above email or visit www.totalfocusfit.com.