Friday, January 1, 2010

A Good Running Plan

Happy New Year!

Over the last 2-3 years I have read many "beginning runner" type articles in magazines, in books, and online. Recently I found my favorite one of all. It is found in the January/February issue of Women's Running magazine. Most of the other plans I have seen start off fine, but after a few weeks, they seem to make too big of a jump in the routine. This plan gradually takes you from walking only to only running--over the course of 15 -18 weeks.
If regular exercise is one of your New Year's Resolutions, then I encourage you to follow this plan. All you need is a pair of running shoes and some good socks (not 100% cotton). You don't need a special place to walk/run....you can run up and down your driveway, around your block, in your subdivision, at your local walking track, on a treadmill, etc. One of the contestants of last season's The Biggest Loser trained for a marathon (26.2 miles) by running from her front porch to her mailbox....over and over again!
Here's the plan!

Weeks 1-2: walk 30-40 minutes, 3-4 times a week

Begin each week's workout with a brisk 5 minute walk to warm-up
Weeks 3-4: Alternate 1 minute running/3 minutes walking, 7 times
Weeks 5-6: Alternate 2 minutes running/3 minutes walking, 6 times
Weeks 7-8: Alternate 3 minutes running/3 minutes walking, 5 times
Weeks 9-10: Alternate 3 minutes running/2 minutes walking, 6 times
Weeks 11-12: Alternate 4 minutes running/2 minutes walking, 5 times
Weeks 13-14: Alternate 4 minutes running/1 minute walking, 6 times
Weeks 15-16: Alternate 5 minutes running/ 1 minute walking, 5 times

After this, every two weeks add one more minute to your running time until you are running 10 minutes/walking 1 minute. You can eventually build up to continuous 30 minutes of running with no walk breaks, but if walking one minute after running 10 helps, continue. When I ran my first half marathon, I walked a minute every mile, which was about equal to running 10 minutes/walking 1 minute. Currently I walk for about a minute after mile 3, and then every two miles after that anytime I am running longer than 7 miles.

I hope this plan works for some of you.
You can visit WomensRunning.com for more running information.

Happy Running!

6 comments:

  1. This is such a great plan! Bethany and I started running together last Spring, but we haven't gotten the nerve up to do a race! Maybe this plan will help us.
    I hope you have a Happy New Year!

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  2. This is what I'll follow. But, I'm not sure I'm patient enough! :)

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  3. THANKS FOR SHARING THIS WITH US ROAN. I DON'T KNOW IF I'M BRAVE ENOUGH FOR THE RUNNING....BUT, I DEFINATELY WANT TO START WALKING MORE AND GET ON A SCHEDULE. I AM JUST SOOOO OUT OF SHAPE, IT WOULD TAKE A SLOW PLAN LIKE THIS FOR ME TO MAKE IT. I TOO AM IMPATIENT THOUGH, AND SOMETIMES A QUITTER WHEN IT COMES TO EXERCISE. WISH I WERE AS STUBORN WITH EXERCISE AS I AM WITH OTHER THINGS. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO THE JOHNSONS!!!!! LOVE YA'LL. LJG

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  4. That IS a great plan! I wish I'd had it when I started last Spring! Just two more weeks till I can try running again!! Maybe I won't need the plan! : )

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  5. Thanks for posting this, Roan. I really appreciate the fact that you, an experienced runner, even walks for a small part of the time. I've never been able to run, but I have always tried to start with too much at a time. I've always felt like a failure if I had to stop and walk at all.

    I am buying myself a pair of running shoes in anticipation of the birth of my next baby at the end of May/beginning of June. I really want to run! Last year I was up to walking six miles a day and just didn't know how to start working toward running, this will give me a better plan for this summer.

    How did you start running? And, how do you keep it up with a houseful of children? I know you've said that you run on the treadmill early in the morning but how do yo stay motivated to do this day after day? How many days a week do you run? How often do you run in races?

    Thank you again!

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