5k Training plan

I have been going to the Gym for about 2 years and during that time I have managed to lose a little weight, this wasn't really the reason I joined. The main reason for this was the fact that I am a fair weather cyclist and only tend to take my bike out in the Summer months and the first ride of the year is always a really tough one, so, in order to keep my fitness levels up my wife and I joined our local gym and now train 2 or 3 days a week all year round. Gym sessions generally mean CV training, Treadmill, Cross trainer and bike but we have also been going to a personal trainer and taking Boxercise classes. As our Trainer is the British lightweight boxing champion you can imagine how much we ache the day after a PT or Boxercise session yet we still go back for more punishment in the vain hope that it will start to get easier, as yet it hasn’t happened and we still spend the next 2 days hobbling around the house uttering insults to our aching limbs and cursing the trainer.

Recently I have been trying to push myself to do a 5K run as I have always fallen short, even as a youngster I didn’t have the stamina for any great distances. I remember one school sports day I was given the 400 metres race as my event. I failed miserably and finished last, about 2 minutes behind everyone else. To help me achieve the desired distance I decided to find myself a training plan and I downloaded an App called RunDouble, it has several different training plans and talks you through the training. Rather than go in at a later stage I thought it best to start at the very beginning, after all it is a very good place to start.

The Early Stages The first three weeks were actually quite easy and consisted of a 5 minute warm up and then the interval training was split between equal times running and walking. Day one of week four was when it started to get serious as the runs were 3 minutes and 5 minutes with walking time of 1.5 and 2.5 minutes.
The second 5 minute run was a killer. Granted day 2 was easier and I managed to get to the end without losing pace but the third day saw the final 5 minutes of running to be a real challenge.

Week 5

Week 5 is over the half way stage so you can imagine how much tougher things are getting by now, all in the name of progress. Session one has stepped things up to 3 five minute runs separated by 3 minutes of walking so, in theory, you have a decent recovery time, it is the same with Session 2 as this is 2 examples of 8 minutes of running time with a 5 minute interval. Both sessions were pretty tough but I could feel that the training was working and made it to the end, breathless and sweaty but feeling a sense of achievement.
Another big difference was the training plan, for some reason the person shouting at you is now a female voice. I am not sure if this makes any difference but it comes as a bit of a surprise. Session 3 of week 5 was a 20 minute run and the toughest run so far, due to family commitments I had to push this session back into the beginning of week 6 but this shouldn’t have too much of a negative impact, the decision to have a large lunch before the run wasn’t the best idea I have ever had though. After 10 minutes I was really starting to flag and my pace had really slowed down but I refused to be beaten and made the full 20 minute session.

Week 6

After the 20 minute run I was really looking forward to getting back to the interval training and day 1 of Week 6 was embraced with open arms. After the warm up it was a 5 minute run followed by an 8 minute run and another 5 minute run all separated by 3 minute intervals. I did get a little confused though with this one as I was convinced the first running session was 8 minutes. I was going strong and telling myself that I had another 3 minutes of running when I was told to start walking. This error in timing threw me for the rest of the session but did allow me to just concentrate on what I was doing and take my cue from the lady on the App.
This session saw me break the 4.5k marker but the next day my legs were killing me. Day 2 was 2 sessions of 10 minutes separated by 3 minutes and is still pretty hard going. 10 minutes is the longest run so far in the interval training and just 3 minutes walking doesn’t give you much in the way of recovery time but surprisingly the second running session was easier than the first one, I was still happy to hear the App telling me to slow to a walk for cool down! Just before I was due to complete the Day 3 of week 6 I woke up with a terrible pain in my big toe so I was out of action for a couple of days, I could barely walk and even driving was painful so running was completely out of the question. The doctor suspected I had a touch of Gout as I had been complaining of this pain previously and I booked an appointment to go and get it all checked out. A few days away from the Gym and some strong Anti-Inflammatory tablets later and I was back in the game. In order to keep the momentum going I decided it would be best to repeat the whole of week 6. The first 2 were pretty tough even second time around but I got to the end with no real issue apart from being a red, sweaty mess with a huge appetite. Looking back though I could see a major improvement as on week 4 I was struggling at the 5 minute stage, by week 6 this was a short run. It was not until the 8th minute that the struggles began. Day 3 was the start of the toughest part of the training, from here on the interval training stopped and the constant running began. Day 3 of week 6 was a 22 minute run after the warm up then concluded with the 5 minute cool down. The distances are ebbing ever closer to the 5k mark now though, in the 32 minutes I managed to cover 4.6K.

Week 7

Week 7 stepped it up to 3 x 25 minute runs. I have noticed now that by now the running was getting easier but the first half of the run is always pretty hard going. Once I am past the 10 minute stage it seems that my body gets used to the fact that it is in motion and just carries on and the second half of the run passes by quite quickly. I like to use the tactic of hiding the display on the treadmill so that I cannot see how long I have been running. By now I have proven that I can run for 25 minutes without stopping. I have also managed to get over the 5k marker twice, the last session saw me covering 5.25K in the 35 minutes I spent on the treadmill, the 5K marker was reached at the 32 minute mark. The last leg The week 8 sessions are 3 runs of 28 Minutes.

I think attempting day 1 of week 8, on the day after Boxing Day was a little optimistic as I had eaten way too much over the previous 3 days and hit the wall at the 22 minute marker and had to abandon the session, I had another go the following day and managed to run for the full 28 minutes and covered 5.64k in the 38 minute session that included the warm up and cool down periods. After this session I didn’t make it to the Gym for over a week and foolishly tried to do the 28 minute run again, this didn’t end well and during the session I had to slow to a walk to have a drink and get back my breath, I had an awful stitch as well but it soon passed and I made it to the 28 minutes, just not with constant running. I felt I may have to go back a step or two but before I did I just tried the 28 minute run again the following day. To ease into it I took the pace back a little and found a comfortable running speed. 10 minutes in I was going strong and I hit the half way post still feeling in good form, then the next thing I knew I was only a few minutes from the 28 minute mark so I increased the pace a little. At 28 minutes I still felt I had more to give so I decided to see if I could make it to 30. After half an hour of running I slowed the treadmill to a brisk walk to begin my cool down but after a minute I decided to pick up the running and see how far I could get. In total this evening’s session went on for 46 minutes, including a 2 minute warm up and I covered just over 7k. This is the longest run and biggest distance so far. I am hoping that this wasn’t just a fluke and I am able to repeat
this performance again. This experience has showed me that even though a training plan like this is quite a big commitment if you can follow it you will see some spectacular results.