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How to train for your first 5K
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AP Photo: Reach your own finish line!
If you've started running on a regular basis and you've started enjoying it, you may experience the race bug. If you've never raced before, a 5K is a great way to start getting into the practice. It provides enough of a challenge to make it a goal one has to get motivated and truly work for, but at the same time, it will not require anywhere near the massive amounts of training and pain that a marathon, or even a half-marathon would require. For those have already completed 5Ks, you may want to find information on how to improve your running, in terms of form or speed, so that you'll improve with each race you run. There are a great variety of training programs available to those interested in beginning their racing endeavors. Following are two such programs.
The Couch to 5K Program
As the title would imply, The Couch to 5K program offered by the Cool Runnings website is geared towards beginners, including those who are interested in running their first race and those who are just getting into running to begin with. Their training guide suggests starting for a simple 20-30 minutes of jogging or running, three times a week, with a focus on time rather than distance. Though it sounds simple, regularly running three times a week for the same period of time will undoubtedly improve the fitness level of an individual new to running, and before long, the distance one can cover may be longer than you'd ever expect - often long enough to be adequately prepared for running in a 5K race.
Jeff Galloway's 5K Training Program
This particular training program is endorsed by Jeff Galloway as well as the Mayo Clinic, as it is designed with injury prevention in mind. Galloway advises runners preparing to race to start slow, and to be open to alternating between walking and running when training (though minimizing the walking time as the training progresses). This training program involves running or cross-training six days out of the week, with one "long run" (starting off at 1 mile, moving up to 5 miles) per week.
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