LEARN TO RUN 10KM
Week 1 Session 1 34 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 8 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 28 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 31 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 91
Coaching Advice: Remember not to worry about how fast you run. “Pace is personal”. You should be at a comfortable talking pace during all your warm-ups, cool-downs, and for the entire session including the timed runs. Your run should really feel more like a shuffle. Imagine yourself doing the “cha-cha” – quick little steps alongside a short little arm swing with almost no knee lift. The idea is that ultimately the run portions mesh with the walk portions so that your body and mind hardly know the difference.
Week 2 Session 1 38 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 31 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 34 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 2 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 103
Coaching Advice: Because the pace is relaxed and comfortable it should be easy to keep your group together. No doubt there will be some who have a personal pace that is faster than another, however by doing the intervals of running and walking you can regroup after each timed run, in this case every 2-minutes. It’s best to encourage camaraderie and good group dynamics early, so that you’re all used to helping each other, chatting and working together. This cannot be accomplished if participants spread out. If you’re on your own, I cannot stress enough the importance of staying comfortable. The tendency is always to do too much too soon.
Week 3 Session 1 45 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 34 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 40 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 119
Coaching Advice: As the run portion gets longer the key is to remember it’s the arm action that regulates the rhythm and pace. Focus on keeping the shoulders square and relaxed, driving the arms comfortably backward, so that they then swing forward freely, thus maintaining a nice comfortable rhythm. You’ll find that the legs will adjust accordingly. Remember, your personal pace needs to stay comfortable, and when you finish every session, you should always feel as though you could have done more.
Week 4 EASY RECOVERY Session 1 40 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 30 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 5 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 40 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 2 minutes. Walk 3 minutes. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 110
Coaching Advice: You’ve already come a long way since Session 1, and your body needs a rest as we slowly build on your fitness level. Remember how unsure of yourself you were when you first tackled these running intervals? You should be starting to understand your own comfort zone now and have more confidence with the rhythm of your runs. Enjoy the easy week, and keep your pace relaxed and comfortable.
Week 5 Session 1 46 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 9 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 34 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 2 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 42 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 122
Coaching Advice: To this point you have been finding your own natural rhythm as you work through your easy talking pace runs. Time now to think more about your technique. Focus on keeping your body upright and relaxed, maintaining a comfortable, natural stride length. Some of you will have a heel-toe action, and some of you will find you land slightly more towards the mid-foot. It depends on your stride length and personal pace. Feeling relaxed and comfortable is what is important. As always, remember your arm action controls the pace. Nice little steps accompanied by a short arm swing, and still very little knee lift. By now you may have realized it would be useful to have a sports watch, so that you can easily set the countdown timer such that it beeps every minute.
Week 6 Session 1 52 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 38 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 50 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 10 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 140
Coaching Advice: At this stage you may find that you feel a heaviness in your legs as the timed running intervals have been slowly increasing. This is normal! If you talk about it within your group you’ll find you are not alone. Although you may feel a little tired, persevere through this and you’ll feel better soon. Your body is constantly adjusting to its new workloads and a training effect is taking place. Remember to stay relaxed and maintain your personal talking pace by focusing on your arm action.
THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO ASSESS HOW YOU ARE FEELING: Remember your goal is to safely and comfortably complete a 10K event. It’s important to be honest with yourself and realize that everyone is different. The walking portions of your sessions have been decreasing while the running portions have been increasing.
Week 7 Session 1 54 min. or 5K distance
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Do this 4 times or repeat pattern over the 5K distance.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 40 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 4 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 52 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 146
Coaching Advice: Congratulations! You are over halfway through the program, and you have learned so much about what your body can handle. This week, since you are over halfway, it would be a great idea to boost your confidence and test yourself over a 5K. Mark out a reasonably accurate course, and repeat your indicated pattern of walking and running over that 5K distance. You can do it! It’s so important to stay relaxed and keep the pace consistent as always. Focus on that arm action and the legs will follow. Keep the shoulders relaxed by pinching your thumb together with your middle finger. It takes the stress out of your upper body and places it on a small pressure point
Week 8 *EASY RECOVERY WEEK Session 1 54 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 38 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 7 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 46 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 138
Coaching Advice: Well done! You deserve a nice easy week! Volume is down this week, so that you can be comfortable knowing you can handle the workload. If you have any unusual aches or pains this is a good week to take a day or two off and perhaps do some cross training for a change. Remember to speak to your leader for advice.
Week 9 Session 1 68 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 10 minutes. Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 46 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 5 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 6 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 54 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 168
Coaching Advice: Back to work again, with significant increases in your total workout time! Remember, you are preparing for 10 kilometers. That means the volume, or total time spent walking and running has to gradually progress so that physically and mentally you are prepared for the distance. As always, pace is personal, and should always stay at a talking pace. It’s all about your body adjusting to the impact and yourmind adjusting to the distance. Be confident, strong and relaxed.
Week 10 Session 1 72 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 30 minutes. Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 54 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 57 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 10 minutes. Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 183
Coaching Advice: This is a big week as you tackle more increases in time spent running with the usual 1-minute of walking in-between. You are ready for it! Rhythm is the key, maintained by focusing on a relaxedcomfortable arm action. Again, it’s all about getting used to impact and distance. Remember there are alwaysthose that would like to go faster, but “speed” is truly irrelevant right now. You are “learning to run” and itshould feel easy and comfortable. Running faster comes in the next stage of InTraining.
Week 11 Session 1 71 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 40 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 20 minutes. Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 54 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 57 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 20 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 10 minutes. Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 182
Coaching Advice: You can feel such confidence in your preparation! Solid work this week as you reach your maximums for the program in both volume and total running time. In the WALK/RUN you’re up to a milestone 76 minutes in workout time, with repeats of 10 minutes of running time. In the RUN you realize you are now able to run as long as you need to, providing you stay with your own personal talking pace. Lots of talking, encouragement and maintaining a relaxed, efficient stride through a nice comfortable arm action. This is a Big Week, and remember, you’re nearly there! Keep in mind how far you’ve progressed from the first session, where running continuously for any length of time hardly seemed possible.
Week 12 *EASY VOLUME WEEK Session 160 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 50 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 43 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 52 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 15 minutes. Walk 1 minute.
Run 10 minutes. Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Total Weekly Minutes 155
Coaching Advice: You’re almost there! This is a very important week: You should feel comfortable as the volume and time spent running are less than last week in order to give you some recovery as you begin to gather yourself for the Big Event only 10 days away. Mentally you simply have to believe in yourself and the workouts should feel easy. Stay focused and concentrate on maintaining rhythm. Imagine that next week you’ll be crossing the finish line! If you are finding you cannot carry on a conversation, then as always, slow down and take a walk break if you need to! Run as you feel, and be proud of yourself! Important! Resist the temptation to test yourself over 10K. Have confidence in your preparation, and save your best for Event Day next week. If you feel you must know exactly how you are going, do only 8K, and leave yourself feeling great and wanting to do more.
Week 13 Session 1 50 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 40 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 2 43 min.
Warm-up: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes. Walk 1 minute. Do this 3 times.
Cool-down: Walk slow & easy 5 minutes
Session 3 Event Day 10K: Run as you feel, have fun,
and take care not to start out too quickly foryourself.
Congratulations!!
Total Weekly Minutes 93 + Race time
Coaching Advice: You are ready to safely and comfortably complete your Event Day 10K, with personal combinations of walking and running as you feel! You should have great confidence in your preparation. The hard work is done and it’s time for the Grand Finale. You deserve a nice easy week to allow your muscles and mind a full recovery so that you feel rested and ready on Event Day. Congratulations: You did it!
*Very Important:For those of you following a pattern where Session 1 falls near the end of the week, please
do not try to fit in Session 2 unless you have a good 48 hours before the Big Event. Congratulations!
My Blog: http://kurttherunner.blogspot.com/
