New runner (Read 456 times)

The last time I was in good shape, I was a sophomore in HS. That was 19 years ago. Nearly a month ago, kind of out of the blue, I decided to start running again. (actually I've had a couple short lived attempts during the past couple of years). Anyway, the first day, I just ran until I was winded. I would guess I ran 2 or 300 yards. The next day, I just ran a little further. I've been doing that nearly every day (I think I've missed three days). Now, I'm up to about 2.5K. I'm hoping to run a 5K on Jul. 19. If I keep up the pace, I'll be up to 5K three days before the race. So that's my training regimen...just run a bit more each day. As close as I can figure, I'm adding 120 meters each day. I'm not training to compete in the 5K, just finish it, hopefully faster than a half hour. What do you all think of my plan?

Bob, At present, I think what you're doing is just fine. You're not increasing your mileage drastically (leaving yourself open to injury), or doing anything else radical... at least nothing that you're admitting to I agree with Tanya - the public log helps, and based on the info, not sure at this point about the 30 minute goal. Stay with it, keep the feet moving, and stay motivated through the 5K. Then, you can re-evaluate. Congratulations and welcome!

There's another local 5K on Aug. 9. That one I can work on improving my time.

That's exactly the thing to do. The first race is for absorbing it all...enjoying the experience, figuring out what works, what doesn't work, and learning what to do to improve your time at subsequent races. Pay attention to your body and keep consistently adding mileage very gradually. Don't worry about pace yet, get those easy miles in so carefully that your body doesn't know you're increasing the mileage. If something hurts, take it as a signal to back-off for a bit. And if you only run 3-4 times a week for a month or two, that's good. It's easy to overdo it at the start, then end up back at square 1. For a lot of us who have BTDT, square 1 often means not running again for years. Ask me how many times I started and stopped before I finally figured it out at 33.... BTW, take a look at the Couch-to-5k program. That's another great way to get started. That's how I and a lot of other folks around here got the motivation to get started...and keep going. It's a nice way to ease your body into consistent running.