How to Run 5KM in 5 Weeks

Somewhere you picked this fun notion to be a runner. You don’t even like running. Back in school, you dreaded it. And, yet here you are – reading an article on how to train for and complete your first 5km. 

Maybe it was your body that motivated you to consider the running alternative. It may have become a bit out of shape, making it difficult for you to do the things you demand of it, and you see running as a means to mould it back into shape. Or it could be that you relish the opportunity to achieve something that you though you’d never do in a million years. Knocking off a 5km will be a major achievement.

Your Training Program
Your 5K training program involves 5 elements which will gradually ramp up to allow you to complete your goal after just 5 weeks of training. They are:

• Easy Walking

• Brisk Walking

• Power Walking

• Non Running (NR) Fitness

• Running

Brisk walking is a pace in between easy walking and power walking. It is the speed you’d be going if you were focused on getting to your favourite shop to snap up a bargain. Power walking takes it up another gear. Take short, fast steps, landing on the heels and then rolling through the floor and pushing off through the toe. 

Non Running Fitness involves any kind of exercise that does not directly involve running. The could be cycling, playing sport or doing resistance training. 

Sensible Body Sense
Listening to your body means being patient. Take your time when you are preparing for the run. Go through a good stretching routine. You need to always pay attention to how your body is feeling. If you feel pain while you are doing something, it’s not good. Don’t run through it. Stop – take a breather. If you need to, walk the rest of the way. The old adage ‘No Pain, No Gain”, will only get you in to trouble. The body produces pain for a reason – to protect itself. You need to listen that signal.

The Program

The Payoff
In just 5 short weeks you have achieved something to be proud of. Completing a 5km run has taken determination, resilience, discipline and consistency. You have demonstrated that you can achieve anything that you set your mind to. In doing so, you have taken your body and put it on a road to healthy well-being.