A week-by-week
description of the nine-week set of Couch to 5K podcasts.
Week one
Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk, then alternate 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of
walking, for a total of 20 minutes.
Week two
Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk, then alternate 90 seconds of running with 2 minutes of
walking, for a total of 20 minutes.
Week three
Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk,
then two repetitions of 90 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking, 3 minutes
of running, 3 minutes of walking.
Week four
Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk,
then 3 minutes of running, 90 seconds of walking, 5 minutes of running,
2½ minutes of walking, 3 minutes of running, 90 seconds of walking, 5
minutes of running.
Week five
There are three different workouts
for this week. They are as follows:
á Workout 1: a brisk 5-minute walk, then 5
minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, 5 minutes of running, 3 minutes of
walking, 5 minutes of running.
á Workout 2: a brisk 5-minute walk, then 8
minutes of running, 5 minutes of walking, 8 minutes of running.
á Workout 3: a brisk 5-minute walk, then 20
minutes of running, with no walking.
Week six
There are three different workouts
for this week. They are as follows:
á Workout 1: a brisk 5-minute walk, then 5
minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, 8 minutes of running, 3 minutes of
walking, 5 minutes of running.
á Workout 2: a brisk 5-minute walk, then 10
minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of running.
á Workout 3: a brisk 5-minute walk, then 25
minutes of running with no walking.
Week seven
Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk,
then 25 minutes running.
Week eight
Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk,
then 28 minutes of running.
Week nine
Begin with a brisk 5-minute walk,
then 30 minutes of running.
Tips on progression
The programme is designed for
beginners to gradually build up their running ability to be able to run 5K
without stopping.
The pace of the nine-week running
plan has been tried and tested by thousands of new runners, so you can
trust the programme.
You can, however, repeat any one of
the weeks until you feel physically ready to move on to the next podcast.
Structure is important for
motivation, so try to allocate specific days in the week for your runs and
stick to them.
Rest days are critical. A rest day
in between each run will reduce your chance of injury and will also make you a
stronger, better runner.
Resting allows your joints to
recover from what is a high-impact exercise and your
running muscles to repair and strengthen.
Alternatively, you could do Strength and Flex on your rest days. This is a
5-week plan designed to improve your strength and flexibility, which will help
your running.
Some new runners starting the
programme experience calf pain or sore shins (sometimes known as shin splints).
Such aches can be caused by running
on hard surfaces or by running in shoes that do not have enough foot and ankle
support.
Always do the the 5-minute
warm-up walks as instructed in the podcasts before each run and check that your
running shoes are offering good support.
For more information on preventing
and treating injuries, read this section on sports injuries.
You will have good runs and bad
runs. Accept it and donÕt spend too much time analysing the how and why. Even a
bad run is good for you.
NHS Choices
2013