A good friend of mine gave me this program as a way to help get me into running. I thrive with structure and specific achievable goals so this should be great for me. Jogging totally counts here, so I’m going to start slow, even if that means running for 1 minute and walking for 5 to start. I’m going to try to do this at least 2 days a week, but 5 is the goal here. Remember, baby steps are still steps!

Couch to a 5k Training Program

Week 1 – Run 2 min, walk 4 min x 5 for 30 minutes

Week 2 – Run 3 min, walk 3 min x 5 for 30 minutes

Week 3 – Run 4 min, walk 2 min x 5  for 30 minutes 

Week 4 – Run 6 min, walk 4 min x 3 for 30 minutes

Week 5 – Run 7 min, walk 3 min x 3 for 30 minutes

Week 6 – Run 8 min, walk 2 min x 3 for 30 minutes

Week 7 – Run 10 min, walk 5 min x 2 for 30 minutes 

Week 8 – Run 12 min, walk 3 min x 2 for 30 minutes 

Week 9 – run 13 min walk 2 min x 2 for 30 minutes

Week 10 – RUN 30 MINUTES!!! 

*note- if you feel that you need to repeat a week that is okay. But do try to push through the early mental blocks you will indeed encounter. 

*note – you will probably not go 3.1 miles in just 30 minutes (which is about a 9:30 mile pace), but if you can run 30 minutes straight, you can push to a 5k.