Thursday, April 25, 2013

Running Program for the Absolute Beginner

Recently I heard about this running program called C25K or "Couch to 5K" that is designed to help an absolute beginner go from not running at all to running a 5K (3.1 miles) three times a week. The program takes 9 weeks and is easy enough for just about anyone to do it. Running 3+ miles three times a week will get you in great shape and probably add years to your life.

In the beginning of the program, you start out alternating between jogging and walking. For example, the first week you alternate between jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds. To make it really easy, I have put together a series of audio recordings that tells you exactly when to jog and when to walk, so you don't have to keep looking at your watch. The audio also keeps you entertained while you run/walk by reading you the book of Psalms.

This program will require an investment of 25 minutes, 3 times per week. Mon-Wed-Fri would probably work best. That investment is definitely worth your time to dramatically improve your health and fitness, especially since you will also be multitasking by getting some Bible reading in!

Here are the audio files for the first few weeks:

Week 1: Day 1 (Psalms 1-15)
Week 1: Day 2 (Psalms 16-27)
Week 1: Day 3 (Psalms 28-39)

Week 2: Day 1 (Psalms 40-54)
Week 2: Day 2 (Psalms 55-68)
Week 2: Day 3 (Psalms 69-78) 

Week 3: Day 1 (Psalms 79-91)
Week 3: Day 2 (Psalms 92-105)
Week 3: Day 3

Week 4: Day 1 

Here is the rss feed for the audio files:

http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/c25k_bible_running.rss

To subscribe to the rss feed as an iTunes podcast, open iTunes, then go to the file menu, click "subscribe to podcast," and paste in the url of the rss feed.

I do not recommend going out and buying expensive running shoes. They can actually do more harm than good and can cause you to run the wrong way. I personally run barefoot or in very minimal shoes.

Here is an overview of the entire program:

Week Workout 1 Workout 2 Workout 3
1 Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
2 Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
3 Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
  • Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
  • Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:
  • Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)
4 Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
5 Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
  • Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
  • Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
6 Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
  • Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 22 minutes) with no walking.
7 Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes). Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes). Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
8 Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes). Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes). Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
9 Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes). Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes). The final workout! Congratulations! Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

4 comments:

Karen said...

This.is.awesome! Thank you for putting this together!! I have been wanting to get back to running for years and this is the perfect program to get started and the audio files will be so helpful, thank you again!!

GodGunsGutsGlory said...

Wow, I never expected to find an article like this on this page. LOL!

At work I've been trying to skip the elevator and run up the stairs instead.

Sometimes I HAVE to use the elevator because I am bringing up heavy tools.

A few times when I am alone I will drop and do push ups as the elevator is moving!

The other day I did 20 push ups by time the elevator climbed to the 3rd floor.

That is a race against the clock style! :-)

Toni said...

This is cool!

Unknown said...

Hi Pastor Anderson
Where are the rest of the weeks? Are they on iTunes? If so, is there another way of downloading them?

Thanks.