Whether you have been running for a while or are a complete beginner, the New Year is a great time to plan for the months ahead, writes Hannah Nolan. To improve your distance or your speed, or both, we will walk you through the plans for various distances to get you working toward hitting your goals!
For runners of all levels the key to improvement is consistency, structure, variation and patience! Having a plan in place really gives us that structure we need to maintain consistent training week after week.
Sticking to a plan with a little variation in both distance and pace will also enable you to see improvements in your running, but beware! – patience is vital for success! Too often we push ourselves beyond our current limits, leading to disappointment or injury. Sometimes it feels like slow progress, but if we expect results too quickly and are impatient, we can become frustrated and feel like giving up altogether.
Results do take time – and sometimes just remaining patient and having faith in the training really does pay. Consistency WILL pay off – so just keep sticking to the plan and you’ll get there.
MAKING THE MILE
If you have just taken up running then the mile is a good place to start! A mixture of walking and running and gradually building up is the best way to begin. It can feel like you might never get there, but don’t worry – stick with it and that first full mile will be under your belt in no time.
Top tips for making the mile
Start off jogging SLOWLY! The reason many people fail to ‘get into’ running is quite simply because they start off trying to run far too fast, get heavy legs and breathless, which can make the whole experience seem unpleasant. When starting off find your fastest brisk walking pace and then pick up your feet into a light jog – you are literally jogging at walking pace. This will mean you are putting less stress on your body and over the weeks you will be able to slowly push your pace a little faster to find a pace that is comfortable for you.
Remember to time your mile! Keeping a record right from the start will really help you keep focus and show you how quickly you are progressing. Keeping track of your mile time from the first few weeks will also give you a target to beat over the weeks that follow – each time pushing a small bit faster to better your previous time.
MAKING YOUR WAY TO 5K
Once you have mastered the mile it is time to keep building up and work toward the longer 5k distance. Actually, between warming up, jogging and cooling down you will have already been covering five kilometres – so now the only thing to do is continue to build up your jogging time while reducing your walking time so that week by week you will be running more and walking less.
The distances specified in the plan are your aim for total running time, so do add a short warm-up and cool-down to the shorter distances so that you are continuing to aim for 30 to 40 minutes of total workout.
The running distance will gradually increase over the weeks and in the process your warm-ups and cool-downs will decrease, until eventually you are running continuously for the full 5k.
Novice 5K Running Plan
HOORAY – YOU’RE ON YOUR WAY TO 10K!
After the 5k has been reached the next natural jump in race distance is often the 10k. At twice as far as your previous distance it can seem a little daunting. But don’t worry! – the distances continue to build gradually so you are adding only a few minutes each time, and slowly but surely those extra minutes will build into extra miles and before you know it that 10k will be within your grasp!
For those already up and running and a little farther down the line, perhaps now is the time to look at improving your pace with my pace improver plan! Adding a little speedwork to your regular running adds a real boost to your improvements in pace and strength.
Novice 10k running plan
Our novice plan is designed to bring you from 5k to 10k. There is also an option to add in some simple interval training to slowly introduce varying intensities into your weekly routine, which will help to progress your running and increase your fitness. Over time and once you have adjusted to the different intensities entailed, you can make these intervals more challenging for greater benefit. As with the 5k plan, aim for a total workout of at least 30 minutes.
Training Key
Training runs: ‘Easy runs’ should be slow, steady and comfortable so you can maintain your pace for the entire run (If combining running and walking, just aim to add one extra minute of running to your running sections each week, aiming toward continuous running).
Interval training: This is where we will increase your pace. Begin with a steady 10-minute warm-up followed by speed intervals. 8x1min = 1 min fast, with 1 min recoveries (8 times); 4x2min = 2 mins fast, 2 mins recovery (4 times): 1 min hills = 1 min hard uphill with walk down recovery. Allow five minutes for cool-down jog or brisk walk.
10k pace improver plan
If you are already able to run 10k fairly comfortably but are perhaps looking to improve on your speed and strength and race times, now is when you should start integrating varied speed sessions into your workout.
Speedwork will challenge your body and improve strength and speed. Building up on your long run beyond the 10k distance will also help you improve your race times so we will be extending your long too. Follow this tried and tested pace improver plan to chip away at those race times and start posting new personal bests!
Training runs: ‘Easy runs’ should be slow, steady and comfortable so you can maintain your pace for the entire run.
Tempo runs: Warm up for 1k, cool down for 1k, and for the kilometres in between run slightly faster — this is a comfortably hard pace, a little slower than your ‘race pace’ — fast enough that you are focused on your breathing but not so fast that you need to stop to recover.
Alternating tempo run: Warm up for 1k, and then the next k aim to run at your 5k race pace, the next 1k slow down to easy pace and then continue alternating between race pace and easy jog for each kilometre until the distance stated has been reached.
Fast finish: Run easy for first portion of the run and finish fast and strong for the distance stated.
Interval training: This is where we will increase your pace. Begin with a steady 10-minute warm-up followed by intervals and finish with a 10-minute cool-down.
1 min = 1 min fast, 1 min recovery; 2 mins = 2 mins fast, 2 mins recovery; 3+2 = 3 mins fast, 2 mins recovery.
1 min hills = 1 min hard uphill, jog/walk back down, and repeat for number stated
30+1 min hills = run flat out for 30 seconds uphill and jog back down straightaway; at the bottom run back uphill for 1 minute and jog/walk down recovery (repeat).
30+1 min = 30 secs hard with 30 secs recovery + 1 min hard with 1 min recovery.
Short pyramids = 1 min fast, 30 secs recovery; 2 mins fast, 1 min recovery; 3 mins fast, 1.5 mins recovery (then back down); 3 mins fast, 1.5 mins recovery; 2 mins fast, 1 min recovery; 1 min fast, 30 secs recovery.
Long pyramids = 1 mins fast, 30 secs recovery; 3 mins fast, 1.5 mins recovery; 5 mins fast, 2.5 mins recovery (then back down); 5 mins fast, 2.5 mins recovery; 3 mins fast, 1.5 mins recovery; 1 min fast, 30 secs recovery.
Continue building on your long run. This is a comfortable pace. You should be able to speak – if you can’t talk, you’re going too fast!
The aim is to add distance to your long run every week, to enable you to run 10k more easily and efficiently. Your 10k races will seems relatively short, while your speedwork will help you reach a higher intensity during those 10k races.
THE HALF MARATHON
If you fancy a longer-term goal this coming year but are not quite ready to think about a full marathon, the half marathon might be the distance to sink your feet into. Try my trusted half-marathon plan to bring structure and consistency to your training. If you are an established runner, incorporate some of the tempo sessions featured in the 10k pace-improver plan into your schedule to give your half- marathon training that extra boost!
Training runs: ‘Easy runs’ should be slow, steady and comfortable so you can maintain your pace for the entire run.
Cross train: Cross-train or rest depending on how your body feels (you may also choose to run easy run for time stated). Cross-training exercises (cycling, swimming, cross-trainer, etc.) are great for giving the body a break while still improving/maintaining fitness.
Interval training: This is where we will increase your pace. Begin with a steady 15 minute warm-up, followed by speed intervals. 8×1 min =
1 min fast, 1 min recovery; 4×2 mins = 2 mins fast, 2 mins recovery; 3+2 = 3 mins fast, 2 mins recovery.
Pyramids = 1 min fast, 30 secs recovery; 3 mins fast, 1.5 mins recovery; 5 mins fast, 2.5 mins recovery (then back down); 5 mins fast, 2.5 mins recovery; 3 mins fast, 1.5 mins recovery; 1 min fast, 30 secs recovery.
Tempo = warm up for 1 mile, cool down for 1 mile, and for the miles in between run almost at race pace.
Hills to Tempo = 1 mile warm-up followed by hill repetitions with jog down recovery: 5 mins easy jog after hill reps and then tempo pace for following miles until distance stated is reached.
Cool down after all sessions at a slow jog for 10 minutes (aim for minimum 5-mile training session).
Continuing to build up on your long run – this should be a comfortable pace and you should still be able to say a few words while running. If you are very breathless and unable to talk you are going too fast! The aim of long runs is to build endurance NOT to test how fast you can run. So run EASY.
