September is just around the corner and with it the purposes of the new course emerge. One of them is training and getting fit. So you decide that you are going to start running and you want to complete your first five kilometers. Depending on your resistance level, you will have to start more or less slowly until you reach your goal.
In case you want to complete longer distances, It is recommended that you go through shorter distances first, such as five kilometers, and little by little you increase the volume. Five kilometers is a perfect distance since it is an achievable goal and does not require many months like other longer races.
The keys to running your first five kilometers
Sign up for a popular 5K race
As with an English test, or any activity, if we don’t have a date, we relax and can’t set specific goals. That date depends on your current situation: weight and fitness level. If you are an overweight person who has never run, you will need a little more time.
On the other hand, if you are an active person in normal weight, the objective can be completed in less weeks. Find popular 5K races near your city, and sign up in the one for which you have enough time to prepare it, but without exceeding much time.
An active person without excess weight can prepare his first five-kilometer run in five or six weeks. If you are sedentary and overweight we will need more time, between 10 weeks and three months could be recommended, although they are very generic data that you must adapt to yourself.
Think in minutes, not kilometers
When you go out to train at the beginning train by time, not by kilometers. Yes, you must control them with a device, such as your own mobile, to have references, but do not schedule the training session by kilometers.
In this way you will go out for a run, or walk as we will see in another section, for 30 minutes or whatever you mark in that session. The initial goal will be to complete more and more time running, that entails increasing the number of kilometers.
Train your running technique from day one
Your endurance sessions will be shorter as a beginner, leaving you more time to train on other key aspects. Running technique is one of them, which you must train from day one before you start creating motor patterns that will be more difficult to modify later.
In this way, performing running technique exercises and knowing which area of your foot you hit the ground with will make you improve your running times while polishing your technique. We will avoid future injuries and our performance will be better.
Beware of HIITs, better use the CACO method
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a perfect strategy to improve endurance, but It is a more advanced technique that we are not going to need at the moment. Yes we will make changes of rhythm, but not of as high intensity as a HIIT would be.
Those changes of rhythm will be established by the CACO method: CAminar and COrrer. Depending on our physical level, we will spend more time walking or running. The ultimate goal is that we complete all the time running.
From a level one in which we are sedentary subjects with poor physical condition we will try to reach level 10 from the following list:
- Level 1: walk 4’30 “and run 30”.
- Level 2: walk 4 ‘and run 1’
- Level 3: walk 3’30 “and run 1’30”
- Level 4: walk 3 ‘and run 2’
- Level 5: walk 2’30 “and run 2’30”
- Level 6: walk 2 ‘and run 3’
- Level 7: walk 1’30 “and run 3’30”
- Level 8: walk 1 ‘and run 4’
- Level 9: walk 30 “and run 4’30”
- Level 10: run the five minutes.
We have already commented before that at the beginning it is better to establish the goal of the session by time. If we set a goal of 30 minutes, we can perform six cycles of the above, since each cycle is five minutes long.
At the beginning we may only be able to run two minutes out of five, but with resistance training we will be able to run the full five minutes. If we join several cycles of five minutes running, we already have our first five kilometers done running.
Force will be your best ally
In the first sessions you may have soreness, although this sensation is more typical of strength training. It is because your muscles are not used to contracting with a certain intensity. Strength training as an aid to resistance training will make you improve faster.
A strong lower body coupled with a stable and worked core will not only prevent us from typical runner injuries, they will also help us run faster by improving the development of fast fibers. Endurance training, running technique, and strength work will be your trio of aces to complete your first five-kilometer run.
Don’t force the machine every time
We want to do more kilometers and do it fast from now on. That leads to fatigue within minutes of training and feeling bad about ourselves. Start slow, don’t go too fast, too early. Your times are yours, do not compare yourself with other people.
On the day of the five-kilometer race, especially do not get carried away by the environment or by other runners. Complete the distance with the time you have been taking in your workouts. The next five kilometers you will have to beat that mark. That is the goal every time.
Food is your gasoline
One of the main reasons people start running is to lose weight. Here are two behaviors that are dangerous when performed simultaneously: eating less and moving more. If we are going to start training we will have to eat better, not eat less.
Choose your food better and avoid creating very sudden energy deficits because they will limit the obtaining of energy for workouts. We already know this, but it is always good to remember that a plate of rice is a good source of carbohydrates, while a chocolate muffin is not.
Do cross training
Depending on the days you go out for a run, it may be recommended that not every day is a race. We can improve our cardiovascular endurance in different ways to give our lower body joints a break.
Swimming is one of them, also cycling, rowing or any activity that allows you to improve your resistance without the impacts that we generate in the race. Introduce any of these non-impact modalities into your workouts to give your joints a break.
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