So… Due to a recent cancer scare (my brother), I’ve been convinced to get off my sizable ass and start working towards a 5k cancer walk / run. Thing is, I’m horribly, -horribly- out of shape. I’ve just recently downloaded RunKeeper for my phone, and I’m finding myself walking about .5 miles at a stretch, taking 10-12(ish) minutes to do so.
Now, RunKeeper has a work-out program for 5k’s, but it seems to think I’m going to be able to do 1.5-2 miles within a couple of weeks. Realistically, that’s not happening.
What I’d like to find is an app that can help me do the keep-track-of-my-walking thing, and has a training program that is a little more realistic, or a little more customizable, or both. I’m hoping to get to the 5k level by April. I think four and a half months is a realistic goal for that. Does anyone know of a good app that can help me put together a training plan for such a length of time?
C25K is written for average people with average rates of improvement starting from an average state of non-fitness.
Depending on how much you need to lose, previous knee injuries( if any) and age, you may want to start walking only until you lose some weight. Follow the general plan but you’ll need to lengthen the time spent at each stage.
Walk briskly instead of running/jogging.
Are you looking to walk the 5K or run it? I’m in full agreement with the above that if you have a lot of weight to lose then stick to walking until you shed a bunch of it. There’s really no point to running otherwise. Tracking your progress isn’t something you need to get fancy with, get a pen and paper and write date, distance, time. It’s the same with a training plan, you don’t need to get crazy. You can Google “Google Maps Pedometer” and find sites that will help you plot routes to walk/run. I usually use this one:
I followed this program when I started running, 5 years ago. There were weeks in which I didn’t move on to the next “week” of the program, due to not feeling like I was ready to progress, but overall, the program worked for me.