Start Running: Couch-to-5K Program, Week Five

Week Four of the C25K running program is behind us (here’s my recap), so it’s time to turn our attention to Week Five. Are you ready? I am. Let’s go…

Week Five involves a departure from the “three identical workouts per week” routine. This time around, we’ll start out with multiple five minute runs on Day One, and finish with a 20 minute run on Day Three.

Here’s the plan:

Day One

• Start with a brisk 5 minute walk to warmup, followed by…
• Jog for 5 min
• Walk for 3 min
• Repeat the above jog/walk two more times
• End with 5 min of walking to cool down

Day Two

• Start with a brisk 5 minute walk to warmup, followed by…
• Jog for 8 min
• Walk for 5 min
• Jog for 8 min
• End with 5 min of walking to cool down

Day Three

• Start with a brisk 5 minute walk to warmup, followed by…
• Jog for 20 min non-stop
• End with 5 min of walking to cool down

As you can see, the stakes will be considerably higher by the end of the week. Assuming that you’ve been keeping up with the program, however, you should be ready for the challenge.

I actually completed Day One yesterday (Sunday) and it wasn’t all that difficult. Day Two will be tomorrow (Tuesday), with the 20 minute run to follow on Thursday.

If you’ve been following along, great… Keep it up! If you’re interested in starting, please jump back to Week One and proceed from there.

Filed under: Health & Fitness
Tags: c25k, cardio, exercise, running, workouts