Going From A Couch Potato To Running A 5k

If you’re thinking of running a 5k for the first time you may want to listen up.
 
KVRR’S Diane Thao sits down with Essentia Health Athletic Trainer Tessa Martin on how to ease into those running shoes before bolting off in this week’s Essentia Fitness.

“If you’re somebody who’s not physically active normally and you’re really interested in competing in a race, whether it’s 5k or 10k or anything like that, first of all I just want to commend you for making that decision. One of the most important things is to set those goals. If you just want to go out there and work out and get fit, but if you don’t set those goals, I feel that you’re kind of setting yourself up for failure. So it’s important to set certain goals. So maybe you’re first week of training, you’re going to do a five minute warm up brisk walk. And then maybe you’re just going to run for 60 seconds. Then you’re going to walk for 90 seconds. Then you’re going to alternate that from a total time of 20 minutes or something like that. Then the following week, you maybe want to up the time you’re running. So if you’re somebody who doesn’t works out and you work out, you’re going to feel really sore, typically 24-72 hours later. It’s completely normal but it hurts. So you just want to make sure that you’re taking days off in between your workouts especially if you’re not active normally,” says Martin.
 
Was there any other tips that you have for us for people who do want to succeed in this?
 
“I think it’d be great to do it with a friend. Somebody who’s going to be an accountability partner and be there with you to motivate you, encourage you, support you, and I think that’s something that you can do and make it a little more fun as well,” says Martin.
 
Thank you very much, Tessa on all those great knowledge on sharing how to prep for a 5k. Going from a couch potato to running a 5k.