A 5 kilometer (5K) fun run in four months' time is a reasonable training goal even for sedentary people. That's just over three miles. Although you'll have better results training on the road, working out on a treadmill keeps your training time more flexible because you can run at night and in foul weather. The secret to training for a 5K, or any other race, is consistency. If you train regularly, and add distance to your run each week, you'll be in shape for the run whether you want to be or not.
Structuring Your Workouts
Step 1
Set the incline on your treadmill for 5 to 10 degrees upward. This will help adjust for the fact that road running is harder on the hamstrings than running on a treadmill.
Step 2
Begin each workout with a five-minute warmup at a walking pace to reduce your chances of injury.
Step 3
End each workout with a ten-minute cool down at a walking pace. This reduces chances of injury, and improves your recovery time between workouts.
Step 4
Set a reasonable time goal for your 5K race. For beginning runners, 45 minutes is a doable time, and 30 minutes is not out of the question.
Step 5
Run approximately three times per week. This is frequently enough to make real gains, but not so much running that it's likely to become a hardship, or result in overtraining.
Workout Plan
Step 1
Work out for 20 minutes during weeks one and two, alternating between jogging for one minute and walking for 90 to 120 seconds. You can program your treadmill for this, or change the speeds manually. Work out for 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 2
Expand your running intervals for weeks three and four, moving to two minutes each of jogging and walking. For most models, this will be a much easier interval to program. Move to three minutes running, one of walking for week five. Week six will be five minutes jogging, one walking. Set your sessions to match your goal time for the 5 K.
Step 3
Jog one mile at the beginning of your workouts for week seven, then finish your time with the five-minute/one-minute intervals. With some models, you may have to structure this as two programmed workouts.
Step 4
Jog for one and a half miles at the beginning of your week eight sessions, two miles for week nine, two and a half miles for week 10 and three miles for week 11. You may reach a point where you hit your time limit before you reach your distance goal. If that happens, quit jogging at the end of your time. The goal of this phase of your workout is to get you running for the whole time consecutively.
Step 5
Increase your speed to run three and a half miles during your sessions for week 15. This overtraining will help you go for a personal best come race day.
Step 6
Do not run during week 16. This will give your body time to recover fully and be ready to perform during the race.
Step 7
Use weeks 12 through 14 to increase your speed until you're able to run five kilometers -- 3.1 miles -- within your goal time. Do this by increasing your pace on your workouts so you can reach the distance by the end. If you only ran 2.8 miles during week 11, add 0.1 miles per week.
Tips and Warnings
- This is only one of hundreds of viable plans to prepare for a 5K run. You can use it as-is, or as a basis for developing your own. Its chief purpose is to give you a starting point. Sometimes, the main purpose of a first plan is to give you a structure to alter for your personal needs.
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