Build up for your endurance for the big race

Laura Schep

I don’t know about you, but recently, I can’t help but notice the increase in joggers around Guelph, enjoying the sunshine as they stride along, some plugged into iPods, others just listening to their steady pattern of breaths as they continue along their way. This led me to think that this week, I could write an article about how someone who has never run a far distance can train themselves to do so.

Perhaps this concept puzzles you – after all, does running really need an explanation? All you need to do is put one foot in front of the other repeatedly, right? Well, yeah… that’s technically all there is to running. The simplicity is part of the beauty of it. You don’t need to take any fancy classes to participate, it’s not an expensive or complicated sport, and you can really run anytime, anywhere, in most forms of weather. If you are in relatively good health, and are not recovering from previous injuries, chances are you can participate in long-distance running, and train yourself to run many, many kilometres (if you’re into that sort of thing).

Suppose one of your summer goals is to complete your first-ever 10km race.  The first time I did this, I found it helpful to break down my training into manageable parts. There are books and online sources available for training schedules and tips, and most sources will recommend trying to run for five to eight minutes, consecutively, without walking, as a good starting exercise.  If you can do more, that’s great, and if you can’t yet manage five minutes, that’s still perfectly fine. You will soon, if you keep trying. Bear in mind that your pace for this running does not need to be exceedingly fast – it should be one that is comfortable for you. Most sources will recommend that your running pace should be one at which you could still maintain a conversation if someone else were running beside you (also not a bad idea). So if you’re huffing and puffing and couldn’t possibly speak as you’re running along, you definitely need to slow down your pace. Once you’ve run the time you’ve set out for yourself, take your walk break, and repeat this sequence of events once, or maybe even twice. Try to get up to about 20 minutes of walking/running at a time. For some people, this may be achievable the first time. For others, it may take a few weeks. Whatever the case, just keep gradually building up your endurance until you can run for 20 minutes, consecutively. Once you get up to running about 20 minutes before taking a walking break, you’ve established your running base and can start training for the 10km.

Now, for the actual training of your first 10km, you should aim to run about three times per week, preferably not on two days in a row. In the days when you’re not running, it helps if you are cross-training (walking, swimming, biking, rock climbing, etc.) to continue challenging your body in other ways. Two of your weekly runs will be simple, short ones – maybe 20-25 minutes of straight running. These are “maintenance runs” and simply help to preserve the endurance you’ve established. One of your three weekly runs, however, will be one in which you will gradually extend your distance, in order to eventually reach the 10km mark. You can accomplish this either by time or distance –  so if you’ve been running for 20 consecutive minutes for your two short runs during your first week of training, maybe try 24 minutes for your longer run. The next week, try 26 or 27. Or, if you want to go by distance, if you’ve been running 5km for your short runs, then try the first week to go to six or seven. It is important not to extend the distance or time too far during these runs; most sources will recommend that runners limit their increase in distance to roughly 2km or 3km maximum.

Within a couple of months, if you stick to this simple approach to running, you should be able to gradually reach your target distance of 10km.

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