If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you would have noticed that i like to run and i’ve taken part in a few charity running events in the past year.
I have never been a long distance runner, 100m sprint was the most i used to do throughout school.
Well last year, it all changed. I came across the Running of the Mo’s 5k and 10k running event and thought it would be a bit of fun and signed myself up for the 5k. The Running of the Mo’s is part of Movember but gives everyone who can’t grow a moustache a chance to get involved. Movemeber was set up to raise awareness and funds for men suffering from prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.
So, before you sign up to any running event you need to ensure you have left yourself plenty of time to train. I suggest if you don’t run you would need about 10 weeks to train for the 5k without pushing yourself too much and causing yourself an injury. Signing up to an event does help push you to train. It’s a fun way of keeping fit, meeting new people, having a laugh and at the same time raising money for a good cause.
It can be quite boring running on your own and you tend to convince yourself you can’t run anymore. For that reason it might be an idea to find a running club. I joined the Sweatshop Running community and started their beginner programme and ran with them 2 times a week. Here is the programme i started on.
Week 1- Run 1 mine, walk 1 min – Repeat 8 times
Week 2 – Run 2 mins, walk 1 min – Repeat 7 times
Week 3 – Run 3 mins, walk 1 min – Repeat 6 times
Week 4 – Run 5 mins, walk 1 min – Repeat 4 times
Week 5 – Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins – Repeat 3 times
Week 6 – Run 10 mins, walk 1 min – Repeat 3 times
Week 7 – Run 15 mins, walk 1 min – Repeat twice
Week 8 – Run 30 mins continuously
Joining the Sweatshop running community doesn’t cost you anything and they have a reward programme so you’ll get some gifts after putting in weeks of hard work.
Click here for more info about the Sweatshop Running Community, find out if there is a community near you and register online. Give it a go, you might like it.
