Running a marathon starts with a single step, assuming these steps are made with a good pair of running shoes and a medical practitioner’s blessing. The following is phase one of a multi-phase training program to get you moving incrementally towards eventually running a 26.2. Phase one is for everyone, but particularly oriented to complete beginners who don’t know how to get started.
[ WEEK ONE ]
5 Minutes Training for 5 Days, 2 Days Rest
To start training for a marathon, start with a few steps. On the first week of training, you need only commit five minutes to running, no matter how short the distance. If you run over five minutes, great, but you’re only expected to run for five minutes each day, Monday to Friday, to make this program work. Get the win under your belt. Take the Saturday and Sunday off.
[ WEEK TWO ]
10 Minutes Training for 5 Days, 2 Days Rest
Week two, bump up your running to 10 minute sessions a day. 10 minutes a day is short enough that anyone can do it, no matter what physical shape you’re in. Again, run Monday to Friday and take the weekends off. You can swap a day of the week for Saturday, if it suits you better, but leave Sunday as your off day. Having one carved-in-stone day of rest will be comforting to you psychologically as well as physically when you start logging the mega-miles. Right now you’ll be lucky is you cover a mile in 10 measly minutes. Which brings us to…
[ WEEK THREE ]
15 Minutes Training for 5 Days, 2 Days Rest
On week three, your training notches up to 15 minutes per day, for 5 days a week. It’s still not the kind of vigorous exercise people should be getting, but we’re gradually and gently conditioning tendons and muscles. If your muscles feel hella sore, or you feel unwell, stay home and stretch. Just be sure to adhere to the following rule.
[ WEEK FOUR - WEEK TWELVE ]
20 Minutes Training for 5 Days, 2 Days Rest
Twenty minutes training is the generally accepted minimum amount of sustained exercise one needs to do to accrue any significant benefits. Five days training in a week is the generally accepted maximum (any more might lead to suffering the symptoms of over-training). Train within these parameters for the next eight weeks (taking an extra day off when you need to and using common sense at all times) and you’ll be ready for phase two, which will be posted two months from now. Be safe and have fun!
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