I have committed to a 10K run for Charity need help !!

rustypust

As one of my 2012 goals, I am running 10K for charity on the 25 March which is Ten weeks from now. I have printed a 10k Training program as I have never done a run to this degree before, but would be grateful if their are any experts out there who could offer your advice on a program that I should follow?

SueInAz

I'm certainly not an expert but I wanted to give you some of my experience this past year. I was a bit freaked out at the idea of running a 10K when it was first proposed to me last summer by my sister. She's been running everything up to full marathons for the past 4 years following Jeff Galloway's run/walk philosophy and she was confident I could do it. I was not! I had started running for the very first time in April.

She gave me a training program that simply had me adding a little more distance every week to the long run with a couple of shorter runs during the week. It all went very well. I ran that first 10K in late October and while I certainly didn't run it quickly (the 80° heat didn't help that), I ran it and didn't come in last.

I've run a few more 10Ks since then and I'm in the last week of training for a half marathon which is a week from today. My "short" runs during the week are now 6 miles each, if you can believe that!

My best advice is to follow the training program. Don't try to run more than three times each week and keep your activities on the days between to something low-impact to minimize injury. Run your long runs at a slower pace because you're trying to get your body used to running the longer distances. Use your shorter runs to push for speed, if you wish. Don't worry about this. As long as you don't get injured, you're going to finish; you can always walk if it comes down to it.