Spring is a perfect choice for a beginner 5k training plan. Spring is probably the season we look forward to with the greatest longing. In particular, since winter is the coldest time of the year, often with snow and frost in many areas, and short days. The sun is low, animals and plants hibernate or rest. Of course, each season has its characteristics. However, spring is still a season most people consider to be “life starts again with new hopes and expectations, to realizing new ideas and participating in social events outdoors”.
Beginner 5k Training Plan
Many of us also succeed in realizing the idea of starting running training. Such as going from being a couch potato to being able to run 5 kilometers without breaks. So a beginner 5k training plan is a good choice to open a new season. Many new runners dream of defeating the 5 km distance, and once the task is done the next step is often to get a good time.
It’s very individual where you start with a beginner 5k training plan. But the most important aspect is to get your running shoes on and get out the door and then test yourself maybe with a walk/run combination, with other running buddies, and enjoying a good community.
With today’s SoMe technology, most of us can find running communities where we have the same physical starting points and interests.
Beginner 5k training plan – Basic Loads
When you start running following a beginner 5k training plan, it’s important to have a basic understanding of which loads you expose your body to when you run – especially if you want to avoid injuries.
As a beginner, it is important to start up slowly and take it easy, as the body’s different tissue types (tendons, muscles, etc.) need time to adapt to the load from your new running routines and movement patterns.
Some body tissues take longer to build up than others. Therefore it’s a good idea to focus on the social aspect with other runners at the beginning of the training program instead of focusing on running times from day 1. Find a comfortable pace and let your running times be less important.
After a relatively short time, when you get into the routine of your running training, you will quickly experience a significant improvement in your muscles (muscle tissue develops fast) and your circulation – your heart/lung function improves and you can often feel that you “have more air” when you achieve progress in your fitness (VO2 max.).
Your bones and tendons need more time to adapt to the new load when you become regular with your running plan – and this is where many “beginner’s” injuries occur.
Be aware of the adaptation rules
It’s therefore important that you not only increase the load as your fitness rate improves, even if it feels different and easy when you are just running, but that you also take into account your bones and tendon tissue – that there are other factors at play in the long term when you want to be ready at the starting line for your chosen 5k race.
That being said, the training for a 5k is primarily aimed at improving maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max), but lactic acid threshold training and endurance training are also prioritized here.
On the list is also speed training and technique that improves stride rate/the speed of the legs in order to accustom the body to running at high speed.
Avoid Overload Injuries When Following the Beginner 5K Training Plan
If we consider the recovery time of the tissue types, you will over time be better able to adjust the load in your training runs. It will be a good idea to consider your pace, distance, running surface, and body weight.
Many experts agree that it generally takes about 12 weeks of training to be able to run 5 kilometers without breaks. So the training progression should be built up slowly.
In this way, your body has the opportunity to keep up, but if you start to feel pain in, for example, your shin, you should take an extra day of rest. It’s not fun to get an overload injury when training is going well and things looking reasonable.
Interval training
Interval training strengthens your lung tissue, and your respiratory muscles and forms more alveoli (branches), which results in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the lungs and blood improves. At the same time, blood volume (the amount of blood in the veins) increases, and you can thus transport more oxygen to the muscles.
You become better at converting oxygen into energy. In addition, your body also becomes better at getting rid of waste products from the muscles. So interval training is worth its weight in gold when it comes to building up your fitness and toughness. This type of training is simply essential if you want to become a better runner.
With interval training, you can train at a very high intensity for a longer period because you have breaks in between the running periods. Interval training can be done twice a week, where you alternate between running fast and walking or jogging. Whether you should do interval training depends of course on your current running status/experience.
Interval training types
Interval training can be structured in different ways in relation to breaks and running time, but can look like this: You perform a 5-minute warm-up with easy running and maybe a little stretching. Then the real running training begins.
You run for 2 minutes at a high intensity, then you get your heart rate up, but without pushing yourself too hard so you can’t complete the training. Then you take a 1-minute break where you walk or jog. You perform this sequence 3 times.
In all intervals, you should run at roughly the same speed, as this gives the best results and shows that you can manage intensity and pace. This means that the running speed should be fairly constant in each interval, and at the same time, the first and last intervals should be run at roughly the same speed.
Tempo training
As a beginner, you will experience an improvement in your shape – your fitness (VO2 max.) within a relatively short time and your heart/lung function will also improve. An improvement in your fitness will often also result in a faster pace, i.e. higher intensity in your training runs – this also increases the load and thus the risk of an overload injury.
So unless you have experience in another sport that includes running, you should be aware of these circumstances. So make sure that you keep the pace as a beginner and thus the load, at a level so that the body’s tissues can recover optimally and become strong (Supercompensation) before exposing it to a higher pace.
But if you are in shape and have the experience to perform tempo runs regularly. It will be tough training sessions that, in addition to the positive impact on the Lactate Threshold, also give you a mental toughness that makes it easier to cope with tough training sessions and competitions.
Running intensity
Running intensity is very important in training. With high-intensity training, you train your heart and circulation most effectively and get the most out of the time you spend in your running shoes.
However, this type of training is also quite hard on your tendons and joints, especially. Therefore, your body needs a longer recovery time afterward. And if you are a beginner, you should only do relatively hard interval training once a week.
As a marker for your running intensity, you should not run faster than the “talking limit.” For example, use a heart rate monitor with your heart rate zones. The “talking limit” is the limit at which you can talk without interruptions other than your breath.
If you run too fast, i.e. at too high an intensity, and go past the “talking limit”, you will only be able to answer with a few words. You can measure your running intensity on a scale. A very useful way to gauge how hard you run is to use the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion.
In my country, the Borg scale is also used with success in hospitals to treat heart patients when they start a physical exercise program. Mainly because It’s easier and the focus is on the subjective experience.
Higher Running Intensity Demands a Longer Recovery Time
When you start using your beginner 5k training plan, then consider which loads your body is exposed to on your training runs. Running intensity is particularly important, and you should not increase both volume and intensity in the same week.
So if you start running faster in your training runs, you should not also run longer. Below are some other factors to consider in your training.
Running Surface
Grass is the gentlest surface you can train on. Both as prevention of injuries and in a rehabilitation phase after an injury, it’s a really good running surface. Grass is good because it’s soft, so the surface absorbs some of the shock during landing. In addition, the soft surface strengthens your joints and muscles.
Asphalt and tiles are as hard as running surfaces, but they are also surfaces that are almost impossible to avoid in our part of the world on residential roads and in cities. A hard surface will increase the loads on the different tissue types in the body, and thus often increase the risk of overload injuries.
If you have the opportunity, you should take advantage of forest and gravel paths, where the surface is softer and thus puts less load on the body. You can often find a park, a path, or a beach near where you live.
Distance training
Better fitness will also give you the courage to run longer distances. Longer distances will also influence the load, which increases the risk of injuries. Therefore, it’s important to have a structured and planned approach to how you best implement longer distances when you get in better shape over time.
A good solution might be to get a personal running program with progression based on your current running level and experience. In this way, it will also be reassuring to follow the program. You can be sure that the things and the composition of the training sessions have been thought through from the start.
Additionally, remember that running downhill is more demanding for the body than running uphill or on a flat surface. This is a good thing to consider when planning your running route.
Body Weight
For many, the goal of running is to lose a few pounds. Running is also a really good way to do that, as long as you consider the stress you are putting on your body.
Running/jogging is a weight-bearing sport, and when you land, the shock that propagates through your body will be equivalent to 2-4 times your body weight depending on speed and running surface. This load increases when we run because the pace increases and more stabilizing forces are required.
So, the load on the body when running increases when the weight is higher, and therefore an overweight person will expose the body to a greater load from the beginning, compared to a person of normal weight. In this case, it would be beneficial to consider a diet as something that can help you reduce the load.
The Training Plan
A training program is a plan for how you train toward a goal such as a beginner 5k training plan aiming at a race in the future. The intention is to structure your training so you get the most out of it. It creates an overview, provides motivation and you are sure to make progress and reach your goal.
So a fundamental element to getting started with training toward a specific race in the future is to have a plan that you can follow. The plan should be personally designed, preferably with a coach. Then you are sure that it is adapted to your current running level, and can be confident of reaching the starting line on race day and completing the race.
Finding beginner 5k training plans
But there is also a massive range of 5k beginner programs available online today, as well as on many training apps, and just as many different ways to do it. But they are often not personalized from, for example, a coach who knows you. So it’s up to you what you prefer.
Researcher Jesper Franch However, has prepared an excellent 5k program that is structured in the same way over 12 weeks. The load increases continuously. Both the regular runs and the intervals in the interval training become longer.
Again, you should consider your current running level concerning the intensity of the training. So if you are a beginner, it’s a good idea to start with easy intervals consisting of running/walking.
This ensures that the body’s tissues are strengthened in a way so it can tolerate the stresses you put on your body. Also consider having training and activities adapted to an often busy everyday life, which is not always so straightforward. It’s all about finding a structure that fits into your everyday life.
Planning your running days
It could be planning your running days. The training days don’t have to be fixed days, they can easily vary from week to week. You can schedule them as you want, as long as you remember your rest days.
Rest days mean that you need to give your body, and especially your legs, time to recover. When you train, you break down your body’s tissue, which is then rebuilt to a stronger version than before the training – this is called supercompensation. It’s therefore necessary for the body to rebuild during the recovery period to become stronger.
Therefore, If you want to be active on your rest days, do stretching exercises or “non-weight-bearing” activities, such as swimming, cycling, or non-impact activities like Pilates or yoga. Over time, you can train your body to withstand greater loads without the same need for rest days, even days of light training (active recovery).
A very important thing to remember is that ultimately it’s your body that decides and not your training program, which is really just a plan that doesn’t take into account how your body is feeling.
Therefore, always pay attention to signals from your body – maybe you have been working in the garden all day without thinking that this could affect your daily running training.
Final Thoughts
In addition to the running itself and your goals of good running times in public races, you also strengthen your overall health and your mental health in particular when you run even the short distances like a 5k. Running is a great way to feel happy, relieve stress, and experience great social communities.
Your thoughts are no longer locked into daily routines but can be expressed more freely, especially when you run in a running community, you get the whole packet.
I hope you find this post helpful. If you have any questions about the topic or want to leave a review, please comment below.
