“I'd love to start running and maybe do a few 5K or 10K races, but the process is just too painful. I end up losing motivation and pushing the idea aside.”

This is a very common thought nowadays, and the main reason usually comes down to the same thing: a lack of adaptation and progression in training.

Exactly! What’s keeping you from completing your training and staying motivated to continue is how the training is structured. If you’re new to running (or even if you’ve tried before and want to come back), the best place to start is with the easiest and most basic – yet essential – element: walking.

You might be thinking, “That’s way too easy for me,” but soon you’ll understand why walking is so important in the beginning.

For the first week, your goal is to go out at least three times, walking for a minimum of 20 minutes, alternating between brisk and moderate pace.

Once you complete that first week, you move to the next phase, which can last 2 weeks, where you alternate walking with short bouts of running. For example: 5 minutes of walking followed by 30 seconds of slow jogging.

These blocks can be repeated 4 to 10 times, and the running time can gradually increase (up to 60 seconds), depending on how your body responds.

During these training weeks, the goal is to feel how your body reacts to the running stimulus, learn to control your breathing, and without even noticing, you’ll already be working on pace and improving your fitness!

It’s also important to include mobility and stability routines, core work, motor control, and unilateral strength exercises so that your progress is faster and more effective — helping your body adapt better to this new phase.

So, here’s your first mission: begin the “intro to running” phase.

Happy training and see you soon!