J.T.'s 5k Training Plan

I'm making a runner of him yet! JK, it wasn't my idea.

Before we start, you must know, this was solely his idea! I told him I was signing up for the Region's Jingle Bell Run because Kathleen recruited a bunch of clinic coworkers to walk it together so I was going to join them for support. Until, J.T. decided he wanted to run.

He even recruited his friend, Whitworth (who runs 5k's on a regular basis, apparently).  So, J.T. and Whitworth decide to run 3.1 miles and start "training" 2 weeks before the race. Whitworth ran 1 mile runs like 2 times and lost 7 pounds. Seriously?! I mean, I run like 13 miles in one day and don't lose a single ounce. Off topic, back to the race.  J.T. ran just about daily for the 2 weeks. I ran with them once and found $11 in cash on the sidewalk so really everyone benefitted from this.

Raceday comes and Whitworth met at our loft early so we could all walk over. So, really, we had a five mile kinda day. We met up with another Clinnut, Jennifer and her husband, Holt.

J.T. and Whitworth all started out pretty strong. My Nike watch broke long ago so I don't have any pacer for us but I asked a girl beside us who reported we were running an 8:42 average. Pretty good! When I run with the Be Well girls, we average around 9:15 minute miles depending on the distance so running with boys made it significantly faster. We lost a teammate around mile 1 so J.T. and I kept running. We walked a few times but overall, I was super impressed with these guys who only trained with a couple of runs. I feel like it took me months to train when I first started running and these guys just dove in head first (and lost weight in the process). That's a boy for ya.

Cindy and Frankie surprised us and showed up to cheer J.T. on! He was excited to see them! (and these are her photos!)

 

Kathleen walked the race with some of her friends from clinic! 

Interested in running a 5k, but no time for Couch to 5k? You could always try to just jump in like J.T. did. Remember to walk whenever you need to and rest well. Ideally, schedule more time, but here's what J.T. did.

J.T.'s rough outline 5k Training plan:

Week1:
Monday: 0.75 mile jog + 0.25 mile walk
Tuesday: 1 mile jog with short walking breaks
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 1.25 mile jog +0.25 mile walk
Friday: 1.5 mile jog
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 1.5 mile jog

Week 2:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 2 mile jog with walking breaks
Wednesday: 1.5 mile jog
Thursday: 3 mile jog + 3 walking breaks
Friday: rest
Saturday: 5K day

Will you be joining these guys for the SuperHero 5k in February?!