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Jessica Morrison

You Finished Couch to 5K, Now What?

I finished Couch to 5K, now what do Ido? I have heard this question a lot fromboth friends and readers. The Couch to5k program is an excellent program toget started with running. People whohave completed the Couch to 5k areoften eager to continue running after theprogram ends, but they don’t knowwhere to go for additional training plansor guidance. I think it’s wonderful that somany people have success with theprogram, so I would like to provide someresources for where to go when you aredone with the program.

You have some options once you aredone with the 12 week program andhave completed your first 5k. Somepeople choose to stay at the 5k distance and work on lowering their 5k times. If you would like to work on increasingyour speed, there are a number of resources out there including Runners World—they have a TON of training articleson speed work and sample training plans. Running Times is another great source of training plans for all levels.

In doing some research, I discovered an app for smart phones called Bridge to 10k. This is a handy app that will helpyou go from 5k to 10k. The app is priced at $2.99. More info can be found on their website.

You may decided that, instead of working on your speed, you would prefer to tackle a longer distance race. If you visitthe above resources, they also have many plans for the 10K, half marathon, and marathon. One thing to be verycareful of is doing too much too soon (TMTS). Often times, new runners get so excited with the changes in their bodyand their newfound love of running, that they ramp up their mileage and/or speed too quickly.

The general rule for increasing mileage is to increase by no more than 10% per week. This gradual increase allowsyour body to adapt to increased mileage slowly in order to decrease the chance of injury. Always make sure that youare listening to your body. If something starts to hurt (other than general muscle soreness you feel from workouts),stop running until you no longer feel the pain. Trust me, I have made this mistake several times before!

Jessica is a thirty-something mother runner to three crazy (but very lovable) young boys and a lazy greyhound, livingthe beach life on Cape Cod.I was once asked whether I run to keep up with the boys or to run away, and I guess Iwould say it’s a little of both! Sign up for her FREE monthly Training Tips Newsletter.