I wanted to say publicly that I started training for the Gate
River Run 15K (9.32 miles) in Jaxsonville, FL in March, so I can’t back down. Starting this month, I have enough time
to increase mileage to 15K. I am
proud to say I have never been athletic nor a runner, but I have run 4 marathons, two of
which were for charity raising over $7,500 in total. However, I haven’t run a long distance
for over 5 years, so the 15K race is a good start (or can be
challenging!).
Again, I am not a runner (and not too young), so my goal is to finish without injuries within the
comfortable level of my body. When
I spent 6 months training for each marathon, I got sore and some aches, but I
never had pain or injuries (knock on the wood). That’s thanks to the program using Jeff Galloway’s Run Walk Run method,
which is designed for any people to finish a marathon or a long distance race. His method is to run and walk continuously.
While you walk, you can rest the muscles, so they won’t be worn out. The ratio of run/walk depends on the
distance of the race and your pace.
I created my own training schedule adapting his method, and my ratio is
2-minute run and 3-minute walk. Another
thing perfect for non-runners like me is you don’t have to run every day; only
three days a week, so the muscles can rest and recover. Once a week is a long
distance run, and the mileage increases gradually, such as by 1 mile every
week, so you can slowly build endurance.
You can do cross training for other days, if you like. Here is Jeff Galloway's training schedules for 5K/10K.
If you want to enjoy races for your wellness as long as you
can, I strongly recommend Jeff Galloway’s method.