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Step 3: How to get from the couch to the start line of a 5k in eight weeks

Ultra marathon guru John O’Regan has us well warmed up at this stage. Let’s kick on.

WEEK THREE IS when you start to establish a routine and you will soon know if the training days suit or if you need to swap training and rest days around.

If you have time to watch Fair City then you have time to exercise and you won’t regret a run you do but may regret one you didn’t do.

Feeling like your progress is slow? Sometimes the improvements are less obvious and that’s because an increase in fitness naturally means an increase in strength which also means you push harder without realising it.

Have confidence in what you’ve done and stick with the plan and try remember where you’ve come from but more importantly you need to stay focussed on where you’re going.

If you were thinking about changing running shoes or socks etc now is probably the time to do it or if you can wait until after you’ve completed the race then wait until then.  Introducing new things at the same time makes it harder to find a root cause of a problem if it develops.  The two new things in this case are new running shoes and new training programme with an increasing distance.

A good example would be new shoes and new socks resulting in blisters.  Is it the shoes or the socks causing them?

Maybe the new running shoes could be your reward for completing the distance and something to earn.

Be patient, consistent and most importantly be patient.  Even a small amount of exercise is better than none.

See the full 5k programme here or the 10k here for more advanced runners.

John O’Regan is a renowned adventure runner and the Life Style Sports Run in the Dark’s expert coach. Follow him on Twitter: @johnoregan777. He is available an online Q&A every Monday from 8-9pm on the event’s Facebook Page to answer training related questions.

Sign up for Life Style Sports Run In The Dark here>

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