Part 1 of this two-part column dealt with how to go from being a walker to a 5K finisher. Now, Part 2 deals with taking that next step, going from finishing a 5K to finishing a 10K.

In Part 1, our goal was to take someone who was a walker or sedentary individual and create a simple, manageable, non-intimidating plan so that they could run (finish) a 5K. As stated in Part 1, one thing that we see happen is that walkers become intimidated by running, and in some cases, get burned out trying to do too much too soon. The goal in Part 1 was to reach 3-5 runs per week, for 30 minutes of straight running per session. From this point our goal was to increase the number of days of running per week, as well as initiate the basic aerobic workouts needed to finish a 10K. Remember what we're talking about here: finishing a 10K, not racing one. The goal is simple, as is the schedule. Stay consistent in the number of days of running per week, ramp up the duration of one long run, add a few minutes to daily runs.

Some of our readers probably think that you need to do much more than that to finish a 10K. Not so! When I set out to write this two-part column, my primary goal was to write something that made sedentary people and walkers realize that this was something they could do. Kind of a "Hey, I can do that" feeling. To illustrate this gradual, manageable build-up from Part 1, let's take a moment to look at an actual schedule of a 50-year-old sedentary male who went from being sedentary to finishing a 10K in 6 months.

I had him start by running 100 steps and walking 100 steps for 1 mile! When it felt easy, we went to running 100 steps and walking 50 steps, then reducing the frequency of the walks until he was running a continuous mile easily (this took about a month). Then he ran a mile, walked 100 steps, and ran some more, until he was running 2 miles with a short break in the middle. Then he went to continuous running, slowly increasing from 2-5 or 6 miles over a 3-4-month period. At this point he was running 5 times a week. He took a relaxed, noncompetitive approach, which paid off.

Let's assume we've accomplished the goals of Part 1 already: 3-5 days of running per week and 30 minutes of continuous running, and we've finished that first 5K. The first thing to do is to take one of those 30-minute runs and transform it gradually into a "long run." A once-per-week 40-45 minute run would be a suitable short-term goal. Remember, we aren't training for a marathon here, just trying to finish a 10K. There are those who'll want to go longer right away and rush things a bit. Don't do it! Take small, manageable steps. Once a 45-minute run feels easy, gradually add time to the long run, but only after covering the weekly 45 minutes for 3 successive weeks. At this point, ask yourself how difficult that 45 minutes felt, and decide from there how much more time to add. An increase of 5-15 minutes is what I would suggest, based on how the 45 minutes felt: If it felt very easy, then adding 15 minutes will be no problem. If 45 minutes wasn't bad, but still a bit challenging, then I would add 10 minutes. If it's still a challenge physically, then add only 5 minutes and take another small step.

While you're adding time to the long run, maintain the other 30-minute runs, 3-4 days per week. After the second week of ramping up the long run, we can start to add a few minutes to the routine supplemental runs. We don't want to add too many changes in training too quickly. We want to make this as easy and simple as possible. You don't have to add 5 minutes to every run. Alternating a 30-minute run with a 35-minute run will be a nice small, manageable step. A week's schedule with five runs would look like this.

Monday--35-minute run Tuesday--30-minute run Wednesday--off Thursday--35-minute run Friday--30-minute run Saturday - 45-minute long run Sunday off

How is simply increasing the number of runs and the volume of runs going to help us finish a 10K? When a sedentary person becomes more active, substantial physiologic adaptations occur. It's these adaptations that increase our endurance and let us go from finishing a 5K to finishing a 10K. The magnitude of these adaptations is determined by the volume and intensity of training. Right now, our main concern is training volume--the total time spent running per run and per week. Although it's useful here to note that of the two exercise prescription factors--volume and intensity--intensity is the most important for performance. In both training and detraining studies, intensity has been identified as the most important factor for the magnitude of the increase or decrease in aerobic fitness (VO2max).

Eventually, there has to be some attention paid to adding intensity, but this is where we sometimes see beginning runners getting intimidated. It's also a point where beginning runners can become discouraged by the insistence of coaches that they do much harder workouts. So be assured that it's fine for you to run 5Ks and 10Ks without doing any high-intensity repeats, intervals or tempo runs. For now, keep it simple and understand that at this point the greater the volume of running, the greater the adaptations.

What we see when we increase volume is an increase in aerobic power (the muscles' ability to use oxygen, also called VO2max.) This increase in VO2max is primarily the result of an increase in blood flow to the active muscle mass because of an increase in maximal cardiac output (volume of blood pumped by the heart in one minute). Changes within the muscle also contribute to this increase, primarily the increases in capillarization of muscle tissue and the levels of some muscle cell components (myoglobin, mitochondria and their oxidative enzymes). With our increase in volume, we see an increase in all these important adaptations.

The key here is patience! Don't feel like you have to be ramping things up every week, or running 7 days a week. I heard a story from a friend who helped get his father started running at age 50. A conservative, patient approach had him finishing a 10K in 6 months. No aches or pains, no injuries. Training in cycles helps. Two to 3 weeks of solid 4-5 days a week of training, then a week of only 3 days of easy running will help you stay motivated and keep you from getting injured. Increase the number of days per week first, and then increase the volume of runs. For now, think about finishing a 10K happily and comfortably. Down the line, when a specific finishing time is the goal, then we can talk about adding intensity.

Train hard, train smart!

Coach Mike Arenberg