Every runner starts somewhere. For me, it began with an accident—a step off a curb that twisted some tendons in my ankle, leaving me injured and on crutches for a few weeks. I was in graduate school, stressed out by my class schedule and largely neglecting most forms of self-care, including movement.
The injury dealt an additional blow to my mental health. When I can walk again, I told myself, I’m going to keep moving. So when I was cleared, I started walk-running. Then I started running. Within a year, I’d completed my first race—a half-marathon.
Twenty years, a career writing about running, and two coaching certifications later—one from Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) and another from USA Track and Field (USATF)—running has entirely changed my life. It’s brought me deep friendships, job satisfaction, and a powerful way to cope with life’s challenges. Still, there’s a lot I would do differently with my initiation into it if I could turn back the clock.
A big one? As I mentioned, my first race was that half-marathon. Signing up for a race itself was a good move, I think—it helps with motivation—but that distance was so daunting I almost didn’t make it to the starting line, let alone the finish. If I were to do it all over again, I’d begin with a shorter distance: the 5K.
The 5K represents the perfect distance for a new runner, says Neely Spence Gracey, an elite runner, certified running coach, owner of Get Running Coaching in Boulder, and my coauthor on the new book Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart. That’s because it’s a challenging yet approachable feat, she tells SELF.
Another thing I’d change? From the start, I’d do more than just run, a lesson that took me several injuries to absorb. I’d also pull back the throttle and give myself more space to prioritize recovery.
Fortunately, you don’t have to repeat these mistakes. If you’re here, you’re interested in running your first 5K—congrats already on that super smart choice! If you want a complete program to help you get to the starting line, sign up for the free #SELFto5K program here.
To further guide you on your journey, I’ve gathered tips from running experts who’ve gotten many other first-timers through 3.1 miles and beyond, to a successful, lifelong relationship with running. Here, five things to keep in mind to make the most of your first 5K training cycle.
1. Walk-run before you run-run.
If you’re just getting started with running, it’s helpful to resist the urge to, well, start by running. Solid beginner 5K training plans have you starting out with intervals that alternate between brisk walking and slow jogging—no mile-long jogs or all-out sprints!
This kind of initiation into the sport helps prepare your muscles, joints, and bones for the impact of foot-against-road for 3.1 miles, Hiruni Wijayaratne, a professional runner in Boulder and the director of operations/a coach at RunCoach, tells SELF. What’s more, it keeps you from feeling defeated before you even start.
Gradually, your running minutes in your walk-run will increase while your walking minutes decrease. As you get to the tail end of the plan, you should be well-prepared to run a solid chunk of time straight.
But even after you’ve built up the endurance to jog without stopping, it’s still worthwhile to continue interspersing walks into your runs. According to 2016 research published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, doing so can decrease muscle discomfort (more on that all-too-common running side effect below) without actually slowing down your finish times in races.
2. Cross-train to incorporate movement that doesn’t overstress your body.
If you’re paging through a beginner 5K plan, you’ll probably notice there are some workouts on the schedule that don’t involve walking, jogging, or running at all. And there’s good reason for that: You need to do more than just running if you want to help prevent injury and reap the greatest rewards from your training plan, Wijayaratne says.
Enter cross-training (and, as we’ll touch on later, strength-training). The term “cross-training” refers to any type of cardio that isn’t running—think indoor cycling, swimming, or the elliptical—as well as exercise modalities like yoga and Pilates. Including at least one day of this per week is an important addition to any beginner 5K training plan.
The choice of workouts is up to you. Decide based on what you have access to, what feels right for your body, and what you find enjoyable, says Wijayaratne. Just keep it low-impact—that way, you’re truly giving your body a break from the force of running.
This might be a day to get your family involved with a group hike or bike ride, Athena Farias, an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, and running coach at Get Fit SATX, in San Antonio, tells SELF. Or, you might crave alone time on the mat, in which case yoga might be a better fit.
Any type of low-impact movement will increase blood flow through tight, tired muscles, helping you feel more recovered for your next run. Yoga and Pilates also enhance flexibility and build core strength, which can improve your running form.
Other aerobic exercises, such as cycling and the elliptical, have the added benefit of increasing your endurance—your capability to sustain a harder effort, like running, for a longer period of time without tiring—but without adding additional stress or pounding on your joints, Gracey says.
While Gracey gravitates toward the stationary bike or the elliptical, Wijayaratne opts for swimming, when she can (access to a pool can be tricky, she acknowledges). “There’s so much packed into it,” she says, “including muscular benefits and incredible cardio.”
3. Build strength as a further buffer against injury.
Unlike swimming or cycling, running is a high-impact activity; there’s a reason people refer to “pounding the pavement,” after all. The force of foot-against-road has its benefits—for instance, running increases bone strength.
Building up your running slowly over time decreases this risk by allowing your muscles and ligaments to adapt, Gracey says. But strength training also improves your resilience, because stronger muscles and ligaments can better absorb the impact of running without breaking down, Farias points out. That’s why a beginner 5K training plan should also make strength training a priority.
Strength training also helps you address muscular imbalances—areas that may be tighter or weaker on one side than on the other—and improves muscle activation, or the ability for the right muscles to fire at the proper time when you’re running, Gracey says. This can help guard against injury too—when big, powerful muscles like your glutes slack off, smaller muscles often get strained from picking up the effort.
New runners looking to strength train should focus on exercises that work muscles like your glutes (including the gluteus medius, a hip abductor muscle on the side of your butt, which stabilizes your hips), hamstrings, and core. And don’t neglect your upper body—training your arms, chest, and back can improve your form, prevent aches, and even help you run faster.
You don’t have to spend hours at the gym to get in your strength work, either. In fact, you don’t need a gym at all. Bodyweight exercises like planks, glute bridges, and push-ups will go a long way toward increasing your stability, efficiency, and injury resistance.
Need some inspiration? Here are five of SELF’s great workouts for runners:
- A Full-Body Strength Workout That Takes Just 15 Minutes
- An Upper-Body Workout for Runners That Can Help You Pick Up the Speed
- A Core Workout for Runners That Will Help Your Miles Feel Easier
- A Glutes Workout for Runners to Help Power You Through Your Hardest Miles
- A Simple Glute Activation Circuit to Wake Up Your Butt
4. Prioritize rest and recovery.
Nearly all of the many running injuries I’ve had through the years can be traced back to doing too much—including packing high-intensity gym classes between days of running. So when you’re training to run your first 5K, your program should also include at least one or two days of complete rest. Rest is just as important as any of the movement-oriented parts of the plan we talked about earlier.
Rest in your program is not an afterthought. As you ramp up your mileage, it’s a necessity, Farias says.
Gracey agrees: “Building recovery into your weekly routine will help support your efforts as you build your fitness from where it is to where you want it to be,” she says.
There’s a physiological reason behind it. Each training session—whether we’re talking about your running routines or strength training workouts—actually causes microscopic tears in your muscles, Candace James, a certified running coach and cocaptain of GumboFit in Chicago, tells SELF. In the downtime between workouts, your body repairs this damage. This makes your hamstrings, calves, and quads stronger and more resilient, which helps each run get better.
When you’re just starting a new running program, or getting back into it after a break, you’re likely to experience some delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. Experts believe these aches occur as a result of those tiny muscular tears, and the soreness may last anywhere from three to five days.
While DOMS isn’t harmful, it can interfere with your normal gait if you try to run while you’re especially sore, Farias says. So taking rest days as prescribed—and even more, if you need them—gives your body time to catch up.
And, good news. The soreness you feel when you begin probably won’t persist as intensely throughout the duration of your 5K training plan. You’re likely to feel less sore as early as your second run or strength-training session, since one soreness-producing routine exerts a protective effect against similar sessions that come after, according to the American Society of Sports Medicine.
But it’s more than just physical—rest days also give your mind a crucial break.
“You can get really tired and burned out running and training for a 5K,��� James says. While it’s tempting to push harder in those scenarios, rest is likely what your body’s craving, she says.
Simply taking a day off from running (or any other type of workout) is what’s most important. But if you want to speed the process along or have trouble simply sitting still, you can try out various tools and techniques to soothe tired muscles—for instance, stretching, foam rolling, epsom salt baths, or icing sore spots.
5. Finally, congratulate yourself on your efforts.
Yes, running is a rewarding activity—but it’s still a challenging one. There will be days that don’t necessarily feel joyous and effortless, even for experienced runners, Wijayaratne says. Take things one day or one week at a time, celebrating every successful run, cross-training day, strength workout, and rest day.
Don’t let days that feel tough derail you. While you don’t want to run through severe fatigue, illness, or pain, pushing through a little bit of discomfort or low motivation en route to your goal can make you feel even more proud of your accomplishments on race day.
“Show up—you’ll be amazed at what your body can do, what you’re capable of by just starting those runs and getting out there,” James says.
Farias agrees. Some doubt is part of the process, she notes: “We all have those moments where we’re like, what was I thinking? Why did I think I could accomplish this goal?” she says. “That’s part of the journey, part of the growth.” Persevering makes the finish line all the sweeter.
See more from SELF’s Guide to Running package here.
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