5k to 10k - Week 1 thru 6

After my race and success, I thought, "What else can I do?". I decided to start training right away for a 10k. Around this time is where I began thinking that there was a small possibility that I may possibly be able to run at least a half marathon and maybe even a full marathon.

Running a 5k is something that I feel most decently in shape people could do easily as long as their time didn't matter, the 10k on the other hand is a completely different beast.  My first month of training was great after the 5k, I continued to do my telephone pole method and running 6 days a week up until 4.5 miles where it started to get tough. My body was beat up from running so regularly and not resting;  this is when I realized that I probably couldn't brute force my way through this race by running long distances every day.  My hips would kill and my knees would get really sore after long runs and prevent me from running for multiple days. I felt terrible and guilty about not running but if I had I probably would have hurt myself, so in retrospect I am glad I didn't. 

I dropped down to 3 days a week with between 4.5 & 5 miles a day and I realized I had gotten stale and was definitely not making the progress I needed to be.

I started doing some research on the internet and found quite a few good sites which I have posted in the "Running Links" section that covered training programs for running a 10K or Half Marathon.  Below is the program that I started last week in hopes that it will get me to the 10K and well beyond.

Schedule Monday: Medium Tuesday: Short/CT Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Medium Friday: Short/CT Saturday: Long Sunday: Rest

Run Description Short: 2 Miles Medium: 4-5 Miles Long: 6-12 Miles CT: Cross Training

This training method, known for its "Long Runs", is apparently pretty widely accepted and each week your long run should be .5 to 1 mile longer than your last. In my case, I am going to do .5 miles so it will take me roughly 12 weeks to get to 12 miles if all goes well.