n two weeks if you can stand it.

Gradually increase your time until you can run 30

minutes.
From there, you can stay at 30 minutes or increase the amount of time you run
gradually, every two weeks. But do not overdo it in the beginning!

Walk and Run Plan

If you are a true beginner, and cannot run for 10 minutes, you should start out with a
walk/run plan. Here’s a good one to start with (do each one three times a week):
1. Week 1: Walk for 10 minutes. Jog slowly for 1 minute, and then walk for 1
minute. Repeat these 1/1 intervals for 10 minutes, or until you become uncomfortable.
Walk for 5 minutes to cool down.
2. Week 2: Walk for 10 minutes. Jog slowly for 2 minutes, and then walk for 2
minutes. Repeat these 2/2 intervals for 10 minutes, or until you become
uncomfortable. Walk for 5 minutes to cool down.
3. Week 3: Walk for 10 minutes. Jog slowly for 3 minutes, and then walk for 2
minutes. Repeat these 3/2 intervals for 15 minutes, or until you become
uncomfortable. Walk for 5 minutes to cool down.
4. Week 4: Walk for 10 minutes. Jog slowly for 5 minutes, and then walk for 2
minutes. Repeat these 5/2 intervals for 20 minutes, or until you become
uncomfortable. Walk for 5 minutes to cool down.
You get the picture. The idea is to gradually increase your running time until you can
do 10 minutes straight. Then increase the 10 minutes to 12, and so on, each week,
until you can eventually run for 30 minutes. Now you’re a runner!
Online forums
In the beginning, you’ll have a lot of questions and want to share your progress with
others. An online forum is perfect for that. Join a forum or two, read as much as you
can, introduce yourself, post your questions, post your weekly progress, and gain from
the experience of others.
A few good forums to start with:

 Cool Running forums

 Runner’s World forums
 About.com runner’s forums
Make it a habit
If you struggle with making running a regular habit, try doing it every single day at
the same time. Habits are easiest to form if you do them consistently. This may sound
 contradictory to some of the advice above about starting slowly, but the key is to go
very easy in the beginning — nothing that will stress your body out or make you sore
the next day. Also, instead of running every day, you could swim or bike or do
strength training, so that your running muscles are given a rest while you continue to
form your exercise habit. See How to Make Exercise a Daily Habit for more.
Most important advice: just lace up your shoes, and get out the door. After that, it’s
cake.
The importance of rest
Some runners try to go hard every single day. They are ignoring the truth about
muscles — your muscles grow by giving them stress, and allowing them to rest
after the stress so that they can grow. If you run hard every day, you will just
continually break your muscles down, and improvement will be slow and difficult —
and it could lead to burnout or injury.
It’s best to rest the day after a tough run, to allow your body to recover. Does this
mean you should rest completely, with no running or exercise at all? Not necessarily.
The important thing is that you don’t run hard two days in a row. But you can do a
very easy, short run (or other type of easy exercise) in between harder runs and still
allow your muscles to recover.


 Cool Running
 About.com Running
 Beginning Runner