Day 1, 41 Workouts To Go
The walk test. The idea is to find out how many minutes you can walk at a brisk pace without difficulty or discomfort. Use a level surface – no hills or beach sand – and go for a maximum of 10 minutes. Now grade yourself. If you cannot walk for five minutes, you should probably not plan on running the July 4th race. But stay with us!
You can build up your walking fitness by following Coach’s basic ideas. Perhaps your goal should be competitive fitness for the fall. If you can walk for five minutes but less than 10, you are going to need a couple weeks of active walking before starting any program or walking-jogging.
If you can walk for the full 10 minutes but find yourself a little tired and sore, don’t push to keep up with the Countdown workouts; just figure on walking more than jogging.
If you flew through the 10 minutes, you should be ready for competitive training, but there’s one more test, one that will tell you how ready you are.
The walk-jog test comes tomorrow.
Day 2, 40 Workouts To Go
The walk-jog test. For this test, you must walk 50 steps and jog 50 steps for a total of 10 minutes. (That’s 25 left-footed ground strikes for each). Walk at a pace of 120 steps per minute; jog at a pace of 144 steps per minute. In walking, that’s a left-foot ground strike at one-second intervals. When jogging, it’s slightly faster – 18 left-foot ground strikes every 15 seconds.
If you cannot complete the 10-minute test, or if you can do it, but are tired and winded, then your jogging will have to be done at short intervals (10 to 20 seconds with one-minute walks to recover). Don’t feel bad; you may be only two weeks away from the rest of us.
If you are able to handle the 10-minute test with no problems, you are on your way to running a full five miles. But let’s take it a step at a time.
Caution: If, along the way, you feel nauseous or experience trembling, extreme breathlessness, pounding in the head, or pain in the chest, STOP at once. If these symptoms persist beyond temporary discomfort, check with your physician. These symptoms are an indication you have reached the limits of your present exercise tolerance and you may wish to have your doctor monitor you as you continue in your quest for fitness.
Day 3, 39 Workouts To Go
A one-mile walk. Now that you have started with a walk, keep it going. Go to one of Staten Island’s running tracks, or use your car’s odometer to help you measure a flat course around your neighborhood. (in 2021 you can download Runkeeper or use GPS)
At as steady a pace as you can set, walk a mile as fast as you can. If you complete the mile in less than 15 minutes, great! You’re ready for bigger and better things.
If you go over 15 minutes, stay with this workout every day until you can make the grade. Not being able to walk a mile in less than 15 minutes indicates a very low fitness level. Think about talking to your doctor about joining a structured fitness class. Working out independently may be ill-advised for you.
Day 4, 38 Workouts To Go
Three-mile walk. Make sure your watch is ticking, and this time, three miles as fast as you can. Your target time is 45 minutes.
If you can’t stride the three miles in 45 minutes, but did the one-mile walk in the previous workout, it simply means you need to be on a walking program to build up your metabolism for running.
Use the three-mile walking distance as a conditioner and go for it three to five times a week until you dip under a 45-minute cutoff. Once you have successfully walked the three miles in less than 45 minutes, you can start jogging with the rest of us, confident that you can master the July 4th run.
Day 5, 37 Workouts To Go
The Coach’s directions for today: REST.
But, if you really feel the need to remain active, then get up and smell the roses as you go for a nice leisurely mile walk.
Day 6, 36 Workouts To Go
Cover 1.5 miles by alternating jogging and walking. It might be easiest to follow a pattern of 50 yards walking and 50 yards jogging, but this time, don’t use the clock. Your main interest is to cover the distance, not to set records.
Start the workout with a brisk walk. You’ve got to warm up your heart as well as your muscles. Also, do some easy stretching before and after your workout. Do the ones with which you are familiar and do them easily. The Countdown will have some guidelines in the near future.
Day 7, 35 Workouts To Go
Return to your three-mile walk. Don’t press for time, but make it a brisk, refreshing walk and keep it within the 45-minute limit.
Even though you are walking, remember to stretch – gently – before and after you workout.
