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The NHS Couch to 5K is a running plan for beginners. There are tips, audio files, and podcasts available to download for free.
The schedule has changed over time, so be sure to check the official website. An outline of the plan (as it was in 2020) is below.
This is quite a hard intensity plan, especially if you really are a total beginniner with no prior fitness activity. Some have found the rate at which you move from 'mixed running and walking' to 'mostly running' is quite harsh and you can easily find running forums where people are discussing tips for getting through Week 5, when things really shift up a gear. A lot of those tips involve repeating weeks or moving to a longer plan like None2Run.
The Couch to 5K audio files are great though, with music for each section and narration offering helpful tips and motivation as you go. NOTE: the obvious 'download podcasts here!' link actually takes you off to iTunes; great if you play in Apple's walled garden but no good to everyone else. Despair ye not as there are regular old MP3 files available: in the section above the iTunes link there is an array of buttons for each week of the plan. Click each week to reveal the link to that week's MP3 file.
The plan stipulates 3 runs a week with at least 1 day of rest in between runs. Each run begins with a 5 minute brisk walk to warm-up before the running phase. There is no cool-down phase indicated.
. Warm-up walk at brisk pace (30 s) # Running or jogging (30 s) - Walking in between runs at brisk pace (30 s) RunID Week Day Warm-Up Running Phase 01 01 A ..........##---##---##---##---##---##---##---##--- 02 01 B ..........##---##---##---##---##---##---##---##--- 03 01 C ..........##---##---##---##---##---##---##---##--- 04 02 A ..........###----###----###----###----###----###----###-- 05 02 B ..........###----###----###----###----###----###----###-- 06 02 C ..........###----###----###----###----###----###----###-- 07 03 A ..........###---######------###---######------ 08 03 B ..........###---######------###---######------ 09 03 C ..........###---######------###---######------ 07 04 A ..........######---##########-----######---########## 08 04 B ..........######---##########-----######---########## 09 04 C ..........######---##########-----######---########## 10 05 A ..........##########------##########------########## 11 05 B ..........################----------################ 12 05 C ..........######################################## 13 06 A ..........##########------################------########## 14 06 B ..........####################------#################### 15 06 C ..........################################################## 16 07 A ..........################################################## 17 07 B ..........################################################## 18 07 C ..........################################################## 19 08 A ..........####################################################### 20 08 B ..........####################################################### 21 08 C ..........####################################################### 25 09 A ..........############################################################ 26 09 B ..........############################################################ 27 09 C ..........############################################################
Compared to the other run plans, this one has you up and running quite quickly! Some beginners find this plan works very well for them but the intensity is a bit too much for others.
Total Time Spent Running or Walking
Week |__1__.__2__.__3__.__4__.__5__.__6__.__7__.__8__.__9__.
| . . . . . . . . .
Total| . . . . . . . . .
time | . . . . . . . . .
(min)| . . . . . . . . .
30-| . . . . . . . ,#-#-#.
-| . . . . . . . | .
-| . @ = Walking . . . ,#-#-#' .
-| . . . . . . | . .
-| . # = Running . . . | . .
25-| . . . . . ,#-#-#-#' . .
-| . . . . . | . . . .
-| . . . . . | . . . .
-| . . . . . | . . . .
-| . . . . . | . . . .
20-| . . . . ,#, ,#' . . . .
-| . . . . | | | . . . .
-| . . . . | '#' . . . .
-| . . . . | . . . . .
-| . . ,#-#-#, ,#' . . . . .
15-| . . | '#' . . . . .
-| . . | . . . . . .
-| . . | . . . . . .
-|@-@-@, . | . . . . . .
-| '@-@-@, | . . . . . .
10-| . | | . . . . . .
-| ,#-#-#+%-%-%: . . . . . .
-|#-#-#' . | . . . . . .
-| . . | . . . . . .
-| . . | ,@, ,@, . . . .
5-| . . '@-@-@' '@, | | . . . .
-| . . . . | | | . . . .
-| . . . . | | '@, . . . .
-| . . . . | | | . . . .
-| . . . . | | | . . . .
0-|- - - - | - - - - | - - - -'@'- -'@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@
0 5 10 15 20 25
Run Day
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