WHAT have I volunteered myself for?
We had some friends round for dinner on Saturday, and we got into a conversation about fitness. One of the women at the table said she’d really like to be fit (to which I of course replied, “well, you’re not such a bad looker . . .” - can’t take me anywhere more than once), so we started talking about what that would mean, trying to express it in terms of more concrete goals, rather than vague terms . . .
. . . anyway, to cut a long story short, I ended up volunteering to help her get fit, based around a goal of a 55 minute 10k. There are only one or two problems with this:
- Unlike Lisa, I’m not a coach, or personal trainer.
- I have no experience of getting other people fit.
- I’m not a doctor either, so I worry I might just kill my friend.
- My ‘base’ fitness level tends to be quite high - even after a year of slouching around eating pizza & drinking beer. I’ve no experience of how far down other people go.
- We’ve arranged our first session for Tuesday at 06:30, which is only 14 hours away!
HELP!!!
LOL!
Well, I have never made the exact same mistake before. But I have all the same flaws in being a coach as you do… and at least one that you didn’t mention… I will keep pushing myself past reasonable limits with complete disregard for the consequences.
I guess I’d suggest you start out by pointing her to Sweat365, and getting on the 10k plan (that was put together by a real running coach and personal trainer).
crazy crazy crazy boy……not the training I’m sure you’ll be very goodat that, but 06.30? Isn’t that still the middle of the night?
Brad - funny you should say that . . . Lisa’s excellent plan got a little visit from me earlier today!
VonSmallHaussen - To quote Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam, “Why’s it called 06:30? Because OH my God, 6:30’s early!”.
Actually it’s not that early - I was thinking of doing a 10k before going to wake up my new padawan at half six - that way I might be somewhat de-Tiggered before the session. . . .
(Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! It’s been snowing!)
Speaking of Lisa - I bet she would help if you asked
Phil
Hey Karl,
I will send you a run/walk program. II have tweeked the Beginner 5K program for your friend. Starting with the 5K and then moving on to 10K is what I recommend.
Since I don’t know what her fitness level is, I recommend doing a combination of running and walking to slowly build up her cardiovascular endurance. She will increase her running time each week and decrease her walking time until she is able to complete the 5K. Of course it’s always important to check with a doctor before beginning an exercise program.
Good luck Coach!