The Theory of the MCC Walk to Run Training Program
Almost anyone can learn how to run 3.1 miles, and complete a 5K race.
But your body doesn't usually learn how to do it all in one day....or even in a week. Your body's various systems adapt to running at different rates, and if you don't respect the time it takes to bring *every* system up to the demands of running, that's when you can get injured.
The mind is the quickest system to adjust. Practically overnight, a sedentary person can take up exercise, and believe him- or herself a runner. But for others, confidence in running only comes from the repetition of training, the familiarity of exercise gained over weeks or months.
The cardiovascular system (your heart and lungs) is the next fastest to adapt. Yet, for some with compromised coronary function or breathing, going from cold turkey to a 3 mile run right away may not be what the doctor ordered. So our program builds up your cardiovascular endurance step by step, and gradually, improves your long-term cardiovascular health. We hope that one you complete the program, you continue running, and continue gaining the cardiovascular benefits that it brings.
Slower than cardiovascular, but not terribly so, are your muscles. Through a gradual process of increasing walking distance from one to four miles, and then adding longer and longer running intervals to that four-mile workout, the program uses the "progressive overload" theory of training to build up your lower leg and core muscles for the demands of a distance race.
Slower still to develop are your tendons and ligaments. Tendons attach muscle to bone, and ligaments attach muscle to other muscle tissue. Both share a characteristic that IF you stress them too much, you can easily sustain an injury that will derail your training. Tendons and ligaments absorb the stress of too-intense training, or mis-training, which can cause strains and sprains. Even more than muscles, the repetition of training, and a gradual increase of the stress of training, can strength tendons and ligaments without over-taxing them.
And the slowest of your body's systems to strengthen for running are your bones. Like the rest of your body, bones only harden enough to meet your current activity level. If you're sedentary, you're bones won't be as strong as someone who runs regularly, no matter what your age. Instead, giving your bones gradual, progressive stress from bearing your body weight while walking or running (or any weight-bearing exercise), over time, will strengthen them. Train too fast, or run too long without training, and your bones could let you down (literally) with a stress fracture.
That's why we don't run on day one. We don't run on week one, or even month one. Over the first month, we increase our walking distance from one mile (several times a week) to four miles (several times a week). During the last week of the first month of each cycle, you won't run a step - but you'll be walking 12 to 16 miles over the course of that week. The 30 or more total miles of walking we do in that first month will build up your bones and your tendons/ligaments (as well as some of your muscles and your cardiovascular), so that when we start running in the second month, you'll be ready for it.
And when we start running, we will start with a minute of running, with four minutes of walking (in a repetitive cycle) over the same four miles of each workout. Every 2-3 weeks we'll add a minute of running, so that by middle of the final month, you'll be running four minutes, with only a minute of walking, in your repetitive cycle. Along the way, I'll share with you what I know about running shoes and clothing, nutrition before, during and after a workout, hydration, running safety, training theory, injury prevention, and much more.
The late George Sheehan once quipped that the difference between a "jogger" and a "runner" is a race application. To turn you all into "runners," you'll need to complete at least one (1) 5K footrace before you can "graduate" from the Walk to Run Training program. I'll have more information about your 5K options as we continue through the weeks of training.
And after the 16 weeks of our program (after your 5K), you have many options for continuing your running adventure, not the least of which are the MCC Summer Training Program (May through October each year), and multiple local 5K/10k races every weekend in the DC area.
If you have questions about the WTR program, please come out to the orientation and first mile workout on the first Saturday of each cycle. [In 2012, the orientation dates are January 7, May 5 and September 8.] I look forward to meeting you, and to helping you lead a healthier life through regular exercise.
Coach John