Mother's Day Classic fitness trainer, Alisha Smith shares some great walking and running programs with you to help you prepare for the big day on Sunday 13 May.
Alisha has been doing the stretches and warm ups at the Domain Mother's Day Classic for the last two years. This year she is MDC's website trainer providing you with tips, training programs and advice along the way. Have a look at the walking and running programs below.
If you're new to running and want to give it a go for the first time at the 2012 Mother's Day Classic, there is a program here for you. Or if you want to go for your new personal best try out Alisha's intermediate program. You can download the programs from our website, print them and have one in your hand as you run!
- Beginner 4km walking program - 8 weeks
- Intermediate 4km walking/beginner 4km running program - 8 weeks
- Beginner 8km running program - 10 weeks
- Intermediate 8km running program - 10 weeks
- Advanced 8km running program - 8 weeks
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Beginner 4km walking program - 8 weeks
This program is suitable for participants who walk for exercise/leisure on an infrequent basis and/or are attempting their first event.
Program components:
- Walks- these will gradually increase in distance and frequency over time.
- Cross training- these sessions are designed to keep improving your fitness while giving your legs a rest from the impact of walking. Cross training could be cycling, swimming, a group exercise class, or using a low impact cardio machine such as a rower or an elliptical trainer.
- Stretching- this will be done at the end of every session and is an important injury prevention component of your program. You could consider attending a yoga class or simply follow the stretches at the end of this program.
- Strength- the weekly strength session is optional but highly beneficial. Building a little bit of extra strength in your legs and abdominal muscles will help to build endurance for the longer walks towards the end of your program.
Intensity:
The intensity of an exercise means how hard it feels to you as you do it. Intensity for any given exercise will vary from person to person. You may find walking for 20mins easy, while someone else may find it hard. Due to this, we use a scale called ‘Perceived Rate of Exertion’ or ‘PRE’ to ascribe intensity.
In the program, you’ll see (for example) “20mins – PRE 5” which means that you should walk for 20mins at a pace that feels like a PRE of 5, or ‘hard’ on the scale above. In this program you’ll never go above a PRE of 7 (‘very hard’)- which means that you should never feel unable to catch your breath. You should get huffed and puffed, and a little uncomfortable at times- but remember that it will get easier over time as you get fitter and your body learns to cope better.
Program:
8 week beginner 4km walking program PDF
Try to spread your sessions out through the week so that your body can recover adequately. Aim to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep so that you wake feeling rested.
Exercises:
Stretches
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Intermediate 4km walking/beginner 4km running program - 8 weeks
This program is suitable for participants who walk for exercise/leisure on a regular basis and/or those who would like to try to jog some of the distance.
Program components:
- Walks- these will gradually increase in distance and frequency over time.
- Jogs- these sessions are dedicated to introducing some jogging into your walking sessions.
- Cross training- these sessions are designed to keep improving your fitness while giving your legs a rest from the impact of walking. Cross training could be cycling, swimming, a group exercise class, or using a low impact cardio machine such as a rower or an elliptical trainer.
- Stretching- this will be done at the end of every session and is an important injury prevention component of your program. You could consider attending a yoga class or simply follow the stretches at the end of this program.
- Strength- the weekly strength session is optional but highly beneficial. Building a little bit of extra strength in your legs and abdominal muscles will help to build endurance for the longer walks/jogs towards the end of your program.
Intensity:
The intensity of an exercise means how hard it feels to you as you do it. Intensity for any given exercise will vary from person to person. You may find walking for 20mins easy, while someone else may find it hard. Due to this, we use a scale called ‘Perceived Rate of Exertion’ or ‘PRE’ to ascribe intensity.
In the program, you’ll see (for example) “20mins – PRE 5” which means that you should walk for 20mins at a pace that feels like a PRE of 5, or ‘hard’ on the scale above. In this program you’ll never go above a PRE of 7 (‘very hard’)- which means that you should never feel unable to catch your breath. You should get huffed and puffed, and a little uncomfortable at times- but remember that it will get easier over time as you get fitter and your body learns to cope better.
Program:
8 week intermediate 4km walk/beginner 4km run program PDF
Try to spread your sessions out through the week so that your body can recover adequately. Aim to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep so that you wake feeling rested.
Exercise:
Stretches
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Beginner 8km running program - 10 weeks
This program is suitable for participants who jog/walk for exercise/leisure on a regular basis and/or those who would like to try to run a decent portion of the distance. It is recommended that participants aiming to follow this program have completed a fun run/walk event of at least 4km prior to attempting the 8km distance.
Program components:
- Walks- these will gradually turn into runs over time.
- Runs- these sessions are dedicated to introducing some regular running into your program.
- Cross training- these sessions are designed to keep improving your fitness while giving your legs a rest from the impact of walking. Cross training could be cycling, swimming, a group exercise class, or using a low impact cardio machine such as a rower or an elliptical trainer.
- Stretching- this will be done at the end of every session and is an important injury prevention component of your program. You could consider attending a yoga class or simply follow the stretches at the end of this program.
- Strength- the weekly strength session is optional but highly beneficial. Building a little bit of extra strength in your legs and abdominal muscles will help to build endurance for the longer walks/jogs towards the end of your program.
Intensity:
The intensity of an exercise means how hard it feels to you as you do it. Intensity for any given exercise will vary from person to person. You may find walking for 20mins easy, while someone else may find it hard. Due to this, we use a scale called ‘Perceived Rate of Exertion’ or ‘PRE’ to ascribe intensity.
In the program, you’ll see (for example) “20mins – PRE 5” which means that you should walk for 20mins at a pace that feels like a PRE of 5, or ‘hard’ on the scale above. In this program you’ll never go above a PRE of 7 (‘very hard’)- which means that you should never feel unable to catch your breath. You should get huffed and puffed, and a little uncomfortable at times- but remember that it will get easier over time as you get fitter and your body learns to cope better.
Program
10 week beginner 8km running program PDF
Try to spread your sessions out through the week so that your body can recover adequately. Aim to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep so that you wake feeling rested.
Exercises
Stretches
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Intermediate 8km running program - 10 weeks
This program is suitable for participants who run on a regular basis and/or those who would like to complete the 8km distance competitively (i.e. improve time). It is recommended that participants aiming to follow this program have successfully completed an event of at least 8km.
Program components:
- Long runs- these sessions are the foundation of your running endurance.
- Tempo runs- these sessions are run at around 85% of your maximum heart rate and should feel strong yet sustainable. This will be close to but not quite as fast as the speed you aim to run on race day.
- Speed runs- these sessions are a mixture of varied distances and repeats executed at high intensity.
- Cross training- these sessions are designed to keep improving your fitness while giving your legs a rest from the impact of walking. Cross training could be cycling, swimming, a group exercise class, or using a low impact cardio machine such as a rower or an elliptical trainer.
- Stretching- this will be done at the end of every session and is an important injury prevention component of your program. You could consider attending a yoga class or simply follow the stretches at the end of this program.
- Strength- the weekly strength session is optional but highly beneficial. Building a little bit of extra strength in your legs and abdominal muscles will help to build endurance for the longer runs towards the end of your program.
Intensity:
The intensity of an exercise means how hard it feels to you as you do it. Intensity for any given exercise will vary from person to person. You may find walking for 20mins easy, while someone else may find it hard. Due to this, we use a scale called ‘Perceived Rate of Exertion’ or ‘PRE’ to ascribe intensity.
In the program below, you’ll see (for example) “20mins – PRE 5” which means that you should run for 20mins at a pace that feels like a PRE of 5, or ‘hard’ on the scale above. In this program you’ll go up to a PRE of 8 (‘very hard’)- which means that at times you’ll feel quite huffed and puffed, and a little uncomfortable at times- but remember that it will get easier over time as you get fitter and your body learns to cope with the higher intensity.
Program
10 week intermediate 8km running program PDF
Try to spread your sessions out through the week so that your body can recover adequately. Aim to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep so that you wake feeling rested.
Exercises
Stretches
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Advanced 8km running program - 8 weeks
This program is suitable for participants who run on a regular basis and/or those who would like to complete the 8km distance competitively.
Program components:
- Long runs- these sessions are the foundation of your running endurance.
- Tempo runs- these sessions are run at around 85% of your maximum heart rate and should feel strong yet sustainable. This will be close to but not quite as fast as the speed you aim to run on race day.
- Speed runs- these sessions are a mixture of varied distances and repeats executed at high intensity.
- Cross training- these sessions are designed to keep improving your fitness while giving your legs a rest from the impact of walking. Cross training could be cycling, swimming, a group exercise class, or using a low impact cardio machine such as a rower or an elliptical trainer.
- Stretching- this will be done at the end of every session and is an important injury prevention component of your program. You could consider attending a yoga class or simply follow the stretches at the end of this program.
- Strength- the weekly strength session is beneficial for improving muscular endurance and posture, which in turn improves efficiency and biomechanics.
Intensity:
The intensity of an exercise means how hard it feels to you as you do it. Intensity for any given exercise will vary from person to person. You may find walking for 20mins easy, while someone else may find it hard. Due to this, we use a scale called ‘Perceived Rate of Exertion’ or ‘PRE’ to ascribe intensity.
In the program below, you’ll see (for example) “20mins – PRE 5” which means that you should run for 20mins at a pace that feels like a PRE of 5, or ‘hard’ on the scale above. In this program you’ll go up to a PRE of 8 (‘very hard’)- which means that at times you’ll feel quite huffed and puffed, and a little uncomfortable at times- but remember that it will get easier over time as you get fitter and your body learns to cope with the higher intensity.
Program:
8 week advanced 8km running program PDF
Try to spread your sessions out through the week so that your body can recover adequately. Aim to drink plenty of water and get enough sleep so that you wake feeling rested.
Exercises:
Stretches
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