Today, we'll be exploring the common challenges faced by new runners that may try to get in the way of you completing your programme and sharing with you tried and tested techniques to deal with them. Some of these may not surface until further on in your running journey however such being forearmed with techniques to deal with them will help you g…

In This podcast we share our top tips to help you start off on your running journey. If you are interested in taking up the Virtual Running Mate 5K programme listen to this podcast to arm yourself with the right tactics to overcome the challenges starting your running journey may present. The virtual Running Mate 5K programme is a tried and tested …

Welcome to the final week of the Virtual Running Mate 5k programme. Over the last 7 weeks, you have seen your body and mind achieve feats you once thought impossible. Most of you have run longer than you have run in your life You body is stronger, your circulation is better and your breathing is much more efficient. You have already completed 5km w…

Welcome to week 7 day 2 of the Virtual Running Mate 5K programme. Today’s session will consist of a 35 minute run on a 5km route with a 3 minute recovery, you will then be required to run to the end of the 5k route in however long it takes you to get to the end. The duration of the whole session will depend on the pace at which you are running, but…

Welcome to week 7 day 1 of the Virtual Running Mate 5K programme. This week, we will be running on a 5K loop so it is important that before you start this session you have 5k route mapped out on which to complete this run. This week, believe it or not, you will be getting very close to running 5Km and because of this of we will only be running twic…

Welcome to week 6 day 3 of the Virtual running mate 5K programme. Today’s session will consist of a 30 minute run with a 3 minute recovery interval. This will be followed by a 5 minute run with a 3 minute recovery interval. The whole session should last about 45 minutes. Virtual Running Mate is a free resource if we are able to get you running and …

Welcome to week 6 day 2 of the Virtual Running Mate, 5K programme. Today’s session will consist of a 27 minute run with a 3 minute recovery. This will be followed by a 5 minute run with a 3 minute recovery. You have come so far and you should be proud of your progress. The whole session should last about 42 minutes. Virtual Running Mate is a free r…

Welcome to week 6 day 1 of the Virtual Running Mate, 5K programme. This week will see us do simpler sets, as you will start running longer. We will make use of days 2 and 3 to slowly build up the time you are on your feet, running non stop. Today’s session will consist of a 25 minute run followed by a 3 minute walking recovery interval. This will b…

Welcome to week 5 day 3 of the couch to 5K programme. Our session today will consist of a mixed set of, a 5 minute run with a 2 minute recovery followed by a 17 minute run with a 4 minute recovery. You will then finish off the session with another 5 minute run followed by a 3 minute recovery. The whole session should last about 44 minutes.…

Welcome to week 5 day 2 of the virtual running mate 5K programme. Our session today will consist of a mixed set of, a 5 minute run with a 2 minute recovery followed by a 16 minute run with a 4 minute recovery. You will then finish off the session with another 5 minute run followed by a 3 minute recovery. The whole session should last about 43 minut…

Welcome to week 5 day 1 of the virtual running mate 5K programme. You are now officially over the half way mark, well done. This week we are going to continue breaking more barriers as we take your body through double digit running times. Our session today will consist of a mixed set of, a 5 minute run with a 2 minute recovery followed by a 15 minu…

Welcome to week 4 day 3 of the virtual running mate 5K programme. Today’s session will consist of a repeat of the session we did on day one and two, and will consist of a mixed set of a 3 minute run with a 3 minute recovery interval. Followed by an 8 minute run with a 5 minute recovery interval. We will repeat this twice.…

Today’s session will consist of a repeat of the session we did on day one, and will consist of a mixed set of a 3 minute run with a 3 minute recovery interval. Followed by an 8 minute run with a 5 minute recovery interval. We will repeat this twice.โดย David Olima

This is the big one. We are going to take advantage of all the great progress you have made over the last three weeks, and push your body a bit more. This weeks mixed set will consist of 3 minute runs, with 3 minute recoveries, Alternated with an 8 minute run and 5 minute recovery. The great news is, because the running intervals are longer we will…

Welcome to week 3 day 3 of the Virtual Running Mate 5K programme. Today we will be increasing the amount of time you run and spend recovering. Your body is beginning to get stronger as is your cardio vascular and respiratory system. Your session will consist of a mixed set of 3 minute runs with 3 minute walking recoveries. Followed by 4 minute runs…

Welcome to week 3 day 2 of the Virtual Running Mate 5K programme. Today we will repeat what we did in day 1 and do a set of 2 minute runs with 2 minute walking recoveries, followed by 3 minute runs with 3 minute walking recoveries. We will repeat these sets 3 times. The whole session should last about 36 minutes. We will also have our 90 second dyn…

*NOTE* Before beginning this session please familiarise yourself with 3 of the following exercises which you will do as part of your warm up. High knees, butt kicks, karaokes, A skips, straight leg bounds or side shuffles. You can find these exercises on youtube. This week, we will do mixed time intervals. Each day will consist of a set of 2 minute…

The final day of week 2 is here and we will be adding a total of 90 seconds to the run you did on day two by adding and extra repeat. These increments may seem small but doing them will make the jump to the times we will be running in week 3 look a lot more achievable. As before this run is best done on an out and back route where you run/walk out …

Day 2 of week 2 will see us repeat the session with carried out on day 1 with an additional repeat. Increasing the number of repeats will help build your endurance and strengthen your respiratory system so don't skip this session. Work as hard as you can to get the incremental repeat as this will pay back as you work towards your target. Virtual Ru…

Welcome to week 2 and this week we are taking it up a notch. We will be running for 90 seconds non stop, which is 30 seconds longer than we did in week 1. We are going to make the most use of days 2 & 3 to increase the number of repetitions. It may feel hard to get the additional repetitions but with focus and determination you will do it.…

The final day of week 1 and we will be repeating what we did on day 1 and 2. Remember all the time on your feet and distance you cover adds up and will help building your endurance.โดย David Olima

We are two days in and still taking it nice and gentle. Today we shall repeat what we did on day one. Your muscles may ache but that is normal so get your headphones on and let's take you through day 2.โดย David Olima

Week 1 is all about getting your started running very gently. We will start with 60 second running intervals with enough time to get your breath back. Remember this is not about pace, we shall build pace later. For now get your headphones on, hit play and lets's get you on your journey to running 5K in 8 weeks.…

Hi and welcome to the Virtual Running Mate 5k programme. Congratulations on taking your first step towards an amazing journey as you embark on your quest of running 5 kilometres non stop. I am David and over the course of the next eight weeks I will guide you through a series of runs and exercises that will help you work towards your goal of achiev…