Nervous about getting started? This plan takes out the guesswork so you stride with confidence.
By Sarah Lorge Butler Updated: Jan 02, 2024 11:40 AM EST Save Article
Consider today the perfect time to lace up your shoes and start your running journey. All you need to kick it off (besides a solid pair of running shoes) is a running plan for beginners that helps you get started and stay consistent.
Here, we have the ideal beginner running plan that builds up slowly, so you stay injury-free and can move from a beginner runner to a confident runner.
Developed by Budd Coates, a former running coach at Runner’s World, this plan ha s helped thousands of new runners get—and stay—moving. After checking out the training plan, keep reading for additional tips on how to be a successful runner.
Have questions? Concerns? Worries? These tips will give you all you need to fully master this running plan for beginners.
1. Progress at Your Own Pace
This beginner running plan progresses from 30 minutes of walking to 30 minutes of running using 12 stages of run/walk sequences. Yes, you can do it in 12 weeks, but you can also take as long as you need. For example, you can spend two weeks or longer in a stage until you feel comfortable to move to the next stage.
The opposite is also true: You can skip stages or combine them and get through the program in fewer than 12 weeks, but that’s only recommended if you’ve been a runner at some point in your recent past.
Most people will need longer than 12 weeks, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Remember, the goal of this plan is to turn you into a lifelong runner, not to have you walk/run for 12 weeks and then stop.
If you haven’t been walking regularly and you attempt to go straight from being mostly sedentary to running without using the walk/run segments, you’ll increase your risk of injury. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself by doing too much, too soon. Err on the side of caution.
When in doubt, walk, and if you feel any pain, stop. Running should feel good and support your health—not cause harm.
During your first days of running, your pace should be only slightly faster—or exactly the same speed—as your walking pace. Beginner runners often feel like they are running out of breath, which happens when you run too fast.
So take it slow, as your legs and lungs build up the stamina they need to get through the work. Don’t worry about speed or distance covered. It simply doesn’t matter. You should be able to talk, at least a little, while you’re walking and running. If you can’t, you’re going too fast.
As you build on your experience, after several weeks or months, you can start thinking about pace and distance. You could even sign up for your first 5K race (which is 3.1 miles). In the early days, just moving for 30 minutes at a time is the name of the game.
Consistency matters. Take a time each evening to plan when you will walk or run either the next day or the day after that. You shouldn’t go too long without a workout—if the gap increases by longer than a couple of days, you’ll in essence be starting over each time you get out the door.
When Coates used to talk to beginner running groups, he’d ask participants to tell them when their next workout was going to be. There were only two correct answers: the next day or the day after that.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
