Keen to conquer 5K: Yoga for runners.

Whether you’re doing it for charity, or your own self-esteem, you’ll get hooked. A habitual 5k run will change your life.

Dependent on your size (and not really speed) you’ll burn 300 to 520 calories when you run for 30 minutes, and 30 minutes is a great pace for a first-timer.

5K is a serious distance. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. On a standard outdoor track of 400 metres that’s 12.5 laps. The same distance as Harrods to Blackfriars. Or Clapham Common tube station to Westminster. It is a serious distance, but a distance that is completely attainable by people who have never run before. The sense of accomplishment you’ll feel will outweigh any initial anxiety.

If you want a buddy whilst running BUA offers 1-2-1 sessions with a personal trainer that adheres to all the social distancing measures. Drop us a message in our live chat on the website.

Download a running app so you can follow friends and spark some supportive competition. MIT’s Sloan School of Business researched whether exercise was socially contagious. It was. With data from 1.1 million people spanning a 5-year period, it was proven that runners will run harder and longer when they knew their friends were crushing it. The trick is to have a running friendship group of similar abilities. Fill that group with people minutely slower than you; you’ll do everything it takes to stay top dog. We recommend MapMyRun or MyFitnessPal (if you’re looking to track calories too).

For your first run, go at a pace to suit you. If you need to stop or walk go ahead. For your next attempt you need to blitz 10 minutes as fast as you can. Don’t worry, not all that once. Start with a slow paced 5-minute section, followed by a fast 5 minutes, then slow then fast and repeat until you hit 5k. At the fast rate, or technically your threshold pace, you shouldn’t be able to hold a conversation comfortably. Once you’ve conquered this, ramp it up and run a full 10 minutes at threshold pace. Once you hit 5k, be sure to stretch every limb in the cool down which should last at least 10 minutes.

Once home, change out of wet clothes immediately. Drink squash rather than water and tuck into a bowl of milk and cereal to restore lost salts (more effective than an electrolyte-based drink). Recovery days are important. Take a day off between runs. To complement your new craze check-out the Yoga For Runners weekly class with Lucy – designed to help you prepare, rest and recover. Find more similar yoga classes for runners here.

As always, stay fit, and stay healthy.