How a run-walk plan works
Every session opens with a brisk walk, alternates running and walking, and ends with a walk. From one week to the next, the running parts get longer and the walking parts shorter, until the last session, where you run 30 minutes without stopping.
The NHS Couch to 5K works this way over nine weeks: three runs a week with rest days between, and 1-minute runs followed by 1 minute 30 seconds of walking in week one. The NHS says it can be done on a treadmill, and advises asking a GP first if you have a health concern.
Further reading: NHS — Couch to 5K ↗
The six weeks of the First 5 km plan
The Runkyz First 5 km plan schedules three sessions a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Weeks 1 to 5 repeat the same session three times. In week 6, the third session is the goal: 30 minutes of easy running.
| Week | Session, three times | Total time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 × (1 min run, 2 min walk) | 34 min |
| 2 | 6 × (2 min run, 2 min walk) | 34 min |
| 3 | 5 × (3 min run, 90 s walk) | 32 min 30 s |
| 4 | 4 × (5 min run, 2 min walk) | 38 min |
| 5 | 3 × (8 min run, 2 min walk) | 40 min |
| 6 | 2 × (12 min run, 2 min walk) twice, then 30 min non-stop | 38 min, then 40 min |
What to set on the treadmill
The times in the table include a 5-minute walk at the start and at the end. The plan does not require a test first, and its running blocks are labeled with an effort rather than a speed to hit.
Walk to warm up
The walks are set at 5.5 km/h (3.4 mph) with a 1% incline. Hold that for 5 minutes before the first run.
Run at a pace where you can talk
The session labels the running blocks “easy, you can talk”. If you cannot say a short sentence, slow down.
Walk to recover
Go back to 5.5 km/h for the walking blocks and for the last 5 minutes. The banner announces each change before it comes, so you can press the buttons in time.
When a week feels too hard
Repeat the week. Nine weeks is the NHS’s timing, and Runkyz’s six weeks are a shorter progression: neither is a deadline. A session you can finish while still able to talk is a session you can move up from.
Keep a day of rest between two sessions, as the NHS programme does.
After 30 minutes of running
Thirty minutes at 8 km/h covers 4 km, and at 10 km/h it covers 5 km. The NHS programme ends with a 5 km run without stopping.
To go further with the same tool, take the VMA ramp test: the game then calibrates the pace of every other session, including the 10 km plan.
IN RUNKYZ
The First 5 km plan is in Runkyz.
Six weeks on Wild Ring, a free course: the week-1 session is ten laps of the 400 m track.
