With triathlon season behind us (mostly), running season is getting into full swing here, at Skin Sake. This is a great opportunity for those of you who have always wanted to get involved in endurance sports of any kind to start building a great base fitness level.
As the resident endurance newbie here, I completely understand how overwhelming it can feel getting started. A good training program, though, can almost totally eliminate that anxiety, and get you improving at a surprising rate. While trainers and professional programs will certainly get you results, for those of us that are unsure about making that commitment, or simply don’t want to spend the money, there are several online tools that can be almost as good for beginners.

Couch to 5k Program

This program is free from BeginnerTriathlete.com. There are a few variations of it that will work even for overweight people with absolutely no prior exercise routine. There’s also a more aggressive approach (4 months), which I found to still be very accessible for me, after being out of shape for quite some time. I actually skipped ahead a few weeks in the program just to find the right challenge level.  There’s also a more conservative approach which takes 7 months.
To steal a phrase from Apple – “There’s an app for that.”  Although it begins significantly more aggressive than either of those programs (and isn’t affiliated with that site), the Couch to 5k app for the iPhone was priceless.  It’s a 9 week program, and tells you when to run and when to walk, so you don’t have to focus on keeping time – just running.

Beginner Triathlons

Interested in something else besides running?  Or perhaps you’re ready to start training for your first triathlon?  BeginnerTriathlete.com still has what you’re looking for.  I think their calling it the “Couch to Sprint” training program is a bit of stretch, since it still has you doing the 5k training process above before mixing in the other sports, but you can skip ahead to the appropriate part for you.  With a time frame of 4 – 5 months for prepping for your first Sprint Triathlon, this is a great starting place.

Beginner Marathon / Trail Running

Trail Running is great this time of year, and I’m particularly fond of the Ozark Trails here in Arkansas.  Just beautiful.  Marathon Rookie has you covered for prepping for this, with literally every piece of information you’ll need easily accessible there.  Nutrition, hydration, heart rate monitoring – they’ve got all you need.  They even have 5 and 10k training programs, but I found them to be a bit out of reach for a true fitness novice.

There are certainly other great tools to use, but as with anything in health, the most important thing to do is pick a program and stick with it!  And as always, avoid skin injuries and chafing with a thin layer of Skin Sake Athletic Ointment before and after each workout.