4 Miler 4 Month Plan

How to go from being in the Beginning Runners Crowd to hitting a goal of a 4-miler in four months. If your not an active person and want to start a exercise program that's where we will start.

What inspired me one day after a regular long hard day at work; was to normally come in put my feet up on the coffee table with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other? One can change habits if they want too.

I would say if anything inspired me to start thinking about my health better, was watching a sixty-two year old man running the Boston Marathon one day. He was as fit as any twenty year old athlete.

My normal routine after work would be to change into putting on my running shoes and some shorts instead of hitting the couch. The first goal would be to just get around the block at a walk with no running. Each day I seen I was feeling a little better and even looking forward to each days walk.

By the second week the goal would be to start jogging a little. To start with the plan would be to jog two houses down the street from me. Once that became easy I would add another house. Once I starting gasping for air I would then slow to a walk.

By the end of the second week, I could get all the way around the block without stopping to a walk. Now I had already measured the distance off in my (half mile) car to see how far it was. It's just a gauge for yourself if somebody ever asked; you would be able to answer them with an honest answer. About the same time this was going on, I managed to stop a twenty year smoking habit as well.

Better health became more important to me than the $1.50 a day pack of cigarettes. Ha! No telling what they are costing these days! By the end of the second week I could get around the block two times! You will too! Remember you came from the Beginning Runners Crowd. As you get further along your body becomes more adapted to expanding your lungs, though you will still cough some afterwords up to three months out. By the end of the third month you should be up to three miles or more.

At this stage I would not miss any days. That comes much later. Now somewhere in the forth month you should be hitting that 4-mile marker, via increasing each week a quarter of mile at a time. Of course you adjust if you are very much over weight and you should inform your doctor as well. I easily lost ten pounds when I started.

Now you can be proud of yourself. I am of you! You have graduated from being in the Beginning Runners Crowd to a full fledged 4-miler in four months! It wasn't until a year or so before I became interested in races. Though you may never; there is nothing wrong with that. You can be a runner just to reap the benefits of running. It will keep the weight off and you'll have minimum colds and flue!