Start your Turkey Trot Training!

You may be thinking – “Start running now? November is so far away”, but we think if you start now you will not only enjoy all the benefits of exercise now, but your training can be slow and steady, and not crammed in toward the end! This slow and steady rate will help prevent over training, injury, and burnout.

First, set your Turkey Trot goal. Are you going to run, walk or jog? Are you focused on completing 5k or training for something longer? Write down what you want to achieve. Writing helps you remember what exactly it is you want to do.

Second step is to look at a calendar and work backward. Turkey Trot is Thanksgiving morning, so you want to be able to complete at least 3.2 miles (5 kilometers) two weeks before Thanksgiving.

Then, decide how many times per week are you going to actively work on your goal? Maybe you can train more often during the summer, so schedule more workouts during that time, knowing you will have to cut back during the fall.

Now that you have time dedicated to your training you have to figure out how exactly to train. Are you only going to walk/run/jog or are you going to cross train? Inside or outside? We will be posting ideas in the coming weeks, and there are plenty of ideas out there, so you will find a plan that suits you!

The Y has a 5K training program, which we will detail in a few weeks, but if you want to try to go it alone here are some of our Y family’s favorite 5k training programs:

• Runkeeper - you can use GPS, enter manual information, or sync with your Garmin device. (Elizabeth Kennedy)
• Nike Training. Great workouts designed for women at different levels. The advanced level will challenge anyone! I do them in the gym or home when I need to mix it up a bit. (Erin Guiffre)
• Map my run/ Map my ride. Records route, mileage, pace and even calories burned. (Shylice Nelson)
• Mapmyfitness.com has everything you need (Jennifer LeBrun)
• Zombies Run / Zombies 5K - a story line mixed in with your playlist, a little bit of a video game and zombie chases to get you moving faster. (Lex G-b)
• Map my run and Couch to 5k - both great for beginners like me. (Mia BW)
• Map my run and couch to 5k. (Faye Sudbrink Liberatore)
• Map my run... because of its accurate GPS features and how it integrates with offer logging apps. makes the ability to track progress a lot easier (Tam Tee Dozier Dunn)
• Map my run- ease of use! (Tiffany Bageant)

Thank you for everyone who contributed to this post! Great example of "community".