5K/10K Training Program - Winter 2024

Our 5K/10K Training Program is designed to help runners and walkers towards their fitness and running goals. It will include an education on and pursuit of different training techniques and tools in order to further enjoy running and walking, and improve their performance. There are occasional clinics covering a wide range of topical issues on running/walking, health, wellness and nutrition from the area’s leading experts. The workouts will last about an hour to an hour and a half as we increase mileage throughout the season. In addition to the workouts there are educational clinics, motivational speakers, newsletters keeping you up to date, access to the area's top physical therapists, and expert coaching/mentoring to help inspire and motivate you on this training journey.

• Starts: October 22nd in Carrboro at 6:30pm and October 23rd in Durham at 6:30pm
• Ends: RACES – Race 13.1 Durham - 10K & 5K on December 7th, 2024
• Season Logistics: Tuesdays @ 6:30 pm in Carrboro, Wednesdays @ 6:30 pm in Durham (alternating between the Southpoint and Ninth Street locations) & alternates between the three stores on Saturdays at 8 am
• Cost: $105. Does not include Race Registration Fees - we will have a discount for the race.

Register Now!

Our 5K/10K Training group will hold you accountable, support you throughout your journey, and connect you with others who have similar fitness goals! Over the course of the training you can expect weekly newsletters, a training plan to follow, weekly workouts, and support of where you are now and where you want to go! This program is geared towards both beginners and more intermediate runners and walkers - it’s perfect for anyone who’s looking to get started with running and for someone who wants to take the next step in their training. We will have training options for beginner level training and intermediate training!

The Program meets twice a week (or come for a third workout on the other weeknight) during the training period, Tuesday evenings at 6:30 pm, Wednesday evenings at 6:30 pm, and Saturday mornings at 8 am. The workouts will last about an hour to an hour and a half as we increase mileage throughout the season. 

More Program Information:

We find lots of great places to run and walk in our community - on bike paths, areas with sidewalks, McDougle Elementary, the American Tobacco Trail, etc. Occasionally, we’ll hold a workout at a local track (such as the McDougle or a High School tracks) to mix up our workouts. All location information will be shared with you each week in our Program Newsletters, on our slack group, and can also be found on our Fleet Feet Calendar. The workouts will last about an hour to an hour and a half as we increase mileage throughout the season.  In addition to the workouts there are educational clinics, motivational speakers, on-site physical therapists, nutrition tips from local nutritionists and expert coaching/mentoring to help inspire and motivate you on this training journey.

What to expect at our Workouts:

Each week will have a slightly different focus - breathing, form, nutrition, etc. Below is an example workout and how our weekly topics are discussed during the training:

• Welcome/Announcements
• Weekly Topic (Mini-Form Clinic, Nutrition Sampling, Product Demonstration, etc.)
• Find your pace groups
• Group Dynamic Warmup
• Prescribed route for the day - you'll have turn by turn directions if necessary and mentors leading your group
• Optional Cool down stretching with your group
• Sometimes we'll hold a clinic following the workout, if we don't do it before.

Run/Walk Interval Running:

There are many benefits to using a run/walk method in your training. We encourage beginning runners to start using a Run/Walk interval in our Beginner training programs - it's a great way to get started. But using a Run/Walk interval is not just for beginners - it’s an excellent tool to help you build endurance and help you cross the finish line of your next race. Some of the benefits include:

• Decreased chance of injury. The run-walk method causes less wear and tear on the body, decreasing the chance of injuries. Continuous use of muscle will result in fatigue much quicker. This method will allow a runner to go farther and/or longer before fatigue sets in.
• Quicker recovery. With less wear and tear on the body, recovery is quicker from each workout.
• Breaks up distances into manageable units. Running is as much mental as it is physical – especially when you get into the distance races. Using the run-walk intervals will help with those long distances. Running 3 miles just seems impossible. But breaking it down by running for a set number of minutes, it’s much more manageable.
• Motivating for new runners. This method allows just about anyone to run any race they want. It doesn’t matter your age, weight, gender, or physical ability. You can be a runner. As you start off slow, you can work your way up to running for a longer amount of time and having fewer walk breaks.

What to expect at Saturday Long Runs:

The Saturday Long run focus is on time on your feet. We use the long run to build up our endurance so that we can finish our distance races healthy and happy! Overall, these long runs should be at a very easy pace. We don’t want to race through the long runs because it will feel like we’ve ‘raced’ every weekend - our bodies will be tired and it increases the likelihood of injury. You can expect your Mentors to lead the way and help set the pace. These long runs are fully supported with a Key Drop at the store, Water and Nuun (electrolyte drink) stops on the course, turn-by-turn directions, and access to your Coaches for questions, advice, jokes, etc. A sample route can be found here. Typically, we run loops from a central point so that we can have access to bathrooms/aid stations/coaches. We’re also going to have opportunities to run portions of the course so that we’ll be ready on race day!

Pace Groups:

Our groups are open to anyone! Yes, anyone. We group everyone based on pacing, offer run/walk intervals and a walking group. Your coaches will help give you suggested training paces once in your group! A general breakdown of our groups are as follows:

• 10:00 - 13:00 min/mile training pace (Continuous Running, we get into some smaller sub-groups)
• 3 Min Run/1 Min Walk Interval Group
• 1 Min Run/1 Min Walk Interval Group
• Walking Group

For those who are interested in training for the intermediate 5K/10K distance, we recommend coming into the training being able to run or run/walk 2 Miles. For participants under 18, please contact the Training Program Director, Nora (nora.ayers@fleetfeet.com) before registering.