23 Jul Four weeks to a 5K: My program is set

This is the first in a series on my consultation with a certified sports trainer and subsequent training to run a 5K race Aug. 21. I am sharing my experiences with athomefitness.com readers in order to show the benefits of working with a trainer and what it’s like to train for a specific fitness goal.

After recently joining a new health club, I was told one of the benefits was that I could receive a free workout consultation from one of the certified athletic trainers there.
I feel I’ve acquired a great deal of knowledge about sports, fitness and exercise in general over my many years as an athlete and sports reporter at several newspapers.
However, one thing I am not is a certified athletic trainer.
So I decided to take the health club up on its offer and meet with one of the trainers. I’ve learned that you can never stop learning and I was anxious to see what would come of my consultation.
This wound up being a two-part process: 1. Meet, take some body and training measurements (such as body dimensions, weight, blood pressure, 1 ½ mile-run time on a treadmill and bench press strength, 225 for 10 reps) and 2. The trainer set up a program and went over it with me.
Back in high school, I had run cross country for one year and was very successful with it, but in the 20-plus years since my physique has changed significantly. I’ve gotten a lot stronger through weightlifting, but gone from about 165 pounds to a high weight of 225.
I weighed in for my consultation at 208 and was assessed a 21 percent body fat, which the trainer said was good for my age and body type and pretty close to the goal of 19 percent I should shoot for. When he asked me what some of my goals were, one of them I blurted out was, “Run a 5K.” I also mentioned things like stay strong into my 40s, which I’ll hit at the end of this year and improve my flexibility.
Before I could appreciated the true ramifications of what I’d said in regards to the 5K, the trainer told me he wanted to set up a four-week program that would get me ready to run the annual race in our town on Saturday, Aug. 21.
Today was my second meeting with the trainer and he took me through the workout I’ll be doing for the next month, with a primary goal of running the 5K (3.1 miles).
I realize that’s not a super-long distance and I should be able to finish it in good fashion, but having trained more for strength and not having done much distance running lately it will be a challenge to complete my training. I have also had some Achilles’ and calf problems that have plagued me over the recent years, so stretching will be a big key.
The trainer took me through the program he has designed for me and it was really something else: strenuous and different in many ways from the norm that I’ve worked out in the past.
Always one for a good challenge, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next four weeks will bring and will keep readers updated.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com