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68 maconmagazine.com | August/September 2024 FIRST 5K? Run it this September in Downtown Macon. Here's how. Shawn McClendon is an ACE-certified personal trainer and owner of Back to Basics Health and Wholeness LLC, an organization dedicated to empowering people to take control of their health and avoid lifestyle disease. He runs a YouTube health and fitness podcast, writes on health and fitness topics at shawnmcclendon.com, speaks on health and fitness, and has authored several health/fitness books. F I T N E S S C O R N E R I n 2010, my girlfriend – now wife – Veronica and I heard about the Labor Day Road Race and decided to train for it together – we'd bond and get into better shape. The prospect of running over three miles non-stop was, well, different, but hey, I made the commitment, and I had a girlfriend to impress, right? We started training at Spring Street Park using the "Couch to 5K" training plan we'd downloaded from the internet. As we progressed through its intervals, switching periods of jogging with periods of walking, our jogging increased and walking decreased until, ultimately, we found ourselves running nonstop for 20-plus minutes at a time. As we trained, we realized running 3.1 miles really isn't as long as it sounds. By the time the Labor Day Road Race arrived, running the full distance was comfortable. We weren't particularly fast, but we finished! What's more, we enjoyed the atmosphere of running with a thousand-plus people from Central Georgia and beyond, starting from Vineville Baptist Church, crossing through Downtown Macon, and reaching the finish line in Carolyn Crayton Park. While familiar with the route as a long-time Maconite, I found the experience on foot much more fun. Since then, I've competed in the Labor Day Road Race several times, as well as other local 5Ks, and I've also brought groups to run the race with me. Now, I want to help you run it, too. Are you ready to run your first 5K? Great! Keep these pointers in mind: Give yourself time: Ideally, if you're starting from zero, you'll want two to three months to build the cardiovascular and muscular 2023 Labor Day Road Race runners. endurance for a 5K. If you have only one month to train, no worries; you can prepare to run at least part of the race this time around. You won't be alone in walking! Carve out the time each week: To start, you will need at least 30 minutes, three days a week. Don't overdo it at first; half an hour is plenty. Make time to recover: Gains happen not in exercise but in recovery! Stretch and rest on off days and after training sessions. Get enough sleep every night. If you fail to make time for recovery, you will accumulate damage to your body, leading to injury. Run on grass or dirt when possible: Training on hard surfaces such as concrete or asphalt can be tough on the joints, so it's important to mix it up. Dirt and grass surfaces absorb shock much better than hard ones, keeping pressure off your joints. TRAINING ROUTINE | 3 days per week Week 1: Run 2 mins | Walk 1 min (15 total mins of intervals) 2: Run 3 mins | Walk 1 (15 mins) 3: Run 4 mins | Walk 1 (15 mins) 4: Run 5 mins | Walk 1 (15 mins) 5: Run 10 mins | Walk 1 | Run 5 6: Run 10 mins | Walk 1 | Run 7 7: Run 10 mins | Walk 1 | Run 9 8: Run 10 mins | Walk 1 | Run 10 9+: Run 20 mins, adding 1 min each session until you get to 30 minutes of nonstop running. REGISTER FOR YOUR RACE Register for the Labor Day Road Race, happening September 2, 2024, at racerpal.com/register/ldrr/ and find more info at macontracks.org. The event is family-friendly, and there is also a 10K route if you're ready for a bigger challenge. Save the date for the Macon Music Half Marathan on November 16 this year! The course will take you by locations showing the musical heritage of Macon including the Grand Opera House, the Big House, Little Richard's home, Capricorn Studios, Otis Redding Foundation, and Mercer's McDuffie Center for Strings as well as other historic and cultural sites. Post your training pics on social media with the #responsible4myhealth hashtag. See you at the Labor Day Road Race!