Easy training to reach 3 miles of cardio a day.

[H00PDIE]

Hopefully this doesn't look like a mess after I copy and paste it. I just wanted to share this running program that I started doing on the first of November. The personal goal is to be able to run 3 miles everyday that I do cardio.
I'm doing this to prepare for an academy that will be starting in February of 2012.

Hopefully this will be useful for some of you getting back into cardio. It's basically a series of small steps to reach the ultimate goal of 3 miles all the time. I just started on the 1st, I'm 6 foot tall and weigh 240lbs. I'll post updates and let you know how it's going.

These are in quarter mile increments.

Walk Run
.75 .25
.75 .25
.75 .25
.50 .50
.50 .50
.50 .50
.25 .75
.25 .75
.25 .75
0 1
0 1
0 1
.75 1.25
.75 1.25
.75 1.25

and just build up to your goal....

to many edits, sorry if its a crappy post..

[EBDO]

This is similar to how I started running, although I didn't have specific numbers. I just ran until I felt like I couldn't any more, and then walked for a bit until I caught my breath. Every few times I went running, I could run farther and farther without having to take a break until I found myself running 3+ miles non-stop. Took about 2 months, running 2-3 days a week to go from couch potato (not being able to run 1/8th of a mile) to running 3+ miles.

[GrayPatriot]

Just google couch to 5k and follow that plan. Tried and proven to work for 1,000s of beginner runners...

[SRT936]

Just google couch to 5k and follow that plan. Tried and proven to work for 1,000s of beginner runners...

+1.

You're plan is workable, but it fails to account for rest weeks during the build-up. At those short distances its not as vital as it is for longer distances, but its still a good habit to develop. For some people, trying to bang out a full quarter mile during their first week is a bit much, but you're 3/4 mile walk is too long. You'd be further ahead to shorten your run distances and adding multiple "sets" with walking rest periods in between.

For example, in week one of the Couch to 5k program, you warm up with a 5 minute walk, then run for 60 seconds followed by a 90 second walk for a total of 8 reps. You then end up with a 5 minute cool down walk. All told, you get 30 minutes of cardio work. Each week, the plan bumps up the run portions a bit.