Running is one of those physical activities that has so many benefits attached to it. You work your entire body, helping build up those muscles, especially in your legs. It can help with improving your breathing, and generally improve your cardiovascular system.
Plus, it’s a sort of weight-bearing exercise, that helps build your strength as your body improves and gets healthier, your increased muscle mass will help be its own exercise.
And there’s even the social aspect to it. Most people will have access to a space where they can run. It’s almost always free. You get to see the area you live in and around. If you’re running with other people, it’s a great way to socialize with other people.
But when you start out running, or if you’re thinking about starting to run, it can feel a little aimless at times, especially if you didn’t have a particular goal in mind. If you just started running because you wanted to, that’s great.
But often, without some kind of goal to help keep you focused, you’ll find that your desire to run and be healthier will disappear when your motivation goes.
So, when starting out on their journeys to being healthier, they will set themselves a target, a goal to help keep them focused and motivated. For weightlifters, that might be a specific amount of weight they can lift, or for how long they can lift it.
For swimmers, that might be a certain number of laps of a pool, or how fast they can complete a certain number.
When runners are trying to keep themselves motivated, the most obvious way people set themselves a target is by completing a set distance in a run. And a common distance that people like to set themselves is being able to run 2 miles or just over 3 kilometers.
It’s a big enough distance that being able to complete it feels like an accomplishment, whilst not being so huge that it isn’t a realistic goal for a person to reach.
Plus, once people have completed a 2-mile run, they’ll be able to push themselves to even greater lengths, such as being able to cut down how many minutes it takes them to run 2 miles or even going on to train for a full marathon.
With this goal in mind, here is some advice we have gathered on how to eventually be able to run 2 miles and above.
How To Start Running
If you are someone who has been running for a while, you might want to skip to the next section, as 2 miles can seem a little underwhelming for seasoned runners.
But you haven’t started running yet, 2 miles can feel like an intimidating hill to climb. But that’s okay. Everyone has to start from somewhere. And if you are someone who has been running for a while now, but feels that it might be useful for them to go back over the basics.
The first key thing you’ll want to do when starting out running is to establish a routine for yourself. Choose a time of the day or week when you think you will be able to regularly complete an exercise routine.
Make sure that it’s unlikely to be cut into by any other responsibilities you might have, such as to friends, family, or work. If you listen to any music or sounds pre-workout, make sure that they are played at roughly the same time every time you start running.
Next, if you have little to no experience when it comes to running, start mapping out your running route by walking.
Not only will this give you a good idea of where you’ll be running before you start, but because it is a relatively easy task to do, you be able to confidently start doing this task with an idea of what your baseline is. When everything else isn’t possible in a normally active routine, walking will almost be something you are able to do.
Then, once you have finished your routine, make sure to give yourself a small treat of some kind, whether that’s a snack, a drink, or a small purchase.
Rewarding yourself in these little ways will help your brain connect the experience of completing an exercise with the act of rewarding yourself.
In the long term, this means that you will find that you will enjoy the exercise more, as your brain continues to make that connection of the routine activity that is tied to the reward you have at the end.
This is the most important step when making a good foundation for your health and running skills. Once you have a good exercise routine set up, you are able to make extra adjustments, such as making your walking/running route a little longer or changing your reward to something else that is cheaper or healthier.
Once you have a solid grasp of where your health currently is, then you can start working towards the 2-mile mark for your runs.
Building Up To 2 Miles
Now that you have a routine in place, you’ll be able to take the routine you have established for yourself, and start to build on that solid foundation for your future running plans.
Whilst there are a few plans and training methods to being able to run 2 miles, one of which we will cover later, almost all of them require you to be at least a little experienced when it comes to running.
Many guides will say that you should be able to run half a mile relatively comfortably, before starting their own training schemes.
With that in mind, it pays to be able to start getting some good tips for running whilst you are starting out.
For example, if you are just starting out when it comes to running, make good use of the running/walking method, where you break up your periods of relatively intense running with brief periods of walking.
Many long-distance runners will vary the intensity of how much effort they are running, and the run/walk method makes use of this same principle.
Plus, it is a great way of building up endurance, if your body isn’t yet used to the strain of running constantly.
Once you’ve comfortable enough, you’ll be able to reduce the amount of time you need to walk for, whilst increasing how long your running period is. And before you know it, you won’t even need to walk to help complete your runs.
Little things like this, as well as other tips, like practicing good body motion and back posture, will be great things to pick up as you start to run harder, and for longer.
Once you can reach the half-mile run whilst still having a little energy to spare, we can start to move up to the golden distance of 2 miles.
The 4-Week Training System
Just as we mentioned earlier, there are a few training schemes that have been made to help people run 2 miles. The one we will be discussing is a 4-week training schedule that will help slowly build up your endurance levels.
To sum up the basic plan for each week, you will be exercising for 3 days, with a rest day in-between days that you practice on, plus an extra day of rest at the end of the planned week for that extra recovery time, before moving on to the more intense plans next week.
- Week 1: Each activity day, you will run approximately half a mile, followed by half a mile of walking. This is repeated twice.
- Week 2: You will run three-quarters of a mile on each activity day, followed by a quarter-mile walk. Like the previous week, it will be repeated twice, will a day of rest between each practice day.
- Week 3: Your practice day starts with a 1-mile run, followed by a quarter-mile walk, which is then followed by a three-quarter-mile run. On the third practice day, however, the first run will be bumped up to 1 and a quarter mile, followed by a half-mile run after your quarter-mile walk rest.
- Week 4: On the first day of your final week, you will run 1 ½ mile, followed by a half-mile walk. On the second practice day, you will increase the distance to a 1 ¾ mile run, before finishing with a quarter-mile walk to cool down. On the third and final practice day, you will attempt to do the whole 2-mile run.
Once you have finished the 4th week, congratulations! You have finally done it!
From here, you can either maintain this level of exercise, trying to do the same distance in less time. Or you can take it even further, and start practicing for even longer distances.
The next goal people tend to work towards is a 5 km run, which there are plenty of guides online that can help you reach this distance. The choice is up to you!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Trail Running?
Trail running is a combination of running, mixed with hiking and wilderness walking, where you take your running into wild areas. The general principles are very similar to normal running, although there are a few extra things you should be taking into account when our trail running.
Make sure that you have appropriate footwear for being out in the wilderness, as well as staying to the marked track so that you don’t get lost in the great outdoors!
And make sure you have some means of contacting someone, in case you have an accident and can’t get up. Whilst a phone might be a distraction in any other scenario, it might just save your life here.
What Is A Good Time For Running 2 Miles In?
The amount of time it takes you to run 2 miles will depend on your level of experience, and your current running routine.
Keep in mind that if you have just started running, and you have only just started the 4-week plan that we discussed above, you probably be using the run/walk method if you try and run a full 2 miles.
If this is the case, anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes is a respectable amount of time to complete 2 miles in.
If you have just finished the 4-week program, or are about to finish, 22 minutes will be a decent cut in that previous time, with more experienced runners cutting that down further to just 16 minutes.
Experienced runners, who are training for 5k runs or higher, will likely be able to finish 2 miles in even less time!
Keep in mind, of course, that everyone will be running at different levels, so don’t force yourself to try and complete 2 miles in under 20 minutes you aren’t ready for it.
Conclusion
2 miles is a great starting point for any new, aspiring runner to try and meet. Hopefully, some of the advice we have given you here will be helpful when it comes to starting out this new adventure or running and healthy living you are trying.
Remember to stay hydrated, and get outside, or hop on that treadmill!
