Many people feel nervous when they start a new job or school; others have to plan very carefully before travelling to a place they've not been before, either by public transport or even by car. And yet these new things - jobs or journeys - can quickly become commonplace, undertaken without much thought. So it is with running: somehow 5 kilometres sounds so much further than your normal route! Confidence is the key. Once you have made it around a 5K course then you will know that you can do it again in two weeks' time, and the objective this week is to banish the demons by running the full race distance. Try to use a route that is familiar to you, perhaps running two shorter circuits.

Day 1: Jog for 20 minutes, walk 5 minutes (twice)
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Walk/jog for about 5K (try to run as much as you can)
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: 20 minutes fartlek (try 3 or 4 faster bursts of 1 minute each)
Day 6: Jog for 10 minutes, walk 2 minutes (twice)
Day 7: Rest