Building a Sub-27 5K Plan: Can a Husband Coach His Wife?

In this episode of For Better or For Worse, Alex walks Alexis (and you) through the 10-week beginner 5K training plan he built her from scratch, easy pace vs. threshold pace vs. race pace, how many days a week she should actually run, strength training, warm-ups, heart rate zones vs. running by feel, and why a 5K plan somehow includes a 10K long run. Alexis pushes back on almost all of it, they debate whether women handle pain differently than men, Alex recounts a terrifying anaphylactic ER story, and they close out with a heated take on race bandits after a viral clip of a 70-year-old runner getting taken down by a race marshal in Mexico.

If you're training for your first 5K, trying to understand easy pace vs. threshold pace vs. race pace, or just enjoy watching a married couple try (and sometimes fail) to talk running strategy without it turning into a marriage counseling session... this one's for you.

Chapters:
0:00 Is Summer Already Over?
5:31 Alex's Birthday & the Fall Training Reveal
7:52 Recap: Alexis's 5K Time Trial (28:53)
9:53 Breaking Down Alexis's First-Ever Training Plan
12:32 The 3 Key Paces: Easy, Threshold & Race Pace
17:45 How Many Days a Week Should Beginners Run?
20:15 What Should Race Pace Actually Feel Like?
22:33 Alex's "Coaching Credentials"
23:29 Strength Training for Runners, Explained
24:16 Do You Need an Accountability Partner?
26:43 Why Warm-Ups & Cool-Downs Matter
29:00 Turning the Plan Into a Color-Coded Tracker
30:08 Why a 5K Plan Includes a 10K Long Run
32:54 Heart Rate Zones vs. Running by Feel
35:22 Do Men and Women Handle Pain Differently?
37:08 Alex's Terrifying Anaphylactic Shock Story
39:12 Ranking the Most Important Run Days
41:32 Why Alex Trains on the Treadmill (Even in Summer)
43:26 Reading Comments: How Fast Can Alexis Go?
46:09 Is Race Banditing Ever Justified?
48:29 The Viral "Don Jose" Race Cop Video
51:44 Facial Recognition, Privacy & the Future of Racing
55:51 Fan Q&A: Marathon Major Guilt
55:55 "You Said You'd NEVER Let Him Coach You"
57:37 Up Next: Canadian Half Marathon Championship

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