Quote Originally Posted by lnewv5
Do you have a certain strategy when doing it? Like 8 minutes jog/2 minutes walk? Something less/more?
There are tons of programs you'll find on the web. I was just browsing the Cooking Light magazine and they had a 5k program which suggested warming up for 5-8 minutes and then 3 min running 2 min walking, 3 times, or something similar. If you already run you can try other combinations that feel right. You can also try running intervals: run hard until the next stop sign/street light/etc. then jog lightly to recover, repeat a few times. I let myself be guided by my heart rate (I race to 190, relax to bring it down to 140, repeat)...

The way your cardiovascular system improves is by stressing it AND the recovering adequately. Both stress and recovery are important. If you always run at pretty much the same pace you'll improve but very slowly. Doing intervals or similar workout will make you improve faster. Don't overdo it though. Once a week is good enough for the max-effort workouts...

Enjoy!