Sure you can. The trouble is, for people who don't have a habit of exercising, not having a fixed plan makes it very easy to decide not to do anything at all. In fact it's quite easy to make that decision even if you do exercise regularly!

There'll be lots of tips around for how to incorporate a bit more running into your normal routine. My advice would be firstly to realise that run/walk is the paleo approach to avoiding zombies and will be a lot easier than thinking you have to 'run' for 5k straight. Training wise it'd be all about running as fast as you can until you start to slow down, walking as long as necessary to recover, then running fast again. It's more enjoyable, you can make a game out of it like running between lamp posts or to a specific tree behind which you can hide, and less demanding on the joints etc as they also get recovery time. Practise that and you'll be able to deal appropriately with zombie-inspired hysteria. Who knows, by May you might not bother walking much at all.

This requires some effort of course. How much depends on how much time you have available. If you can find a half hour twice a week (to include some warm-up walking, 10-15 minutes of variable speed running and some stretching to make life easier) then I don't think you'd need more than that. To deal with the lack of regimentation, I'd put something up on the wall that was clearly visible every day, maybe with stickers or something for your allotted total number of session (say, 25) and you get to put one in the zombie column every time you complete it. This doesn't force you to working out on any particular time or day, or even necessarily to the twice a week thing, but it does mean that if you fall behind on the commitment you make now you'll have a visual reminder of the workouts you still have to fit in before the deadline. I don't know if I've explained that very well but basically bargain with yourself that you are going to let yourself choose if and when to workout but you have to do it (at least) a specific number of times before the apocalypse. And use pretty colors.

I'm in the same boat, and it's all because of the zombies!

1) You could sign up as a zombie, just to participate.

2) You could train. I've decided I'm going to opt for #2, and if I fail, there's always #1. Here are some options. a) Start with some program like C25K b) Start with running a mile. Run the ENTIRE TIME. Don't worry about your time, just worry about running every second of that mile. You will feel like crap during it and your heart will want to explode but you'll feel great that you did it. Once you have conquered that mile and you no longer feel like crap doing it, add another mile. Rinse, repeat. Add another. Eventually you're running a 5K. THEN work on your time. c) Go to the zoo, release a tiger and run. You'll likely find this very motivating.

Whatever you decide, I hope you do it! It sounds like fun =)

The CT5K would be fine to get you to the running part, but if you want to avoid zombies on an obstacle course some other training would be useful. Something like Crossfit or maybe even better would be Sisson's training recommendations. Hike/sprint/lift/play.

It really sounds like a blast and you could do it without a lot of training - just don't expect to survive!

bah, do this.

run either tabata intervals (20 secs on 10 secs off for 4 minutes) or

1 minute on 1 minute off for 20-30 minutes.

a lot more benefit than long slow distance.

background: I have been a runner for 25 years. long and slow for a long time. this year i exclusively have been running sprint intervals. I haven't lost any endurance. I am running a 50 miler in apr.

I participated in a Tough Mudder. Not the same as Run For Your Lives, but it was a running + obstacle course.

I trained to be able to run 10-11 miles as the Tough Mudder was supposed to be about that long.

Turns out it was fairly unnecessary. I had at most a mile of continuous running, if that. I was interrupted by obstacles, including a long section of a 'frozen' creek where I couldn't run at all lest I lose footing on slippery/freezing rocks. Yes it was good to build up some stamina, but being able to run it all in one shot was overkill.

I agree with the suggestions above to focus on intervals/tabata sprints. You'll also probably want to be able to climb things like cargo nets or sloped walls w/ ropes, etc. So chinups and pullups will help, along with monkeying around on monkey bars at a local playground. You might also want to get comfortable with army crawls, quadrupedal 'crawling' (i.e. bear crawl), climbing hills, hurdling trees/logs/park benches etc.

Set up a cart and put up a big sign that says "Fresh Grass Fed Brains, Free" and put lots of brains on it. The Zombies will all stop there to eat to satiety. While they're busy climbing over each other, you get to escape.

Without going into how paleo it may or may not be, why not try couch to 5K? It's good fun and will prepare you very well.

"Could I prepare for it without doing something really regimented like that "couch to 5k" that all my facebook friends have done at some point, ad nauseum?"

You're going to have to jog/run if you want to prepare for running a 5k. Can you get your kids on bikes/in a stroller and get out to walk? Maybe something like walking the length of this block, walking past the first few houses on the next block and then running to the end of it (aka running about half a block at a time). Work up to jogging down a full block, then a block and a half, etc.

The obstacle course suggestion by Dave isn't bad, but it won't get you ready to run 40+ minutes straight and complete obstacle courses. And, of course, you could always do it without training, but like he said, you'll probably get zombified. :)

The physical and mental demands of the event are described at the race's website. Check it out and ask yourself whether you are up for the challenge.

I always need to convert K to miles. 5k = 3.1 miles. So not really that far, and you're not going to be running the full distance.

That said, I find it's wiser for me to train a bit past the requirements, so I don't feel like crud afterwards. I'd recommend looking at that regimented setup, since you're not fond of exercise. I find it's useful in those situations.

After seeing your post, I checked out the website. I am new to paleo and getting into the fitness aspect is the hardest part. I have the nutririon part down and just need to work on the family.

I have decided to run from the zombies in Austin in December. I can't wait! I ran cross country in high school but haven't run since. I played Roller Derby for about 4 years when two torn ACL's stopped me cold turkey. I figure that I have 10 months to get ready for this run. I have a few friends who have decided to run with me and a few who are going to be zombies.

I am going to run once a week. Starting with a mile then adding til I get to three. I am also lifting heavy things 2X a week. Of course this means just being able to lift my own body weight. I have an eliptical and a bowflex that I will eventually add in to my routine somehow, probably only on bad weather days. And of course I plan on doing sprints once in a while.

Good Luck! I hope you keep it up and accomplish your goals!

I would suggest:

• one sprint session per week (40 yards x 5)
• one long slow run per week

For the one long slow run per week, I'd suggest doing one mile slowly the first week, then 2 miles the second week, then 3 miles the third week, then 3 miles every week after that, increasing speed as you feel comfortable.

There. Two runs per week.