10 weeks to 10K: How our runners are doing (Week 2)

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Sherry Lang-Laveau and François Laveau

Confidence level: "I'm very keen. …," Ms. Lang-Laveau says. "And my husband is pretty optimistic."

Training so far: "It's going really well," Ms. Lang-Laveau says. She runs five kilometres on Monday, does strength training and yoga on Tuesday, goes for a 30-minute run on Wednesday and does strength training and a spin class on Thursday. Friday is a rest day. François hits the treadmill after work and then the two team up on the weekend. This past Saturday they went for an hour-long walk and on Sunday they ran four kilometres.

Next on the horizon: Maintaining a strict training regimen. "I figure if I train properly then I should be able to get through it," Ms. Lang-Laveau says. And with the weather getting warmer, she and François hope to do more walks and runs outside together.

Jean Choi

Confidence level: High.

Training so far: Ms. Choi has been running "practically every day," she says. She gets up in the morning and hits the treadmill. Even in preparing for her previous races, Ms. Choi never followed a strict training schedule. "I usually kind of made it up as I went along," she says. But she did do strength training to prepare for previous races, something she hopes to do in the near future to prepare for the Sporting Life 10K.

Next on the horizon: "I want to get out," she says. Winter weather can make it hard to pass up the treadmill. "I don't do cold and snow that well," she says. But running outside will help with her pacing, she says. "With the treadmill it's so easy to let the machine sort of set the pace for me."

Jen Cooper

Confidence level: "I'm fairly confident that I'll cross the finish line," says Ms. Cooper, although she is not so sure about meeting her goal of finishing the race in less than 55 minutes. "I have the stamina and I have the endurance and strength. But I don't think I have the speed that I used to have. That might change over the next [eight]weeks as I gear up."

Training so far: On Monday and Friday Ms. Cooper does 30 minutes of cardio on an elliptical machine or treadmill followed 30 minutes of strength training. On Wednesday, she attends baby-and-me fitness class. The class is a chance to work on core strength and balance, and get more cardio in to her schedule, she says. Over the weekend she got out for a 40-minute run.

Next on the horizon: More outdoor runs and bike rides. Getting out on her bicycle, she says, "would also probably be a good way to get in shape."