Let's get this straight at the outset: Running is hard work.

Your muscles, especially your legs, fire on full cylinder. You breathe deeply. Your heart pounds. You sweat -- a lot. And that's just when you're moving at a moderate pace.

"I think people get discouraged with running because they think it's going to be easy," says Gordon Bakoulis, four-time qualifier in the U.S. women's Olympic marathon trials and author of Getting Real About Running (Ballantine, 2002). But as a woman who's serious about fitness, you're not likely to be put off by the prospect of hard work, are you?

There's a great deal of satisfaction in being able to increase your mileage, run a route a little faster, charge up a hill with a bit more authority or run more freely and easily than you did the day before. That's why running is a perfect sport for those of us who are goal-oriented and unafraid to face a challenge head-on and feet first.

To speed you along on your journey, we've developed three training programs with the help of a number of running experts, including Bakoulis; Karen Bridson, author of Run For It (Burford Books, 2002); British running coach Owen Barder, author of Running For Fitness (Lyons Press, 2003), and Joan Nesbit Mabe, a 1996 U.S. Olympian at the 10K (6.2-mile) distance. Each program focuses on a different core component of running. The first develops endurance and helps you build up your mileage base. The second teaches you how to build leg strength and take the hills, and the third is designed to make you speedier. Then we help you perfect your running form. Choose whichever programs highlight the training components you'd like to work on.

1) ENDURANCE
This program is for anyone who is fit and transitioning into a running program. Even if you power walk or cycle on a regular basis, your body still needs time to specifically adapt to running so you don't feel sore and overtrained.

Endurance -- which can be defined as the ability to run nonstop at a comfortable pace -- forms the base of the running pyramid. You build endurance by alternating intervals of running with intervals of brisk walking. As your fitness increases, your running intervals will gradually get longer and longer while the walking breaks will gradually disappear. After about eight weeks (it may take less time for some, a little more for others), you'll get to the point where -- voila! -- you're able to run nonstop for 35 minutes (for most of us, that's about 3.5 to 4.25 miles). Remember, the buildup toward continuous running is deliberately gradual to avoid the injuries that often occur at the start of a running program.

Do these workouts three to five times a week. Your brisk walking pace should be near 80 percent of your maximum effort and your running pace should be conservative and comfortable, but still feel like work (about 75 percent of your max effort).

Week 1:
Warm-up: Walk 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Brisk walk 5 minutes, then run 3 minutes.
Repeat a total of 3 times.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

Week 2:
Warm-up: Walk 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Brisk walk 5 minutes, run 5 minutes.
Brisk walk 3 minutes, run 5 minutes.
Brisk walk 5 minutes, run 5 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

Week 3:
Warm-up: Walk 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Brisk walk 5 minutes, run 8 minutes.
Brisk walk 3 minutes, run 8 minutes. Repeat once.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

Week 4:
Warm-up: Walk 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Brisk walk 5 minutes, run 10 minutes.
Brisk walk 3 minutes, run 10 minutes.
Brisk walk 3 minutes, run 8 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

Week 5:
Warm-up: Walk 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Brisk walk 5 minutes, run 15 minutes.
Brisk walk 3 minutes, run 15 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

Week 6:
Warm-up: Walk 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Brisk walk 5 minutes, run 30 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

Week 7:
Warm-up: Slow jog 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Run 30 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

Week 8:
Warm-up: Slow jog 3-5 minutes.
Workout: Run 35 minutes.
Cool-down: Walk 3-5 minutes.

2) HILLS
Want to build leg strength and run up hills with total confidence? This is the program for you. Do two hill training workouts a week, alternating these two routines.

Hill Repeats: Find a gradual hill between one-quarter to three-quarters of a mile long. Warm up on flat terrain for 10 minutes by jogging or walking briskly. Then, run up the hill as hard as you can, trying to maintain the same speed from the bottom to the top. Slowly jog down to the bottom of the hill, snaking from side to side. Then immediately hit the next uphill interval. Repeat four to six times, then cool down with five to 10 minutes of jogging or brisk walking.

Hill Fartlek: Find a running course that includes two to five substantial hills that are at least one-quarter to three-quarters of a mile long spread out along the course. After a warm-up, run at your regular pace and then, as you meet a hill, run up it hard, at about 90 percent of maximum effort. As soon as you reach the top, slow back down to your regular pace (or slower if you need more recovery) until you encounter the next hill. Repeat the same pattern with each hill, then cool down at the end of your run with three to five minutes of jogging or brisk walking on the flat.

Making your own hills
If you live in a place that's pancake flat, you'll have to get creative and make your own hills. The best place to create an instant hill is on a treadmill that has an incline feature. Most treadmills now automatically incline to about a 15 percent grade with a touch of a button. Parking garages and bridges with pedestrian walkways are also alternatives.

3) SPEED
Running lots of miles at a slow pace is good for building up your mileage, but speed makes you physically and mentally sharp in a way that allows you to break through in races. If you want to run faster, this is your program.

Do one or two speed workouts a week, cycling through the following three programs. The rest of your cardio workouts should be done at a moderate pace so you don't wind up injured. Do these workouts on a track, treadmill or somewhere flat, and precisely measure your distances.

800 repeats with equal active rest: Warm up for five to 10 minutes by walking briskly or jogging slowly. Sprint 800 meters (about half a mile, or twice around a track) at an all-out pace. Don't stop between intervals; instead, jog or walk the same distance as slowly as you need to, using the time to recover for the next sprint. Repeat for a total of six to eight times. Cool down as you warmed up.

400 repeats with 200-meter active recovery: Warm up for five to 10 minutes by walking briskly or jogging slowly. Sprint 400 meters (about a quarter-mile, or once around a track) at an all-out pace. Don't stop between intervals; instead, jog or walk half that distance (about 200 meters) as slowly as you need to, using the time to recover. Repeat for a total of six to eight times. Cool down as you warmed up.

Sprint Ladder: Warm up for five to 10 minutes by walking or jogging slowly. Sprint for 200 meters, then jog or walk to recover for 200 meters. Repeat this sprint/active rest pattern for 400 and 800 meters. Repeat this ladder two to three times, and then cool down as you warmed up.