Class 10

Already we've passed the term's midpoint. In remaining weeks the Tuesday distance will keep climbing toward a peak of four or eight miles (next up: 3.25 or 6.5). Thursday runs will include three tests and a final set of intervals.

TODAY'S SLOW/FAST 2 MILES

(with total time, pace for each mile and comparison of the two; target was to finish faster, running negative splits)

Erica -- 18:23 (9:45 & 8:38 miles, -1:07 for 2nd half)

Teja -- 14:11 (8:24 & 5:47, -2:37) best speedup, for extra credit

Juan -- 18:27 (9:59 & 8:28, -1:31) 2nd best speedup

Eleanor -- 25:52 (12:49s & 13:03s, +14 sec.)

TODAY'S SLOW/FAST 4 MILES

(with total time, per-mile pace for each half and comparison of the two; target was to finish faster, running negative splits)

Sara -- 34:47 (9:10 per mile & 8:13s, -57 sec.)

Anna -- 30:30 (8:00s & 7:15s, -45 sec.)

LESSON 10: GETTING SICK

Take illness symptoms as seriously as those of injury. But instead of using pain as a guide, substitute the words fever and fatigue. The most common ailments are the flu and colds. Never, ever run with the flu’s fever. Don’t just rest while feverish but take an additional day off for each day of the illness, or you risk serious complications. Colds are more mundane – and more common. They usually pass through you in about a week. Rest during the “coming-on” stage (usually the first two to four days). Then run easily (slowly enough not to cause heavy coughing and nose-throat irritation) during the “coming-out” stage.

Class 9

Today's route was the same (minus a few hundredths of a mile for "5K" and plus a few for "10K") as you'll run in the final week's test. We MIGHT be using the 15th Avenue entrance to the turf fields by then, but don't count on it! The latest delay will keep us outside that gate for three more weeks, at least.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm helping conduct the intramural cross-country run. Entry is free for students, signup starts at 3:30 at the cemetery steps, and the three-mile run begins at 4:00. Extra class credit goes to all of you who enter.

On Thursday we meet again at the practice track, 18th and Emerald. The run is either two or four miles, with the first half easy and the second harder.

TODAY'S 5 KILOMETERS

(with per-mile pace for 3.05 and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance)

Erica -- 33:09 (10:52 pace, +1:39 per mile)

Teja -- 20:50 (6:49s, -35 sec.)

Eleanor -- 42:58 (14:05s, +1:53)

Juan -- 32:14 (10:34s, +1:19)

TODAY'S 10 KILOMETERS

(with per-mile pace for 6.25 and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance)

Anna -- 46:23 (7:25s, +18 sec.) day's 2nd best pacer

Owen -- 45:30 (7:17s, -4 sec.) best pacer, earning extra credit

LESSON 9: GETTING HURT

Runners get hurt. We rarely hurt ourselves in the sudden, traumatic ways skiers and linebackers do, but the injury rates run high. Most of our injuries are self-inflicted – from running too far, too fast, too soon or too often (and sometimes on surfaces or in shoes not right for us). Prevention is usually as simple as adjusting our routine. Immediate treatment seldom requires total rest, but only a change in activity. Use pain as your guide. If you can’t run steadily without pain, mix walking and running. If you can’t run-walk, simply walk. If you can’t walk, bicycle. If you can’t bike, swim. As you recover, climb back up this exercise ladder.

Class 8

This was one of those days that tested your running commitment: wet and gloomy, and with the shortest but fastest runs to date. You did well, all going faster than the first week's test and making the last segment your best.

Tuesday's distances will be 3.1 and 6.2 miles, which of course translate to 5K and 10K.

TODAY'S 3 X ONE-THIRD-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for one mile -- converted from actual distance of 1.1 -- and comparison to first week's nonstop mile test or first long run -1:00 per mile)

Dameri -- 7:48 (-19 sec.)

Eleanor -- 9:17 (-2:37) most improved, earning extra credit

TODAY'S 3 X TWO-THIRDS-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for two miles -- converted from actual distance of 2.2 -- plus per-mile pace and comparison to first week's nonstop two-mile test, or first long run -1:00 per mile)

Sara -- 13:58 (6:59s, -15 sec. per mile)

Joe -- 14:16 (7:08s, -42 sec.)

Owen -- 12:04 (6:02s, -4 sec.)

LESSON 8: TAKING TIME

Your second most valuable piece of equipment, after shoes, is.... no, not shorts and not T-shirt. You can wear other clothes than those. Your next most vital item is a watch. Buy a digital model with a stopwatch feature, and make time your main way of keeping score. Time can make you an instant winner by telling exactly how fast you ran a distance, and maybe how much you improved your personal record (“PR,” in runner-talk). Another, more subtle value of the watch: It lets you run by time – by minutes instead of miles. This has several benefits: freeing you from plotting and measuring courses, because minutes are the same length anywhere... easing pressure to run faster, because you can’t make time pass any faster... finishing at the assigned time limit no matter your pace, which settles naturally into your comfort zone when you run by time.

Class 7

Today's lesson is well timed. With more than half of you recovering from a race on Sunday (and others recovering from illness or injury), you needed an easy day. Note that soreness usually peaks the second post-racing day, which is today for you 5K runners.

You'll run another set of intervals on Thursday -- either 3 x one-third-mile or 3 x two-thirds. Meet at the **practice track**, 18th and Emerald entrance. 

TODAY'S 2.8 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance; if you didn't time yourself out at stoplights, you probably ran faster than listed here)

Joe -- untimed, after 5K race on Sunday at 7:21 pace

Owen -- 5K race on Sunday at 7:44s

Dameri -- 28:16 (10:05 pace, +18 sec. per mile) 2nd best pacer

Eleanor -- 34:12 (12:12s, +16 sec.) best pacer, extra credit

Juan -- untimed

TODAY'S 5.5 MILES

(same info as above)

Erica -- 50:43 (9:13s, +46 sec.) after 5K on Sunday at 7:38s

Sara -- 50:14 (9:08s, +39 sec.)

Teja -- 40:47 (7:24s, -1:26) after 5K on Sunday at 5:48s

Anna -- 50:43 (9:13s, +2:06) after 5K on Sunday at 6:53s

LESSON 7: GOING EASIER

Pacing isn’t just for a single run. It’s also something you practice from day to day throughout the week. Some runs must be hard if you’re training to race, but most runs must be easy to compensate for that effort. In other words, you run less than your best much of the time – neither long nor fast. You can calculate ideal pace for easy runs several ways: at least one minute per mile slower than you could race the same distance; or about 75 percent of maximum heart rate; or simply whatever feels comfortable, not too fast or too slow. The last of these guidelines is the simplest to use. What feels right usually is right.

Run with the Duck Results

It's a small class, to be sure. But never has a greater portion from one of my classes run a race -- exactly half. All five earned extra credit.

TODAY'S 5K RACE

(with per-mile pace for 3.1 miles and comparison to your last long run in class; target was to go faster; * = better than pace of first week's test)

Erica -- 23:41 (7:38 pace, -29 sec. per mile)

Joe -- 22:50 (7:21s, -1:15)

Teja -- 18:00 (5:48s, -3:02)

*Anna -- 21:21 (6:53s, -14 sec.)

Owen -- 24:02 (7:44s, +23 sec.)

Class 6

Thanks for making me look good today to the class evaluator. He was checking the teacher, not the students.

This run simulated a two- or four-mile race, where you pushed the pace in the latter half as you would while racing. There, of course, you would go harder at the start -- as many of you will do in Sunday's Run with the Duck 5K. It will count as extra class credit.

On Tuesday the distances will be 2.75 and 5.5 miles. Meet again in front of the Rec Center.

TODAY'S SLOW/FAST "16 MINUTES"

(with actual time and comparison of halves; target was to finish faster, or run a "negative split")

Dameri -- 14:35 (-1:25 for 2nd half)

TODAY'S SLOW/FAST "32 MINUTES"

(same info as above)

Erica -- 29:40 (-2:20)

Sara --- 29:05 (-2:50)

Joe -- 29:45 (-2:15)

Teja -- 27:10 (-4:50) tie for best negative split; extra credit

Anna -- 28:20 (-3:40)

Owen -- 27:10 (-4:50) tie for best negative split; extra credit

Juan -- untimed

LESSON 6: GOING FASTER

A little bit of speed training goes a long way. In fact, a little bit is all you should do because, in excess, speed kills. Most runners can tolerate fast training that totals only about 10 percent of weekly mileage. This can come two major ways and one minor one. The first big way is as intervals – a training session of short, fast runs with recovery breaks between. The other main way to train for speed is the tempo run – at race pace or faster for a shorter distance. The smaller way to gain and maintain speed is with “strides” – ending the warmup by striding out for a hundred yards or so, one to five times, at the top speed that you would ever race. Strides also have value at the finish of a relaxed run, as a reminder to push at the end of a race.

Class 5

Today's rain reminds me to tell you an unwritten rule here: if I run (with my old legs and weak eyes, in the dark) that morning, you run. That is, weather conditions very rarely change our class plans.

A reminder that you can enter this Sunday's Run with the Duck 5K for free and get class credit. Same with the Intramural Cross-Country on October 29th.

Meet again Thursday in front of the Rec Center, then I'll point you to our running route. The run will be slow/fast by time, going out easily for eight or 16 minutes (roughly one or two miles), then pushing the pace on the way back.

TODAY'S 5.0 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance)

Erica -- 42:15 (8:27 pace, +10 sec.)

Sara -- 42:27 (8:29s, +10 sec.)

Anna -- 35:37 (7:07s, -20 sec.)

Owen -- 36:45 (7:21s, -25 sec.)

Eleanor -- untimed

Juan -- 46:15 (9:15s, -2 sec.) day's best pacer, earning extra credit

LESSON 5: GOING LONGER

Distance, unlike speed, is almost limitless. No matter what your level of talent, no matter how many years you have run, no matter how old your personal records are, the possibility of covering longer distances still exists. This helps explain the appeal of the marathon. First-year runners can take pride at finishing one in twice the time the leaders take to finish, and longtime runners can feel good about going the distance an hour slower than their PR. Not all runners can go faster, but just about anyone can run longer. It isn’t a matter of talent, but only of pacing, patience and persistence. However, you can’t take big leaps in distance all at once. The safe limit for progress is about 10 percent per week – for instance, no more than a half-mile added to the recent five-mile run.

Class 4

Interval training probably won't go down as your favorite way to start a day. The payoff will come later, when you'll go faster without it seeming any harder.

My experience with intervals tells me that a small amount of this running goes a long way, so we limit the total distance here to one or two miles. Also, best results come when the fast portion and recovery break are about equal in time, as they were today.

On Tuesday we'll meet in front of the Rec Center, then determine where to go from there as a group. The certainty is that your distances will be 2.5 and 5.0 miles.

TODAY'S 2 X HALF-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for one mile and comparison to last week's nonstop mile test; target was to go faster; if you didn't run that one, I used your latest long-run pace minus 1:00 as your target)

Erica -- 6:59 (-29 sec. vs. mile test) day's 2nd most improved
Teja -- 5:20 (-26 sec.)
Dameri -- 7:46 (-21 sec.)

TODAY'S 2 X MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for two miles, per-mile pace, and comparison to last week's nonstop two-mile test; target was to go faster; if you didn't run that one, I used your latest long-run pace minus 1:00 as your target)

Sara -- 13:52 (6:56 pace, -18 sec. per mile)
Joe -- 14:00 (7:00s, -50 sec.) most improved, earning extra credit
Owen -- 11:47 (5:53s, -13 sec.)
Eleanor -- ran untimed
Juan -- 16:27 (8:13s, +28 sec.)

LESSON 4: BIG DAYS

Most runs need to be easy. This is true whether you’re a beginning racer or an elite athlete. (Of course, the definition of “easy” varies hugely for these groups; easy for the elite would be impossible for the beginner.) Training for the distance and pace of races, and actually running these events, is a prescription item, best taken in proper, well-spaced doses. New racers are wise to limit themselves to one big day a week. On this day, run longer than normal (as long as the longest race distance but at a slower pace) or faster than normal on this day (as fast as the fastest race pace but for a shorter distance), or go to the starting line in a race (combining full distance at full pace). Experienced racers can put a long run AND a fast run into the same week, but don’t want to squeeze both of these PLUS a race into one week.

Class 3

In the confusion of finding where to start our run, I cut the "2.25-mile" run a couple of blocks short. I also forgot to mention that you need to use the first part of the Tuesday long runs as your warmup. We warm up separately only on the fast days.

The next fast one will split last Thursday's run in two and take a rest break between segments. This is interval training, in this case 2 x half-mile or 2 x mile. With entry to the turf fields unlikely, we'll meet again in front of the Rec Center.

Today I asked you to aim for the same pace as last Tuesday. Another target could have been Thursday's pace PLUS one minute per mile. Sara came closest to that, at +1:05.

TODAY'S 2.0 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace; if you didn't time yourself out at stoplights, you probably ran faster than listed here)

Erica -- 16:34 (8:17 pace, -43 sec. per mile)

Dameri -- 19:34 (9:47s, +40 sec.)

TODAY'S 4.5 MILES

(same info as above)

Sara -- 37:28 (8:19s, -31 sec.)

Joe -- 38:47 (8:36s, -14 sec.)

Yong -- 50:34 (11:14s, no target)

Anna -- 33:32 (7:27s, -7 sec.) day's best pacer, earning extra credit

Owen -- 35:00 (7:46s, -1:04)

Juan -- 41:48 (9:17s, -13 sec.) day's 2nd best pacer

LESSON 3: RACE DISTANCES

Nearly all road races now run by the metric system, so if you grew up under the mile system you must learn to interpret these distances. One kilometer is 1000 meters or .62 mile. One mile is 1609 meters or about 1.6 kilometers. Here are the most popular road racing events and their mileage equivalents: 5K = 3.11 miles; 8K = 4.97 miles; 10K = 6.21 miles; 15K = 9.32 miles;  half-marathon (21.1K) = 13.11 miles; marathon (42.2K) = 26.22 miles. This odd mileage complicates the computing of pace per mile from metric races. Grab your calculator.

Class 2

This test was the first of three. At midterm you go two or four miles, and in the final week 5K or 10K.

Racing opportunities abound in October. The best bargains are the Oregon Track Club monthly race on the 9th ($5), Run with the Duck 5K on the 19th (free) and Intramural Cross-Country on the 29th (free). Best source of local race listings is: eclecticedgeracing.com.

You're welcome to join our half-marathon training run on Sundays, at 8 o'clock from the Eugene Running Company. This week's distance is seven miles.

Tuesday's runs in class are 2.3 and 4.6 miles. Meet again in front of the Rec Center, then move to the turf fields if latest construction work is finished there.

TODAY'S MILE TEST

(with time from .98 miles adjusted to full mile, and comparison to Tuesday's pace; target was to go faster for this shorter distance)

Erica -- 7:28 (-1:32 vs. Tuesday)

Teja -- 5:46 (-3:04) day's most improved, earning extra credit

TODAY'S 2-MILE TEST

(with time from 1.95 miles adjusted to full 2.0, per-mile pace and comparison to Tuesday's pace; target was to go faster for this shorter distance)

Sara -- 14:28 (7:14 pace, -1:36 per mile)

Anna -- 14:00 (7:00s, -34 sec.)

Owen -- 12:12 (6:06s, -2:44) day's 2nd most improved

Eleanor -- 23:48 (11:54s, -2 sec.)

Juan -- 15:30 (7:45s, -1:45)

LESSON 2: WINNING WAYS

A great beauty of running is that it gives everyone a chance to win. Winning isn’t automatic; you still have to work for success and risk failure. But unlike other sports there’s no need to beat an arbitrary standard (such as “par” or an opponent’s score). You measure yourself against your personal records. To the runner, a “PR” does not stand for public relations or an island in the Caribbean. It means “personal record,” and this PR may represent the greatest advance in the history of this sport. The invention of the digital stopwatch worn on the wrist turned everyone into a potential winner. Here was a personal and yet objective way to measure success and progress. It didn’t depend upon beating anyone, but only upon how the new numbers on the watch compared with the old ones.