Class 8

See again what a difference, in pace, that the rest breaks make. Most of you ran your fastest of the term today – and much faster than in the nonstop test the first week.

Tuesday’s runs, along the river, will reach 3.1 and 6.2 miles. Next week brings racing for many of you – at the Eugene Half-Marathon, the Wildflower Triathlon and the Intramural track meet. This means you need to taper, so ask me how to modify (or even skip) class runs, especially on Thursday.

TODAY’S 3 X ONE-THIRD-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for one mile and comparison to first week’s nonstop mile test; target was to go faster; if you didn’t time yourself, I divided your team time by two)

Bryce – 7:45 (-18 sec.)

Peter – 5:22 (-1:43) day’s 3^rd most improved

Alex – 7:45 (-14 sec.)

Zach – 5:22 (-1:44) day’s 2^nd most improved

Elliot – 7:23 (-2:15)

Blake – 5:23 (no target)

TODAY’S 3 X TWO-THIRD-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for 1.95 miles, per-mile pace and comparison to first week’s nonstop mile test; target was to go faster; if you didn’t time yourself, I divided your team time by two)

Lyanne – 18:10 (9:05 pace, -2:44 per mile) day’s most improved, earning extra credit

Matt – 11:09 (5:34s, -36 sec.)

Amina – 1.33 miles in 12:04 (9:05s, -2:41)

Doug – untimed

Dillon – 11:28 (5:44s, -1:23)

Miranda – 20:01 (10:00s, -1:28)

Tyler – 11:15 (5:37s, -44 sec.)

Austin – 11:09 (5:34s, -32 sec.)

Anna – 14:00 (7:00s, -33 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.