Class 5

Our first week ended with the first true test of your running speed. You’ll have another on the final Friday that will gauge your improvement.

Monday’s run will step up to 1.5 or 3.0 miles. You increase at the rate of a quarter-mile a week in the shorter run or a half-mile for the longer one, which is a safe rate of progress. This will take you to a peak of two or four miles in the final week of class.

TODAY’S ONE-MILE TEST

(with comparison to Monday’s longer-run pace; target was to go faster)

Brianna – 11:44 (-36 sec.) 2^nd most improved

Asilia – 13:26 (-32 sec.) 3^rd most improved

Kate – 12:04 (-17 sec.)

Jie – 9:55 (no target)

Guangyu – 12:32 (-48 sec.) most improved, earning extra credit

TODAY’S TWO-MILE TEST

(with per-mile pace and comparison to Monday’s longer-run pace; target was to go faster)

Vadim – 17:12 (8:36 pace, -22 sec. per mile)

Becky – 20:43 (10:21s, +11 sec.)

Nathaniel – 17:08 (8:34s, -18 sec.)

LESSON 5: WARMING UP

Don’t confuse stretching with warmup. Stretching exercises don’t start you sweating or raise your heart rate. You warm up by moving – first by walking or running slowly, then by easing into the full pace of the day after a mile or so. Recommendation: Walk five minutes (about a quarter-mile, not counting this in your run distance or time), then start to run. Treat the first mile of running as your warmup, making it the slowest mile of the day. The faster you plan to run that day, the more you warm up. For relaxed runs simply blend the warmup period into longer runs by starting slower. On fast days warm up separately by running a mile to several miles – perhaps adding some “strides” at the day’s maximum pace, taken before speed training or racing. Strides prepare the legs and lungs for what you’re about to do.