Class 18

We’re into the home stretch here. The only challenging run remaining is the 5K test for all next Tuesday. After a good warmup, you will run to the EWEB Plaza (big office complex on the river) and back – with stop time at Franklin lights deducted.

Today’s run had you tapering the training by going about half of the Tuesday distance at a relaxed pace – which was back to the distance where you started in week one. The “strides” at the end reminded your legs of what they’ll be asked to do in the 5K test.

Today I emailed the class quiz. Complete it and get the answers back to me by next Thursday – IF you are here for credit and are taking this class from me for the first time.

This Sunday, training begins for the Eugene Half-Marathon with a five-mile run. We meet at the Eugene Running Company in Oakway Center. The usual $50 fee for this training is waived for my UO students.

TODAY’S EASY 2.0 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was that pace for this much shorter distance, to freshen up for Tuesday’s test)

Leah – 16:29 (8:14 pace, -16 sec. per mile)

Olivia – 18:18 (9:09s, -9 sec.)

Amina D. – 20:10 (10:05s, -33 sec.)

Joey – ran untimed

Leticia – 17:14 (8:37s, -4 sec.) best pacer, earning extra credit

Aminah K. – 20:57 (10:28s, -19 sec.)

Katie – 18:51 (9:25s, -1:21)

James S. – 19:48 (9:54s, -2:00)

Eric S. – 13:42 (6:51s, -32 sec.)

TODAY’S EASY 2.8 MILES

(same info as above)

Erik B. – 25:06 (8:58s, -10 sec.)

Houston – 21:28 (7:40s, -13 sec.)

Daniel – 23:28 (8:25s, -5 sec.) 2^nd best pacer

Scott – 21:10 (7:34s, +7 sec.) 3^rd best pacer

Eleanor – 28:28 (10:10s, +43 sec.) 

LESSON 18: RACE PACE

Even if you’ve done everything right in training, you can cancel all that good with as little as one wrong move on race day. The first and worst bad move is leaving the starting line too quickly. Crowd hysteria and your own raging nervous system conspire to send you into the race as if fired from a cannon. Try to work against the forces of the crowd and your natural desires. Keep your head while runners around you are losing theirs. Pull back the mental reins at a time when the voices inside are shouting, “Faster!” Be cautious in your early pacing, erring on the side of too-slow rather than too-fast. Hold something in reserve for the late kilometers. This is where you reward yourself for your early caution, by passing instead of being passed.