Run Class Quiz

If you are taking this class for CREDIT and have NOT taken it from me prior t this term, email your answers to me by next Thursday, the last class.

1. Who qualifies to run road races? (a) only runners who meet qualifying times; (b) anyone who pays an entry fee on time; (c) only athletes likely to win an overall or age-group award; (d) only members of official running clubs. 

2. What is the best way to win in a running event? (a) improve a PR; (b) beat somebody; (c) pick up a medal; (d) collect prize money.

3. How long are a 5K and a 10K? (a) 5000 and 10,000 meters; (b) 3.1 and 6.2 miles; (c) 12.5 and 25 laps on a standard 400-meter track; (d) all of the above.

4. Which of these runs qualifies as a “big day”? (a) longer-than-normal run; (b) faster-than-normal run; (c) any race; (d) all of the above.

5. How long is a “long run”? (a) a marathon training run; (b) anything beyond a mile; (c) longer in distance or time than you normally run; (d) farther than you care to go. 

6. Which of these is a way to improve your speed and to prepare for running faster? (a) intervals; (b) strides; (c) tempo runs; (d) all of the above.

7. Which is NOT how to prepare for a race? (a) hard training every day; (b) faster training runs at shorter than race distance; (c) training runs of race distance or longer at slower pace; (d) easy days that are neither long nor fast.

8. What is the runner’s second most important piece of equipment, after shoes? (a) shorts; (b) socks; (c) watch; (d) headphones.

9. Which is the best way to treat a running injury? (a) be tough and run through it; (b) substitute another activity that causes no pain; (c) wait it out inactively; (d) kill the pain with drugs.

10. When is running absolutely forbidden? (a) when you have a fever; (b) when you feel tired; (c) when your muscles feel stiff; (d) when you don’t have time.

11. What is the most efficient way to warm up? (a) take a hot shower before running; (b) rest and save your energy, then walk slowly to the starting line; (c) stretch before you run; (d) start slowly, then gradually increase the pace as you work out the kinks.

12. What should you do immediately after a run or race ends? (a) lie down; (b) sit down; (c) stand still; (d) walk to cool down before stretching or resting.

13. When is the best time to stretch? (a) after the run, to counter the tightening effects of running; (b) before running; (c) before and after; (d) anytime of day or night. 

14. Which of these cross-training activities most closely matches running’s benefits? (a) bicycling; (b) weight training; (c) basketball; (d) bowling.

15. Which is NOT a requirement of 5K training? (a) relaxed runs longer than 5K; (b) short intervals at maximum speed; (c) intervals and tempo runs at about 5K race pace but shorter distances; (d) easy and rest days. 

16. What is NOT a requirement of 10K training? (a) intervals on the track; (b) relaxed runs longer than 10K; (c) intervals and tempo runs at about 10K race pace but shorter distances; (d) easy and rest days.

17. How do you predict potential for a 10K race if you’ve never run one? (a) guesstimate; (b) plan to run it at your training pace; (c) multiply your recent 5K time by 2.1; (d) be surprised.

18. How do you ideally pace a race? (a) as fast as you can go for as far as you can go; (b) start fast, expecting to slow down later; (c) fast start, slow middle, fast finish; (d) even splits or slightly faster at the end.

19. What is a split? (a) exercise that you are too tight to perform; (b) segment of an interval-training session; (c) intermediate time during a run; (d) dropping out of a race.

20. When does the race end? (a) at the finish line; (b) after the cooldown period; (c) with your shower; (d) when you’re fully recovered.

Class 18 (1.9 & 3.9 miles)

Four or two miles isn’t as far as it was two months ago. I know, they measure the same, but they don’t SEEM as long now as before. That’s one purpose of training: to “shrink” the apparent length.  What was long in week one is easy in week nine.

Tuesday will bring your final run test, at the namesake distance of this class – 5K or 10K. I’ll also hand out the final prize, for term-long attendance. Those of you who need to take the class quiz should have received it by email, but I must have addressed it wrong. It will be posted later today on Canvas and our class blog. Answers, which also can be emailed, are due by next Thursday morning.

TODAY’S 1.9 MILES

(with per-mile pace, based on GPS distance of 1.93, and comparison to your last long run here; target was to go at pace last long but half the distance)

Leah – 20:02 (10:22 pace, -29 sec. per mile)

Gentry – 15:00 (7:46s, -1 sec.) best pacer, earning extra credit

Olivia – 15:28 (8:00s, -53 sec.)

Philip – 2.6 miles untimed

Wyatt – 11:58 (6:12s, -1:00)

Tyler – 12:20 (6:23s, -24 sec.)

Elizabeth – 20:30 (10:37s, -1:19)

TODAY’S 3.8 MILES

(same info as above, except GPS distance is 3.86 miles)

Alex – 29:53 (7:44s, -7 sec.)

Daniel – 31:12 (8:05s, -29 sec.)

Noe – 27:52 (7:13s, -4 sec.) 3^rd best pacer

Mak – 26:00 (6:44s, -21 sec.)

Bill – 35:20 (9:09s, -13 sec.)

Calvin – 32:14 (8:20s, -26 sec.)

Kelly – 31:08 (8:07s, -2 sec.) 2^nd best pacer

Omar – 27:18 (7:04s, -24 sec.)

Kyle – 24:58 (6:28s, -32 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.

Class 17 (4 & 8 miles)

Here’s what remains, both in requirements and rewards. We have just three more classes: an easy two or four miles this Friday, the 5K or 10K test next Tuesday, and an optional run the final Thursday.

You also owe me a quiz IF you’re taking this class for the first time AND for credit. I’ll email the 20 questions to you later this week.

Rewards? The first came recently – for speed improvement at one or two miles since the initial test. The winner was Leah at minus 42 seconds, with Olivia second at -37 and Kelly third at -32.

The second award was earned today today, for pace improvement in the weekly long run since week one (when it was half of today's distance). Winner: Calvin at minus 1:44, followed by Wyatt at -44 seconds and Gentry at -31.

TODAY’S 4.0 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace; * = faster than first long run at half this distance; if you didn’t time yourself out at stoplights, I subtracted 1:00 from your announced time)

*Gentry – 31:07 (7:47 pace, -28 sec. per mile)

Olivia – 35:30 (8:53s, +17 sec.)

*Wyatt – 28:48 (7:12s, -8 sec.)

Tyler – 5 miles in 34:02 (6:47s, +8 sec.)

TODAY’S 8.0 MILES

(same info as above)

Alex – 1:02:50 (7:51s, +25 sec.)

*Daniel – 1:08:29 (8:34s, +29 sec.)

Philip – untimed

*Bill – 1:14:55 (9:22s, +21 sec.)

*Calvin – 1:10:05 (8:46s, -52 sec.)

*Kelly – 1:05:04 (8:09s, -4 sec.) best pacer, earning extra credit

*Omar – 59:45 (7:28s, +26 sec.)

*Kyle – 56:04 (7:00s, +8 sec.)

LESSON 17: EQUAL TIMES

You can predict fairly accurately what you’ll run for a certain distance without having run it recently. You can base the prediction on races at different distances. Pace obviously slows as racing distance grows, and speeds up as it shrinks. But how much of a slowdown or speedup is normal? A good rule of thumb is a five-percent slowdown as the distance doubles, or that much faster pace as the distance drops by half. Multiply or divide by 2.1 to predict your time for double or half the distance. For instance, a 22:00 5K equates to about 46:00 for 10K.

Class 16 (4xQuarter & 4xHalf

We go where we can to get in the scheduled runs. It wasn’t intended as track-only training, but you still put in the shortest/fastest runs of the term. Look at it this way: better here than the cemetery on University.

Tuesday’s run will four or eight miles – exactly double our beginning distance in class.

TODAY’S 4 X QUARTER-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for one mile and comparison to your first week’s nonstop mile; target was to go faster; team time was divided equally)

Leah – 7:53 (-1:34) 2^nd most improved

Elizabeth – 7:53 (-2:05) most improved, earning extra credit

TODAY’S 4 X HALF-MILER INTERVALS

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

Alex – 11:33 (5:46 pace, -48 sec. per mile) 3^rd most improved

Philip -- untimed

Mak – 10:44 (5:22s, -36 sec.)

Bill – ran in Arizona

Calvin – 12:33 (6:16s, no target)

Kelly – 14:19 (7:09s, -38 sec.)

Omar – 10:44 (5:22s, -46 sec.)

Kyle – 10:38 (5:19s, -38 sec.)

Tyler – 10:38 (5:19s, -15 sec.)

LESSON 16: 10K TRAINING

The 10K program resembles the one for 5K (Lesson 15), but the distances naturally go up for a race twice as long. Again mix over-and-unders – fast runs below the 10K distance (totaling two to three fast miles, not counting warmup, cooldown and recovery intervals, running the fast portion at 10K race pace or slightly faster) and long ones above it (seven to nine miles, at least one minute per mile slower than race pace. Average about a half-hour, at a relaxed pace, for each of the three or four easy runs per week. By slightly modifying this plan, you can run races at two other popular distances – 8K (or five miles) and 12K (about 7½ miles).

Class 15 (4.1 & 7.5 miles)

One long run remains before the final test. It takes you next Tuesday to four or eight miles – which happens to be double the length of your first day in class. You’ve worked up to this in manageable steps.

Thursday’s run will be a final set of intervals. If forced to move off the turfs (which is likely), we’ll go to Pioneer Cemetery. Because of the path configuration there, everyone will need to run half-miles – either two or four of them with an equal-time recovery break between. If we keep our “home course,” the shorter intervals will be 4 x quarter-mile.

In case you’re wondering who the gift-givers were this morning, their identities: interim directors of P.E and Rec Tiffany and Brent, head of P.E. Chantelle and lead teacher of running (among other activities) Dave. Good people in high places!

TODAY’S 4.1 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)

Gentry – 33:50 (8:15 pace, -23 sec. per mile)

Olivia – 35:20 (8:36s, -2 sec.) 2nd best pacer

Wyatt – 30:04 (7:20s, -28 sec.)

Tyler – 27:18 (6:39s, +4 sec.)

Elizabeth – about 3 miles in 35:50 (11:56s, -14 sec.)

TODAY’S 7.5 MILES

(same info as above)

Alex – 55:50 (7:26s, +9 sec.)

Daniel – 1:00:43 (8:05s, -1:12)

Philip – untimed

Bill – ran in Arizona

Calvin – 7.7 miles in 1:14:10 (9:38s, +10 sec.)

Omar – 52:44 (7:02s, -3 sec.) 3rd best pacer

Kyle – 51:32 (6:52s, +1 sec.) best pacer, earning extra credit

LESSON 15: 5K TRAINING

You routinely run 5K and beyond in training. The quickest way to improve your race time, then, is by upping the pace one day a week for a distance well below 5K (one to two fast miles total, excluding warmup, cooldown and recovery intervals). Run at projected 5K or slightly faster, so you become familiar with that pace. On another day, extend the length of one weekly run to above the race distance (four to six miles). Run at least one minute per mile slower than race pace, to make the 5K seem shorter. The three to four easy-day runs each week average about a half-hour each at a relaxed pace.