Running Quiz Answers

As a final lesson, here are quiz answers, in bold, with explanations of why I think they’re correct… Joe

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.

To call these “races” or even “runs” is a misnomer. A small minority of entrants race for prizes, more for personal records. Many run the whole way at training pace, some mix running and walking, and others purely walk. Everyone is welcome at these events in this most democratic of sports.

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.

A beauty of this sport is that you don’t need to beat anyone or pick up any prize to win. You have an objective standard for measuring success: your own time. If you cover a distance in less time than ever before – that is, set a personal record, or PR – you’ve won big. You also win by going farther than before, or finishing better than expected, or sometimes simply finishing at all.

3. How long are a 5K and a 10K? (a) 3.1 and 6.2 miles; (b) 5000 and 10,000 meters; (c) 3 miles 188 yards and 6 miles 376 yards; (d) all of the above.

Metric is the “language” of running, even as most races give splits at mile points and most runners quote per-mile pace. A kilometer is 62 percent of a mile’s length. The most common race distance is the 5K, a break-in distance for beginners and the shortest/fastest for half-marathoners and marathoners. 

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.

You prepare for a race with some combination of long runs, fast runs and easy days. Run long enough to prepare for the distance of your longest race (but at a slower pace), fast enough for the speed of your shortest race (but at a shorter distance), and easy enough to recover fully from those big efforts. Combine full distance and full pace only in the races themselves.

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.

“Long” is a relative term. How you define it depends on the length, in distance or time, of your average daily run. “Long” begins at about twice that amount. For instance, if you typically run three mile in a half-hour, your long run is six miles or one hour. Runners preparing for races longer than 10K need to train longer than that.

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.

Interval training divides a run into segments with recovery break in between, which allows faster running. Strides are very short intervals, which prepare you for fast training or end a long run with something faster. Tempo runs are race-like efforts for no more than half the race distance. All promote speed.

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.

Some hard training is essential for improving at racing, because races are hard. But this level of effort is a prescription item. You only profit by taking it in small, well-spaced doses. Recovery after these big efforts is equally important. Recovery, with rest days and easy runs, makes the hard work WORK.

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

You can wear substitutes for running shorts, run without socks and leave the music player at home. A digital watch, with stopwatch mode, is a coach-on-your-wrist. It gives you an accurate time (including intermediate times, or “splits”), a way to check your per-mile pace, and a personal measure of success as you compare times from day to day.

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.

The best tests of when NOT to run are: Does pain grow worse as you go along, and does it change your running form? If so, don’t continue running – but don’t stop exercising. The best substitutes are walking, biking and swimming. As you return to running, alternate short runs with walk breaks – such as run one minute and walk one. This causes less stress than steady running.

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.

You can run through almost anything – a mild cold, minor soreness, lack of energy or enthusiasm – provided you don’t go too far or fast under those conditions. The exception is when you’re feeling feverish. NEVER try to run then. It can set back your recovery and drive you into complications, some quite serious. Wait until the temperature cools back to normal before running again.

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; (b) stretch before you run; (d) start slowly, then gradually increase the pace as you work out the kinks.

Every session must begin easily, even with a walk before breaking into a run. You literally warm up, by raising the body temperature and breaking a sweat. You also give the stride and the breathing a chance to find their rhythm. This usually takes most of the first mile, or five to 10 minutes. Blend the warmup into longer, slower runs. Warm up separately for shorter, faster ones.

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.

Just as you don’t burst right from rest to full-speed running, you don’t drop from full activity to none. Ease down gradually by walking for five minutes or so. THEN you can sit or lie down… and take your stretching exercises at the time when they do the most good. Stretching works better as a cooldown activity than as a warmup. (See more about this in answer 13 below.)

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.

Running is a tightening activity. To some extent this is normal and positive side-effect; a taut rubberband works better than a loose one, and the same with a runner’s legs. However, in excess the tightness can trigger injuries. Reduce this threat, both immediate and longterm, by stretching after each run, or after the warmup run on speed-training days, or both.

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

Like running, bicycling is an aerobic activity usually practiced outdoors. Biking for the same time period that you would run (but for a longer distance because of speed differences) gives similar training effects – without the impact stress of running. You benefit likewise from low- to no-impact walking and swimming.

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.

Five-kilometer racing involves no sprinting, except maybe at the very end – and then for only about one percent of total distance. Since you don’t race at top speed, you don’t need to train that way. Intervals and tempo runs benefit you most when taken at race pace or slightly faster. Relaxed runs typically average about a minute slower.

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.

You don’t need to train on a track unless you face a 10,000-meter race there. If you’re racing 10K on the roads, run your intervals on a similar surface and terrain. If it’s a cross-country race, train on the trails. In short, be specific in your speed training – both in setting and speed.

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.

Pace slows at a predictable rate as the racing distance increases. That amount averages five percent as the length doubles, or a multiplier of 2.1. For instance, 25:00 for your most recent 5K times 2.1 equals 52:30 potential for 10K. To go the opposite way, 10K down to 5K, DIVIDE by 2.1.

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.

Start no faster than you can continue all the way, maybe with some increase in pace toward the end. For every second you go too fast early on, you’ll lose two seconds or more later on. Compare your times for the two halves, aiming to make them equal or “negative” – meaning you finished faster than you started.  

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.

Most races post signs at each mile point. Know going in what your realistic per-mile pace should be. Then check your splits to judge your pacing – too fast, too slow or just right. Ignore the runners who rush away from you at the start. You’ll pass many of them later on as they pay for their earlier impatience.

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.

The race isn’t finished at the finish line, or even that same day. Racing takes a toll that must be repaid for at least the next few days and sometimes for a week or more. As a general rule, allow one day of recovery for every mile of the race. That’s three or four days after a 5K and about a week after a 10K. It doesn’t mean full rest for that long, just no long or fast runs and certainly no more races in that period.