Class 19

This was your true final exam, and you decided how to score yourself. In running, “race” can mean whatever you want it to be – from an all-out effort aimed at setting a PR and winning a prize, to just another morning run with other people there to pace and cheer you.

On Thursday’s last run of the term, I welcome you to my little world. That’s with the type and length of run that I take most weekdays – an easy half-hour on mainly soft surfaces.

Reminder: If you haven’t already emailed me your quiz answers, do so by Thursday.

TODAY’S 5-KILOMETER TEST

(with per-mile pace for 3.1 miles and comparison to your last long run here; target was to go faster; * = better pace than first week’s mile test, #= better pace than midterm 2-mile test; if you didn’t time yourself out at stoplights, I subtracted 1:00)

Bryce – 33:01 (10:39 pace, +1:01 per mile)

Alex – 28:35 (9:12s, -26 sec.)

#Zach – 22:36 (7:17s, -31 sec.)

Elliot – 33:31 (10:48s, -59 sec.)

#Blake – 3.9 miles in 26:40 (6:50s, +8 sec.)

*Zidi – 28:31 (9:12s, -7 sec.)

TODAY’S 10-KILOMTER TEST

(with per-mile pace for 6.2 miles and comparison to your last long run here; target was to go faster; * = better pace than first week’s 2-mile test, #= better pace than midterm 4-mile test; if you didn’t time yourself out at stoplights, I subtracted 1:00)

Peter -- 47:48 (7:42 pace, -20 sec. per mile)

Lyanne – 1:14:45 (12:03s, +32 sec.)

*Dillon – 42:20 (6:49s, -1:18) day’s 2^nd most improved

*Lauren O. – 59:42 (9:37s, -1:07) day’s 3^rd most improved

#Miranda – 1:13:56 (11:55s, -23 sec.)

Becky – 1:05:25 (10:33s, -17 sec.)

Tyler – 42:24 (6:50s, +5 sec.)

Anna – 55:51 (9:00s, +31 sec.)

#Lauren W. – 53:08 (8:34s, -1:30) most improved, earning extra credit

LESSON 19: EVEN PACING

Talking about even-pace running is easier than running it – or calculating it. The problem is that races in the U.S. combine two measurement systems. While most events are run at metric distances, such as 5K and 10K, splits are often given at MILE points and pace is usually computed in PER-MILE terms. So you need calculate metric-to-mile and vice versa. Even-paced running is most efficient, and slightly negative splits (faster second half) are preferable to “positives.” The two halves of a race are best run within a few seconds per mile of equal time, plus or minus. In a 45-minute 10K race, for instance, plan to run the first 5K in a few seconds either side of 22:30.

Class 18

The training is in the bank. You’ve gone longer that next week’s test distance at a slower pace on Tuesdays, and you’ve gone faster for a shorter distance on Thursdays. Now you can combine distance and speed in a 5K or 10K test on the final Tuesday.

You’ll aim for anything faster than your last long run. You’ll run on the river path, to EWEB for the shorter test and to the 0.25 milepost for the longer one.

TODAY’S EASY 2.1 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to go no faster than that pace, at half the distance, as taper for next Tuesday’s 5K test)

Bryce – 20:46 (9:51 pace, +13 sec. per mile) day's 2nd best pacer

Alex – 18:32 (8:51s, -47 sec.)

Elliot – 19:54 (9:28s, -2:19)

Doug – untimed

TODAY’S EASY 3.9 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to go no faster than that pace, at half the distance, as taper for next Tuesday’s 10K test)

Peter – 34:06 (8:44 pace, +42 sec. per mile)

Zach – 34:06 (8:44s, +56 sec.)

Matt – 24:01 (6:09s, -28 sec.)

Dillon – 31:27 (8:03s, -4 sec.) best pacer, earning extra credit

Lauren O. – 39:54 (10:14s, -30 sec.)

Miranda – 45:37 (11:41s, -37 sec.)

Becky – 39:54 (10:14s, -36 sec.)

Anna – 34:06 (8:44s, +15 sec.) day's 3rd best pacer
Lauren W. -- 4.0 miles in 37:53 (9:26s, -37 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 raceday. 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

This is it for your weekly climbs upward in distance. Next Tuesday, for the first time, you’ll drop DOWN in the 5K or 10K test.

Thursday’s run will be an easy one, of two or four miles mostly on soft surfaces.

That day I’ll also email the class quiz. It’s required of anyone taking this class from me for the first time and for credit.

TODAY’S 4 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance; * = faster than first week’s run at half this distance)

Alex – 38:32 (9:38 pace, +20 sec. per mile)

Michael – 26:46 (6:41s, -1)  day’s best pacer, tie; earning extra credit

Elliot – 47:11 (11:47s, +47 sec.)

Blake – untimed

Tyler – 26:50 (6:42s, -3 sec.) day’s 3^rd best pacer

*Zidi – 37:18 (9:19s, -41 sec.) 2^nd most improved for term at -25 sec.

TODAY’S 8 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance; * = faster than first week’s run at half this distance; # = longest run ever)

*#Peter – 1:04:30 (8:02s, +17 sec.) most improved for term at -33 sec.

*Matt – 52:58 (6:37s, +7 sec.) 3^rd most improved for term at -4 sec.

#Amina – 1:48:25 (13:33s, +2:14)

#Miranda – 1:38:25 (12:18s, +12 sec.)

Becky – 1:26:46 (10:50s, -6 sec.)

Tyler – 54:00 on Sunday (6:42s, -3 sec.)

Austin – 55:23 (6:55s, -23 sec.) good luck in baseball tournament!

Anna – 1:07:51 (8:29s, -1 sec.) day’s best pacer, tie; earning extra credit
Lauren W. -- 8 miles on Tuesday afternoon

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

We’re back where we started on the first Thursday of this term. Then and now, the distance and course were identical, but I hope you were better prepared for this test in mid-May than you were in late March. If you weren’t, blame me!

Tuesday’s run will be the longest this term at either four or eight miles. I’ll compare you with the first week’s result – at half this distance. The route will follow the river path.

Our Sunday team goes six miles this week. You’re welcome to join us (at the Eugene Running Company, 8 o’clock) for an extra run or makeup.

TODAY’S ONE-MILE RETEST

(with comparison to the first week’s mile time; target was to go faster)

Bryce – 9:44 (+1:41)

Peter – 5:58 (-1:07) term’s 3^rd most improved

Alex – 7:57 (-2 sec.)

Zach – 5:58 (-1:08) term’s 2^nd most improved

Michael – 5:37 (no target)

Doug – 8:49 (-29 sec. vs. 2-mile test)

Zidi – 7:18 (-46 sec.)

TODAY’S TWO-MILE RETEST

(with per-mile pace and comparison to first week’s two-mile pace; target was to go faster)

Lyanne – 21:50 (10:55 pace, -54 sec. per mile)

Matt – 11:57 (5:58s, -12 sec.)

Dillon – 12:30 (615s, -52 sec.)

Lauren O. – 16:34 (8:17s, -1:26) term’s most improved

Miranda – 22:09 (11:04s, -24 sec.)

Tyler – 12:46 (6:23s, +2 sec.)

Austin – 12:14 (6:07s, +1 sec.)

Anna – 15:18 (7:39s, +6 sec.)

Lauren W. – 15:48 (7:54s, -36 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).