Class 8

One reason you took today’s intervals as relay teams of two is that it’s the simplest way to equalize the time spent of running and recovering. I’ve found that the best results come from using this run/rest pattern.

Tuesday’s distances will reach 3.1 and 6.2 miles – aka, 5K and 10K. You’ll run at normal pace while previewing the route for the final week’s test.

TODAY’S 3 X ONE-THIRD-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for one mile and comparison to your first week’s non-stop mile; target was to go faster)

Bryce – 6:58 (-1:18)

Alex – 6:58 (-1:13)

Mariana – 7:46 (-3:13) day’s most improved, earning extra credit

Rachel – 7:02 (-1:29) day’s 3^rd most improved

Becky – 8:28 (-1:23)

James – 7:02 (-1:30) day’s 2^nd most improved

Eleanor – 7:46 (-1:15)

TODAY’S 3 X TWO-THIRDS-MILE INTERVALS

(with total time for two miles, per-mile pace and comparison to your first week’s non-stop two-mile pace; target was to go faster)

Connor B. – 11:57 (5:58 pace, no target)

Sam – 13:54 (6:57s, -27 sec. per mile)

Ella – 13:54 (6:57s, -25 sec. per mile)

David – 13:29 (6:44s, -38 sec.)

Jake – 11:13 (5:36s, -23 sec.)

Nathan – 12:06 (6:03s, -40 sec.)

Sota – 11:26 (5:43s, -23 sec.)

LESSON 8: TAKING TIME

Your second most valuable piece of equipment, after shoes, is.... no, not shorts and not T-shirt. You can wear other clothes than those. Your next most vital item is a watch. Buy a digital model with a stopwatch feature, and make time your main way of keeping score. Time can make you an instant winner by telling exactly how fast you ran a distance, and maybe how much you improved your personal record (“PR,” in runner-talk). Another, more subtle value of the watch: It lets you run by time – by minutes instead of miles. This has several benefits: freeing you from plotting and measuring courses, because minutes are the same length anywhere... easing pressure to run faster, because you can’t make time pass any faster... finishing at the assigned time limit no matter your pace, which settles naturally into your comfort zone when you run by time.