Class 11

Note that you’re now running longer than the 3.1- or 6.2-mile race distance. This fits with the plan I call “overs and unders” – over the distance but slower on Tuesdays, and under-distance but faster on Thursdays. You save going 5K or 10K at a fast pace for when it counts: on race day.

Thanks to Bryce, Alex and Nathan for representing us in Sunday’s Run with the Duck 5K; and to Nathan and Lana for running the Halloween 5K on Monday. In those two races, Nathan finished fourth and second overall.

Thursday’s run will be another (and our last) slow/fast “negative splits” exercise. This time you’ll go by miles instead of minutes, either two or four miles with the first half easy and the second half harder.

TODAY’S 3.3 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance)

Bryce – untimed today, after 5K race on Sunday at 8:36s

Alex – 28:26 (8:36 pace, +1 sec. per mile) best pacer, earning extra credit; after 5K race on Sunday at 8:11s

Elliot – 37:17 (11:17s, +45 sec.)

Rachel – 28:39 (8:41s, -40 sec.)

James – 36:41 (11:06s, +2:34)

Jonathan – 31:37 (9:35s, +1:00)

Sota – 28:15 (8:34s, +1:53)

TODAY’S 6.6 MILES

(with per-mile pace and comparison to your last long run here; target was to match that pace for this longer distance)

Connor B. – 46:49 (7:05s, -2 sec.) day’s 2^nd best pacer

Sam – 59:51 (9:04s, +28 sec.)

Ella – 59:51 (9:04s, +28 sec.)

David – 5 miles in 45:31 (9:10s, +40 sec.) after 10.9M on Sunday at 8:05s

Lana –10.1M on Sunday at 10:04s &  5K on Monday at 7:58s

Jake – 46:39 (7:04s, +19 sec.)

Nathan – 47:16 (7:10s, +13 sec.) after 5K race on Sunday at 5:56s & 5K on Monday at 6:22s

(Photo from Monday's Halloween 5K)

LESSON 11: WARMING UP

Don’t confuse stretching with warmup. Stretching exercises don’t start you sweating or raise your heart rate. You warm up by moving – first by walking or running slowly, then by easing into the full pace of the day after a mile or so. Recommendation: Walk five minutes (about a quarter-mile, not counting this in your run distance or time), then start to run. Treat the first mile of running as your warmup, making it the slowest mile of the day. The faster you plan to run that day, the more you warm up. For relaxed runs simply blend the warmup period into longer runs by starting slower. On fast days warm up separately by running a mile to several miles – perhaps adding some “strides” at the day’s maximum pace, taken before speed training or racing. Strides prepare the legs and lungs for what you’re about to do.