Class 6

Today’s run was meant to teach you how to push harder when the going gets tougher – as it surely will in a race. The time period that you ran was the average 5K race length for your group.

This was the only time all term when everyone had an equal chance to finish first. So I gave the day’s extra-credit prize for that.

Tuesday’s distances will be 2.8 and 3.7 miles. You’ll go through the neighborhoods to the Amazon Trail and back.

TODAY’S “24 MINUTES”

(with actual finish time and comparison of second half with first; target was to go faster, or run so-called “negative splits” – which everyone did)

Erik B. – 22:59 (-1:01 for 2^nd half)

Leah – 23:41 (-19 sec.)

Olivia – 23:14 (-46 sec.)

Amina D. – 22:34 (-1:26)

Houston – 21:00 (-3:00) 2^nd to finish

Tori – 22:27 (-1:33)

Bella – 22:56 (-1:04)

Daniel – 22:09 (-1:51)

Aminah K. – 22:47 (-1:13)

Scott – 22:07 (-1:53)

Jessica – 19:57 (-4:03) 1^st to finish, earning extra credit

Katie – 22:03 (-1:57)

Amanda – 22:30 (-1:30)

James S. – 22:00 (-2:00) 3^rd to finish

Eric S. – 22:30 (-1:30)

LESSON 6: GOING FASTER

A little bit of speed training goes a long way. In fact, a little bit is all you should do because, in excess, speed kills. Most runners can tolerate fast training that totals only about 10 percent of weekly mileage. This can come two major ways and one minor one. The first big way is as intervals – a training session of short, fast runs with recovery breaks between. The other main way to train for speed is the tempo run – at race pace or faster for a shorter distance. The smaller way to gain and maintain speed is with “strides” – ending the warmup by striding out for a hundred yards or so, one to five times, at the top speed that you would ever race. Strides also have value at the finish of a relaxed run, as a reminder to push at the end of a race.