June 20th Preview

We move just this once to a SATURDAY run this week. The reason is Sunday's Prost8K, which has special meaning to three of us on the current team. (If you're running that race, it starts at 8:00 at the Oregon Urology Institute in Springfield and finishes at the Gateway Mall.)

Saturday's distance is 9.1 miles, with a 7:30 start. The route: Oakway and Coburg Roads to Ferry Street Bridge and don't cross. Turn left onto bike path, to Autzen footbridge and across. Turn right, to Valley River footbridge. Turn AROUND there and come back the same way: Autzen, Ferry and store. GPS distance is 9.15 miles.

Bring a drink for delivery at about three and six miles (Ferry Street). Weather forecast: sunny with starting temperature in 50s, rising quickly toward at afternoon high in mid-80s.

WEEK 5 LESSON: YOUR PACE

Question: How fast should my long runs be?

Answer: Let your pace find itself. Don’t try to force an arbitrary pace (such as a half-marathon time goal) onto these runs. Instead, run comfortably, letting whatever happens with your pace happen. Finish with the feeling that you could have gone a little longer that day, which you will soon enough. Our more experienced runners might want to train for speed during the week. I recommend that this come between Tuesday and Thursday (when organized fast-training groups, independent of ours, are available) to give enough recovery from the last long run and before the next one. If you run a shorter-distance race during this training period, make it easy. A full effort there would conflict with your weekend long run, which is far more important during this training cycle.