January 22nd Preview

We bump up by a mile each week, to a peak of 11 in training. This week’s stop is six miles. You start with the marathoners, who are going nine.

The route (with an 8 o’clock start from the Eugene Running Company, which opens at about 7:45): Oakway and Coburg Roads to Ferry Street Bridge and don’t cross. Turn left onto bike path, to Autzen footbridge and across. Turn right, past Ferry Street, to “1.5 milepost” at Senior Center. Turn AROUND there and go back the same way: Autzen, Ferry and store. GPS distance is 6.19 miles.

Bring a drink for delivery at turnaround. Weather forecast: starting temperature in 40s with light rain likely.

WEEK TWO LESSON: YOUR DISTANCE

Question: Why do we only meet as a group once a week, for the long run?

Answer: The weekly long run is by far the most critical. You could run almost nothing else during the week and still do fine in the half-marathon. Or you could run almost daily, skip too many long runs and not do fine. Make sure you take the long ones, and recover well in between. We increase the distance by one mile a week from five to 11 miles before easing down to six miles the final Sunday of training. Don’t jump ahead of yourself by thinking too soon, “Can I run 13 miles?” You’ll get there when you get there. For now, think only of training for six miles, then seven, then...