April 9th Preview

It’s your last stop before double-figure mileage this Sunday. You go nine miles, the first 4.5 of those with our marathoners.

The route (with an eight o’clock start from the Eugene Running Company): Oakway and Coburg Roads to Ferry Street Bridge and don’t cross. Turn right onto bike path, to Valley River footbridge and across. Turn left, to east end of EWEB property. Turn AROUND at bike-path exit and come back the same way: Valley River, Ferry and store. GPS distance is 9.05 miles.

Bring a drink for delivery at turnaround (4.5 miles). Weather forecast: starting temperature in 30s with little chance of rain.

WEEK FIVE 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 do soon enough. Our more experienced runners might want to train for speed during the week. I recommend that this come between Tuesday and Thursday 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.