Jan 17

Why time and not distance? You may have noticed that many of the long runs/workouts on the training plan are done by time and not by distance.  This is not the normal way that people track workouts (no one ever says "I ran for 6 hours last week" people say "I ran 45 miles last week), but this is the way that people should plan their workouts.  Why?

Bottom line: your body doesn't know distance, all it knows is how long (time) and how hard (intensity) that you have been running.   (In fact, your heart and lungs have no idea that you are actually running...they just know that they need to provide more oxygen!)  Example: the Tom King half marathon vs. the Pike's Peak half marathon.  The Tom King half is flat, the Pike's Peak half takes you straight up to 14,000 feet.  Which one is longer? Of course, they're the same distance - they are both 1/2 marathons!  But believe me, your body will know the difference!

An 80 minute run at 70% max heart rate is the same workouts for everyone. Even if one person runs 10 miles and someone else runs 12.  But a 10 mile run is not the same workout for everyone.  It is much harder on the person who runs 10 miles in 90 minutes rather than the person who runs it in 60.  (Provided they are putting out the same effort level.)  That is why elite marathoners recover much quicker from a marathon than we do.  They only run for a little over 2 hours, where we are out there for usually between 3 and 4 hours!

Now at the end of the day, we are running 13.1 miles, and not 2 hours.  So it is important to incorporate some runs of a certain distance to prepare for the race. But using time as your guide and not distance is a great habit to start.  Check out more with this article from Running Times.

KIPP Track

Two more reminders!  Please bring your donation envelope this Sunday or next Wednesday.  I will have more donation forms available if you lost yours, so just bring your checkbook.  (If you are new to East Nasty - we are going to sponsor the track team of KIPP Academy Nashville.  A local charter school.  Everything we do is free, so we just ask you to give back to the community! )

Curious about KIPP?  Their first year of existence was 2005 and they were named Nashvillians of the Year by the Scene.   Last year they graduated their first class of eight graders.  Even Malcolm Gladwell wrote a whole chapter about KIPP in his new book "Outliers"!

See you Sunday....rain (ugh) or shine!