August 20th Preview

Eight miles is our scheduled distance this Sunday. Needs may vary for marathoners, and you can make those adjustments.

The route (with an 8:00 start from the Eugene Running Company): Oakway and Coburg Roads to Ferry Street Bridge and don’t cross. Turn left onto bike path, then connect to road at Alton Baker parking lot. Follow road to end at canal. Turn right onto path and follow it under I-5 to end at D Street in Springfield. Turn AROUND there and come back same way: path, road, Ferry and store. GPS distance is 7.95 miles.

Bring a drink for delivery at boat ramp (3.5 miles). Weather forecast: sunny with starting temperature in 50s.

WEEK FOUR LESSON: YOUR EXTRAS

Question: If I have raced this distance before, can or should I do more training than this program lists?

Answer: More isn’t necessarily better. For these months, please buy into this program of long runs as written. It has a proven record of success, with runners who follow this training plan the closest usually doing the best in our designated half-marathon of the season. Stick to the scheduled distances on Sundays, neither shorter nor longer, and take as many of these runs as possible with the group. The increase of one mile week per already pushes the safe limit of 10 percent, and one of the goals here is to keep you healthy throughout the program. Adding extra miles could put you at risk of injury, and a goal is to get you safely to the starting line.