Florence Half preview

We move to the coast this Sunday, for the Florence Half-Marathon. This means there will be no team training in Eugene for the Women’s or EWEB Half. Those runs will resume, at six miles, the following Sunday.

For Florence, here are our plans: Note that the race starts an hour later than last year, at **9:00.** This allows runners to drive over from the valley in the daylight.

Start and finish are at Miller Park, which is two blocks west of Highway 101. You can enter from either 18^th or 20^th Street. Packet pickup is at the park that morning, starting at 7:30. I’ll be on scene by 8.

A course map is coming by email. Six drink stations are available en route. Plus you can bring your own drink to me, for delivery at about 4.5 and 6.5 miles (same spot). Michele Clemo is to be the volunteer posted there.

Weather forecast: mostly sunny with starting temperature in 50s, moving toward an afternoon high of 67.

WEEK'S LESSON: YOUR STRATEGY

Question: What is the best way to pace myself during the half-marathon?

Answer: Even if you’ve done everything right in training, you can cancel all that good with as little as one wrong move on race day. The first and worst bad move is to bolt from the starting line far faster than your training pace. Crowd hysteria and your own raging nervous system conspire to send you into the race as if fired from a cannon. Try to work against the forces of the crowd and your natural desires. Pull back the mental reins at a time when the voices inside are shouting, “Faster!” Be cautious in your early pacing, erring on the side of too-slow rather than too-fast. Hold something in reserve for the late miles. This is where you reward yourself for your early caution, by passing instead of being passed. Being the passer rather than the passee is a lot more fun.

(Photo from the inaugural Florence Half in 2016 includes Jeff Drumm and Rhonda Zimlich from our team.)