March 7th & 8th Previews

A potentially confusing weekend lies ahead. I'll do my best to untangle it here. Remember: you have just one run to take. Ignore the details that don't apply to you.

You can take your long run on either Saturday or Sunday. The first of those is the Eugene Marathon's preview, which I high recommend if you haven't run this course before. This portion includes the race's only major hill.

Meet for the preview run's 8:00 start at the UO turf fields, on 15th between the Rec Center and Hayward Field. The course is the first nine-mile loop of the race (through south Eugene), with the option of doing the remaining miles of the half-marathon route. Maps to be provided, along with course monitors and drink stops -- plus snacks and massages afterward.

I strongly advise our marathoners to extend the distance to our scheduled 15 miles. Half-marathoners can go shorter than nine miles. I'll be there that morning to explain how best to add or subtract distance. Bring a drink for me to hand you at spots to be picked then.

Sunday's run is ours from the Eugene Running Company. It starts at 8:00... except clocks change to Daylight time on Sunday (jumping ahead by an hour).

The route: Oakway and Coburg Roads to Ferry Street Bridge and don't cross. Turn right onto bike path, to Owosso footbridge and across. Turn left, to Autzen footbridge and across, then about a quarter-mile toward Ferry. Turn around there and go back across Autzen, to Valley River and across. Turn right, to Ferry and store. GPS distance is 15.12 miles.

Half-marathoners can do a portion of this route -- such crossing Valley River footbridge to Autzen and back to store, for 6.8 miles. Bring a drink for delivery at Skinner Butte playground (3.5 miles) and finish.

Marathoners, bring a drink for delivery at Owosso (4.5 miles) and turnaround (9.5 miles). Weather forecast: starting temperature in 40s and dry both Saturday and Sunday.

WEEK'S LESSON: YOUR REST

Question: How should I schedule my rest days through the week?

Answer: Rests do the most good before and after the weekend long run. If you take it on Sunday, you profit from taking every Saturday off to refill your energy tank before the big effort. Afterward, my rule of thumb is one rest day for every hour of the long run: two hours, two days, etc. This might mean resting most of the week after the longest runs of this program. Which is okay; you need it. However, “rest” doesn’t mean you must do nothing physical that day. Easy cross-training – with walking, biking, swimming is not only allowed but encouraged. You can stay active in other ways while resting for and recovering from the big runs.