Running up a tab - Mar 3 to 9

[Grog]

Grog, I like that guide also and will try it on my next workout which will probably be Saturday. May I ask what speed your beginners began at?

Keep in mind that most of them are in their mid-20s to mid-30s and students who live on campus (they walk or cycle a lot, not quite sedentary).

The first run we took about 38 minutes for 5 km, so maybe 7m30s / km . (About 12 min/mile.) The second run they did slightly under 7m/km, or about 11m15s miles. This week was a bit faster still. I expect them to hit between 6m00 and 6m30s within the next month and then to plateau there as they increase distance, depending on whether they hurt themselves (I hope not) and how much they stick to their plan (2-3 times a week running).

[Grog]

Interesting tempo run on the beach this morning. Looked like a total geek, wearing my Timex Ironman lap watch AND my Polar heart rate monitor (which doesn't keep track of laps) but I wanted to be metrics-driven today. Warmed up as we were running down the 2 km hill and after that tried to keep my HR constant around 185 for 8 minutes, took a walk/jog break of 4 minutes then increased the HR again to to the upper 180s for 12 minutes. Jogged back home (uphill of course). It was pretty tough but I didn't feel like I was in the red, only in the "burnt orange" zone.

And I went with my sweet partner. It's nice to have a view on his nice... hmm, hamstrings when I am in pain from running.