Welcome to the fourth week of our program.

1) We meet again on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 9AM, in the parking lot for Columbia Island Marina, in LBJ Park.

If you are still having difficulty finding our meeting location, please call me at 703-371-5171 before Saturday.

2) Our posted training distance for this Saturday [found at http://www.marathoncharitypartners.org/walktorun/calendar.doc] is 1.5 miles. Our route may be found at:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2524315

We will again use the 1:4 ratio of running to walking. We will walk 4 minutes and run 1 minute, alternately, throughout the workout. If any of you needs help setting the interval timer on your watch, please touch base with me after the workout.

On this workout, try to have a "negative split." That is, complete the second half of the workout (the half after the turn-around) faster than the first half. To do this, you will want to be slower on the way out, so you have an extra reserve to pick up the pace on the way back.

3) Pacing

Apart from trying to be a little faster on the second half of the workout, don't worry about running "fast" on our workouts.

As beginning (or rehabbing) runners, you want to be conservative on your pace, until your physique (read: bones) have strengthened to the point where you can take a heavier pounding in your joints. It can take months of exercise before your bones reach that density.

So if you continue with our program, and keep running afterward in May and June, you may be ready for "speed work" by July or August.

But right now, your mission is to gradually build up to the point where you can run most of the way during your target 5K race in April. A slow and steady build-up is that goal is our plan for the next few months.

The pace you should aim for on the run breaks of your workouts is a "conversational pace." While running, you should be able have a conversation with the person running next to you. If you are out of breath, or can barely get a word or two out before you gasp for air, you are running too fast for our program.

[Attached is an article I wrote for the Summer marathon/half-marathon program on pacing. It's more advanced than I want you to think about for Walk to Run, but keep it on your PC, and refer to it in May, after you've completed your target race. It gives some of the current thinking about pacing, particularly in reference to heart rate.]

4) Running with a companion.

How do you know if you can keep up a conversation while running, and thereby keep your pace in check? By having someone to talk to!

So on our Saturday workouts, I don't want to see anybody running alone.

As we do a greater percentage of running in our workouts, the variation in natural pace will spread out the group, and we will not all be running and walking together in one bunch any more. That's OK.

But if you find that you can't comfortably keep up with the trainee ahead of you, consider falling back and walking/running with the person behind you. Find a friend out on the trail. Don't walk or run alone.

At this point, completing the distance a minute faster or slower than anyone else is meaningless. The important thing, is completing the distance using the right intervals, and at the right training pace.

5) Target Race

I'm keeping a tally of the different target races everyone is running. Please tell me your choice, and I will add it to the list.

Note - since I sent you the list of target races a few weeks, one of the ACF Charities - Stop the Silence - has fixed the date of its annual 5K to Sunday, April 19. http://www.stopcsa.org/Race

This is a fun event, and a good low-key 5K to choose as your first 5K race.

I hope to see everyone at Columbia Island Marina on Saturday! If you have any questions, please write back, or call me at 703-371-5171.

Till then, Happy Trails!

Coach John

John H. Steitz
RRCA Certified Running Coach
USATF Level 1 Certified Track and Field Coach
Arlington Cooperation Foundation
703-371-5171
http://www.marathoncharitypartners.org/walktorun/