June training notes

Here's how fast you have to run to be in the top 1%, 3%, and 10% of 10k finishers in the U.S. More importantly, it shows the insidious effects of age. Runners peak a couple years later in life for the half-marathon, so we're not quite as over-the-hill as . . . nah, we're still totally past it. But we're doing this for fun, right?

Now this is kind of interesting: the faster you run, the more heat you generate, so the lower your ideal running temperature. These times are for the marathon, but clearly most of us belong toward the right side of the graph. Now all we have to do is find a place to run where the temperature is 45F (7C).

Here's what happens when the temperature is above that ideal: you start losing pace pretty quickly. Actually compared to other data I've seen, this table considerably underestimates the impact of heat, maybe because it's not taking into account humidity. In any case you can see that our usual temps are off the chart. But when did we ever "use extreme caution"?

Now add in humidity and you can see that we're pretty screwed, heat-stress-wise. On the other hand, after all these years we certainly qualify as "heat-acclimated" if anyone does.

A little longer but a whole lot slower: So I blame both age and heat for this morning's training run.

Finally, from an interview with a coach for the U.S. Olympic track team. He was asked his three top tips for amateur athletes in training, and here they are:

- Make your hard days harder and your easy days easier. The idea is to stress yourself more, but also get more rest in between.

- Get more sleep. The harder you're working, the more you need.

- Keep a training log.

To which I'll add three of my own, perhaps not as a qualified professional trainer but as a certified pisshead hasher:

- A good hard lay is aerobically similar to a moderate-pace run of about half the time. So if you don't want to go out for a 90-minute run, just spend 3 hours setting a hash for us!

- Never hesitate to shortcut a Sillypants run whenever it starts to head somewhere stupid.

- Remember, 5.3km is one-quarter of a half-marathon, so when you're out training that's all you need to do before you have an excuse to toss it in and go do something sensible.