A.M. Today was a historic day. My 12 year old son Benjamin was able to keep up with me through one of my intervals setting a PR of 71.9 for a quarter. I did my regular 12 miles with 5x400 in the middle with full rest. The splits were 75.3 (up), 72.7 (down), 74.7 (up), 72.3 (even roll), 71.4 (down). I like the very unscientific rule of 2:1 adversity ratio. If you run down or with tailwind 3 seconds faster that the other way, then if we made it flat/windless, you would run 1 second slower than aided, and 2 seconds faster than counter-aided, if the difference is 6 seconds, then it would be 2 seconds slower than aided/4 seconds faster than counter-aided. This unscientific rule, nevertheless, is more scientific than the 220 - age for determining your max heart rate. Using this rule for normal amounts of adversity (excluding grades over 10% and wind over 30 mph) you could be a few seconds per mile off, but you will never end up with something as ridiculous as making a healthy 30 year old man in the top shape of his life over 50 years old. So in any case, the unscientific adversity rule says that Benjamin's 71.9 was equivalent to 72.9 on the track. I was very pleased to see him right by my side at those speeds for that long. He also did it towards the end of his 3 miles mid-run without stopping to drop his HR before the start, which helps a lot for the quarter, especially if you are only 12. I was happy with how the workout went for me as well. It accomplished its purpose, which is to learn to keep pushing when HR gets up to a certain critical range where the natural response is to slow down. Jenny and Julia did 2, Joseph 1, and Jacob 0.5.
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