March 2010 Newsletter Is Now Available!

The inaugural edition of Big Island Running Company's newsletter, the March 2010 edition, is available now for download! It contains details on the upcoming Hilo Marathon, our offerings for this year's track and field season, and our new half marathon training program for the Kona Half Marathon. If you would like to be added to our email list and receive future newsletters automatically, just email Melissa.

Kona Half Marathon Training Program

The Big Island Running Company will be offering a half marathon training program in preparation for the Kona Half Marathon on June 27, 2010. An initial meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the Big Island Running Company, with the first run on Saturday, April 3, 2010. The training program will be designed and led by the Big Island Running Company’s Jason and Melissa Braswell, who have completed numerous marathons and half-marathons, including a 1:19 half marathon PR for Jason and 1:47 PR for Melissa. Best of all, this program will be absolutely FREE!

At the initial meeting, we will distribute a training plan for the program, which can be completed individually, but will also be coordinated with our group runs. We will also discuss some training basics for longer distance running. In order to tailor each individual’s training plan, we are asking potential participants to complete a brief registration form regarding their running history and goals. The form can be downloaded here and returned by email to melissa@bigislandrunningcompany.com prior to March 30. We will also have copies available for completion at the initial meeting.

If you would like more information or would like to participate but cannot attend the initial meeting, please contact us at 808-327-9333 or melissa@bigislandrunningcompany.com.

Excuse me…Fart what?

Have you ever been at a race of hanging out with some running buddies and overheard the word “fartlek” and wondered why they were discussing flatulence? Fartlek is a Swedish term that translated means “speed play.”

Okay, but what is a fartlek? A fartlek is a regular run interspersed with bouts of speed, or an informal speed workout. This can be as simple as sprinting to a telephone pole and then jogging to the next, then repeating this exercise. In high school, my coach had us run fartlek workouts that he referred to as “Minutes”. We would run a minute “on” or up-tempo and then a minute “off” or at an easier effort. The timed intervals could increase or decrease so that a standard “Minutes” workout would look like this:

1-2-3-3-2-1, meaning 1 minute on, 1 minute off, 2 minutes on, 2 minutes off, etc.

During cross country season, “on” minutes can be defined as 5-k pace and “off” minutes are training run pace.

These informal speed sessions are great early season workouts for veterans or for beginners, just exploring the benefits of speed work, because fartleks are based on perceived effort rather than distance and pace.