Home› General Training Discussions

Question from a Cdn living in the metric system

Craig MarchandCraig Marchand
in General Training Discussions

Since the plans are written based on US measurement I have a dumb question.  I have no problem (usually) thanks to the internet in converting measurement to my language  However I have been a little stuck on the Z5 running distances.  When it says 8 x 400, I think of it as 400 meters but you it I think it may be something else?  

If americans run miles, thats 1.6 kms in my world.  A km breaks down to 1000 meters, but what does a mile break down to...400 yards?

Therefore, am I to run 8 x 400 "yards" (which is what I've been doing)?  I set my Garmin 910 to "statute" vs " metric" and run Z5 splits @ 0.4 miles.  Then I looked at the Jack Daniels VDot chart which made me think maybe the 400's ARE in meters?... 

Tell me it's meters because those .4 miles hurt way more  

Comments

  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    400 = 400 meters. 800 = 800 meters. 1600 meters in a mile. We mix up the distances and nomenclature just to keep you metric'ers on your toes.

    We use 400 as 1/4 mile (one track loop). 800 as 1/2 mile. Etc.
  • Craig MarchandCraig Marchand

    LOL mission accomplished...I was on my toes.

    And thank you! Permission to run shorter Z5's...yeah!

  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

    For some reason, shorter track events shifted from yards to meters and never came back in the states. Decades ago, maybe in the 50s, people ran the "100 yard dash", "the 440" , etc

    Now, tracks in the US are built 400 meters around, and, except for the mile, half and full marathons,  all running events are in meters. Then, of course, there's swimming, where "short course" is in yards and "long course" is in meters. Even more confusing. Oh, and wait, there's firearm rounds caliber - or is that bullet diameters?

    So, to USians, "400" on the track nowadays means 400 meters. And the fun thing is, a mile = 1609 meters, so four times around the track will give me the sense of a slightly faster mile pace than I really have, boosting my ego just that little bit.

  • Brenda RossBrenda Ross
    Its the same for some races that I see advertise, like run a 5km race, but not a 3.2mile race. You Americans are all over the place. I have been on the team for 4 years now, and this past year when running a half marathon in Ottawa, I came over the bridge and saw the 5km mark and thought.....how far is that, meaning in miles. *giggle*. That, my Cdn friends is hilarious. I now have to convert back to kms.
  • Gaudir8Gaudir8
    @Brenda a 5k is 3.1 miles!!!!
  • Brenda RossBrenda Ross
    Sorry. 10km is 6.2 miles, half marathon is 13.1 and marathon 26.2 just to show you Ray I do know miles. Give the girl a break. It was 5:30am after all :-)
  • Gaudir8Gaudir8
    @b I was joking to show the complexity. I hate it!!
  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    Interesting little factoid that I learned on my New Years trip to Ireland...

    I was told that up until just a few years ago, the Republic of Ireland used miles. They switched to the Metric system relatively recently. They also use the Euro currency.
    You then drive just a few hours north, to Northern Ireland, part of the UK. They use miles, as well as the British Pound.

    All of this on top of the fact you're still driving on the left side of the road, in a car where the driver seat is on the right hand side of the car.

    All that mixed units, currency, other side of the road and car driving...my head was swimming! haha
  • Edwin CroucherEdwin Croucher

    And if its a 10K in Ottawa, how many Labatts does that convert to at the end? No wait, that was another forum.

  • Gaudir8Gaudir8
    EC they all start to blur!
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    I think in miles for the run, miles for the bike, meters or yards for swimming, civilian time for time of day but all of my watches and clocks are in 24-hr format. I estimate distances in meters, always know what direction is north, will point things out by referencing the clockface ("look to your 2p"). If you see me looking at something in the distance and holding up 1-4 fingers or a fist I'm estimating the lateral distance between two objects. And it's only been recently that I can go for a walk, not count left footsteps and move pebbles from my right pocket to my left to count off distances.

    Yeah, not quite right...

  • John BayoneJohn Bayone
    During the Disney World Marathon I passed the 35k sign and it felt like my brain was trying to jump out my ears doing some kind of conversion in my head.....cause why wouldn't I just look at my Garmin...it was priceless at the time.
  • baprince15baprince15
    I find it interesting that we haven't adopted the metric system in the US. We're not in particularly good company around the world according to this map:
    http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Countries_adopting_Metric_System_2006.png

  • Gaudir8Gaudir8
    @John Congrats on your race!!!!!! Is that a PR?
  • Satish PunnaSatish Punna


    Posted By Edwin Croucher on 17 Jan 2014 12:58 PM
    And if its a 10K in Ottawa, how many Labatts does that convert to at the end? No wait, that was another forum.
    ?

    http://www.bobanddoug.com/sounds/gwn/mtrcbeer.mp3

    Doug: "Like how many beers would that be, if you want like, a sixpack in metric?"

    Bob: "Six, six is 12, 30 is 42 beers. 42 metric beers."

    Doug: "That's good for me eh. Count me in on metric." 

Sign In or Register to comment.