Running Calendar/Log Book - Some Clarification

The calendar depicting the running schedule is the same schedule that will appear in the log book. It is a bit misleading in that it seems to indicate that new runners will have to run 4 miles on their first night. I am the first to agree that this would be too aggressive for someone who has never run before. I'll try to clarify the schedule:

This year a change in the log book is to post workouts using miles. In past years, the workouts were posted as minutes, i.e. R 30 minutes R/W 20 minutes.

(R) workouts are for the experienced runners. Those who run year round would fall into this category. The first night calls for a 4 mile run for this group. Expect a gentle warmup of 5-10 minutes of easy jogging, then 20-30 minutes of running at the group pace, then a cooldown of 5-10 minutes, for a total workout time of approximately 40 minutes.

(R/W) denotes those who will be doing the run/walk program. Walkers would fall into this category. This will probably be the largest group in Abe's Army. First night calls for 1-2 miles. Expect to walk most of this. Some groups may intersperse some short running after a warmup, between 1-3 minutes of running at a time. The pace of these running intervals will depend on the group's assigned pace. Expect a workout of approximately 30 minutes on the first night.

The megagroup workout is not posted on the calendar, but will fall somewhere in the middle, probably around 3 miles for the first night. This does not mean that you will have to run the entire three miles! We'll have leaders at all different paces to offer encouragement and help you along. Depending on your pace, you can expect a workout between 30-40 minutes.

I hope this helps, please continue to post concerns and comments.