DC Road Runners - Enter your slogan here

3 to 4 x 1600m in 8k, 400m Jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

The Yorktown track artificial turf resurfacing continues, and they have blocked parts of the track, so we will have to move TMBC to the W&L track this Thursday and for the rest of January. Washington-Liberty High School is located at 1301 N. Stafford Street, Arlington VA 22201, just a couple of blocks away from the Ballston Metro. Tuesday morning the Stafford gate was open by 5:15, but you never know – remember that you can hop the fence on the Quincy street side gate VERY easily and get your warmup laps in – hopefully we will have one gate open by 5:40.

Please arrive at W&L Stadium Track early so you can warm up prior to our 6 AM start of speed intervals. The weather will be chilly – but warmer than the last few days - – in the upper 30s, but lower humidity, and some definite wind and gusts. When conditions are like this, still bring plenty of fluids to hydrate! I expect heart rates in the mid-80 percent range, and if they get higher, slow down! Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington hopefully will begin at the Washington Liberty High School track at 6:00 AM sharp - so please get there early to warm up – say by 5:40 AM. Workout as follows:

January 22, 2026 – TMBC: 3 to 4 x 1600m in 8k Pace, with 400m jogs between

Stallions: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace, 4 Intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace, 3 to 4 Intervals

Gazelles: 7:15 to 8:00 Pace, 3 to 4 Intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 8:00 to 10:00 Pace, 3 Intervals

When your track intervals lengthen to a mile, it is sometimes difficult to remember that you really want to change your form, style, cadence, etc. from your standard runs, but you really should. It makes a big difference if you switch your form to speed work – focus on lifting your knees, getting up on your toes, and using your arms in sync to lift the opposite leg. Don't fall into the trap of lengthening your stride – cadence should increase measurably on the track as opposed to the road and trail. Keep your core still and relaxed, and do not cross your arms over your body mid-point – this will swing your core (thus not still) and throw your stride off. On these longer intervals, mentally break them down – for example, on Lap 1 focus on form – "Am I up on my toes and lifting knees?" Lap 2 – "Am I relaxed – am I pushing while not getting to tense?" Lap 3 – "How is my breathing – through my nose and mouth - deeply?" Lap 4 – "Let's Finish strong."

... and the Coach Big Guy Club Report –

Greeting TMBC faithful. No race reports from anyone – PLEASE let me know when you are racing so we can encourage you and others! BigGuy at dcroadrunners dot org.

The next Club race is the Valentines 8k on Sunday February 8th – detail to sign up or volunteer are on the club website: www.dcroadrunners.org.

Happy Running!

Coach Andrew will see you at 6 AM after warmup tomorrow, while Coach Big Guy is still searching for an open track in Austin!

4 to 5 x 1000m, 400m jogs at W&L!

Fellow Endorphin Junkies –

The Yorktown track artificial turf resurfacing continues, and they have blocked parts of the track, so we will have to move TMBC to the W&L track this Thursday and for the rest of January. Washington-Liberty High School is located at 1301 N. Stafford Street, Arlington VA 22201, just a couple of blocks away from the Ballston Metro. Tuesday morning the Stafford gate was open by 5:15, but you never know – remember that you can hop the fence on the Quincy street side gate VERY easily and get your warmup laps in – hopefully we will have one gate open by 5:40.

Please arrive at W&L Stadium Track early so you can warm up prior to our 6 AM start of speed intervals. The weather will be cold – right at freezing, but lower humidity, some definite wind and gusts, and perhaps even a few flakes swirling. When conditions are like this, still bring plenty of fluids to hydrate! I expect heart rates in the mid-80 percent range, and if they get higher, slow down! Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington hopefully will begin at the Washington Liberty High School track at 6:00 AM sharp - so please get there early to warm up – say by 5:40 AM. Workout as follows:

January 15, 2026 – 4 to 5 x 1000m at 5K ("Interval") Pace, w/400m SLOW easy jogs in between out in Lane 8 to allow recovery.

NOTE: I expect to see your heart rates in the high 80% of Maximum range, but if your rates are higher, you need to slow down!

Stallions: 5:15 to 6:30 Pace, 5 intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:30 Pace, 5 intervals

Gazelles: 7:15 to 8:15 Pace, 4 to 5 intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 8:15 to 10:30 Pace, 4 intervals

This week's main workout is a good speed workout, but given the distance, also an endurance workout. For most of this is a 5k race, so take advantage of the rest intervals in the outside lanes. As with some of our previous workouts, the trick tomorrow is to start at 10k pace on the first interval and to get faster each lap or interval until you are running 5k pace. Focus on form, eyes front, knees higher, arms at side lifting the knees, hands relaxed, on toes. Again - this is a 5k distance race or more for us (albeit with approximately 4 to 5 x 400m jogs added!), so take it easy on the recovery jog/walk/water legs of 400m.

In Coach Big Guy Club News –

This is my catch up week – so here we go:

Resolutions & Predictions 5k 1-1-26

Hope S 2nd AG 3rd OAF 21:34

Mark B 4th AG 24:16

Paul R 1st AG 26:09

Kevin C 3rd AG 26:43

Eunja R 28:15

Anne C 3rd AG 28:23

Al Lewis 10-Miler 1-11-26

Rodrigo V 2nd AG 57:02

Christie W 1st AG 1st OAF 61:35

Kate S 1st AG 2nd OAF 64:02

David M 3rd AG 72:38

Hope S 5th AG 74:12

Yuko T 2nd AG 1:27:24

Paul R 1st AG 1:28:05

Kevin C 1:31:55

Gary M 2nd AG 1:32:39

Eunja R 1:36:10

Dara S 5th AG 1:44:33

Shawna B 1:44:57

Anne C 3rd AG 1:45:24

In addition to the two Club Races, the Ageless Admiral, Paul Ryan, ran both Club races (First in his AG), and in between on Saturday January 3 ran the Park Run Anacostia 5k, finishing First in his Age Group AND setting the Course Record for his Age Group in 25:04 – how does he do it?

The DC Roadrunner's next race will be February 8th – the Valentine 5k (always some cool prizes) – to register – or volunteer – please go to the club website: dcroadrunners.org

Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy is on his way driving to Austin (almost to Atlanta!), So Coach Andrew Golden will be at W&L Thursday morning to helm his first solo Coaching of TMBC!