DC Road Runners - Enter your slogan here

6 x 800m in 5k pace, 400m easy jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

The weather tomorrow will be quite cold with Temps at 24 degrees with higher humidity at 73%, with little wind at 3 MPH and almost chance of snow/rain, but still remember to bring fluids!

Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington will begin at the Yorktown High School track tomorrow at 6:00 AM sharp, with announcements before 6 - so please get there early to warm up. Workout as follows:

December 12, 2019 - 6 x 800m at 5K ("interval") Pace, w/400m easy jogs in between

Water breaks are important ALL year round, especially when it very humid like tomorrow, so remember to hydrate before, during and after your runs – tomorrow after each interval!

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: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 6:45 Pace

Gazelles: 6:55 to 7:15 Pace

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:15 to 10:00 Pace

This week's workout is a tough speed workout - essentially running a 5k - so it will be a challenge, and we will have very cold weather. At these temps, let yourself warm up on the sprint intervals on at least the first two. Since you will be going fairly all out, be especially focused on good form - up on your toes, knees lifting, core still, slight lean, eyes forward, and perhaps most importantly, hands at your side to help smoothly lift your knees - no crossing over or chicken wings. Also, no fists (imagine Pringles or an egg in your hand and you don't want to crush them)!

In Club news from Coach Rich ...

Big congratulations to Christie Wetzel and Rodrigo Vellon at the California International Marathon this past weekend. They trained hard and were both rewarded with big PRs and phenomenal performances:
2:46:11 - Rodrigo
2:54:42 - Christie

At the Jingle Bell 5K Ze Dagher got yet another 5K PR and achieved his goal for the year of running sub 18 sliding in with a nice 17:59

The Snowball Series kicked off with the Bread Run 10K. Congrats to all for tackling that mile 6 hill :)
39:46 - Liz Ozeki, 1st OAF
47:12 - Kate Scott, 1st AG
40:56 - Chris Walsh
41:50 - Steve Peterson, 2nd AG
44:12 - Will Hernandez
44:29 - Melinda Metz, 1st OAF Master
46:21 - Chelsea Suydam
46:25 - Eric Waskowicz, 1st AG
46:54 - Kevin Cunningham
47:07 - Mark Bourgeois
48:22 - Paul Ryan, 2nd AG
1:06:32 - Keith Campbell

The Snowball Series Races continue this Sunday December 15 with the Gar Williams Half Marathon. For complete Snowball Series Races and to register follow this link: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/races/race-rules/3839-2019-2020-snowball-series-rules.html

The 2019 Holiday relays will bat at W-L HS track on next Wednesday night, December 18th, starting at 7 pm. This is a hugely fun event where fastest runners are paired with slowest and so on down the line. The paired runners race 10 x 400 back and forth. For further details follow this link but remember that this is our track workout for that week. There will be no Thursday morning track on the 19th: https://www.facebook.com/events/540349279872514/

New Years Day is our annual Predictions and Resolutions 5K which I am the race director for. Registration is now filling up fast so remember to sign up if you plan to run. As important, I only have 4 volunteers so far and need about 15. I could sure use your help. The race does not start till noon and I need the volunteers at 10:30. For complete info and to register for the race or volunteer go to the is link: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/sign-up/pr5k

I look forward to seeing you on the track tomorrow morning!

Coach Big Guy will be at practice tomorrow with Coach Rich!

12 x 400m in 10k Pace, 100m jog

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

The weather tomorrow will be much colder with Temps at 38 degrees and lower humidity at 61%, with lots of wind at 12 MPH (so a "real feel" of 30 degrees), but still remember to bring fluids because you need them as much in the winter as in the summer! Interestingly, this is almost exactly the same weather and workout we did a year ago tomorrow!

Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington will begin at the Yorktown High School track tomorrow at 6:00 AM sharp, with announcements before 6 - so please get there early to warm up. Workout as follows:

December 4, 2019: 12 x 400m in Cruise Interval Pace (10k pace) - with 100m jog recovery in between

• Stallions: 6:00 to 6:30 Pace
• Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:00 Pace
• Gazelles: 7:00 to 7:45 Pace
• Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:45 to 10:00 Pace

These 400m workouts should be quite familiar, as we do them several times each cycle, and it is a good one. These 400s build both speed and endurance. Remember that 100m recovery jog is not sufficient to fully recover from these 400s, so lactic acid and fatigue will build, and therefore you want to pace yourself through these, not going out too fast on the first few. A perfect workout on these has a runner building speed through these intervals, with each just a shade faster than the previous one so that your last 400 is 7 to 10 seconds faster than the first. As always, when you are running 400s, you want to get up on your toes, lift your knees, and lean forward - not from the waist, but a full body lean, of perhaps 8 to 10 degrees.

Here is the Coach Rich Club News this week:

Lots of racing over the long holiday weekend. Many great performances and also lots of fun running. Congrats to all whichever path you took.

Alexandria Turkey Trot 5M

36:38 - Chelsea Suydam
37:02 - Rich Mendelowitz, 3rd 60-69
37:14 - Mark Bourgeois
38:11 - Judah Dal Cais
45:20 - Big Guy
47:32 - Graham Magill
47:39 - Mary Kusler
47:39 - Kelly Orzechowski

Arlington Turkey Trot 5K

18:04 - Ze Dagher, 2nd 40-49, PR
19:47 - CJ Blagg, 2nd 50-59
20:35 - Tatyana Steis, 2nd 40-49
22:59 - Kenneth Riley
23:14 - Emily Riley

At the Fairfax Turkey Trot 4M it was Liz Ozeki FTW once again. Her time was 25:09. Way to keep on rolling Liz!

Kevin Cunningham turned in a fine 36:44 at the 27th Annual Dreamcatcher Classic 5M up in Massachusetts.

Mikala Whitaker took 1st in her age-group at the Greensboro (NC) Gobbler 5K in a time of 21:37

Bonnie Harvey was the 3rd OAF and 1st AG at the 5th Annual North Wales Turkey Trot 8K in a speedy time of 34:05.

At the NCR Half Marathon Eric Waskowicz turned in a strong 1:41:21 to get his long sought after NYC Marathon qualifying time and in the marathon Hai Nguyen ran a strong 3:22:21 with a nice negative split.

Paul Ryan continued his string of AG victories at the Thanksgiving day Parkrun 5k in Kensington, MD with a time of 22:36 on a windy day. Then on Saturday he paced his 7 year-old grandson to an AG victory. Then on Sunday at the all comers track meet at PG Sports and Learning complex, Paul turned in a fine mile time of 6:20 winning his age-group and then cam back to win his age-group in the 400 with a time of 1:23.

The Snowball Series Races start this Sunday December 8 with the Bread Run 10K and the Gar Williams Half Marathon on Dec 15. For complete Snowball Series Races and to register follow this link: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/races/race-rules/3839-2019-2020-snowball-series-rules.html

The 2019 Holiday relays will be at W-L HS track on Wednesday night December 18 starting at 7pm. This is a hugely fun event where fastest runners are paired with slowest and so on down the line. The paired runners race 10 x 400m back and forth. For further details follow this link but remember that this is our track workout for that week. There will be no Thursday morning track on the 19th: https://www.facebook.com/events/540349279872514/

New Years Day is our annual Predictions and Resolutions 5K, which I am the race director for. Registration is now filling up fast so remember to sign up if you plan to run. As important, I only have 4 volunteers so far and need about 15. I could sure use your help. The race does not start till noon and I need the volunteers at 10:30. For complete info and to register for the race or volunteer go to the link: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/sign-up/pr5k

I look forward to seeing you on the track tomorrow morning!

Coach Big Guy and Coach Rich will be out there tomorrow!