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No TMBC on Track - but Stafford Hills!

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

The weather tomorrow will be right at freezing, and after the heavy snowfall on Monday, both Yorktown and W&L tracks are basically treacherous to impassible. Instead of a track workout, we will have a hills workout on the Stafford Street hills immediately adjacent to W&L High School. We've done this workout before, and it's a great one for building strength and naturally improving your speed form. Plus, the street is pretty clear and traffic in the morning is pretty light.

We will meet at the base of the Stafford Hills at the corner of North Stafford street and 15th street, catty-corner to the W&L High School parking decks. The "Loop around W&L and the parking decks is basically clear, and about .8 miles, so you can warm up running the loop once or twice before the 6 AM start time for the hill repeats. The hill is almost exactly 800 meters long from bottom to top, with a significant gain in altitude, so these hill intervals will be challenging. The jog back down Stafford hill to the start point should be enough to allow you to recover and begin the next interval. When Jill, Iron Man and I run these on Tuesday Hill workouts, we find that the increase in altitude slows our 800 times so that it adds about 20 to 25% of our 10k pace – your mileage may vary.

January 6, 2022 – 4 to 6 x Stafford Hills at 10K or slower Pace, w/800m return to base easy jogs in between

Water breaks are important ALL year round, even when it is cold like tomorrow, so remember to hydrate before, during and after your runs – after each interval if possible, but at least every other 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: 6:15 to 7:15 Pace, 5 to 6 Hills

Wolf Pack: 7:15 to 8:00 Pace, 5 Hills

Gazelles: 7:45 to 8:30 Pace, 4 to 5 Hills

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

This week's workout is a strong endurance workout. TO get up the hill, focus on form, eyes front, knees higher, arms at side lifting the knees, hands relaxed, on toes.

In Coach Rich Club News –

At the races this week ...
Over in Spain Christie Wetzel and Rodrigo Vellón ran the Carrera del Pavo 6.9K race (4.1ish miles). Speedy times and a tough course to boot. Rodrigo ran 23:29 and Christie 25:11. Well done guys!

Paul Ryan kicked off the new year with his 50th Parkrun 5K at Fletcher's Boathouse in a time of 24:15. Way to go Paul!

Great to see so many of you at our DCRRC Predictions & Resolutions 5K on New Year's Day and many thanks to the lots of you that also volunteered to help yours truly the Race Director. Congrats to all!
21:41 - Katie Stilling, 3rd 30-39
22:12 - Liz Ozeki (1st race post baby)
23:28 - Yuko Takakusaki, 2nd 50-59
24:03 - Mikala Whitaker, 2nd 20-29
24:09 - Mark Bourgeois, 2nd 50-59
24:28 - Judah Dal Cais, 3rd 50-59
24:44 - Emily Riley
26:52 - Miguel Cuya
28:28 - Hope Seck (1st race post baby)
28:30 - Katie Sprinkel
31:36 - Lisa Towell
34:06 - David Meeks (running with wife Pam)

The next club races are this Saturday and next. Feel free to sign up to run but we really need volunteers for both races. The Al Lewis 10M is this Saturday January 8 and the JFK 20k / MLK 5K are on Saturday January 15. You can sign up to run or volunteer for each of these at https://www.dcroadrunners.org/

I will not be out for the hill repeats tomorrow. Hope to see you all on the track next Thursday. Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy will be at the Stafford Hills tomorrow morning

4 to 6 x 1000m in 5k, 400m jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

The weather tomorrow will be challenging, with temps in the high 40s and very high humidity at 93%, and although there seems to be a window at 6 AM, we could be in for some rain – although we have had rain forecast for a while and very little has fallen. We will meet at Yorktown HS track, around the corner from the school on Greenbriar street (the track is technically in Greenbriar Park) – warm up at about 5:40 am, before the 6 AM start time for warm up laps and instructions.

Unfortunately, Coach Big Guy will miss the workout. While I feel great, running every day while recovering from my calf injury, I was exposed to someone on Christmas day who tested positive for Covid. My results are not back yet, but even if I am negative, I am going to give everyone at least a week before I am even around them in a mask – I am super Covid Cautious, but family gatherings are difficult to miss, and we all manage risks every day – I will be very sorry to miss you guys tomorrow. The Good news is that while isolating I took some new USA Track & Field courses and took my recertification test – and am happy to report I got a 100%, so I am recertified for another three years! Mrs. Big Guy and I, along with Coach Rich and Vicki, would like to wish everyone a Happy, Safe and most of all, Healthy New Year!

December 30, 2021 – 4 to 6 x 1000m at 5K ("Interval") Pace, w/400m easy jogs in between

Water breaks are important ALL year round, even when it is cool like tomorrow, so remember to hydrate before, during and after your runs – after each interval if possible, but at least every other 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: 5:15 to 6:15 Pace, 5 to 6 x 1000m Intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:15 to 7:00 Pace, 5 x 1000m Intervals

Gazelles: 6:45 to 7:30 Pace, 4 to 5 x 1000m Intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 9:30 Pace, 4 to 5 x 1000m Intervals

This week's workout is a strong speed workout, but given the distance, also an endurance workout. Focus on form, eyes front, knees higher, arms at side lifting the knees, hands relaxed, on toes. This is about a 5k race for most of you, so take it easy on the recovery jog/walk/water legs of 400m, and if you are feeling frisky, put it into the last 1000m interval, perhaps in 3k pace.

In Coach Rich Club News –

Greetings Thursday Morning Faithful. I hope everyone celebrating had a great Christmas. No races to report on this week but there is one coming up on New Year's Day.

The next cub race is the Predictions & Resolutions 5K on New Year's Day starting at noon. The race is a great way to start the new year and is family friendly. It is free for club members and just $10 for nonmembers. You can register to run or volunteer at this link: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/sign-up/pr5k

After this, the next club races come quick. The Al Lewis 10M is Saturday January 8 and the JFK 20k / MLK 5K are on January 15. You can sign up to run or volunteer for each of these at https://www.dcroadrunners.org/

Wishing you and your families a Happy New Year and of course Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy is out on Covid Caution, but Coach Rich will be at Yorktown tomorrow morning