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3 x 1600m in 10k with 400m jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow's weather will be winterlike, with temps in the mid-40s and higher humidity at 80%, a little cloudy and damp. Despite the reasonable conditions, you should still bring water for hydration after every interval before you start the 400m job rest interval.

December 2, 2021 – TMBC: 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace, with 400m jogs between

Stallions: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace

Gazelles: 7:15 to 8:00 Pace

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 8:00 to 10:00 Pace

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" – but remember we are doing more intervals than we usually do, so pace yourselves.

... and the Coach Rich Report –

Greetings Thursday Morning Faithful and welcome to December. I saw a few snowflakes as I started my run yesterday. Hopefully they generally stay away and keep us on the road this winter.

In the news first and foremost this week is the arrival of Nicholas Vincent Seck. Big congrats to Hope and hubby Ben on the arrival of child number 3 and boy # 2. They are now officially outnumbered! Seems Hope came back after kid #2 and got a big marathon PR so I wonder what kiddo #3 will bring :)

Some real nice performances and a lot of fun was had at the Annual Alexandria Turkey Trot 5M. Congrats to all of you.

30:49 - Nate Rathjen PR
33:38 - Yared Addisu
42:17 – Coach Big Guy
45:26 - Shawna Barry
47:40 - Eunja Rau
50:59 - Mary Kusler running with son Will

Can the Bird Turkey Trot 5K - Well done all.
21:40 - Katie Stilling
22:04 - Kenneth Kenneth Riley
25:31 - Emily Riley

Paul Ryan ran two Parkrun 5Ks. On Thanksgiving the Fletchers Parkrun in a time of 23:29 for an AG win then on Saturday the Anacostia Parkrun in a time of 23:41 on a real windy course. Way to go Paul!

Very sorry if I missed races others participated in. I did my best to track everyone.

The first race of the 2021-2022 Snowball Series is this Sunday December 5. The Gar Williams Half Marathon is free to club members. The entire list of Snowball Series races is on the club homepage at https://www.dcroadrunners.org/home.html. You can register to race or volunteer.
The DCRRC Annual Holiday Relays will be on Wednesday night December 15. We hope many of you will come out and join in the fun. There will be no Thursday morning workout the next day. Here is a link to the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/309599353946554

Good luck to the crew heading out to CIM this weekend and Happy running to all!

Coach Big Guy and hopefully Coach Rich will see you at 6 AM after warmup tomorrow!

No TMBC - Run a Turkey Trot!

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

There will be NO Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington at the Yorktown High School track tomorrow. Instead, those of you who can, should try to run a Turkey Trot somewhere – and if you are in town, you can run the Club's biggest fund raiser – the Alexandria Turkey Trot 5 Miler – which Coach Big Guy is doing.

The Club has always supported and run the Alexandria Turkey Trot, and you can sign up for the Five Miler here: https://www.alexandriaturkeytrot.com/ - the proceeds from this run support Alive, an Alexandria charity helping the poor, and the Club. They also ask that we bring canned goods with us to help the needy, which Mrs. Big Guy and I will be doing.

As for Thanksgiving itself, Mrs. Big Guy and I want to tell you all that we give thanks every day for the wonderful people we met through the DCRRC and TMBC – you all light up our lives!

The weather in Arlington tomorrow will be clear in the morning and a bit chilly at 38 degrees, lower humidity, and just a little bit of wind (7 mph) so pretty nice weather for a race.

November 24, 2021 – No TMBC, so Alexandria Turkey Trot 5 Miler, or whatever race – Real or Virtual - you can find where you are tomorrow!

In Club news from Coach Rich -

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving to all. The big news this week is the arrival of baby boy Ozeki. That's right, I will no longer be reporting on Liz running races while 9 months pregnant. All I received were some great looking pictures and Liz already signing the little guy up to run an ultra with her in 20 years or so. Sorry I don't have any other details. Big congrats to Liz and husband Ben.

Mikala Witaker accomplished a major life goal of running the JFK 50M. She was super excited. Her time was 10:19:36. She was hoping to run a bit faster but found the hills and trail in the beginning difficult. Mikala also used the word brutal in describing the last 8 miles of rolling hills. Huge congrats on persevering in the face of a plantar injury and getting it done.

Emily Riley just missed a PR by 12 seconds at the Philadelphia Marathon. Her time was 3:58:32. Emily faced some stomach issues and the hills in the middle of the race took a toll on her legs and feet. Still, anytime you finish a marathon it is a great accomplishment. Congratulations Emily! We know you will get it next time. DCRRC's MTP trainee Vinona, who dropped by to run with the TMBC a couple of times this summer and fall, did run a PR at Philly, her second marathon, with a very fast time for her of 4:05:38 – almost a minute per mile quicker than Marine Corps two years ago - congrats Vinona!

The Alexandria Turkey Trot 5M is tomorrow morning November 25th at 9:00AM. This is the club's largest race. You will never find a faster flatter 5M course. It is loads of fun with loads of peeps dressed in holiday garb. It's a moving block party after the fast runners go by. More information and registration can be found https://www.alexandriaturkeytrot.com/. If you are not already registered you can still register tonight or tomorrow morning on site.

The first race of the 2021-2022 Snowball Series kicks off on December 5 with the Gar Williams Half Marathon. The races are free to club members. The entire list of Snowball Series races is on the club homepage at https://www.dcroadrunners.org/home.html. You can register to race or volunteer.

The DCRRC Annual Holiday Relays will be on Wednesday night December 15. We hope many of you will come out and join in the fun. There will be no Thursday morning workout the next day. Here is a link to the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/309599353946554

Happy running!

Coach Big Guy will Turkey Trot tomorrow in Alexandria – see you there!