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NO TMBC – 12 to 16 x 400m in 10k Pace, with 100m jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! If you are going to enjoy green beer or Guinness, remember you need to run in the morning! Thursday's weather will be rainy most of the day with temps in the high 40s to low 50s, with gaps in the rain that are hard to determine ahead of time, so either forge ahead with a set time and laugh at the rain or get ready and head out when you see a gap. Dress accordingly, and still hydrate! Yorktown track should be available from 6 AM to 6 PM, but W&L only seems to be open a couple of hours in the afternoon, so Yorktown or Falls Church HS or even McLean HS track seem to be our best bets - for now, let's keep the groups small, familiar, staggered in start times, and disorganized!

March 18, 2021 – NO TMBC – ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: 12 to 16 x 400m in 10k Pace, with 100m jogs

Stallions: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace, 14 to 16 Intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace, 14 to 16 Intervals

Gazelles: 7:15 to 8:00 Pace, 13 to 14 Intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 8:00 to 10:00 Pace, 12 to 14 Intervals

As Ed always says, the focus here is on 10K pace – actual 10k pace, not what you WISH your 10k pace was or should be. The first couple of 400s should feel downright easy. Keep close tabs on your time for each 400 and for each recovery 100. If you find yourself slowing down appreciably, either stop the workout, or at least adjust your pace so that you can finish at least 10 repeats. We decided to actually run these the way they are supposed to be run today, by slowing the 400s and jogging – not walking (I Admit it, it's my fault, I'm the walker of the group!) – the 100s, and I must say – the workout was a lot tougher but I realized that running it this way will lead to much better fitness – so slow down until you can maintain a good, steady, similar time for the 100m jog intervals and you will find these are much more helpful to your training. You should also focus on your form – get up on your toes and Lift your knees!

The Coach Rich Club news:

Greeting Thursday morning faithful. The big news this week comes from 2 of our crew taking on Ultra Marathon races.

At the Seneca Creek Greenway "Marathon" (really 28 miles), Liz Ozeki was the 1st OA Female and 4th overall in the race in a time of 4:16:53. Huge congrats to Liz who thought 28 miles wasn't enough so she took a wrong turn and added a bit more. Kidding aside, this race is a monster with almost 2900 feet of climbing. To that Liz said, "Oh my gosh the hills were no joke. Luckily with the uphills came some downhills". Gotta love it. Liz said the weather was perfect and it was nice to feel some race day nerves. She ran solo most of the way as there were strict Covid protocols and also no bathrooms! Great job Liz and congrats again!

Now talk about monster courses, Steve Peterson ran the Bel Monte 50K Endurance Race which in reality is a 55K (34.2 miles). Steve was 3rd 50-59 in the race in a time of 6:39:20. This course had 4,954 feet of climbing with 80% single track trail! Several of these were miles long uphills without any down hills along the way. Steve told me he had great fitness going into the race but the course really tore him up. Of course Steve is a Marine so you can only imagine it was unbelievably tough if he says that. He also said, if he were to do it again, "I would run more on steep rocky trails in preparation as you cannot underestimate the specificity" needed to run a race like this. Amazing effort Steve and congrats. We wish you the fastest recovery possible.

On the more mundane racing front, Sunday was the DCRRC Ft. Hunt 10K and 2 of our Thursday faithful took part. As important, 3 volunteered; Nate, Melinda and Mark!!! Notable here was the fact that Sunday morning was the daylight savings time change. The race started at 8 but the volunteers had to be out there much earlier. Above and beyond guys. Thank you!

In the race Paul Ryan was 1st 70-74 in a time of 47:25 and Keith Campbell was 3rd 60-64 in a time of 58:02. Congrats gents.

Happy running!

Coach Big Guy will be at Yorktown tomorrow morning
doing the workout with some TMBC Covid Bubble pals!

No TMBC - 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace, 400m jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow's weather will be glorious – mid-50s to mid 70s, sunny till sundown, light winds and humidity. Tracks are open, but it still seems that no "organized" activities may take place in Arlington, but Yorktown and W&L are open for track work, but both tracks will be shut early – about 6:30 PM, so you could do this workout anywhere on flatter trails where miles are marked off.

March 11, 2021 – No TMBC - ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: 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, 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 – since we aren't doing the traditional 2 x 400m to finish, let's try to run these last 400s in a faster pace, pushing to 5k pace to finish strong.

And now the Coach Rich News!

Greetings Thursday morning running fans. The DCRRC Annual Meeting was held Sunday night and a new board was elected. Thursday regular Jill Brasky now has a seat at the table. Thank you, Jill, for your service. The 2020 running awards were announced. They were modified some due to the pandemic year. Three cheers for our TMBC representatives on their awards:

Liz Ozeki - Female Runner of the Year
Rodrigo Vellon - Male Runner of the Year
Yours truly – Men's Masters Runner of the Year.

Real racing was back this past weekend under modified pandemic procedures. It's a start. Congrats to all.

Burke Lake 12K

49:12 - Ze Dagher, 2nd 40-44
49:48 - Nate Rathjen, 3rd 25-29
49:48 - Alex Cooke
57:00 - Melinda Metz, 2nd OA Female, 1st Female Master
59:28 - Paul Ryan, 1st 70-74
1:01:12 - Eric Waskowicz, 2nd 60-64
1:12:48 - Keith Campbell, 3rd 60-64

Get out there and enjoy this first dose of Spring we are now enjoying.

Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy will be out doing the workout at W&L tomorrow, hoping to lure Coach Rich to visit!