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No TMBC - Yasso 800s

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow will be pretty cold and a bit windy, with Temps from the upper-20s to the Mid 40s, but lower humidity. Again, tracks are open, but no "organized" activities may take place. A few of us will be at Yorktown at 7 AM tomorrow, and last week we had some TMBC members before and after the 7 AM workout, so I expect we might see some of you tomorrow at Yorktown, while others will head to W&L or even Falls Church HS for track work.

January 7, 2021 – NO OFFICIAL TMBC – BUT ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: Yasso 800s – 6 to 8 Yasso 800s - at a pace where your expected marathon time in hours and minutes is your 800 pace in minutes and seconds, with 400m easy jogs between each 800 in the exact same time as your 800, not faster or slower

To reiterate how to calculate your 800 time take the hours and minutes of your expected (hoped for) marathon time – in my case three hours and 50 minutes (Dream on!), and convert that to an 800 time of three minutes and 50 seconds, followed by a slow 400m jog in three minutes fifty seconds. It is VERY easy to jog that 400m too fast – but don't do it! Much more critical to run ALL of the 800s in the same time, even as you tire, and fully recover if possible on that exact same time on the slow 400. Yasso 800s are a favorite of Coach Ed and myself, developed by the legendary Coach Bowman form Oregon who coached Pre – one of the best workouts you can do for the marathon!

Here is the Coach Rich Club Report:

Happy New Year once again to all. Some great results from last week ...

Rodrigo Vellon was at it again with another FKT attempt and success. He ran the fastest (unsupported) known time for a roundtrip of the Mt. Vernon Trail. That was 36 miles and at a 7:25 pace. He got a 50K PR in route. Fantastic running. Congrats to Rodrigo. If you haven't already seen it, check it out on Strava at: https://www.strava.com/activities/4546046833

Congrats to Christie Wetzel who set out to run her first sub 18 5K and succeed with a 17:58. She did it on the track so there is no doubt about the exactness of the course. I think her 400 splits were all like 1:25, 1:6 or 1:27 except the last of course which was faster. Congrats to Christie!

Big Guy is closing it on the sub 25 5K goal. He too took it to the track and came up just a hair short clocking a 25:04. Still a great effort and nice way to end last year. He will certainly get that sub 25 in 2021. Well done Big Guy!

Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy will be out doing the workout at YHS tomorrow, and Coach Rich is slowly coming back with easier workouts!

TMBC - Virtual 5k or 30:00 Tempo

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow will be a spotty day, with temps from the low 40s to the low 50s, but periods of rain all day. You might think about doing this week's speed work today, as it will be colder but sunny and no rain. Tracks are open throughout the DMV for individuals despite the increase in infections, so if you follow the guidelines and are in good health, you should be up for a run. This week we traditionally hold Coach Rich's "Resolutions & Predictions" 5k race, but we can't this year due to the Pandemic. Since a virtual "race" at that distance is still a great benchmark that will help you plan your training in 2021 – when we will finally return to racing head-to-head - the track coaches suggest that for this week's speed work you run a virtual 5k race, but if you are not up to that effort, in the alternative you can run some Tempo work.

December 31, 2020 – A Virtual 5k Pace on the Track or Course of your Choosing – at 5k Pace, of Course! In the Alternative, at least 30:00 minutes of Tempo work (somewhere between 10k and 10m pace)

And Now the Coach Rich Report!

Greetings TMBC fans. Amazingly the end of a pretty weird year and thank goodness. 2021 can only be better. Let us hope anyway. For my part my 1725 miles were just about 600 more than last year so I can't complain. I think all of us understand how much running has helped us get through a tough year. Hang in there and keep training. We will be back to the races sooner than later now.

Speaking of racing, The Admiral, Paul Ryan, ran The Athletes East road mile in a time of 6:05. His fastest mile of the year but he did profess that it was an all-downhill mile. Still great to know the wheels can still move. Well done Paul.

Mark Bourgeois ran himself a 5K time trial in 21:58. I believe his 2nd sub-22 and a nice finish to his now famous metric year with some fast times and PRs from the mile to the half marathon. Congrats Mark!

Coach Big Guy, Mrs. Big Guy, Vicki and I all wish you and your families a very happy New Year and look forward to us all running together soon.

Happy running!

And now the final – Coach Big Guy promises – Secret Santa Virtual Holiday Relays Results Report!

As it turns out, a final 2020 DCRRC Secret Santa Virtual Holiday Relays result from Melinda Metz got stuck in Big Guy's spam filter, and when she was finally added to the totals, along with Coach Big Guy, an even number of runners competed, and we were able to finally calculate the results correctly. We will try to get all the results up on the Club Website in the correct place and style as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are the top three finishers. All reported winners (in all of my emails – you are all winners in my book!) will receive a small prize from a very embarrassed Coach Big Guy:

First Place - Ian Huang (15:12) and Nate Rathjen (15:28) = Total Time: 30:40

Second Place - Melinda Metz (13:59) and Paul Ryan (16:44) = Total Time: 30:43

Third Place - Mark Bourgeois (15:02) and Zé Dagher (15:42) = Total Time: 30:44

Here are the results for TMBC runners:

1. Vellón, Rodrigo - 12:08
2. Wetzel, Christie - 13:08
7. Metz, Melinda - 13:59
8. Hernandez, Will - 14:54
10. Bourgeois, Mark - 15:02
13. Dagher, Zé - 15:42
16. Ryan, Paul - 16:44
17. Brasky, Jill - 17:37
19. Guy, Coach Big - 17:56
20. Campbell, Keith - 19:57

Coach Big Guy will be at Yorktown tomorrow at 8 AM with his Quaranteam running the 5k