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

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow will be our first "freezing" day, with early morning temps in the low 30s, but little wind at 6 MPH, but warming considerably during the day to the upper 50s, so plan accordingly. Since most of us run early, I am picking a longer interval workout so that we don't have anyone straining muscles because they tried to sprint in our first freezing weather. Tracks are open, but it still seems that no "organized" activities may take place in Arlington. Some will be at Yorktown at 7 tomorrow, while others will head to W&L or even Falls Church for track work.

November 19, 2020 – NO TMBC – BUT BACK ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: 3 x 1600m in 10k Pace, with 400m jogs

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 faithful. Looks like our first frosty Thursday morning tomorrow but at least the wind of the last few days will be gone. Lots of good results this week. Enjoy!

Paul Ryan ran the USATF Virtual Masters 10K in a time of 45:48. This was his fastest 10K in 3 years and he won his AG in both the 10K and the 5K I reported on last week.

Mark Bourgeois ran the Virtual Richmond HM in a time of 1:40:58. his was good for an 8 minute PR!

Nate Rathjen ran the Virtual Richmond Marathon in a time of 3:17:20. This was an eye-popping PR of 14 minutes in his 2nd ever marathon (1st in May of 2019).

At long last the results were posted from the National Capital 20M, HM, 10M and 5M. Not a whole lot of participants overall but the Thursday Crew was well represented atop the leader boards. There was no AG scoring

20 Miler - 12 participants,
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1. Rodrigo Vellon - 2:10:34
2. Christie Wetzel - 2:15:03
4. Arielle Weiner - 2:29:14
5. tie - David Meeks - 2:34:00
5. tie - Nate Rathjen - 2:34:00

Half Marathon - 8 participants but no one from the TMBC

10M - 17 participants
-----
1. Liz Ozeki - 1:04:54
2. Alex Cooke - 1:07:48
6. Rich Mendelowitz - 1:21:25 and running only for the very cool DCRRC buff :)

5M - 11 participants
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2. Paul Ryan - 37:26
3. Emily Riley - 41:39
8. Clara Lau - 1:00:39

Make sure and look at the pictures on the club Facebook page. Some great shots.

Congratulations to everyone on their fine racing efforts.

Coach Big Guy wants to remind everyone to sign up for the DCRRC Virtual Turkey Trot, which will be next week's workout. Now more than ever the charity it supports serves people who are truly in need! Details are on the Club website.

Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy will be out doing the workout at Yorktown tomorrow, while Coach Rich might actually be doing it too!

NO TMBC – 10 to 14 x 400m in 10k Pace, with 100m jogs

NOTE: Apologies - I sent this Yestwerday at 3:37, but apparently it did not post - SORRY!

 

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow's weather will be changeable, with temps starting in the low 60s and getting down to the low 50s by late afternoon, with rain early, then a window of no rain from 8 to 10 AM, and a second window in the afternoon between 2 and 6, with some wind! There will still be pretty high humidity all day, so choose your time carefully. I don't know about you all, but I have not been drinking enough water because it's been so cool, so please remember to Hydrate!

I cannot tell a live – since Keith and Jill melt in the rain, we did this workout at Yorktown this morning. Still, there may be others at Yorktown tomorrow morning at 7 AM, but others might want to plan to be there either before or after – or at W&L or Falls Church HS - for now, let's keep the groups small, familiar, staggered in start times, and disorganized!

November 12, 2020 – NO TMBC – ON THE TRACK ON YOUR OWN: 10 to 14 x 400m in 10k Pace, with 100m jogs

Stallions: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace, 12 to 14 Intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace, 12 to 14 Intervals

Gazelles: 7:15 to 8:00 Pace, 11 to 13 Intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 8:00 to 10:00 Pace, 10 to 12 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 they 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. If you want speed and walking, join us on Tuesday morning at Yorktown for true speed – not interval – workouts. You should also focus on your form – get up on your toes and Lift your knees!

And now the Coach Rich Report!

Greetings Crew. Hope you all have enjoyed the best summer days that November has ever seen this last week. It sure has been nice for running! Sorry once again as I still have no results from the National Capital races as I write this early this morning. Hopefully next week. The club is doing a survey which was in the monthly newsletter regarding your thoughts on returning to regular races in the Covid environment. Please take the less than 5 minutes it will take to fill it out and submit it.

Some real nice results from this last weekend...

Alex Cooke was 4th OA and 2nd 20-29 at the Tuckahoe (State Park) 25K. There were 205 finishers in this race and the photo of the staggered start was really interesting. This is a tough trail race and held in lots of mud. There is a great picture on Strava of Alex face-planting on the trail along the way. Now come on Alex, if you are going to do that, not right in front of the race photographer :) Alex turned in a solid time of 1:57:58.

Steve Peterson traveled north for the Harrisburg Marathon and turned in a great time of 3:09:46. Steve was 2nd in the 50-54 AG amongst the 500+ finishers.

David Meeks ran the Richmond Marathon in a strong time of 3:14:58. He is currently 1st in the 55-59 AG but the race continues this week. This was a 5-minute life-time PR and a terrific race for David, who has joined Coach Big Guy, Jill, and Keith on Thursday mornings since this summer. Great Work David! If you hadn't followed what Richmond has done, they set up a course with timing mats so all runner can run during the Virtual Race period. Though still virtual everyone can race, it is an accurate course and runners get an official time. Also, your picture under the race banners. You can find David's picture on the club FB page.

Finally, a quick shout out to CaSandra DeGrauwe Williamson one of our many TMBC alums. CaSandra moved to Tampa a couple years ago but continues to follow us all from afar. Yesterday she ran a 5K TT on the track, solo and in crappy hot windy conditions and turned a lifetime PR of 19:42!

Huge congrats to Alex, Steve, David and CaSandra!

Coach Big Guy will be stretching and lifting tomorrow since he did the workout this morning (and doesn't want to get rained on!), and Coach Rich will be pacing the Admiral on Friday for a 10k, so this one is for you all only!