Thursday Morning Track

Identical to Wednesday night track workouts. This is simply an alternative to those that cannot make Wednesday night or prefer morning running. The workouts each week are designed by Coach Ed who leads the Wednesday night group and can be found on the Wednesday night track workouts.  

Group leaders for this workout are Coach Stephen "Big Guy" Easley and Coach Rich Mendelowitz.  Both are USATF and RRCA certified coaches. Thursday morning Track Workouts are held at the Yorktown High School track. The Address is 5201 N. 28th Street in Arlington, and the track is around the corner from the school on N. Greenbrier in the Football Stadium. The workout starts promptly at 6:00 AM. Most people arrive to do an easy warm-up together starting around 5:40 and then all do an easy one mile cool-down together after the workout.

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Questions can be emailed to Coach Big Guy or Coach Rich.

5x 1000m in 10k to 5k pace, 400m slow jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies -

The weather tomorrow will be cool, with Temps in the mid-40s and some humidity at 72%, with some wind at 8 MPH, and a slight chance of a little rain, but still remember to bring fluids because you need them whenever you run – tomorrow after every other interval! Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington at Yorktown track in Greenbriar stadium at 6:00 AM sharp, with announcements before 6 - so please get there early to warm up – say by 5:40 AM. Workout as follows:

April 10, 2025 – 5 x 1000m beginning at 10k ("Cruise Interval") pace dropping to 5K ("Interval") Pace on the last couple, w/400m SLOW easy jogs in between out in Lane 6 to allow recovery.

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 6:30 Pace, 5 intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:30 Pace, 5 intervals

Gazelles: 7:15 to 8:15 Pace, 4 to 5 intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 8:15 to 10:30 Pace, 4 intervals

This week's main workout is a good speed workout, but given the distance, also an endurance workout. You want to run the first in 10k pace, then maybe speed up to 8k pace for a couple, then finish with two at 5k pace. For most of this is almost a 5k race, so take advantage of the rest intervals in the outside lanes. As with some of our previous workouts, the trick tomorrow is to start at 10k pace on the first interval and to get faster each lap or interval until you are running 5k pace. Focus on form, eyes front, knees higher, arms at side lifting the knees, hands relaxed, on toes. Again - this is a 5k distance race or more for us (albeit with approximately 3 to 4 x 400m jogs added!), so take it easy on the recovery jog/walk/water legs of 400m.

In Coach Big Guy Club News –

We had a large number of TMBC runners race at the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile and had some terrific times. Leading the pack was Marty M at 58:31, followed closely by Jonathan P at 64 minutes and Adam C at 65. Chris W ran a sterling 71 minutes, although he was only "warming up" for this weekend's race, and Kate Scott was close behind at 73 minutes. Mark B not only returned to fine racing form at 80 minutes, he saw a Corgi! Coach Eunja returned to racing and ran almost the entire way with Anne S, with Coach E running a 1:42 and Anne right behind at 1:43. Finally, Miguel C rounded out our runners at 1:51. Great work everyone! If I missed you, let me know and we will note it next week.

The Bunion Derby dates and details have dropped, so for more details on the summer races check the Club Website at: dcroadrunners.org.

Happy running!

Coach Big Guy will be at Yorktown Thursday morning!

 

8 - 10 x 600m in 5k, 200m jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies –

The weather tomorrow will be warmer, with Temps upper 50s and with higher humidity at 91%, and some wind at 10 MPH. Despite the good weather, you should still remember to bring fluids because you need them whenever you run – tomorrow after every other interval! Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington will begin at the Greenbriar Park around the corner from Yorktown High School at 6:00 AM sharp, with announcements before 6 - so please get there early to warm up – say by 5:40 AM. Coach Big Guy will be in London for the launch of his Buddy Holly book and the Who benefit concert, so tomorrow's TMBC will have a Special Guest Coach – Coach Chris Walsh - who will kick things off – tomorrow's Workout as follows:

April 3rd, 2025 – 8 to 10 x 600m in 5k pace, with 200m jog recovery in between

· Stallions: 5:15 to 6:30 Pace, 10 Intervals

· Wolf Pack: 6:15 to 7:00 Pace, 9 to 10 Intervals

· Gazelles: 6:45 to 7:45 Pace, 8 to 9 Intervals

· Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 9:30 Pace, 8 Intervals

This is a speed workout guaranteed to build both strength and stamina for your spring races! These are tougher than they look, so try to finish strong - push that last 100, and make sure you focus on form, so you run efficiently, effectively, and injury-free. Biggest area of improvement needed for most is to lift your knees higher, while dropping your arm swings to your waist. Be careful about crossing your arms across your chest, as this rotates your core and slows you down. Running every interval just a little faster will help you learn to control your pace, which is very important in shorter races from 5k to the half marathon – and essential tool in your repertoire. If you are running Cherry Blossom, you want to slow these to 10k pace and only run about six of these to sharpen for Sunday – feel your strength – you are ready!

In Club news from Coach Big Guy ...

I did not hear from anybody this week, and did not see anything on Strava, so no report this week – Please drop me a line (bigguy at dcroadrunners.org) to let me know when you are racing this spring!

Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy will be in London in the AM, So Coach Chris will get you started!

 

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Upcoming Events

Kenmore PTSA 5K
Sat, May 10th, 2025, @8:00am
Hero Dogs 5K9
Sat, May 17th, 2025, @8:00am
Jamestown 5K
Sat, May 17th, 2025, @8:00am
Women's Distance Festival and Run After The Women
Sun, Jun 8th, 2025, @8:00am
Rock Creek 5K
Sun, Jun 22nd, 2025, @8:00am
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The DC Road Runners Club is a member of the Road Runners Club of America and is also affiliated with USA Track & Field. We provide a year-round schedule of running events that offer everyone a chance to participate regardless of age, gender, or athletic ability.