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10 to 20 x 200m in 5k, 200m jog

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

For once I am not going to complain about the weather – as the old joke goes, "Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it!" Just know that it will continue to be hot and humid, and an early morning run will be at the extreme caution level of 150 (73 Dew Point plus 77 Degrees), and as the day progresses, it will not get any better, but instead, will actually get worse. Again, you can go to McMillan and use the heat calculater to see the impact on your workout, but rule of thumb says you should be running 5 to 10 percent slower in this heat and humidity. We will probably get thunderstorms again in the late afternoon or evening, so if you can't time those "in-between storms" runs right, I suggest a morning workout.

There are still no "organized" workouts at Arlington tracks, but a couple of us will be 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, so to comply with the rules, let's keep the groups small, familiar, staggered in start times, and disorganized As required ;-) )! The workout is as follows:

July 23, 2020 – 10 to 20 x 200m in 5k pace - with 200m jog recovery in between

• Stallions: 5:45 to 6:15 Pace
• Wolf Pack: 6:15 to 6:45 Pace
• Gazelles: 6:45 to 7:30 Pace
• Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 10:00 Pace

This is a brand new workout for Thursdays – a real speed workout guaranteed to build both strength and stamina for your fall races. Let's listen to Coach Ed's wisdom on how to run these: "Start these at a more relaxed pace, and aim to speed up as the repeats progress. Aim to reach your pace for 1 MILE by repeat 9 or 10. STOP the workout when it becomes too difficult to hold that pace." The only thing I would add is as you get faster, adopting a more sprinter like form becomes even more important – Up on your toes, Knees up, Arms pumping ("putting change in your pockets"), no crossing over, core still, relaxed yet pushing (I know – hard to explain – it's a Zen thing – to push without pushing – the important thing is to puch but not so much you tighten up and defeat your efforts.

In club news from Coach Rich ...

Greetings fellow Thursday morning faithful. The health note for this week is hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and avoid the hottest part of the day for your runs. That said, our training continues.

It was a tough weather week for the #dcrrc1milechallenge but the crews still produced a few PRs and lots of nice times. Congrats to all. Here's the roundup:

0:04:54 Rodrigo Vellon PR
0:04:56 Ze Dagher PR, 1st Male Master
0:05:11 Stephen South Legacy abroad in England
0:05:11 Alex Cooke 1st AG
0:05:35 Liz Ozeki 1st AG
0:05:50 Will Hernandez
0:05:53 Kenneth Riley PR
0:06:06 Mark Bourgeois PR
0:06:13 Paul Ryan 1st AG
0:06:36 Rich Mendelowitz 3rd AG
0:06:40 Mikala Whitaker
0:06:50 Yuko Takakusaki 1st Female Master
0:07:17 Emily Riley
0:07:41 Keith Campbell
0:07:47 Jill Brasky 3rd AG

There is still time to participate in the QuaranTeensRunDC5K. It started last Saturday and ends this Sunday. TeensRun DC is holding their QuaranTeens Run DC Virtual 5K. The race is free but you do need to register in advance. We are sponsoring the race so you can sign up on our website. They are also taking donations to support their efforts to mentor kids in underserved areas in DC. Even if you can give just $1 it would be appreciated. If you donate $35 you do get a nice race shirt but again the race is free to participate in so set a 5K goal and go out there and get it! For more about Teens Run DC go to: https://www.teensrundc.org/

Happy running!

Coach Big Guy Note:

I paced Jill on her gutsy mile, and should have submitted that for the Club Mile Challenge, as my other two attempts to run it at my pace ended in failure after 800 meters or so, but I forgot to submit it - it's always fun to particpate in these Club Activities and support Club events - so my apologies!  Next time!

Coach Big Guy and Coach Rich will be out doing the workout or some variation thereof tomorrow

No TMBC, But Track WOrk 6 x 500m in 5k, 300m jog

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

The weather has been so awful lately that I find myself thinking the last two scorching days were a "pretty good" – yowza! Tomorrow is a return to the Swampy Oven – it will be a hot and more humid July day - between 73 degreesand, dare I say it, a degree or two cooler than 90 (thus breaking the streak of 9- degree days at 20 – second longest ever), with little wind and a chance of afternoon thunderstorms, with Temp + Dewpoint starting at 142 (difficult) to 156 (caution) – so a morning workout is probably called for, and whenever you run, take the conditions into account! I will be running 5 to 10 percent slower in this weather myself to adjust.

Some of you have already run the Club Challenge 1 Mile – I timed a SMOKIN run by Coach Rich on Tuesday and a great run in those conditions for Jill that same morning, so if you want to do that tomorrow it will be the best day remaining in the challenge week to do so. If you want a different track workout, or ran the mile earlier this week, a couple of us will be 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 As required ;-) )! The workout if you aren't "Mile-ing" is as follows:

July 16, 2020 - 6 x 500m in 5k pace - with 300m jog recovery in between

• Stallions: 5:45 to 6:15 Pace
• Wolf Pack: 6:15 to 6:45 Pace
• Gazelles: 6:45 to 7:30 Pace
• Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 10:00 Pace

This is another speed workout guaranteed to build both strength and stamina for your fall 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. I would ease into these by running the first couple in 8k or 10k pace, but also feel free to crush the last couple in 3k pace if you are still feeling frisky.

In club news from Coach Rich ...

Hey gang. The heat is on ... Hope you are all staying hydrated on your runs as it sure looks like a hot and sticky week[s] ahead.

This week's big news is the arrival of Kieren Maverick Waite! Quoting Shauna and James, "He was most certainly #worththewaite !!!" - Big surprise he was two weeks early arriving on July 12th, small but mighty at 5lbs 14 oz! And good for Shauna, she popped the kid out in near record time! Huge congrats to Shauna and James. Needless to say we want to see the little "Dude" out on the track before too long!

The #dcrrc1milechallenge started this past Monday and runs through Sunday night. I hope you will all get out there and participate. All the details are at https://www.dcroadrunners.org/ and on the club Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/2808709242748723/

Also, the QuaranTeens Run DC Virtual 5K starts on Saturday and runs through Sunday July 26. The race is free but you do need to register in advance. We are sponsoring the race so you can sign up on our website. They are also taking donations to support their efforts to mentor kids in underserved areas in DC. Even if you can give just $1 it would be appreciated. If you donate $35 you do get a nice race shirt but again the race is free to participate in so set a 5K goal and go out there and get it! For more about Teens Run DC go to: https://www.teensrundc.org/

Happy running!

Coach Big Guy and Coach Rich will be out doing the workout or some variation thereof tomorrow