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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!

No TMBC - Yasso 800s

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

Tomorrow will be pretty cold and windy, with Temps from the upper-30s to the Mid 40s, but lower humidity. A good day to run but not the best – wear a windbreaker and remember to Hydrate despite the milder temps! Again, tracks are open, but no "organized" activities may take place. A few of us will be at Yorktown at 8 AM tomorrow, and last week we had some TMBC members before and after the 8 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.

March 4, 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 at the same pace/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 me, developed by the legendary Coach Bowman from Oregon who coached Pre – one of the best workouts you can do for the marathon!

Here is the Coach Rich Club Report:

Greetings Thursday Morning Faithful. Definitely some nicer weather for us this week. The bright sunshine on Tuesday was amazing and I hope many got to enjoy it.

In the news this week is our favorite Admiral, Paul Ryan. Paul of course turned 70 in December, but did you know he was our DCRRC Masters Runner of the year in 1998 and again in 2018. He had another great running year in 2020 during the pandemic. The World Masters Rankings have ranked the Admiral 1st in the mile, 2nd in the 5K and 3rd in the indoor 1500 - all in his last year in the 65-69 age group! Paul remains an inspiration to so many of us. Run Washington Magazine tracked him down recently. Check out the article they just published.

https://www.runwashington.com/2021/03/02/paul-ryan-the-miler-not-the-speaker/#more-87953

A few event reminders:
1. Mar 7 is the Burke Lake 12K live race free to club members
2. Mar 7 (that same night) is the club annual meeting (virtual)
3. Mar 14 - Ft. Hunt 10K, live race free to club members
4. We need volunteers for both races.
You can get all the information on each of these and you can register for all of the above at https://www.dcroadrunners.org/

Happy Running!

Coach Big Guy will be out doing the workout at YHS tomorrow, and Coach Rich is coming back and will join the Big Guy, Iron Man and Jill at Yorktown tomorrow!