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No TMBC this week - Run a July 4th Race!

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

There will be NO Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington tomorrow. Instead, TMBC regulars are encouraged to run a local July 4th race. For those of you in DC and who registered, there is an Age-Handicapped 4 miler tomorrow morning at Carderock. If you are on the road, there are a lot of local July 4th races throughout the country.

The weather tomorrow in DC will be much warmer with Temps at 80 degrees with a little more humidity than normal at 80%, so real feel at 85 and no relief from wind at only 3 MPH, so dress accordingly and still remember to bring fluids!

Here is the Coach Big Guy Club News this week:

As was reported last week Mrs. Big Guy and Coach BG live at Chateau Big Guy across the street from the Washington Golf & Country Club at Glebe Road and Rock Spring, right next to Marymount, and the WG&CC has the biggest fireworks display in DC after the Mall, but without Presidential speeches or flyovers! Plus air conditioning and real bathrooms! Please join us for potluck grilling and fireworks, or just walk over for the works with a blanket. Grilling starts at 7 PM and the works start right before 9 PM! Coach Rich is coming, but I haven't heard from anyone else – so if you are coming, please let me know!

Here is the Coach Rich Club News this week:

Several club races coming in a row. See the club website at dcroadrunners.org to register:

13 July – Track Championships
14 July – Bastille Day 4M
17 July – Bluemont 5K

Coach Big Guy messed up and failed to register, and barring a miracle, won't be at the race tomorrow, but he wishes everyone luck!

12 - 16 x 400m in 10k Pace, 100m jog

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

The weather tomorrow will be warmer but still pretty nice for June with Temps at 72 degrees with a little less humidity than normal at 77%, with little wind at 3 MPH, so dress accordingly and still remember to bring fluids!

The Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington will begin at the Yorktown High School track tomorrow at 6:00 AM sharp, with announcements before 6 - so please get there early at about 5:40 on the track to warm up for the workout at 6, which is around the corner from the school, at the intersection of North 28th and Greenbriar streets. Workout as follows:

June 27th, 2019: 12 - 16 x 400m in Cruise Interval Pace (10k pace) - with 100m slow jog recovery in between

• Stallions: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace, 16 Intervals
• Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace, 14 – 16 Intervals
• Gazelles: 7:15 to 7:45 Pace, 13 – 15 Intervals
• Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:45 to 10:30 Pace, 12 – 14 Intervals

These 400m workouts should be quite familiar, as we do this one several times each cycle, and it is a good one. These 400s build both speed and endurance. Remember that 100m recovery jog is not sufficient to fully recover from these 400s, so lactic acid and fatigue will build, and therefore you want to pace yourself through these, not going out too fast on the first few. A perfect workout on these has a runner building speed through these intervals, with each just a shade faster than the previous one so that your last 400 is 7 to 10 seconds faster than the first. As always, when you are running 400s, you want to get up on your toes, lift your knees, and lean forward - not from the waist, but a full-body lean, of perhaps 8 to 10 degrees.

Here is the Coach Big Guy Club News this week:

For those of you who will be in town for July 4th, there will be no Thursday Morning Track, but instead, you should consider doing the Club's Age-Handicapped 4 Miler – it is a ton of fun, and a great workout alternative – details are on the Club Website – sign up soon! In addition, the Big Guy is big on form, and especially arm form, so check out the article below about proper arm form from Active.Com.

Finally, Mrs. Big Guy and Coach BG live at Chateau Big Guy across the street from the Washington Golf & Country Club at Glebe Road and Rock Spring, right next to Marymount, and the WG&CC has the biggest fireworks display in DC after the Mall, but without Presidential speeches or flyovers! Plus air conditioning and real bathrooms! Please join us for potluck grilling and fireworks, or just walk over for the works with a blanket. Grilling starts at 7 PM and the works start right before 9 PM!

Here is the Coach Rich Club News this week:

It was the usual steamy night for the Hugh Jascourt 4M. At least the thunderstorms stayed away through some rain might have made out runners feel a little better. Some good results and some of our runners truly suffered and I could see it in their faces as I was snapping pictures at the finish. The pictures are on FB.

24:53 – Kyle Edgerton, 2nd AG
25:20 – Chris Walsh, 1st AG
25:50 – Ze Dagher, 2nd AG
25:58 – Liz Ozeki, 1st OAF
26:51 – Andrew Simpson, 3rd AG
27:31 – Christie Wetzel, 2nd OAF
27:31 – Will Hernandez
30:12 – Kenneth Riley
30:24 – Gary Morgans, 1st AG
37:22 – Elizabeth Humphrey, 2nd AG

Several club races coming in a row. See the club website at dcroadrunners.org to register:
04 July – Age Handicapped 4M
13 July – Track Championships
14 July – Bastille Day 4M
17 July – Bluemont 5K

Coach Big Guy will be at practice tomorrow, but Coach Rich may not make it!

 

Why Your Arms Are an Important Part of Your Running Form
By Michael Nystrom

When we think of running mechanics, it's only natural our legs come to mind first--obviously, they do the lion's share of the work while running, and they're essentially what propels us from Point A (the start line) to Point B (the finish line).
If you hire a coach or head to your local running store for a gait analysis, suggestions like "shorten your stride" or "run taller" might be thrown around, and exercises (or shoes) might be prescribed to you to fix a specific issue. But to be clear, we're not saying to stop focusing on your lower-body mechanics, but rarely do a runner's arms get any attention.
Usually, this causes runners to default to what feels most comfortable to themselves, but studies show that what your arms "do" while running can make a huge difference in overall efficiency.
A 2014 study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology proved that a proper swinging motion while running can save upwards of 13 percent in energy expenditure.
How was this determined?
A team from the University of Colorado, Boulder, gathered 13 dedicated runners and had them run on a treadmill in seven-minute increments while recording their oxygen consumption rates and CO2 exhaled.
The baseline test recorded each runner swinging their arms, and the following three tests had them run with their arms crossed across their chest, holding their hands on top of their heads and holding their arms loosely behind their back.
Running with a proper arm swinging motion saved the participants an average of three percent in energy expenditure when compared to running with their arms behind their back, and a whopping 13 percent when their hands were held on their head.
"The arms weigh about 10 percent of the body, so if we took them away, we could hypothetically save 10 percent of the metabolic cost of running, but at the same time you wouldn't have any mass to counteract the swinging of the legs, so running would be more difficult to stabilize," Christopher Arellano of Brown University says.
This brings up another question Arellano briefly touched on: Why does swinging your arms help with efficiently?
Essentially, swinging your arms helps stabilize the entire body while running. The natural forces your legs create while catching and pushing off from the ground causes your body to twist through your hips and core, and swinging your arms opposite to your legs helps counteract these forces. The energy used to swing your arms is less than the energy required to counteract this rotation if the arms were held still.
Not only that but swinging your arms while running can help set a healthy tempo with the legs following suit. This rhythm is important, especially for distance runners.
So how can you promote a healthy arm swing? Our article "Good Running Form for Beginners" outlines three things to keep in mind.
Zipper Lines
Imagine you're wearing a jacket with a zipper down the middle while running. Occasionally look down at your arms and monitor where your hands stop at the most forward part of the swing. If you see your thumb and finger cross over that "zipper" line, you're going too far--hold your hands out wider and swing your arms back more for a quick fix.
Chicken Wings
As a runner gets more and more fatigued, their arms naturally start to pull up and sit closer to the body, causing a shorter swing (and shorter stride). Release some of this tension by relaxing your shoulders, letting your arms swing down at your sides and shaking out your hands. After about 50 to 100 meters, gradually return your arms back to their natural (relaxed) position.
Potato Chips
Continuing on this tension theme, make sure your hands aren't clinched too tightly. This tension will, over time, work up through your forearms and into your shoulders and neck, reducing efficiency and comfort. You can help prevent this tension by imaging your hands are each holding a potato chip that you're trying not to crush. This will keep your hands and arms relaxed, and help you save energy over time.