DC Road Runners - Enter your slogan here

5 to 6 x 1000m in 5k, 400m jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

The weather tomorrow morning will be interesting, with temps in the upper 60s to lower 70s, somewhat humid at 73%, a bit of wind at 9 MPH, and some chance of light rain. Due to the unseasonably warm and humid weather, you should bring plenty of fluids. We will meet at Yorktown HS track, around the corner from the school on Greenbriar street (the track is technically in Greenbriar Park) – warm up at about 5:40 am, before the 6 AM start time for instructions.

April 6, 2023 – 5 to 6 x 1000m at 5K ("Interval") Pace, w/400m SLOW easy jogs in between out in Lane 4 to allow recovery.

Water breaks are important ALL year round, especially when it is warm like tomorrow, so remember to hydrate before, during and after your runs – after each interval, if possible, but at least every other interval!

NOTE: I expect to see your heart rates in the mid 80% of Maximum range, but if your rates are higher, you need to slow down!

Stallions: 5:15 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 10:30 Pace

This week's workout is a good speed workout, but given the distance, also an endurance workout. For you Boston Marathoners, this is a dandy final speed workout 11 days out from your race. As with last week's workout, the trick tomorrow is to start at 10k pace on the first interval and to get faster each interval until you are running 5k pace. Focus on form, eyes front, knees higher, arms at side lifting the knees, hands relaxed, on toes. This is a 5k distance race for us (Albeit with 4 x 400m jogs added!), so take it easy on the recovery jog/walk/water legs of 400m.

In Coach Rich Club News –

Coach Rich and Vicki just made it to the Outback in Australia – including Ayers Rock! Follow them on Facebook – Amazing Photos!

I did not receive any race results this week as I pinch hit for Rich, but I tried to figure it out the best I could and apologize in advance for the several people I am sure I missed. If I missed you, or you ran a race other than Cherry Blossom (I'm looking at you Colonel Mike) PLEASE let me know your race results so I can approach a reasonable facsimile of Coach Rich and mention you next week!

Some really nice results at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler:

0:57:28 – Rodrigo Vellon
1:02:52 - Christie Wetzel
1:03:22 – Anna Staats
1:08:38 – Chris Walsh
1:08:43 – Lauren Firey
1:19:20 – Mark Bourgeois
1:19:40 – Ken Riley
1:19:57 – Emily Riley
1:20:53 – Kim Sweeny
1:34:27 – Dead Last But Finished – Coach Big Guy

In Club volunteer news, we have urgent needs for volunteers at upcoming Club and external races we're supporting. Please "pay it forward" by coming out and supporting our running community We need volunteers for the Club water stop at the Sunday, April 23, PNC Parkway Classic 10 Mile Water Stop, volunteer on the Club Website.

Happy running! Coach Big Guy for Rich!

Coach Big Guy will be at Yorktown tomorrow morning!

6 x 800m in 5k, 400m jogs

Fellow Endorphin Junkies

The weather tomorrow morning will be terrific, a little warmer with temps in the low 40s and very low humidity at 49%, but with some wind and gusts, and no chance of rain! Dress accordingly, but still bring water to hydrate. We will start warmups around 5:40, with speed intervals starting at 6 AM in Greenbriar Park, around the corner from Yorktown High School. If you are running Cherry Blossom on Sunday, you can come and run some sharpening 400s with 200m jogs which will be a nice final workout prior to the race. For the rest of you, it's back to 800s:

March 30th, 2023 - 6 x 800m in 5k with 400m jog recovery in between, and the first one or two intervals in 10k/8k Pace

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

This is another speed workout guaranteed to build both strength and stamina for your summer races. These are tougher than they look, so try to finish strong - push that last 100, and make sure you focus on your running form, so you run efficiently, effectively, and injury-free. Up on your toes, knees lifting higher, Arms at your sides, not crossing over. Even though I am calling for 5k pace on these, we expect this series to be a progression – starting closer to 10k/8k pace, so take the first two easier, then kick it up a notch by moving to 5k Pace – say 3 to 6 seconds faster per interval than the first two, and if you have something in the tank, pick it up on the last couple of intervals.

In the Coach Rich news ...

Coach Rich and Vicki just finished 12 glorious days in New Zealand, traversing the beautiful country you remember from the "Lord of the Rings" movies, including sailing, trams, trains, zip lines and more – check out their amazing pictures on Facebook. Tomorrow, they head to Australia!

For those of us home bound, I did not see any race results the last few days, and nobody sent me any this week as I pinch hit for Rich. PLEASE let me know your race results so I can approach a reasonable facsimile of Coach Rich!

In Club volunteer news, we have urgent needs for volunteers at several upcoming Club and external races we're supporting. Please "pay it forward" by coming out and supporting our running community! If you aren't running the Chery Blossom 10-Miler this weekend, there are volunteer needs Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2: Cherry Blossom 10-Mile and 5K races. While the Club's Friday evening packet pickup crew is now fully-staffed, the race still needs volunteers on the course for setup, aid stations and breakdown. We have lots of runners in these races; please help if you can. Click here to volunteer: <Click here to volunteer> or email Nita Roncone: <email Nita Roncone>. We also need volunteers for the Club water stop at the Sunday, April 23, PNC Parkway Classic 10 Mile Water Stop, click here to volunteer: <click here to volunteer>

Happy running! Coach Big Guy for Rich!

Coach Big Guy will return to Yorktown in the AM, but Coach Rich is still making travel memories!