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6 to 8 x 800m in 5k/Yasso Pace, 400m rest

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

The weather tomorrow will be just a bit colder than last week with Temps at 29 degrees but lower humidity at 69%, with little wind at 3 MPH, but still, remember to bring fluids! More Importantly – HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to each and every one of you!

Accordingly, 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 to warm up. Workout as follows:

Valentine's Day - February 14, 2019 - 6 to 8 x 800m at 5K ("interval")/Yasso Pace, w/400m easy jogs in between

Water breaks are important ALL year round, especially when it very humid like tomorrow, so remember to hydrate before, during and after your runs – tomorrow after each interval!

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: 5:45 to 6:15 Pace, 8 Intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:15 to 6:45 Pace, 7 to 8 Intervals

Gazelles: 6:45 to 7:30 Pace, 6 to 7 Intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 10:30 Pace, 6 Intervals

This week's workout is a tough speed workout - essentially running a 5k, or a 5k plus another 1000 or so, so it will be a challenge, and luckily we have decent weather. A note on Pace – I prefer you run Yasso 800's, which means your pace for the 800 should your goal time in the marathon but hours become minutes and minutes seconds - e.g. if you want to run a three-hour fifteen-minute marathon, you should run a 3 minute fifteen second 800. More importantly, your rest interval of 400m should be in the exact same time – NOT faster – I'm looking at you, Rodrigo! ;-) Since you will be going fairly all-out, be especially focused on good form - up on your toes, knees lifting, core sill, slight lean, eyes forward, and perhaps most importantly, hands at your side to help smoothly lift your knees - no crossing over or chicken wings. Also, no fists (imagine Pringles or an egg in your hand and you don't want to crush them)!

In club news from Coach Rich ...

Some really great racing results from this past weekend and in some pretty cold weather to boot.

At the Algonquin 50K, Liz Ozeki ran her first ultra in a time of 4:23:22. This was good for 1st OAF, 4th OA in the race and a new Women's Course Record! This is a trail race. Liz said she was "slightly traumatized by the sand, mud pits, knee-deep water, and more sand, but I didn't get lost and I only fell once". Holy Moly Liz. Just a phenomenal effort. We are all so proud of you. Just great work.

Langley 8K

30:51 - Rodrigo Vellon, 1st 25-29
31:39 - Christie Wetzel, 1st OAF
33:22 - Andrew Simpson
33:49 - Chris Walsh, 2nd 25-29
35:54 - Melinda Metz, 1st 40-44
35:59 - Shauna Waite, 2nd 30-34
37:37 - Kevin Cunningham
38:32 - Yuko Takakusaki, 1st 50-54
45:04 - Elizabeth Humphrey, 2nd 55-59

The GW Birthday Marathon is February 17th, and still needs volunteers. Please consider this and contact Raj@dcroadrunners.org if you can help. I will be at the finish line with a hot fire roaring all day long. Last call for the club challenge 10M: It's on the 24th and registration closes this Saturday – please sign up on the website. The DCRRC Happy Hour is Thursday night February 21, details on the website http://dcroadrunners.org, I look forward to seeing many of you there.

BIG REQUEST FOR TMBC ... Our annual DCRRC Banquet is on Sunday night March 3. This is a great time with great friends and great food. We honor our 2018 club award winners and this year like the past there is great representation from Thursday morning receiving awards: Liz Ozeki - Most Improved Female, Paul Ryan - Male Masters Runner of the Year, Christine Westcott - Female Masters Runner of the Year. Please come out to this event and cheer on these amongst and all our clubs winners. Here is the link to register: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/sign-up/banquet

Coach Big Guy will be at practice tomorrow but Coach Rich is still recovering from surgery.

14 - 18 x 400m in 10k Pace, 100m jog

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

The weather tomorrow will be cooler but still pretty nice for February with Temps at 49 degrees with high humidity at 90%, with little wind at 3 MPH, and the overnight rains should be gone, but 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:

February 7th, 2019: 14 - 18 x 400m in Cruise Interval Pace (10k pace) - with 100m slow jog recovery in between

• Stallions: 5:45 to 6:30 Pace, 18 Intervals
• Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:15 Pace, 16 – 18 Intervals
• Gazelles: 7:15 to 7:45 Pace, 16 – 18 Intervals
• Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:45 to 10:30 Pace, 14 – 16 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 Rich Club News this week:

The next race is presently scheduled for February 9th, at Langley High school – a good but tough race with challenging hills – details on the Club Web site. The GW Birthday Marathon is February 17th, and the Club still needs volunteers. The Club Happy Hour is Thursday night February 21, details on the website, and the Club Challenge 10 Miler – a great race and loads of fun – is February 24th – mark your calendars and check the Club website for details. Finally, the Club Annual Banquet, with lots of awards (hint: some TMBC members to receive them) is set for March 3rd, always a fabulous time, family friendly, and the food has been awfully good!

Coach Big Guy will be at practice tomorrow, as he is back from Austin/Dallas/LA/San Francisco/Clear Lake, Iowa/Chicago – never a dull moment in Tiny B's life!