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3 to 5 x 1600m

Fellow Endorphin Junkies -

The weather tomorrow morning will be cooler, with temps at 66 degrees and higher humidity at 88%, with little wind at 2 MPH, so dress accordingly, and as always you should still bring fluids.

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 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.

September 20, 2018 - 3 to 5 x 1600m in Cruise Interval Pace (10k pace) with 400m easy jogs in between

Water breaks are important ALL year round, even when it cooler 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, and if your rates are higher, you need to slow down!

Stallions: 6:00 to 6:30 Pace, 4 - 5 x 1600m Intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:30 to 7:00 Pace, 4 - 5 x 1600m Intervals

Gazelles: 7:00 to 7:30 Pace, 4 x 1600 m Intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 10:30 Pace, 3 to 4 x 1600m

This week's workout is base workout, aiming at building strength and endurance for the marathon. As always, don't go out too quick on the first couple, and try to make each interval a bit faster than the last. Mentally divide each 1600 in 4 parts - first 400, settle into a good rhythm, second 400 focus on form - knees higher than long runs and up on the toes, third 400 make sure you are relaxing and using your arms to lift the knees, not crossing over your body, and last 400, accelerate slowly to finish strong! Remember to leave something in the tank for your last interval, as these segments can be very challenging, even at 10k pace.

Here is the Coach Rich Club News this week:

Huge congratulations to DC Road Runner Christine Westcott. Christine posted a time of 3:03:17 at the Huntsville (Utah) Marathon last Sunday. She was the 3rd OAF and her time was a 13+ minute PR. All this at age 48!!! Needless to say, we are all VERY proud of her.

Paul Ryan ran a strong 6:04 for 1600 at the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics. He placed 4th overall out of 22 and won his AG. Paul was a picture of consistency on the track this summer with all his times oh so close 6 minutes. By beating 6:06, however, Paul is an ALL-American for his Age Group (65+).

At the Navy – At the Air Force Half Marathon, Hai Nguyen ran a solid 1:38:24

The DCRRC Picnic and 3M XC race is coming up on Saturday Sep 22 at Landon School in Bethesda. This is a great event and for the entire family. Please register whether you are running or just picnicking. Register all family members please so we can make sure and have enough food. Full info and to register go to dcroadrunners.org.

Lastly, the National Capital 20M and 5M races are at Carderock on Sunday Sep 30. Great tune-up race for your Fall Marathon. Full info and to register go to dcroadrunners.org.

Coach Big Guy will be there at track practice tomorrow!

Thursday Track - 4 x 5 min, 5K pace, 5 min rest

Hi Everyone.  Big Guy is in Nashville, TN this week so it will just be me this week.  Weather will be okay but not great at 73' but a dew point of 71' so gonna be a bit sticky. The workout is 4 x 5 minutes at 5K pace with 5 minutes easy running in between each rep.

As always we will be at the YHS track and the workout will start promptly at 6AM.  Do your warmups before that.

A couple of stellar performances from crew members this weekend.

First off 3 cheers for Melinda Metz at the Erie Marathon. Melinda crushed her BQ attempt by almost 25 minutes. Her time was 3:20:27. I congratulated her right after the race and she said, "Thanks. That felt good". I can imagine why as Melinda ran a huge negative split race of 1:42:27 then 1:38:00. Just phenomenal! I was in Erie as well giving it my best shot at a 2019 BQ on the last possible day. Only difference is that I didn't do any marathon training. Just a single 19M run two weeks out and just 35M/week. It was a desparation attempt to run Boston on the 30 year anniversary of my first one in 1989. The last few miles were ugly but I got the BQ by 3:02 with a time of 3:51:58. Splits of 1:55:46 and 1:56:12 are not too bad for no training. Not sure it is enough to get me in the race but I did leave it all out on the course and am pretty proud of the effort especially given all I have been and am going through on the medical front. As a side note, I don't recommend this not doing the training thing. I can't tell you all how very sore I am right now.

In addition to Melinda, we had another eye-popping performance from Liz Ozeki on Sunday at the Parks Half Marathon in Rockville and Bethesda.  Liz rocked 1:29:07 out of the half marathon ball park. This was a 5 minute PR. Just fabulous Liz. Also at Parks was Hai Nguyen posting a leisurely 1:59:13 and flying his MRRC colors in support of their great race.

The DCRRC Picnic and 3M XC race is coming up on Saturday Sep 22 at Landon School in Bethesda. This is a great event and for the entire family. Please register whether you are running or just picnicking. Register all family members please so we can make sure and have enough food. Full info and to register go to dcroadrunners.org.

Lastly, the National Capital 20M and 5M races are at Carderock on Sunday Sep 30. Great tune-up race for your Fall Marathon. Full info and to register go to dcroadrunners.org.

I look forward to seeing you in the morning!

Rich