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Welcome to the DCRRC Wednesday Night Track Workouts. In conjunction with our year-round distance-specific training programs, and our regular Saturday Long Runs, these workouts aim to give runners of all abilities the fitness to reach their goals. For the novice or casual runner, these workouts will challenge you to a higher level of running fitness. For the competitive runner, track workouts are an essential means to reaching personal bests and to succeed at whatever level you are competing.
Where & When
Unless otherwise noted, workouts are held on the track at Washington-Liberty (formerly Washington-Lee) High School in Arlington. We meet near the concession stand (northwest corner) at 6:45pm and start the workout at 7:00pm. Warmups, drills, etc. are on your own.
Philosophy
Our workouts focus on two of the three forms of speed work used by distance runners from the 5K to the Marathon: Stamina Training (10K race pace or slower) and Interval Training (around 5K race pace). We also do a limited amount of Speed Training (faster than 5K race pace) especially during the summer.
Do not worry if this is new to you, and especially if you feel that track workouts are for "fast" runners. Our posted workouts are suggested "maximums," and can be individually tailored to your current level of fitness and specific running goals. Our coach, Ed Grant, has been leading these workouts for 20 years, and is happy to customize a workout plan to meet your needs.
Paces
To get a sense of how fast you should run during these workouts, we encourage you use the McMillan Running Calculator. You can plug in a recent race time and a goal race time, and the Calculator will churn out Training Paces (click on that term) for everything from long runs to speed paces. We recommend applying Mark Hadley's temperature + dew point adjustments in warm and humid weather. Temperature and dew point forecasts are available from the National Weather Service.
Wednesday Track - 6 to 8 Yasso 800s
Wednesday Night Hawks
Tonight will be pretty cold and a bit windy, with Temps from the upper-30s to the low 40s, but lower humidity. Again, tracks are open, but no "organized" activities may take place. A few of us will to W&L, Yorktown or even Falls Church HS for track work tonight.
January 6, 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 in the same 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 myself, developed by the legendary Coach Bowman form Oregon who coached Pre – one of the best workouts you can do for the marathon!
Wednesday Track - Virtual 5k or Tempo
Wednesday Night Hawks
Today will be as nice a day as you can wish for in the winter, with temps from the low 30s to the low 50s and lots of sunshine. Tracks are open throughout the DMV for individuals despite the increase in infections, so if you follow the guidelines and are in good health, you are in for a good day's run. This week we traditionally a "Resolutions & Predictions" 5k race, but we can't this year due to the Pandemic. Since a virtual "race" at that distance is still a great benchmark that will help you plan your training in 2021 – when we will finally return to racing head-to-head, the track coaches suggest that for this week's speed work you run a virtual 5k race, but if you are not up to that effort, in the alternative you can run some Tempo work.
December 30, 2020 – A Virtual 5k Pace on the Track or Course of your Choosing – at 5k Pace, of Course! In the Alternative, at least 30:00 minutes of Tempo work (somewhere between 10k and 10m pace)
And now the final – I promise – Secret Santa Virtual Holiday Relays Results Report!
As it turns out, a final 2020 DCRRC Secret Santa Virtual Holiday Relays result from Melinda Metz got stuck in Big Guy's spam filter, and when she was finally added to the totals, along with Coach Big Guy, an even number of runners competed, and we were able to finally calculate the results correctly. We will try to get all the results up on the Club Website in the correct place and style as soon as possible. In the meantime, here are the top three finishers. All reported winners (in all of my emails – you are all winners in my book!) will receive a small prize from a very embarrassed Coach Big Guy:
First Place - Ian Huang (15:12) and Nate Rathjen (15:28) = Total Time: 30:40
Second Place - Melinda Matz (13:59) and Paul Ryan (16:44) = Total Time: 30:43
Third Place - Mark Bourgeois (15:02) and Zé Dagher (15:42) = Total Time: 30:44
Directions to Track
Track workouts are held on the track at Washington-Liberty (formerly Washington-Lee) High School.
From Washington DC: take I-66 east to the Glebe Road exit, turn right on Glebe, right on 15th Street for about 0.4 miles, to Stafford Street, turn right and cross over I-66 and the school is on your left.
From Vienna and points west in Virginia: take I-66 east to the Fairfax Drive exit, follow Fairfax Drive for about 0.8 mile to Stafford Street, turn left for about 0.3 miles and the school is on your right.
From Alexandria: take Glebe Road going north until turning right on 15th Street, and proceed as from DC.
Metro: Washington-Liberty is a short walk from both the Virginia Square and Ballston Metro stations (Orange/Silver lines).
Track Resources
Upcoming Events
| Alexandria Turkey Trot Thu, Nov 28th, 2024, @9:00am |
| DCRR Gar Williams Half Marathon Sun, Dec 1st, 2024, @9:00am |
| DCRRC Bread Run 10K & Gingerbread 2-Miler Sun, Dec 8th, 2024, @10:00am |
| Book Club Sun, Dec 8th, 2024, @4:00pm |
| DCRRC New Year's Resolutions 5K Wed, Jan 1st, 2025, @12:00pm |
| DCRRC Al Lewis 10-Miler and 5-Miler Sun, Jan 5th, 2025, @8:00am |
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The DC Road Runners Club is a member of the Road Runners Club of America and is also affiliated with USA Track & Field. We provide a year-round schedule of running events that offer everyone a chance to participate regardless of age, gender, or athletic ability. |