Richmond Times Dispatch #8

We are now famous! Well. . . not really, but they did the the story on us in the Richmond Times Dispatch. I expect most of you received the scanned copy from Don Garber. Just in case here is the online version. You can follow this link to Vic Dorr's latest marathon installment.

Pictures from 07/29

Below are pictures from last weekend. There are a few good ones. My favorite is the picture of Russ blowing his cheeks out when he is finishing. He has that, "Thank God I am done look." If you want to see the 2006 Picture Albulm of the Richmond group, follow this link. Then click the 2006 link at the top. Mark will be adding pictures every week.

Weekend Routes 07/29

Here are your route maps for this weekend. We will leave from the Harris Teeter at 6:00 a.m. This time we will run our routes in reverse from what we have normally done. No new roads, just a different direction. Fluids will be at the train tracks again which we will pass twice. For those on the eight mile route, you will need to complete the Candlewood portion (about 3.5 miles) without a fluid stop, so take a bottle from the train tracks if you need one, or at least drink well before continuing.

• 5-mile
• 8-mile - (we will run this backwards)

There is lots of stuff on the blog if you have not checked it lately look below. Be sure to check out your team-mates hidden talents in the Guess Who section. Routes are below. See you tomorrow!

Email #9 from Coach Don

Good / Bad Runs: We will be training for 25 weeks for the marathon. Having done this for a few years now, I can say with fairly good certainty that it is very rare (if not never) that a person goes thru the whole training process without having one or more long runs that I would classify as a bad run. You may not of had one yet but it is the run that in the first few miles you just don't feel right. Your body is not quite in total sync. And during the course of the run it might get some better but not really a whole lot. And the last few miles are just a bit of a struggle to finish.
Well, we all have these runs. And just because you have one on an occasional basis is not a reason for great concern. There are so many factors that come into play when you are doing these longer runs (sleep, nutrition, stress, weather, etc) that having one is not a big deal. Just realize that this one specific day is not your A+ day and when it is over, just forget about it.

Remember that there is always the next week / the next day and that over time you will have just as many days that are super easy and over time they will even out.....

The Schedule...who are you?: After a couple of months your training regime should have gotten established. I like to classify people into several types. I am sure that you can all think of several more. (and these are always fun). So see which one you are and there is some advice for each of you.

• The Slave...has the schedule tattooed to their forehead and several other places. They religiously run each and every day / mile that is on the schedule. They don't miss a workout. Advice: Be careful. These people may well have a higher chance of getting hurt. They press for more miles when they are tired or hurt. Of course we want you to run the miles on the schedule. But we are training for six months. Over that period you will have days that you will not feel quite 100%. Or you will have days where living your life takes a little bit more. So don't be afraid to switch a day if needed. Or don't be afraid to miss a day if you are not feeling all there. But don't try to make it all up on one day (so if you miss Tuesday and Wednesday, don't run the mileage for all three days on Thursday)
• The Overscheduled...works, has a family, their plate if fairly full. They really try to run every day on the schedule. But the kids have a game/ the boss need you to work late. And you always miss one or two days per week. Advice: Make time for yourself. Look at your schedule and see when you run. Maybe you have always run in the evenings. But things crop up during the day. So maybe you need to look at running in the morning (or lunch) before the day can interfere. One thing that can help you is to schedule your run on your day timer. Block off the time for yourself to get in your run. Or plan your run around other things. So you children have a soccer practice. Run around the field for the 3-4-5 miles you need during the practice.
• The Hurt...run thru anything. They think their injury is minor and that they can just run thru it. Advice: This one is tricky. You need to learn about your body. Some injuries are just minor things and you can run thru them. For example, you calf is just a little tight and loosens up after 5 minutes of running. And it gets better each day. This you could run thru. But if each day it gets a little worse, you need to do something about it. My number one advice about injuries. You need to get well first. If you miss 3-4 days when you are slightly injured it is a lot better that trying to run through it and wind up losing 3-4 weeks when the injury gets worse.
• The Way Behinders...well, they are way behind. They have not really established a routine. They have missed a lot of the runs. They don't know if they can do the mileage. Advice: Talk to us. We can usually re work the schedule and get you back on track to catch up with the team. Or we can tell you if you are too far behind. But most of all, talk to me or one of the coaches.
• The Why Did I Sign up for This...never got with the program. It was a good idea back in May. But you have never gotten your act together. Advice: Let us know. We have 5-7% of the team that falls in this category each year. It hurts us not to see you accomplish your goal, but that is ok. Just please email us back and let us know so we can reclassify you on the roster.

So see where you fit (or make up you own category.)

OTHER BUSINESS: A kudos to Briana Whaley, one of our team members. At the Cul de Sac 5K race last Monday she not only won the Women's race but she also set a course record in the process. Great job.

Pace Groups and Bus Tours

Pace Groups: The Richmond Marathon offers Pace Groups for those who are interested. Each group will have a Pace Leader that will help you reach the goal time. They range in goals from 3:10 up to five hours. This is a free service, and can help you during the race. You can sign up online or just get a number at the expo.

If you have not done a pace group before, they ask the runners to pin a special number on their back (they provide it) that shows the goal time of the pace group. For example 4:30. This allows everyone to easily find the pace group just by looking at the back of other runners.
Chances are you may run with someone else from our group, or hopefully meet some on the Richmond team when we do our 20-miler. You may just want to run with them, or you can join a pace team.

Bus Tours: The Marathon also offers Bus Tours of the course on Friday. This is also free, but is limited. I will leave this decision to you. If you join us in Richmond for our 20-mile training run, you will already have seen most of the course, but if you still want to do the bus tour, I would sign up now, because it fills up every year.

Last Years Team

Had another teammate share this photo. This will give you an idea of what you are a part of, and the support you will have on race day. I promise, that you are not going after this goal alone. For more photos from last years team click here. You have to sign in, but they are worth it.

Help a teammate out!

Tracy H. is looking for a running partner (or partners) for some hill workouts. Her work schedule makes it so she has to start at 5:30 a.m. She is willing to meet at your house (assuming you have hills nearby), so you can get a few extra minutes of sleep.

The beauty of hill training, is that your pace does not matter. After your warm up, all you do is run up the hill, and jog back down. . . rinse and repeat! So you may not run each hill cycle together, but you are there supporting each other.

If you are interested, shoot Tracy an email by clicking on the little face in this post. You do not have to commit to every week. Remember. . . we are a team!

Pictures from 07/22

Here are some photos form last weekend. I can already tell you are all getting faster, becuase many of the pictures came out blurry. I may need to get a better camera so I can keep it with you! Our "team photo" is also below. You can easily tell that we had on reflective gear, especially shoes, and Ursula's hat! We will take many more groups pictures, so don't worry if you were not in this one. I am sure we will take one once we get our t-shirts, and when we get our race shirts too.

Long Runs and more

Blog Updates: I am having Blog issues (for some reason that sounds gross). I will try to upload some pictures later, but it is timing out on me right now.

Long Runs: I have heard from several of you regarding your performance on the training plan, specifically on the long runs. Frank and I have discussed this and want to give an option that falls between the Novice and the Intermediate plan that will still get you to your goal of completing a marathon.

The least aggressive plan is still the Novice plan, and the most aggressive is still the Intermediate plan. We discussed trying to have multiple options, but felt that three approaches to long runs should meet the needs of everyone. If you are injured, or need more specific tweaks to your plan, let us know. To explain the modification, let me begin by explaining the current options:

• Novice: Designed for very gradual build up of miles. The plan has recovery weeks every third week with the exception of one cycle. There is only one 20-mile training run. This plan also has one less day of running each week, and the Wednesday run is a little shorter.
• Intermediate: Designed for more aggressive build up of miles. This plan begins with recovery every third week, but eventually switches to recovery every other week. This plan has three 20-mile training runs. The Wednesday run is a little longer too.

What we have built now is a modification to the intermediate plan. The only thing that was modified was the long run. The purpose of this modification is to move you from the Intermediate Plan to the Novice plan, without giving up the base you have already gained. It is a gradual shift instead of just jumping from one plan to the other.

• Modified Intermediate: Slightly more aggressive than Novice, but more gradual than Intermediate. This plan will take advantage of the strong base you have already built on the Intermediate plan, but will slow it down and eventually get you on the same plan as the Novice one. There is only one 20-mile training run.

It is important to make a decision as to your plan, so you do not peak too early. If you think three 20-milers is too aggressive for you, you need to adjust now, not in September. I know it seems that the plans may allow too much flexibility, or that you are cheating by making changes (you are not cheating). What is important to remember is that these are guides, and can be customized to your needs.

You do not want to be struggling through your plan now. If you need to tone it down a little, or switch to the Novice plan, that is fine. All plans will prepare you for the marathon. The training is tough, but it should still be enjoyable. Please let Frank, Don, or myself know if you have questions or concerns.

Hill Workouts: A 6:00 a.m. Thursday morning "Hill Group" has started to form. The details are still getting worked out, but I expect this will become a dedicated group in the next few weeks. If you are interested, please let me know. I also plan to try to start a late afternoon group too, but cannot do it this week. I will check with Tracy P. about running from her house (lots of hills) if anyone is interested.

This Saturday: We will leave from the Harris Teeter again on Saturday. Even though the runs are shorter we will still meet at 6:00 a.m. If you are already on the Novice plan, try not to be tempted to add extra miles. You may not feel it yet, but your body will benefit from a shorter weekend run. Routes will be sent out shortly. I have lots more I could write about, but I think this is enough for now.

By the way. . . I ran three miles on the treadmill at lunch and it went great. I am icing my foot as I type as a precaution. I have been so down lately, but after today, I am flat-out-giddy. Keeping my fingers crossed for more good runs.

Just keep running. . . just keep running. . . just keep running, running, running. . .

Guess Who?

Below are the names that I heard from on the "bios". If you sent information in and I missed you, let me know (sorry!). A few of you I filled in information if I knew something about you. See if you can figure out who matches up with the information.

Names:

Frank Lilley - Elaine Weisner - Larry McKeel - Michael Forrester - Patti Miller - Tracy Proctor - John Tracey - Authur Bennett - Carol Dickens - Dave Houghton - Ryan Bullard - Jeff Miller - Russ Hinesley - Kinnie Pruden - Andy Barker - Ursula Forrester - Misty Schmitt

You might be surprised to know. . .

• I am a GAL with the North Carolina Judicial System
• I was ski jumping off a ramp at a competition and did a flip. . . unintentionally of course!
• I played tennis in college and professionally for a short while ('till I found out what really good tennis was!)
• I assisted with delivering a baby in a snow storm!
• I love college football and once played in a fantasy football league that I won. I'm naturally an introvert although I strive to be extroverted. I really didn't start talking in sentences until I was 5 years old and was very shy growing up. I celebrated my 16th birthday in the Soviet Union. In college I was President of my sorority, Phi Mu.
• I grew up in Minnesota and love to ride snowmobiles
• I can ballroom dance, and have lost 45 lbs, from 2002-2004.
• I have a mother who won the 400 meter bronze medal in the National Senior Olympic Games when she was 84. She was beat out by a more experienced runner who was 87.
• I am a CPA by training, but have retired my certificate
• I placed 2nd in the 1992 Big Man Competition Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, Texas.
• I have eaten 51 eggs (one more than Cool Hand Luke), Hold Kingsport's Fish eating competition with 39, and the Sigma Chi Hot Dog record of 36. I was Chuck Amato's blocking dummy at NC State and I wish that infernal ringing and those voices would stop in my Head!!
• I was in several bands (years ago) and can play the drums.
• I used to wrestle
• You might be surprised to know that I am a 2-time NCAA All- American in the triple jump.
• I have run 35 marathons
• I have Chicago Bears season tickets with my son.
• I can do a really cool "lip trick," just ask, I'll be glad to demonstrate. (This is neither a serious trick, nor a dirty one.)

I will post the answers and complete bios at the end of the week. Take some time this weekend to get to know your teammates. You should all have something to talk about now!

Richmond Times Dispatch #7

Vic Dorr returns this week with more on Jodie Pillow, and how she is using technology to help her run with the Endorphin Fitness program. I think next week will feature our team.

Weekend Routes for 07/22

Below are the routes for tomorrow. There is an 8 mile route and an 11 mile route. The first water on the course will be around 4.5 miles. I will have poweraide at the start, but you may want to carry a bottle to begin with.

I have also emailed the directions so you can print your own copy. This way you can adjust the font size, and laminate with tape if you are interested to keep it dry. A zip lock works for this also. I will not have printed copies at the start, so please print your own.

I tried to use most of the same roads as before, but there are some changes, so please be sure to review prior to running. Thanks everyone. Looking forward to it!

• 11 - miles
• 8 - miles

REMEMBER WE START AT 6:00 AM FROM THE HARRIS TEETER. WHERE YOUR YELLOW SHIRT.

Email #8 for Coach Don

Heat...OK, we have said a lot about running in the heat. Several more things after last week's hot runs. The basics again first. Then some added stuff.

1. Relax you pace, you are not going to be able to runs as fast as you can when it is cool. Period.
2. Hydrate. Most people do a good job on the run, but it is important to start the run hydrated also. If you do not have dietary issues, it does not hurt to have some salty foods before the run. Plus we have pretzels (salted) at the SAG stops. The salt will help you retain water (and yes women, in this case, that is good)
3. Cool clothing...I still see some of you in cotton. Others of you have gotten some coolmax clothing but a Navy Blue heavy tight fitting coolmax T shirt will not do you as much good as a white sleeveless or tank top (singlet) shirt.
4. After run....you need to get dry as soon as you can. Bring a dry shirt to change into after the run. If you are far away from the stadium, you may want to go inside and change shorts. Bring a pair of sandals to get out of the wet socks. (even coolmax socks get wet). And a towel to dry off with and to sit on for the ride home.
5. On these hot sunny days, as our time out there running, you will want to start thinking about adding sunscreen, sunglasses and maybe a coolmax, vented hat.
6. If you feel uneasy on a run, STOP. Stop at a SAG wagon, they have water and they can bring you back. Find a coach, they will stay with you until you are better.

We could add many more things but those are some to think about.

Injuries: We call them the August injuries. (The term was coined by a great write and runner, Hal Hidgon. If you want to read some of his writing, check out his web site www.halhigdon.com/ ) You have trained hard for a couple of months now. You are reaching new peaks almost weekly in terms of you mileage. You are pushing yourself. So you get some aches and pains. And you ignore them. And you come down injured.

What can you do about it? Make sure you follow the schedule and don't push yourself beyond what you are capable of doing. Make sure you are on the correct schedule. You may have been undecided between Novice and Intermediate and opted for Intermediate. Now is the time for you to make sure you are doing the proper training schedule. Or you opted for Intermediate and are having trouble doing all 5 days per week. So talk to your coaches or to me and let's make sure you are on the schedule that can keep you healthy. An old saying....you can't finish the race if you can't start the race.

Second, if you do have an issue, take care of it now. If you have something minor, it is better to miss 4-5 days now and let a minor thing heal than to let the minor injury become major and miss 4-5 weeks later. So if you have ANYTHING bother you talk to the coaches, talk to the trainer when they are there or go seek medical help. (some one who understands running injuries like Dr. Cutter who did our injury prevention clinic and is the medical director of the race)

See you this weekend.

6:00 a.m. run this Saturday & Team Picture

I know starting early is tough for some of you (myself included), but the heat is simply too bad right now. We will meet at the Harris Teeter again. I plan to run if my foot holds out. This means I will need to "plant" fluids on the route. Most likely this only mean two places, so if you can carry fluids please do. You can of course keep running with the water bottles I plant as well.

If you know you can not be there at 6:00 but still plan to run, let me know. You might not be alone. I will still make sure I have fluids for you as well.

Secondly, The Richmond Times Dispatch is going to do an article on our training team. THey said they may be able to use a photo, so I really would like to get a group picture with everyone wearing their training team shirt. Thanks

What we learned last weekend

This weekend was a good run, but a tough run. No question, the heat did it's best to break you down, but you all got through it. I thought this was a good weekend to recap some of the things we learned. This is a long email, so read it when you have a few minutes.

1) Blisters and Lubricants: Some of you had some blisters and/or chaffing from this weekend. The bad news is this is more likely to occur as our runs get longer. The good news is there are options to prevent it. Body Glide is the most common source of anti-friction skin formula. Essentially it reduces the rubbing of skin. After your long runs, examine your body to look for chafing or blisters. If you have minor blisters after 10 miles, you will have major problems after 20. So identify minor problems now, and use Body Glide to prevent them on the next run. Potential problem areas are feet, toes, crotch, your rear end, thighs, nipples, and shoulders. Anything that fabric touches is a potential problem zone.

2) Bloody Nipples Hurt: Yes, I know this sounds gross, but it is true. Constant rubbing of fabric on your nipples will eventually cause you to bleed. This is most common in men. To prevent it you can use Body Glide, but that frequently will wear of on long runs. Other options are band-aids, Liquid Bandage, or Medical Tape. If you are a male and have not experienced this yet, you most likely will.

3) It is HOT! Saturday was a hot run. The main thing you can learn from this is you need to adjust you run based on your conditions. Don't forget, humidity also impacts conditions, and can slow your body's ability to cool it self through sweating. Making adjustments could mean your pace, or it could mean distance. First of all, adjust your pace (slow down). If things still do not feel right, cut your run short. I am not suggesting giving up every time it gets tough, but you should also know when you are pushing yourself to hard. Remember. . . be safe. If you are not carrying fluids on your run, consider some options listed in a previous blog entry.

4) Some of you are doing better than you thought: Some of you are surprised with your progress, and are finding out your pace is quicker than you thought. This goes to show that sticking with it has helped to improve your ability. Celebrate this, and use it to keep you focused as the runs get longer.

5) It is time to settle in to a plan: As discussed before, most of you started on the intermediate plan. By now you know if you want to stay with this plan. There is nothing wrong with making a change. What is important is deciding what you want to do. Whichever you decide, you want to stick with it. Being "on the plan" one week and "off the plan" next will make it tough for your body to adjust to the increasing miles. There is a reason the plans are designed as they are. It allows for gradual build up of long runs, but also for down weeks to give your body a rest. There will be more on this later this week.

Pictures from 07/15

Great runs this weekend everyone! Here are some pictures. As you can tell, taking a picture of someone running does not always yield a perfect pose, or the best focus. Enjoy!

YMCA Brick

Frank, Andy and Carol brought up an excellent suggestion for our team. Many of you have noticed that there are engrave bricks in front of the YMCA similar to the picture below. We would like to purchase one or two of these bricks and have something engraved for our Marathon Training Team. This would 1) have our group permanently remembered, and 2) help show our appreciation to the Y for allowing us the use of the facilities for meetings, and clinics.

The cost will depend on how many people want to contribute. We hope everyone would like to participate, but you are not required to. Carol has volunteered to calculate the cost, and collect money. If you want the tax deduction, the checks will need to be made to the Harrison Family YMCA.

Please reply to me if you are interested. If will give the names to Carol on Saturday so she can determine the cost.

Richmond Times Dispatch #6

Vic Dorr returns this week to highlight Jodie and Mike Pillow from the Marathon Training Team. Jodie just completed a half marathon with great results. Mike on the other hand is now walking with a brace.

Weekday Runs and Weekend Routes

Clinic: First of all, a big thanks to Elaine and Jeff for the clinic last night. That was great information, and very helpful. If you need copies of the handouts please ask them on Saturday.

We are now seven weeks into our training. You have already invested a lot of time with even more yet to come. Marathon training can be tough on the body, so do everything possible to keep injuries away.

Weekday Runs and Hill Runs: I am still nursing my foot, so I can not run tonight. I still strongly encourage you guys to form some sub-groups for weekdays. Meeting at the Harris Teeter is easy to do, and there are already some routes available on the blog you can run.

Thursdays are good days for hill work outs. This gives you Friday off to rest before our long run on Saturday. I realize meeting on weekdays is tough, but is there any interest in trying to organize a Thursday hill group? It could run mornings, afternoons, or evenings? Let me know if you would like to help pull this together. I know some of you have hills near your homes, so if you are interested, pick a time and tell us how to get there.

Hill Alternatives: If you are not able to get to a hill, an alternative is running Fartleks (it is a real word, I promise). Similar to the hillwork outs, you will take portions of your run, and increase your speed to roughly your 10k pace. You will run this pace for about 90 seconds, and then slow to a jog. Always gradually speed up, and gradually slow down. After a brief jog, return to normal running pace for 2-3 minutes. Then do another fartlek. You can do 4-5 of these on a run. Your first one and your last one should be the same pace, so don't start too fast. Also Be sure to allow for about a mile warm up and also a cool down. By increasing your speed, you are also conditioning your legs for faster turnover speed.

Weekend Run: We will run at 6:30 a.m. from the Harris Teeter again. The 7-mile group will do the same route that the longer group did last weekend. The 10-mile group will cover most of the same roads plus some additional loops. My goal is to keep both groups on the same roads as much as possible, so you can occasionally see each other and offer encouragement. I most likely will be giving my foot more rest, so I will be on the route passing out fluids.

Maps: Don't for get you can zoom for details. I will have written pocket directions again to pass out.

• 7.2 Route
• 9.8 Route

Pics from Harris Teeter Run

We had a great run this weekend from the Harris Teeter. Our biggest group yet. Thanks to everyone for coming out. Looks like this location worked well for everyone, so we will start there again next weekend. Here are a few pictures from the run.

HANDOUT: Hill Work

Why Hills? Hill repeats are the most efficient way to simultaneously build strength and improve aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Running hills, like lifting weights, is a form of resistance training. Hills strengthen the leg muscles to meet the specific demands of running, and by working hard on hills, you force the muscles to overcome the incline and the resistance of gravity. This strengthens the driving muscles—the hamstrings, calves, buttocks, and particularly the quadriceps, which, unfortunately, don’t get much work when you run on flat terrain. Fatigued quads can be a problem late in races, especially marathons. Also, you will get a solid workout for your ankles (from the push-off) and your upper arms (from the pumping motion).

With hill training, you’ll increase your resistance to fatigue during races. That will help you maintain good running form and a steady pace. Since you have to concentrate on driving the arms, lifting the knees and pushing off the feet to get up hills in training, running form will be exaggerated and improved. It should also boost your confidence!

Why Hill Repeats? Hill repeats allow you to structure your workout and measure your pace and improvement. By adding it at the beginning of our early quality/strengthening phase of training, we are pouring a strong foundation for future speed/track work. By strengthening muscles before we start speed work, we’ll minimize the possibility of injury and increase the quality of future training!

O.K. What do I do? First, find a hill, a fairly steep hill. The perfect hill will have a 4-6% incline, be fairly consistent from bottom to top, and will take you between one and two minutes to run. Follow these guidelines:

1. Before starting to do a hill workout, you will want to warm-up by running easy for 10-15 minutes;
2. Before starting your hill repeats, be sure to stretch. Concentrate on your hamstrings and quads.
3. Plan on running four or five (4-5) hill repeats the first week; the amount of repeats will go up as your fitness level/comfort with hills improves;
4. You want to run at about 85% intensity (as if you were running a 10-K as hard as you could—fast, but under control). Your intensity and effort should be consistent across each interval;
5. Each interval should take the same amount of time to complete. If you slow down over the last couple intervals, you started out too fast. The time of your first interval should be the same and the time of your last interval. Don’t get frustrated if it takes a while to get your pacing down—it takes some practice to push yourself hard enough, but not too hard;
6. If there is a flat area at the base of the hill, give yourself a 20-30 meter “head start”, so that you are not starting on the incline from a dead stop. This eliminates the strain of a standing start on a steep slope;
7. Maintain good form running up the hill: head up, arms moving front-to-back, and a slightly exaggerated knee-raise (tongue hanging out is optional). Make sure to shorten your stride so that your leg turnover is the same as it is on flat land;
8. At the top, don’t stop! Run through the “finish line” at the top of the hill. Use the lap timer on your watch to record each uphill/downhill interval. Record these times in your running log;
9. Run back down the hill slowly and gently to recover from the uphill and to reduce the impact on your knees and quadriceps (running downhill is demanding on your body, as it causes 30-35% more impact on your body than flat land running). It should take at least twice as long to find your way back to the base of the hill. You do want to make sure you have at least moderately recovered before beginning your next interval;
10. After finishing your last interval, cool down by running easy for 10-15 minutes. As with any workout, be sure to fully stretch after your workout.

That’s it! We encourage everyone to try to make the group sessions on Thursday evenings. As with the Saturday runs, hill repeats are much more fun with a group cheering you on! If you can’t make it, find a nice hill near home and incorporate this workout into your training. If your hill is too long, you can simply “mark” the top with a tree, fire hydrant, piece of sidewalk chalk, etc.

Words of Caution. Running hills can cause or prevent injury. Ease into hill training. Be sure to warm up and stretch before and after the workouts. Runs easy the day after a hill workout (Most of you have a rest day on Friday).

BE WARY OF AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC. It’s very easy to forget you’re on a road when you turn around to come back down the hill. Also, make sure you stay hydrated during the workout.

Don’t forget. . .hills are your friend!

Running hills breaks up your rhythm and forces your muscles to adapt to new stresses. The results? You become stronger.

--Eamonn Coghlan

07/08 Weekend Routes

We will meet at 7:00 a.m. in front of the Harris Teeter at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday. Try to park beside the post office, so we do not take up spaces for the shoppers. There is a bathroom and water fountain inside the front of the store. I will have Poweraide too.

Please take time to review these routes, as many of you will be on new roads. The directions make this look more confusing then it is. Both of these are essentially loop routes. I strongly recommend printing the directions below to take with you. You will see some hills on the first part of the run.

I know many of you have been feeling great and adding on to the shorter routes to pick up some extra miles. This is great to see. I will caution you this week, not to over do it. This weekend is shorter then what you did the last two weeks, but that is by design. Although you may be feeling great right now, having a weekend of recovery is important.

Don recommends running the same route as the last time me did this distance. Unfortunately that was the day of the flooding for us, so we do not have a route to go back to. It is still important to see how you are feeling. Hopefully things are feeling better for you now then they were three weeks ago. Because the distance is shorter, you can push a little harder to see how you do, but this is not a race. It is still designed as a long run, and the pace should be comfortable.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday. Sometimes the maps take a while to load. If it fails, refresh the screen.

7.25 Mile Route
4.00 Mile Route

Email #7 from Coach Don

How are you doing? This week's run is the same run that we did 4 weeks ago. So this week will be a good time for you to take stock of how your training is going. After this week's run, see how you feel compared to 4 weeks ago. See how fresh you are at the end of the run. If you track the time of your runs, how does the time compare.

Several things for you to think about. How did the weather compare? Was it cool 4 weeks ago and humid and hot this weekend? How does your nutrition compare to 4 weeks ago? Did you eat anything in the morning before running either week? How as you sleep and rest this week as compared to 4 weeks ago? Did you travel a lot and/or miss some sleep one of the weeks?

Many things impact how you run and the above are just a few. Two point can be taken from this exercise. First, are you keep a training log so you can go back and make this kind of evaluation? Second, this training is not just about training your legs by running. It is also give you a chance to learn how other factor impact your running. For example, what are you eating, if anything, the morning before the run. So people can eat nothing, some can eat a lot. This is the time to be experimenting with what food works best for you.

Hills - Starting July 13 we will be offering a couple of months of weekly hill workouts. These workouts are designed to strengthen you legs are a bit harder workouts. I will post a handout on hill workouts early next week with details on how to do these workouts.

Locations will be around town and are subject to change.....Byrd Park (meets at Fountain Lake) meets at 6:00 pm....Midlothian YMCA (But not part of the Y, we just meet there so the Y will not be able to answer questions)..at both 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM....and Deep Run Park in the West End (first parking area) at 6:00 PM

Good running....see you this weekend.

Richmond Times Dispatch #5

In the 5th installment of Vic Dorr's weekly articles he interviews Training Team member Kathy Ivins. Kathy speaks about here sense of commitment while training for the Richmond Marathon, and also a recent 10k she completed.

More Tips for the Hot Weather

I received my new Runner's World this weekend, and read a sad but interesting article about running in the heat. It was about Kelly Watt, a young runner about to attend William & Mary. He was running alone doing a familiar route on some nearby trails. He did not show up for dinner that night. The police called his parents that evening. He was later found unconscious from a heat stroke. After what appeared to be a three days of recovery in the hospital, Kelly's body finally shut down.

I know we have provided several tips for running in the heat, but it bears repeating, so please review them again. A few things that were not said, I will add now.

1. When possible don't run alone.
2. Always let someone know when your are going running.
3. Tell them where you will run, and when you should be done.
4. Take an ID and if possible carry a cell phone.

You never expect the worst, but you should always plan for it. Think of it like "runner's insurance." You don't want to have a problem and think "I wish I had. . ."