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.
Excellent clinic! Thank you Elaine and Jeff. Even though I'm pretty diligent about stretching, I definitely learned a lot of new stuff. Appreciate you doing this!
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