Email from Coach Don 10/06

PASTA PARTY: Each year, we do a pasta party on the Friday night before the race. It is a time to do some carbo eating but more important it is a time to gather with your team and celebrate what you are going to do the next day.

We do need you to sign up in advance so we can have adequate planning. So, please come join us. There will be sign up sheets out this weekend or you can go to the home page of the website and there is a link with info about the pasta party.

18/20 miles: Ok, this is our next to last long run. These long runs are the key building block to the marathon. And while some people may think they are run at race pace, for most people, the idea is to get used to running for the long period of time. Thus most sources recommend that you run these long runs at a pace that is 1-1 1/2 minutes a miles slower that race pace. My opinion is that such advice is much more pertinent to you the faster you run. So if you are on one of the faster teams, pay attention to that advice. But for most of you on the Novice teams and some of the slower intermediate teams, these runs are all about finishing, at whatever pace you run.

Rain: So what do we do if it rains? (Drumroll). We get wet. Humor aside, When running in the rain, I see two variables. How hard is the rain? And what is the temperature? If it is 65-70 degrees and it is a gentle rain, the rain will really be an aide to keeping you cool. However, if it is a downpour, running becomes much more difficult. And at 40 degrees, rain cam be not only discomforting, it can be dangerous (body temperature can drop too much)

Based on the weather forecast (even though Andrew was off this morning), Saturday morning is going to be 54 with rain. (In case of rain, when we gather, we will be able to gather under the stand out of the rain).

So with that weather, what am I going to do...First, wear a hat (baseball style). The brim will keep rain out of you eyes. This helps a lot. I may wear a T shirt type COOLMAX, not cotton, shirt. Although this may gather a little more moisture than a singlet, keeping the rain off your shoulder helps me mentally. If it feel a little cooler, I might consider a long sleeve cool max shirt, but probably not. I may have some gloves to keep my hands warm, but if I do that, they are probably either waterproof or ones that I would throw away if a see a trash can after 3-4 miles. I may add some extra body glide / Vaseline to areas that chafe. (Men--take protection for your nipples). We will try to have some Vaseline at some of the sag wagons.

What I would not do....Wear a light jacket. All this is going to do is make you hotter and the sweat will make you just as wet. Wear tights....they are just going to get wet.

The other thing to do...Bring a set of dry clothes to change into after you finish the run. You want to get out of the wet stuff as soon as you can after running.

AND....always remember, you have option of running on Sunday if the weather is too bad on Saturday (no guarantee of better weather on Sunday).

See you this weekend.