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. . ."