Email #3 from Don Garber

IMPORTANT: Registration for the Battlefield (and Procrastinator's if we can get to it J ) Half Marathon will open on Wednesday, June 7. The races are on Labor Day weekend. That weekend there will be no group run, but rather we hope everyone will run a half marathon. It fits perfectly into the training. These races fill up very fast. (last year 6 days and will go faster this year.) So you will need to sign up this week. www.rrrc.org

Hydration: We talk about hydration. You need to think about it too. We will start having sag wagons in a few weeks but you need to always be aware of your hydration. As you dehydrate it impacts your performance (that is why it is harder to run longer distances in hotter weather. So think about keeping hydrated. Some of our runs will be going by water fountains. Use them.

Running Buddies: Our weekend runs are not races. They are training runs. Contrary to what some of our faster/more experienced runners think/do, they should not be run at maximum pace. The weekend runs are being run to build endurance. (We will do separate week day workouts to work on speed). So you should not be running these runs to maximum speed. If you are running the weekend workouts such that you feel great for the first 3/4 and then you struggle to finish the last 1/4, you may be starting out too fast. Slow down.

As you slow down, look at the other runners in front / in back of you. Find someone or multiple someones to run with. Even if you have to slightly modify your pace, you should now be making friends with the runners on your team. Then when we get into the longer runs you will not only have someone to talk to, you will have someone to help you thru the longer runs. This is of grave importance in making the training more enjoyable. So find you set of running buddies.

Next Clinic: Our next clinic will be Injury Prevention. It will be Monday night 6/19 at 6:00 at CJW Medical Center...Chippenham Campus. Stay tuned for more details/directions...

Note: We are working on an injury prevention clinic in Rocky Mount. More detail will be out soon.