Weekend Routes and More

Well, it looks like we have some other groups with organized runs this week. Good luck to everyone running 20 miles tomorrow!

This afternoon:
Let me know if you were interested in running a speed workout at City Lake this afternoon.

Saturday Runners:
By my count, the following should be running on Saturday: Ursula, Frank, Jeff, Patti, Dave H, Carol, Andy, Matt, Elaine, Misty, Authur, Russ, Jim, John, David L. If you will not be there, please let me know so I can put out the correct amount of fluids. We will once again meet at 6:45 at the HT. Next week we will back it up another 15 minutes.

Routes: http://www.mapmyrun.com/view_route.php?r=aa963bfc51c8bfcfdb6d0bc1dcb402f4. I have attached a link for the 20-mile route. The 16-mile route will be largely the same, expect it will finish right at the HT instead of going back through Candle Wood. I will email out written directions tomorrow. I want to get everyone to the Y if possible for drinks, bathrooms, etc.

For those running 20, remember you get to do this three times. Relax, and run a comfortable pace. This is a new peak for many of you. Saturday is not about how fast you can do this. In two weeks try to improve a little on your time, but for now your goal is to finish.

Pasta Dinner: For those who had asked about RSVPing for the Pasta Dinner, there is information on our blog with all of the details.

09/20 Updates

Wednesday: I will be running at 5:45 from my house on Wednesday afternoon if anyone is interested in joining me again. The high on Wednesday is 78, but that night it is supposed to get down to 52 so it should be real nice weather to run in.

Thursday: Our speed workouts for Thursday are as follows:

• Novice. . . . . . . . . . . . .Intermediate:
• 2 x 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 x 600
• 2 x 1200 . . . . . . . . . . . .3 x 1200

To be honest, the speed workout is simple enough where it could be run on the roads doing fartleks instead. If anyone is interested in running in the afternoon let me know. I would also be willing to run them on a treadmill at the Y, at City Lake, or at a track if someone has access. Next week the speed workouts are mile-repeats, which can easily be done at City Lake which is roughly a half mile loop.

Pasta Dinner: Every year the Marathon Training Team has a pasta dinner the night before the race. You are not required to attend, but it would be nice if our Rocky Mount Team could be represented at the event. I have never been, but I hear it is always a lot of fun and the food is good. Ursula and I plan to take off Friday from work, and drive up to Richmond. This will give us time to get our race packets and check into the room. After that we will head to the event. It says "the coaches are the entertainment", but don't count on Frank and I doing River Dance or anything like that. I will however have a fun slide show to share with everyone.

The cost is $19.00 per person. Kids 5-12 are $8.00. Under four is free.

53 Days until your marathon!

Pasta Dinner

Every year the Marathon Training Team has a pasta dinner the night before the race. You are not required to attend, but it would be nice if our Rocky Mount Team could be represented at the event. I have never been, but I hear it is always a lot of fun and the food is good. Ursula and I plan to take off Friday from work, and drive up to Richmond. This will give us time to get our race packets and check into the room. After that we will head to the event. It says "the coaches are the entertainment", but don't count on Frank and I doing River Dance or anything like that. I will however have a fun slide show to share with everyone.

SPORTSBACKERS MARATHON TRAINING TEAM PASTA DINNER

• FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 10, 2006
• Location: Westminster Presbyterian Church
• 4103 Monument Avenue (Corner of Malvern and Monument)
• Tentative time is 6 PM, and possible second seating at 7:30 (if we have more than 200 people).
• Please indicate early or later time when you RSVP.

MENU:

• Salad:
  - Mixed Green Salad with tomato, cucumber, and shaved carrots, tossed in Herb-Balsamic vinaigrette
  - Bread
• Main dish:
  All-you-can-eat pasta with your choice of sauce: hearty meat, marinara, and herb-garlic olive oil broth
• Sweets:
  Chocolate Chip Cookies and Fresh fruit (bananas, apples and oranges)
• Beverage: Water and Ice Tea.

Service and Entertainment provided by the Coaches!

RSVP and Payment by November 1, 2006. Email Ellie at e.gourmet@comcast.net with your name, team, number of people (indicate children), seating time preference and your sauce preference, please.

Payment
· CASH or CHECK only, please.
· $19.00 per person, including tax.
· $ 8.00 per child between 5 to 12 years old
· FREE for children younger than 4 years old

Please send payment to:
Everyday Gourmet
Ellie Basch
4605 Monument Avenue
Richmond, VA 23230

Details of Speed Work Out

Speed Play: I wanted to get a quick email out this morning about speed workouts. There is some information on the blog with a link that shows the training schedule, but I don’t know if everyone has seen that. First of all, speed works outs are designed to push your body harder than we normally do, but for shorter periods of time. We will take rest into between each interval of speed before beginning your next.

For this week the workouts are as follows:

• 1 x 800m
• 1 x 1200m
• 1 x 1600m (Intermediates do 2 x 1600m)

Now your next question might be "how fast do I run?" Don has shared this link with the team. On this site you put in your fastest race time (or goal time), and it will give you guidelines for every race and workout imaginable. It is pretty cool actually.

For example: If you run a 2:15 half marathon, enter in that time, and pick ½ marathon. Once you click submit a big table comes up with target times. Look at the block in middle right called "Speed Workouts". For Long Distance Runners (which we are) it says to run 800m in 4:27 - 4:40. That is your target for when you do you 1 x 800 speed work out.

So taking a 2:15 half marathoner would have the following targets this week:

• Novice . . . . . . . . . .Goal Time:
• 1 x 800m . . . . . . . .4:27-4:40
• 1 x 1200m . . . . . . .6:51-7:12
• 1 x 1600m . . . . . . .9:20-9:40

Don’t get too hung up in the target times. The main thing is to feel like you are pushing it. This site just helps you determine how hard to be going.

Fartlek Workouts: If you can’t find a track or a treadmill, use your target times to do a fartlek workout instead. Using the example above, do a 5-10 minute warmup, and then increase your effort for 4:27. After that slow to a jog (or walk if needed). After your heart rate is back down, and you are ready for your next interval, increase your effort for 6:51, etc.

Words of caution:

• You can still run a marathon without any speed works outs. For those looking to improve their time, speed will help.
• If you are injured, or think you are about to be, don’t risk it with a speed work out.
• If you would rather substitute in hill works outs instead of speed that is fine.
• Listen to your body.

New Roads!

New Roads: We have been largely running the same roads for about two months now. This week you will be asked to break out of your comfort zone a little bit and hit some new roads and some less familiar roads. Come race day, you will have some long straight roads to battle, so I tried to put some of those in this week (although most are not very long).

If you have been running from the beginning, most of the roads you have already run. We are still leaving from the Harris Teeter, but will not head across Sunset into Candlewood at the start. We will instead work our way over to West Mount, and eventually back on the shady roads of Evergreen heading towards City Lake. We will then come back to Winstead Road and run up Amherst towards familiar roads.

Even though I have not created the written directions yet, I wanted to send this out early, so you could become familiar with the routes. Please review them in advance so no one gets lost. These are some of my favorite roads to run on. I am honestly really excited about mixing it up and seeing some new scenery. Written directions will come tomorrow.

We will start at 6:45 a.m. This will give me a few extra minutes to drop of fluids, and give us a little more day light.

Hydration: Water stops will be a little more tricky as well. They will be as follows

• 2.5 My House (1104 Spring Forest Drive on Right) Water, PowerAide, Gel, Bathroom
• 6.2 Co Ah Bar St (First house on left) Water, Gel
• 7.5 City Lake (around lake) Water Fountains Only
• 10.5 Train Tracks (normal stop) Water, PowerAide, Gel

Even though the heat is not as bad, hydration is still very important. Before you run past a water fountain, or skip some PowerAide, think of how you might feel in two miles.

Look who is is running longer: This is a very interesting week. This is the only week when the Novice Route exceeds the Intermediate Route. Much like last week, many of our runners are setting new personal records by logging 15 miles. Be sure to support each other before, during, and after the run.

• 12 Miles
• 15 Miles

Email from Coach Don

We have been at this for quite a few weeks and have been adding a few new people as we go along. I thought I would take this time to just refresh most of you and to let the newer people catch up on a few things.

Hydration. We have the SAG wagons. And most of you are very good at staying hydrated. Just remember, as the weather cools down, you will have a tendency to drink less. But it is just as important to stay hydrated. I have seen more people cramp up as the weather cools down because they think they don't need to drink as much.

Website. The website has a lot of good information. Make sure you are visiting it for your weekly routes (read them before the weekend run (www.marathontrainingteam.com). Also there is a message board where there is lots of good info.

Safety. This should be in all of our minds as we run. Most notably, don't run multiple people across when there is traffic. And on quieter road, still be aware of cars (and bikers) and remember that they have a size advantage on you and give them the right of way. Don't let people in cars wave you through an intersection that they have the right of way. The people in the cars don't realize that there are usually a lot more people behind you.

More Safety. Enjoy your teammates. Talk to them. If some one runs with you that you don't know, introduce yourself. As to Headphones. My first thought is that you have a lot of interesting people you are running with. Talk to them and don't use headphones. They are a safety hazard. If you insist, it should be quiet enough that if someone comes up behind you and says something in a normal voice you can hear them.

Schedule. Make sure you have the schedule and are following it. Make sure you have picked up the notebook with all the information.

Running Buddies. By now you should have your normal group of weekend morning running buddies who are your pace. If you do not, start making a lot of new friends. This is the best thing to get you thru the next few weeks of long runs.

Shoes, Clothing. As we all know, cotton is bad. If you got new shoes when you started training, you have probably put 300-450 miles on these shoes. They may or may not be showing some age. By the time you get to marathon day, they will probably be well worn. The time to think about new shoes in over the next few weeks. This is so you have them broken in and will have done at least one long run in the shoes you will wear in the marathon.

Train your whole body. Our weekend runs are the time to training your legs. But they are also where you can experiment with everything you will do on race day. It is better to try something new now than marathon day. You will not want to do anything new or different on race day that you have not done before a long run. Clothes. Nutrition. Sleep (and when you wake up). Clif Shots, etc during a run. And many more of the variable of a run.

So think about these things as you go about your runs. I am leaving for a trip with my wife and will not have access to email from 9/14 to 9/25. So if you have issues, check with your team coaches.

Have fun running!!!!!

Pace for Track workouts

Don shared a website that will help you calculate the pace you should be running your speed workouts. It has an excellent calculator that might help you. Simply plug in your fastest race time (use the longest race you have), and it will tell you the rest. McMillan Running