10/10 Email from Coach Don

Great job last Sunday on the 18/20 mile runs. The day was great for running and most of you seemed to do have survived the run well. I am glad we did not run on Saturday.

Shoes You need to start thinking about the shoes that you are going to use on race day. If you bought a new pair of in May and have done all of the training in that single pair of shoes, you may want to think about new pair of shoes. Shoes are funny. Only you can tell if you shoes need replacing. There are general wide guidelines (shoes last 300-500 miles). And you need to look not at the bottom of the shoes but at the compression of the midsoles.

In any event, the shoes you are going to wear on November 11 at the race, should be the same pair of shoes that you wear for the 20 mile run on Oct. 21 or 22. The biggest mistake you can make is to run the marathon in a new pair of shoes.

So start planning now to be in the proper footwear.

Pasta Party Our team pasta party will be on the night before the marathon. It is a little bit about eating some pasta, a little bit about having some fun, a little more about getting motivated for the race and a lot about enjoying your running friends. The cost is $19. You can get more information on the home page of the website.

Easy week (if 12 is easy??). See you this weekend..

Time for New Shoes?

Believe it or not, most of you have logged 300+ miles on your shoes depending on when you bought them. If you are planning on getting a new pair before the race, now is the time to do it. You do not want to break in a new pair of shoes in a marathon. By getting them now, you can ease into them. Start by using them on some short runs, but do not throw out your current pair yet. Rotate them for a while.

You are not required to get a new pair of shoes for the race, but you do want to make sure you are getting good support from your shoes. 26.2 miles is a lot of pounding, so try to be as prepared as possible.

Lastly, this is probably not the time to try something completely different. If your current shoes are doing the job, considering getting another pair of the same, or at least a similar shoe. As a reminder the folks at Raleigh Running Outfitters will discount shoes for our running team up until the marathon. They can also make the best recommendation for you and let you take a test run too. If you decide to shop there, mention the discount.

Mental Training

Here is a link to the "Mental Training" clinic handouts from Richmond. This is really some great information. It is nice to get some information from other outside sources that reinforces what we have been hearing and reading. Take some time to read through these, and start using positive thoughts on your runs.

Handouts

Weekend Routes for 10/07

Okay, your routes for tomorrow are attached. Don has some recommendations for running in the rain that I posted to the blog. Your directions will most likely get wet tomorrow if you do not protect them with tape or a zip lock. Be prepared.

18 miles
20 miles

Now here is my feeble attempt at an "email pep talk." Try to envision me excited with a smile on my face typing as fast as my fingers will go. . .

I know you are tired. I know you are sore. I know that there are times when you have thought about giving up. Don't let that happen!

Each and everyone of you have worked far too hard to not see this through until the end. One of you has said to me "I am crossing that finish line even if I have to do it on my hands and knees." Hearing that gives me chills because I know how bad you want this. You are about to join a very small and elite group of people who can say they finished a marathon. Seriously, say that out loud. . . "I finished a marathon." How cool does that sound!?

Has this been hard? Absolutely. But if this was easy, there would not be anything special about doing a marathon. That is why so few can say those words, "I finished a marathon".

I have always thought doing a marathon is less about your natural physical abilities and more about your mental and emotional commitment. I hear people every week that tell me "I could do a marathon if I wanted to". That one arrogant sentence is what separates our team from everyone else. . . you do want to, and you did commit yourself to this, and you will do a marathon.

You have been training now for 20 weeks. That is amazing! Look how far you have come. You have logged over 60 hours of training. Some of us probably did not exercise for 60 hours in the previous two years, and now your are fitter and stronger than you have ever been. Others are running faster and father than they ever have before. You may feel beat down now, but this is because you have worked so hard and your body is tired, but in just two weeks we begin our taper.

Your tired legs will recover. The soreness will go away. And the afternoon of November 11th with a medal hanging around your neck, and most likely tears in your eyes you will say "I finished a marathon!"

Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go - TS Eliot

SEE YOU TOMORROW MORNING!!!!

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.

Marathon Podcasts

Runner's World has five different podcasts related to marathon training that I think will be of interest to our team. You do not need an ipod or mp3 player to listen to them. If you do have an ipod save the link below to your computer (right click, and save as), and listen to them while your run. Mix the short topics in with your music to help keep you focused.

I have posted links below to all of the podcasts, but don't feel like you need to listen to them all at the same time. Right now the ones of most interest to you are #2 and #3. The topic on Tapering will be of more interest in a few weeks.

I expect you will not learn anything new when you listen to these, but if you are like me, sometimes hearing it from someone else helps to reinforce the simple things.

• Podcast Introduction: David Willey on the Marathon
• Podcast #1: Training: Speedwork and Tempo Runs by Michelle Hamilton
• Podcast #2: Long Runs: Marathon Training - The Long Runby Amby Burfoot
• Podcast #3: Mental: Mental Challenges by Katie Neitz
• Podcast #4: Shoes and Gear: What to Wear by Warren Greene
• Podcast #5: Tapering: Tapering for the big race by Jane Hahn

Spectator Information

If you have family and friends coming to the race, the Richmond Marathon website has some updated information about the best ways to see the race. If you have not seen it yet, be sure to check it out. Don also has some written driving directions that he shares every year that shows the best ways to navigate the streets of Richmond. I will post them when he makes it available.