Capitol Endurance

First off, congrats to Paige on competing the Cherry Blossom 10-miler yesterday in a time of 1:42:14. This was an improvement of 8 minutes from her previous time of 1:50:21 from 2007. Great job! She stopped by the Sunday workout and looked great, but not well enough to jump in on the 800m repeats. I don’t blame her!

In other racing news, the 50 miler didn’t go so well for me. My nagging hip problem that has remained dormant for most of the last 4 weeks reared its ugly head very early in the race. I tried to block out the pain and discomfort, but knew after the first few miles that it would be a loooong day. If I was already hurting at mile 3, what shape would I be in by mile 20 or 30 if I made it that far? I should’ved stopped at mile 11 after deciding I’d drop at the next aid station in 5 miles, and it was a looong 5 miles back. I had my moment of feeling sorry for myself as I let practically EVERY runner pass me, but got over it when I took off my bib number at the next aid station and officially DNFed.

I was able to do 10 miles and 20 miles the two previous weekends, but they involved a lot of climbing/hiking and fast walking/mild running. For BRR, I was moving at 10:30-11:30 min/miles in the first 6 miles. This is the most miles, and fastest, that I’ve run on the trails in quite awhile. I don’t fault the training one bit. For what I’ve done in 4 weeks of training, I was able to accomplish a lot. I think things would’ve been different had I not been injured going into the race. There’s always another day.

Good job to everyone who raced no matter the event or distance.

We’ve got Paige gearing up for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler on Sunday and I’ve got the Bull Run Run 50 miler on Saturday.

Two races that vary considerably in distance, so how should we taper in preparation in our separate races? Let’s find out tonight!

See you at 7PM near Lincoln Park.

We’ll be meeting down on The Mall this weekend to get in a time trial. It should be great weather for a long run, so don’t forget the sunscreen and water.

If you have a foot pod, Garmin, or other device that tracks your distance while running, please bring it.  If you don’t have one, don’t worry about it.

See you Sunday!

We hit some 800m and 1000m repeats tonight to get a good taste of ‘going long’. After starting the workouts with repetitious drills that might seem monotonous, you can see how they carry over to the real deal. It’s key to stay focused throughout the entire workout and you maintain that form and focus during the main set. You will see a breakdown in your form as you get tired, but be aware of it and make the change as quickly as possible. The quicker you notice that and make the change, the quicker you will run. Running is a skill and it will take time to see the changes.

Main Set

2 x 800m (.49 miles), rest 2 minutes

2 x 1000m (.62 miles), rest 2 minutes

1 x 800m

If you get a chance to do this workout, email me your times.

We’ve got a time trial planned for Sunday, so take care of yourself between now and then. The weather is warming up, so stay hydrated, stretch, foam roll, and get ready for a big workout.

We’ll meet again on Sunday near Lincoln Park at 10AM. Fewer drills and more running, so keep working on your drills between now and then!

Leave the jump rope at home and bring a watch to time your laps if you have one.

See you then!

We had a good workout last night and introduced some new drills. Instead of focusing on the pull and getting that figure 4 pose, we switched gears and focused on the fall. We partnered up and had one person lean slightly forward from the ankles toward their partner (trust fall!), who put up a bit of resistance with a hand on the chest. The runner moved forward while working on the exaggerated pull with both legs before their partner released them and they ran an additional 20m.

Good adjustments included leaning from the ankles instead of breaking at the hip, no exsessive leaning, and pulling the heel up underneath appropriate to the speed at which you’re running. We’re not Kenyan’s, so the pull is close to knee height or below for the drill. It was good to see how such small adjustmests in the pull make a big difference. It’s a fine line between a butt kick, knee raise, and finally getting that heel right under your butt, but we’re finally finding it more and more consistently.  

We put it all together for repeats at the end - 6 x 100m*

So if you have a plot of grass, sidewalk, treadmill, or a non-sketchy alley, try to get in the same workout. Not sure of the distance? Neither were we, as our 100m is not 100% accurate.*

Alternately, cover as much distance as possible (AMDAP) in 20 seconds. Fully recover (90-120 sec rest) before repeating again for a total of six times. Try to do this as an out and back and try to cover the same amount of distance in both directions. Try to be consistent and maintain good form for as long as possible.

More information about Sunday’s workout will be posted tomorrow. Stay tuned!

We’re gradually easing into our normal schedule with the addition of our Wednesday evening workout this week. We’ll be out in full force on Sunday, then on our normal schedule of Monday and Wednesday at 7PM and Sunday at 10AM.

Same location Wednesday – Lincoln Park. We’ll do a few new drills and most of the usuals before ending with some timed sprints. Good times!

See you there!

It looks like the weather should be spectacular this weekend!

We’ll be meeting at 10AM at the same location near Lincoln Park. If you are new or interested in joining, shoot me an email and I’ll include you on the email chain and pass on the directions.

Format will be similar to last week. We’ll do a little warm up and spend a bulk of the time working on drills and running with the metronome. Keep the foot relaxed on the pull and land under your GCM. Over and over untill it feels natural and less like “prancing.”

We’ll end with some longer timed repeats, so you can wear a watch to keep your own splits if you’d like to. Some people are partial to their watches or HRM.

See you then!

Thanks to the brave souls who made it out to Sunday’s workout. Mother Nature wasn’t as kind to us as I had hoped, but the showers couldn’t damper a good workout.

We reviewed the drills again, focusing on the exaggerated heel pull and making sure that foot lands under the GCM (general center of mass). There were glimpses of good running form before resorting back to heel striking and landing out in front of the GCM.

Adding in the metronome with a cadence of 88-92 was definitely good practice, as was running 100m instead of 30m. It was a good reminder that you have to breathe even while focusing on pulling your foot up with the metronome. Crazy concept!

We ended with a good workout of squats, Farmer’s Carry, mountain climbers, double unders, and ball slams mixed in with 200m repeats. Even after drills and drills and drills to practice good form, workouts like this are a good reminder of how quickly form and technique breaks down under stress. And a good reminder of how running is a skill that takes time to master. We are well on our way to improvement – one step at a time!

Next session is this Sunday at 10AM. Tentative location is near Lincoln Park again. We will continue with drills and see what we can do to eliminate the “prancing”. We’ll end with longer repeats that we’ll time, so bring a watch with a lap button if you have one.

See you Sunday!