Approaching Week 8 (4/14) at Bluemont

2007 DCRRC 10K Training Program, APPROACHING WEEK 8

Remaining 2007 SCHEDULE–9 am Every Saturday:
8. 4/14–Bluemont Park, Arlington (See last week's post for the link for directions.)
9. 4/21–Bluemont Park, Arlington
10. 4/28–East Falls Church Metro Parking Lot
11. 5/5–Stanton Square in DC (near Union Station at Mass & Maryland Aves., C & 4th St.)
12. 5/12–Stanton Square in DC (near Union Station at Mass & Maryland Aves., C & 4th St.)
13. CHC 10K RACE is Sunday 5/20/07 at 8:30 am at Stanton Square.

NEXT WEEK (Week 8, 4/14): We’ll meet at 9 am at Bluemont Park in Arlington on Wilson Boulevard between Ballston and Seven-Corners. The closest Metro stop is on the Orange Line, either Ballston (run west on Wilson Blvd.) or East Falls Church (run east on the W’OD trail about a mile and a half to Bluemont). We'll meet in the south parking lot, by where the comfort station is. That's where Milepost 3.5 is on the W’OD Trail.

(Coach Kristin and runner on the Capital Crescent Trail in Week 7.)

LAST WEEK:
In WEEK 7, about a dozen athletes showed up at Fletcher’s Boathouse in cold, snowy conditions and ran north on the Capital Crescent Trail for 2.5 miles and then returned. Coach Kristin led the way, 5 miles in about 50 minutes. Jeanne brought bagels. Meanwhile, the intermediate group met at Belle Haven with Coaches Gary and Arnetta to run the PVTC Easter Classic 5K there. There were some pretty fast times in the results!

(A and Jake in Week 7.)

What's Next:
Next up for the advanced group–six miles at Bluemont on Saturday.

What's Happening:
Local legend Michael Wardian of Arlington won the shop til you drop Ocean City Factory Outlets Marathon on Saturday, 4/7/07 in Ocean City. He posted a 2:41:20 two weeks after he repeated as winner of the National Marathon in DC while lowering the course record to 2:26:36. Three weeks ago he placed third in the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach in a personal best time of 2:21:37. This time earned him entry to the National Qualifying Trials in the marathon later this year. Wardian has run six marathons this year, and won three of them.

Notable Upcoming Run: The 111th running of the Boston Marathon is Monday, April 16th. Jeanne is going to Boston to view it. This marathon is one of the five World Majors (also, NYC, Chicago, London and Berlin) and has over half a million in prize money. Payout could swell to over a million in incentive and performance bonuses. A strong international field is expected to dominate the men’s race, but in the women’s race, America’s Deena Kastor, winner of Chicago in 2005 (2:21:25) and the last London Marathon, the Olympic bronze medalist and the fourth fastest marathoner of all time, has the fastest time in the field (2:19:36). However, two women entered in the race beat her at the NYC Marathon last November. The last American woman to win Boston was Lisa Larsen-Weidenbach in 1985, the year before prize money for women was introduced.

Hydration System:
There are many fine running products out there. One device for hydration that I see many runners carry during runs or races is the Camelbak, a bladder backpack or waistpack system that gives the wearer water on demand through a hose system to the mouth. You can tell when you're approaching a runner using this system because you can hear them sloshing as they run. There are models for bikers, hikers, etc., even the military. If you Google camelback hydration many sites will come up describing many types of water-carrying systems, and here is one site listing various models for sale.

Make Sure You're Running On Your Own:
This week you should run three or four times on your own before Saturday, 30 to 45 minutes each time. On Saturday, each coach will take you out on a route they choose that is further than we went last week. The goal race is the Capitol Hill Classic 10K (CHC) on 5/20/07 which has a serious hill in the last mile. It’s time to step up your training! If you want to run the race in the spring at the conclusion of the program, you must sign up at the CHC website for the race and pay the entry fee on your own. http://www.capitolhillclassic.com

CLUB TRACK WORKOUT & HILL WORKOUT:
One way to boost your training is to go to the club’s website and look at the Wednesday evening track workout schedule at 7:15 pm every Wednesday at the Washington & Lee High School Track in Arlington. Speed workouts will make you better!

Also please come to the club Hill Workout on Sunday, 4/29 at 9 am, hosted by moi in Falls Church. Check it out on the club’s website. We’ll go out for coffee afterwards and chat.

MORE INFORMATION:
Visit the club's wbsite Forum TKG running link for more information each week on the program. Don't forget that the Army Ten-Miler registration has just opened. The club undoubtedly will be offering a TMG (Ten Mile Group) training program starting in mid-summer.

TRAINING HELP:
You should not run without an ID. There are several types to choose from. Search the web and come up with the one that suits you best. Here is a link to a Runner’s ID that I use. (I wrote the statement on the site headed up, "Without It, I’m Nobody.") There are several other good runner’s identification tags on the market as well, besides the one I use.
http://www.runnersid.com/recentorders.html

See you Saturday!