New Location for Week 5

Next Up: The TMG will meet at 7:30 am at a new location for week five (August 11), Fletcher's Boathouse in DC just west of Georgetown along the Potomac River. You can only access the narrow entrance to the parking lot while driving WB (or NB, in other words, AWAY from Georgetown) on Canal Road.

Parking: As you drive in, you can either park on the north side (the DC side) of the C&O Canal or, if that lot looks full, keep driving straight down the entrance way without turning into the near lot and the entrance way will turn left and go through a narrow tunnel under the canal and deliver you to the south side (the side closest to Virginia) of the canal in the large, overflow parking lot where the boat rentals are.

Meeting Point: We'll meet on the trail at 7:30 sharp to start running. From the north lot, just walk over the bridge over the canal to where the two paths, the C&O Canal Towpath (the dirt trail) and the Capital Crescent Trail (the paved trail) are side-by-side. From the south lot, go up the stairs by the boathouse to the same location. It's about two miles to Georgetown from there on either trail, and about five miles to Bethesda from there on the CCT. (Below: Coach K and another athlete on the CCT on a snowy day in April during the 10K Training Program.)

We'll meet at Fetcher's Boathouse for Week Six (August 18) as well, before moving locations to Bluemont Park in Arlington for weeks seven and eight. A schedule of all twelve weeks of the TMG Program can be found here.

Last Week: Week Four (Aug. 4) we met at 7:30 am at MP 12 on the Mt. Vernon Trail at the Washington Sailing Marina on a warm and humid day. Matt sent his group out NB on the trail and, led by Scott, they went eight fast miles out and back. Linda and Kristin took their group out six miles NB on the trail at a good clip. Jeannie had her group stretch as usual, then she and Jeanne took their charges out five miles on an out-and-back NB on the trail to the airport. They passed the first mile in an even 12 minutes.

Hydrate: With the heat of the summer now upon us, we will get underway on the actual run each week at 7:30 am on the dot. If you're late, you'll just have to catch up! Bring a water bottle on each run; either learn how to carry a half-liter bottle (16.9 oz, about a pound) in your hand or get a water-carrying belt (fuel belt). Google fuel belt to locate such equipment on-line or go to Pacers or another local running store (Gotta Run in Pentagon Row also has dcrrc merchandise for sale). But don't over-hydrate. Become aware of the dangers of hyponatremia, sometimes known as water intoxication, which can be fatal.

Kudos: Mary Flynn of Linda's group, brand new to the program, ran in Thursday's Bluemont 5K, a club race held at 7 pm, free for dcrrc members. She ran a blazing 26:02 (8:22) in the heat and finished in the top half of all women. Congratulations. All of you should be contemplating a 5K or 10K race you can do for the experience before the ATM. May I suggest this 5K race at 6 pm on Saturday, September 8th. They give out beer afterwards.

Remember, this week, through Sunday August 12, is sales-tax holiday in DC for shoe purchases under $100, and you get at least a 10% discount at most running stores by mentioning that you're a dcrrc member. Go here for shoes in the District. This store is the first Fleet Feet on the East Coast and it is legendary in the local running community. It conducts weekly 5-mile runs every Sunday morning at 9 o'clock, among other things. The District's mayor's parents own and operate the store. I bought my first pair of running shoes there when I started running in 2000. I STILL use the same model shoe (in its seventh edition) they fitted me for then. (Above: Me and Hizzoner in Anacostia Park in May. The Mayor is fast and durable! He ran the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile in April in 1:08:47 (6:53), a week after running 4:08 at the National Marathon!)

One Third Done? The program is now one-third over. How are we feeling out there? You all should be running two or three other times a week, three to four miles each time. You should introduce something new to your week if you're already running at least two mid-week runs: a fast mile or two thrown into one of those mid-week runs. This is a version of a tempo run, a mile or two miles back-to-back or two different miles run at about a 10K race pace, preceded and followed by a slower jogging mile again.

Fartleks? Or introduce fartleks into your runs, which is a random sprint thrown into a run at some unspecified point. Say you're jogging at your usual pace and you think, The next car that passes me, I'll sprint until the next car after that passes me. Then you slow down to your normal pace again to recover. Repeat sometime later. Or you come over a hill and say, When I get to that telephone pole, I'll sprint to the next one. Half a mile later, repeat. The Scandinavians invented this game and fartlek is a Swedish term meaning speed play.

Do Track Workouts and PR: Fartleks are a substitute for speed workouts on a track, which will make you better. Take advantage of the club's Wednesday night track workouts at 7:15 pm at the Washington & Lee High School Track in Arlington (Metro accessible from Ballston on the Orange Line, walk 4 or 5 blocks due north to Washington Boulevard) to get better and nail a ten-miler. Before last year, my PR in a 10-Miler was 1:21:33 at Cherry Blossom in 2004. I credit my track workouts in 2006 with enabling me to reduce my PR to 1:14:34 at Army last year.