Approaching the halfway point!

This Saturday, March 29th, will be our halfway point, our sixth week. We are meeting again in Bethesda at 9 a.m. There is free parking in the lot right next to the CCT where it runs next to Ourisman Honda, across the street from Barnes & Noble. Coach Bob will take you out on the CCT for six miles, as most other coaches will be at the National Marathon and Half-Marathon Race that morning. (Run 30 minutes down the trail, turn around and come back.) Be aware of street closures! Metro opens at 5 a.m. (Early morning TKG run in week 4 on the C&O Canal Towpath.)

For anyone who can't make it on Saturday, or wants to run again on Sunday, March 30th, Coach Renee will be leading a run from Bluemont Park off Wilson Boulevard in Arlington at 9 a.m. Directions are here. This is at mile marker 3.5 on the W&OD Trail, within half a mile of the hilly Custis Trail.

After that, for weeks 7 & 8, we'll meet at Roosevelt Island.

Weeks 9 & 10, we'll meet at Haines Point.

Weeks 11 & 12, we'll meet at Stanton Square near Union Station. This is where the target race, the CHC 10K, starts and finishes. (Last year's race course. There's been some talk that it might change this year.)

LAST WEEK (Week 5): We met in Bethesda and ran for 50-55 minutes, 4-5 miles, on the CCT. Some group members went out for coffee afterwards at the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble.

I didn't see any of you at the track workout last night. That is how you can get better and run a sub-50 minute 10K. The w.o. last night was a minute of 5K race pace running followed by 30 seconds of slow recovery run, 10 reps, after a 2-mile warm-up. (Rockin' and rollin' on the Capital Crescent trail in week 5.)

Announcement. The Army 10-Mile Race (ATM) registration opens on April 1st. The club has a 10-Mile Group Training Program (TMG) which will start on Saturday, July 12, 2008, with the ATM as its goal race. Announcements will be made during the early summer on the club website about the training program. ATM fills up quickly, in a matter of weeks last year. If you finish the TKG training, you will be suitable to take the TMG if you keep up your running. Do not get closed out, register for the ATM in April if this is the course you intend to follow, and you plan on taking the training and running the race.