Week 9, April 19th, Haines Point

Week 9: Saturday April 19th:

We are meeting on Haines Point in the Golf Course parking lot at 9 AM for up to a seven mile run. Here in the ninth week we'll try to do our long run for the Program. There'll be no sighting of the giant though (Below: The Awakening Statue), he's gone! Left for PG County.

Afterwards, everyone is invited to Whitlow's on Wilson (WOW) Boulevard in Arlington (Clarendon) at about 10:45 to enjoy brunch with anyone from the Reebok SunTrust National Half-Marathon Training Program who wishes to come. This group recently finished its own race, the SunTrust National Half-Marathon and did quite well.

Last Week (week 8, April 12th): Everyone met at Roosevelt Island and Coaches John (south on the Mt. Vernon Trail, over the 14th Street Bridge, north on Ohio Drive to the Memorial Bridge and back into Virginia and to Roosevelt Island), Peter (same route), Renee (north into Georgetown over the Key Bridge, south to the 14th Street Bridge and back into Virginia, north to Roosevelt Island on the Mt. Vernon Trail) and Bob (south on the Mt. Vernon Trail to Gravelly Point and return) took their charges between 5-6 miles in a little over an hour. Everyone ran really well. (Right: Renee's group meets Peter's group on the 14th Street Bridge from opposite directions. Off to the left you can still see that a few Cherry Blossoms were still in bloom.)

A number of people, including Coach John and Marisa, ran the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Race last Sunday, April 6th. Congratulations to them.

You all should run three more times this week, at least 30 minutes each time. One run should be faster than you normally go. You could substitute the Wednesday night track workout for this faster-paced run.

Week 8, April 12th.

WEEK 8, Saturday April 12, 2008 at 9 am:

The dcrrc 10K Training Program will meet at the Roosevelt Island Parking Lot for up to a 10K run. (Below right: The Potomac from the meeting place in the Roosevelt Island Parking Lot before Saturday's run.)

Go Northbound on GW Parkway to just past the Roosevelt Bridge where there's a turnoff to your right. If you take Metro, take the orange or blue lines to Rosslyn, and run towards the Key Bridge. You cross the Mt. Vernon Trail after you cross over Lee Highway but before you start over the Key Bridge. Go South on the Mount Vernon Trail a quarter mile to the Roosevelt Island Parking Lot.

A suggested route is 10K on the nearby Custis Trail. We could run to Glebe Road and back. It'll be a little bit hilly as we practice for Capitol Hill in the race in the sixth mile.

This week you should run three other times, 3-5 miles each run. One run should be a fast-paced run, or have fast portions in it (interval running). Track is on Wednesday night at 7 pm in Arlington. This is a self-contained program, go the the Track Workout section on the club's website for more information.

Next week (week 9) and week 10 we'll meet at Haines Point in the Golf Course parking lot. (Left: Heading out on the Mt. Vernon Trail.)

Weeks 11 and 12 we'll meet in Stanton Square in the District near Union Station. The target race, the Capitol Hill Classic 10K, starts in Stanton Square.

LAST WEEK (week 7). We were joined by Jessica, a runner who had just completed the Reebok SunTrust National Half Marathon training program (16 weeks). Jessica broke two hours for the half marathon last week and has already plunged into training for the Capitol Hill Classic 10K which is, after all, in SIX SHORT WEEKS! Coaches Kristin and Peter took their runners south on the Mount Vernon Trail to the Gravelly Point parking lot just north of National Airport, and back, for six miles in about an hour. Coach Renee took the 14th Street Bridge into the District and then headed north through Georgetown to the Key Bridge and returned, where she completed a loop of six miles in about 55 minutes. It was beautiful spring weather, although there was some wind. (Right: This is what running in the District looked like last week.)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:I hope that you all continue with your running and don't let your conditioning slip after this Program is over. The ARMY 10-MILER registration opened last week. It is MORE THAN HALF-FULL already in one short week. It will be run on Sunday, October 5, 2008. Consider putting it on your schedule and taking the dcrrc 10-Mile Training Program this summer, which starts on July 14th. All of you who finish the 10K Program and keep up with your running are capable of finishing the 10-Mile Program Training too.

Run happy.

Week Four will meet at 7:30 am at Daingerfield Island

Week Four (Aug. 4) will meet on Saturday morning at 7:30 am at Daingerfield Island (Washington Sailing Marina) at MP 12 on the Mt. Vernon Trail just off the GW Parkway south of Ronald Reagan Airport. You can access the parking entrance from either direction. Park over to the left (north) in the paved lot near the comfort station. (After this coming week, we'll move our meeting place to a different location, Fletcher's Boathouse in DC, for weeks 5 & 6).

Week three was a little confused as people were uncertain where exactly to meet. But everyone eventually got hooked up and Matt took the advanced group on a long run south of Alexandria, over seven miles. Linda took her intermediate group on a yo-yo course up to Gravelly Point and then back south past the Marina towards Alexandria. They went from four to five miles. Jeannie took her group somewhere for four miles. A few runners added some distance onto their runs on their own, up to six miles. (Who needs headphones when you could listen to this? Linda's group saw and heard jets taking off from National directly overhead.)

The trail was really crowded with Team-In-Training runners doing seventeen miles getting ready for the MCM, Capitol Hill Runners doing fourteen miles, the Galloway group practicing walking six abreast, and sundry bicyclists and individual runners.

It was also the first really warm day. With the heat of the summer now upon us, we will try to get underway on the actual run each week at 7:30 am sharp. If you're late, you'll just have to catch up! Bring a water bottle too; either learn how to carry a half-liter bottle (16.9 oz) in your hand (fluid weighs a pound a pint) or get a water-carrying belt (fuel belt). Google fuel belt or go to Pacers or another running store.

Remember, this Friday-Sat.-Sunday is sales-tax holiday in Virginia 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.

The program is now one-quarter over. How are we feeling? You all should be running two (or three) other times a week, two to three miles each time. You could introduce something new to your week if you're already running twice mid-week: 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 back-to-back or two different miles run at a 10K race pace, preceded and followed by a slower jogging mile again.

Want to map out a route of any distance from the curb in front of your house? Go here, http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ then click on "Hybrid" at the top, enter Washington DC (or Bethesda of Falls Church or wherever you live) and 15 for the magnitude (zoom), and hit Go. Once the satellite image comes up, with a street grid superimposed on it, grab and drag the map any direction until you find your very building. (Click on even greater magnification to make sure.) Maybe you'll see your car on the curb. Or your WaPo in the driveway. Then hit "Record" and start plotting out a run down your street and around your neighborhood, an out-and-back of any distance you want, by pointing the cursor in a straight line down the street (or path) a ways and clicking. The route will be delineated in red, with mile markers, and you can even save and email the eventual route and count calories along the way. Most importantly, it tells you distance traveled.