The Race is Next

The race is upon us. All the training, all the miles expended at West Falls Church, Fletcher's Boathouse, Bethesda, Roosevelt Island, Haines Point and Stanton Square, are about to pay off.

On Saturday, 5/10/08 (week 12), we met at Stanton Square and after a Pre-Race Strategy discussion, program t-shirts were handed out. Then we ran last year's course, in about an hour. (The TKG Program T-Shirt was spotted at the Flying Pig Marathon last week.)

This week you should run at least two more times, 2-4 miles each time, at moderate intensity. Don't run on Friday or Saturday.

Here's the new course. Study it before the race. The charge up Capitol Hill now comes a little earlier in the race.

Stay hydrated, put your chip on your shoe the night before, and leave for the race with plenty of time so you'll be on time. Parking is difficult.

The CHC 10K is on Sunday, May 18th at 8:30 am. There is packet pickup, and registration, on race day, although it is recommended that you do these things beforehand. Go to the race website for full information. (Courtney and Coach Bob finishing a 10K run in Stanton Park last week.)

Good luck. Anyone who completed this Program should consider coming out for the 10-Mile Group (TMG) Training Program which starts in July. Come prepared to run 3-4 miles the first meeting. Watch the club's website for further information.

I want to thank coaches Alexandra, Bob, John, Kristin, Linda, Renee and Sasha for making this 10K Group Training Program possible. They were volunteers, there giving back to the sport.

Penultimate Week!

Week 11 of the dcrrc TKG will meet at 9 am on Saturday, May 3, 2008 in Stanton Square in DC, a few blocks to the southeast from Union Station (Red Line). There should be plenty of street parking nearby on Saturday. This is the starting point, and the ending point, of the Capitol Hill Classic. Kristin will be directing the morning's activities, which probably will entail some variation on the actual CHC 10K race course. Sasha will be there from the Reebok SunTrust National Half-Marathon Program to take some runners out as well.
Don't forget that tomorrow night (Monday night, 4/28), is the Snowball Series Awards and Marathon Training Program Recognition Night. Everyone is welcome at 7:00 pm at the Cactus Cantina, 3300 Wisconsin Ave NW in DC, 20016, for the presentation of the Snowball Series age-group awards, and to recognize the coaches and participants in the Reebok Official Training Program for the SunTrust National Marathon. This is always a fun, informal event. The list of the 2007-2008 Snowball Series winners has been posted on the club's website. Awards are three deep in each age group.

Last Week, week 10, Saturday 4/26 at Haines Point. Bob and I took out all of the runners, including some guest runners from the Reebok SunTrust National Half Marathon Training Program, on a 7-mile run up Capitol Hill, through Stanton Square, to Lincoln Park, down L'Enfant Promenade and over the Francis Case Bridge on the return. This was achieved in about 70 minutes. Several of the runners achieved it in under a 10-minute per mile pace. A few runners varied the route or distance as they saw fit. (Above: Coach Bob leads the TKG on Haines Point in week nine.)

Marine Corps Marathon and DCRRC Hall-of-Famer Jim Hage spoke to us in Week 4 about running a race. Here is an article he wrote on why he runs. When you all graduate to a marathon, here are his tips on that.

Last Week of Training (5/12/07 in DC)

2007 DCRRC 10K Training Program
APPROACHING WEEK 12 Remaining 2007 SCHEDULE–9 am on Saturday:
12. 5/12–Stanton Square in DC (near Union Station at Mass & Maryland Aves., C & 4th St.)http://mrdda.dc.gov/activities/default.asp?linkMode=walk&event_id=847&event_date=3/18/2007
13. CHC 10K RACE is Sunday 5/20/07 at 8:30 am at Stanton Square. http://www.capitolhillclassic.com/

NEXT WEEK (Week 12): Next Saturday, 5/12/07 at 9 am is the twelveth and last week of training before the race. We’ll meet in DC at the actual starting point of the race, at Stanton Square a few blocks east and south of Union Station down Mass Ave. For directions, go to a prior post to click on location or go the the Capitol Hill Classic 10K website. That is our goal race and you should study the course map anyway before you run it. http://www.capitolhillclassic.com/info.html#Map You'll just have to find parking along the street or pay for parking at Union Station and walk over (an 8 minute walk) or take the Red Line to Union Station. Give yourself some extra time. Program tee-shirts will be handed out next week, so make sure you come. I think you'll like them. Jeanne put a lot of time into selecting them, designing them and ordering them. They are technical shirts. (Below: Look out behind you! Jeanne and another athlete conquering EFC in week 10.)

LAST WEEK: In WEEK 11, about twenty athletes showed up at Stanton Square. Kristin ran there from Virginia. The runners were led by Kristin and guest coach Ashley as they ran the race course, 10K in about an hour. They ran to RFK, circled it, ran down to Pennsylvania Avenue, back to E. Capitol Street, down Capitol Hill, up Capitol Hill and back to Stanton Square. The run/walkers, led by Arnetta, went down to the Lincoln Memorial and back. Everybody looked great and Amanda blazed the pace at about 8:40 minutes per mile. (Right: Guest coach Ashley led the running group around both RFK and the Capitol.)

Afterwards we enjoyed refreshments in the park and chatted about running and things for twenty minutes. I went off to attend the first post-fire flea market at Eastern Market and Arnetta and some runners went off to Starbucks on Pennsylvania Avenue SW. (Below: Thirty million dollar blaze. Eastern Market two days after the fire.)

Don’t forget there will be a Ten-Mile Training Program offered by the club starting on Saturday, July 14 at 8 am on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (the steps that face the Washington Monument). The cost is $35. I hope to see all of you there. The goal race will be the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday, October 7, 2007 at the Pentagon. It’s a fun, albeit jinxed, race, fast flat and full (almost). There are less than 3,400 slots still available out of 26,000 slots originally, so sign up now if you’re going to run it! (Last week there were over 8,000 slots still left.) (Below: Eastern Market was open for business on Saturday, five days after the fire.)

Notable Upcoming Run: The Arlington YMCA’s Mother’s Day 10K on Sunday, May 13, 2007 was last year’s program’s goal race and is a worthy race to run. It is challenging and it runs over the very same hills we did last Saturday. It has a fee hike on May 1st, so if you’d like to run it, sign up early.

There are many fine running products out there. The many fine area running stores, like Fleet Feet in Adams Morgan http://www.fleetfeetdc.com/ or http://www.dcneighborhoods.com/fleetfeet/, or Metro Run & Walk in Falls Church, Springfield and Rockville, or Pacers in Old Town and Arlington, or Gotta Run in Pentagon Row and Annapolis, or others, stock reputable products at fair prices. Go to a store and check out your racing needs. (Left: It wasn't a pretty sight inside Eastern Market after the fire.)

RUN ON YOUR OWN: You really better!! I can tell who is! This week you should start to taper and run three times on your own, 30 to 55 minutes each time, with one of the runs at a ten or eleven minute per mile pace or better. On Saturday, each coach will take you out on a route they choose. Our goal race is the Capitol Hill Classic 10K (CHC) on 5/20/07 starting at 8 am which has a serious hill in the last mile. We’re within two weeks of the race now so it’s time to concentrate on your training! If you want to run the goal race 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.

CLUB TRACK WORKOUT: In the meantime, 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.

Visit the program’s chat room on the Forum link at the club's website for more information. There’s lots of interesting and pertinent information there. Feel free to comment on the blog or the forum link.

Coaching tips: What are you going to wear for the race? Pink or blue? How about: Sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, a shirt (prefereably not cotton, 100 % polyester is good), good running shoes not broken down and properly broken in, shorts or a skirt, bodyglide for any spot that might chafe and men should consider some protection for their nipples (nipguards, sold at running stores, or vaseline, works for this). Your bib will be your ID for this run. Carrying one or two packs of Gu or the equivalent for consumption during the race might be a good idea. Water will be handed out during the race.

See you Saturday!

Approaching Week Eleven 5/5/07 in DC

2007 DCRRC 10K Training Program
Remaining 2007 SCHEDULE–9 am Every Saturday:

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 11): Next Saturday, 5/5/07 at 9 am, (and also the twelveth and last week of training before the race) we’ll meet in DC at the actual starting point of the race, at Stanton Square a few blocks east and south of Union Station down Mass Ave. Click here for directions or go to the the Capitol Hill Classic 10K website. That is our goal race and you should study the course map anyway before you run it. You'll just have to find parking along the street or pay for parking at Union Station and walk over (an 8 minute walk) or take the Red Line to Union Station. Give yourself some extra time.

LAST WEEK: In WEEK 10, about a dozen athletes showed up at East Falls Church Metro Station and we ran six and a half miles west and back on the W&OD Trail in about an hour. (Left: Nobody, not even Mary Alice, was faster than Jake on Saturday. L-R, Hallie, Ashley, Gary and Arnetta.) The turnout included some alumni from last year's TKG program. Check out the great photos in Jeanne's post, just below this one. Everybody looked great and Mary Alice blazed the pace at about 8:40 minutes per mile. She's ready! Afterwards we chatted about running and things for twenty minutes at the top of the stairs leading down from the trail to the station's Kiss & Ride parking lot. (Right: Remember how far off the race seemed those weeks running on the Mall in February and March?)

Sunday was the Hill Workout in Falls Church. John showed up (I don't think he's in the TKG program) and in an hour of running, we ran about 5 miles up and over the hill and back again ten times on Highland Avenue, including one infamous boomerang (a dizzying descent and back again on a side hill). We practiced our downhill running and our pace (footstrike, turnover or cadence). Both are technique-driven and will make you faster. Afterwards I ran into Coach Bob riding his bike (!) on the W&OD Trail. He had come looking for the Hill Workout which conveniently was over! Incredibly, his bike had a bell on it, and he even demonstrated to me that he knew how to use it (he is a runner, after all). Your coach now is ready for the hill in Capitol Hill in the sixth mile. How about you? (Above: You will encounter this view on May 20th at around 8:50 a.m. after you have already run over five miles. Will you conquer this hill, or will it conquer you? Left: John getting ready for hills.)

Don’t forget the club will offer a Ten-Mile Group Training Program ("TMG") starting on Saturday, July 14th at 8 a.m. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (the steps that face the Washington Monument). The cost is $35. I hope to see all of you there. The goal race will be the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday, October 7, 2007 at the Pentagon. It’s a fun, albeit jinxed, race, fast flat and full (almost). As of today, there are only 6,015 slots left out of 26,000 originally available. Sign up soon if you know you’re going to run it!

Notable Upcoming Run: The Arlington YMCA’s Mother’s Day 10K on Sunday, May 13, 2007 was last year’s program’s goal race and is a worthy race to run. It is challenging and it runs over the very same hills we did two Saturdays ago when we hit the Custis Trail.

There are many fine running products out there. The many fine area running stores, like Fleet Feet in Adams Morgan, or Metro Run & Walk in Falls Church, Springfield and Rockville, or Pacers in Old Town and Arlington, or Gotta Run in Pentagon Row and Annapolis, or others, stock reputable products at fair prices. Go to a store and check out your running needs.

RUN ON YOUR OWN: You better!! I can tell who is! This week you should run three or four times on your own, 35 to 55 minutes each time, with some of the runs at a ten or eleven minute per mile pace or better. On Saturday, each coach will take you out on a route they choose that is a little further than we went last week. Our goal race is the Capitol Hill Classic 10K (CHC) on 5/20/07 which has a serious hill in the last mile. We’re within three weeks of the race now so it’s time to concentrate on your training! If you want to run the goal race 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.

CLUB TRACK WORKOUT: In the meantime, 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.

Visit the program’s running commentary on the Forum link at the club's website for more information. There’s lots of interesting and pertinent information there. Please feel free to comment on the blog or this forum link. As a matter of fact, I double dare you to comment!

Coaching tips:
Study the course map and familiarize yourself with where the milemarkers are. Pasta load the night before the race (spaghetti is traditional) and get plenty of rest! Lay out your racing items before you go to bed. Give yourself PLENTY of time to get there. Email your coach or me if you want/need more pre-race tips.

Odds & Ends: Read Jeanne's post right below this one concerning charity running. Ashley is running Chicago in the fall and needs to raise $500 for a worthy charity benefitting both education and underdeveloped regions. I am raising money in the same race for the same cause.
See you Saturday!