In the Long Run

The mid week workouts are posted with many winding down to Portland this coming Sunday. If I don't see you have a good run and run smart. Also if you plan to be with us after this event now would be a good time to update the roster. I have posted training plans for many of the marathons and half coming for the early part of next year and will add those for the later spring ones shortly.

With many of you just finishing up a series of weeks with many long runs and many of you just getting in to it with every longer run being the furthest you've ever run it got me to thinking. Especially after the last couple of weeks where I've had people relate the stories of their Friday night adventures.

Now if you've been around me for awhile you know that I'm all about Friday night adventures which of course now with 4 kids has narrowed down to watching TV with a cold one in my hand. Anyway I was thinking back to a day many years in the long forgotten past when I was like you training for marathons and half's. I remember treating many of my important long runs like I was preparing for a race. I would load up on carbo's the night before, I would go to bed early (sometime even two nights before). I mean I never went as far as to build a little chuckie or anything but I took it pretty seriously. My friends always thought there was something wrong with me. The way I figured it though is that I wanted my important long runs to be of the positive kind and I also wanted to recover quickly from them so if I treated my body well before hand and rested going into it I would be better off.

Again I'm not saying you need to be in bed every Friday night by 8:00 but I think If you're wanting to have good long runs and I'm not saying that this will ensure you will but it can't hurt and in the long run help you with your race down the road so remember that when you're sitting at the bar Friday night at 11:00 with another shot in your hand.

Ok so now that has been covered here is another good tidbit for using for your long runs. Many ask how fast should you run your long runs (what Pace)? Well a good rule of thumb is to run them about a minute slower than your marathon goal pace. You should find this pretty easy to do if not you may need to reevaluate your goal.

Pace for Race, Seattle Marathon Water stop info

Only a couple of weeks until the first big Marathon of the fall in these here parts, Portland. With many of you running there and quite a few more with many of you travleing all around to others. The mid week workouts are posted and for you running Portland this is your last hard one before so let's make it a good one.

As we get closer one questions I get asked a lot is "what pace should I run?"  That's a good one but not an easy one to answer. The best way to approach this is probably to look at your most current races or time trials that's where you will get the answer more than likley. They will give you a snap shot of where you are fitness wise at that time. Based on your results you can calculate what you might be able to run for marathon or half. I've created a table with this information for you to use for this. I also just looked around on the web and found this one at www.runnersworld.com which projects much faster times than mine does so if you follow it I hope it works out.

Now how you go about running running your pace is also a tough one. Ideally you should go out a little slower and pick it up running the second half faster than the first half (negative spilt) but that's pretty hard to do. I've run about 17 marathons and I think I've only done that once, I ran the first half in 1:13 and the second half in 1:10.  That was a nice way to finish but I fear sometimes if you run that way you're risking getting too far in a hole and may have a hard time digging out. If you can do it though it's a great way to finish.

Another way is to go out hard and hold on, not a good idea, it can happen but it is very risky and hard to boot. I do think going out a little faster than your goal pace is ok and the mostly likely way to succeed with this method but be very careful.

The safest way I think is to go out at your goal pace (provided it's reasonable and based on your training and racing). I think it provides the best opportunity for the negative split and if nothing else as you try to get a negative split you probably will just maintain but hey that is OK because you'll get your goal and if all goes well maybe better than your goal.

If you have questions about this please ask.

Seattler Marathon Water Stop info:

Hello Fellow Chucksters,


It’s that time of the year again for soliciting volunteers for the Seattle marathon Chuckit water stop at mile 23 (mile 10 of the half).  We’ve been doing the water stop now for about 6 years and each year we try to make it the best water stop on the course.  To meet that goal this year, we need lots of volunteers.  So, please consider volunteering yourself or if you’re running have your families and friends come down to help.   Most of us have done lots of races and they wouldn’t have been possible without volunteers.  This is a chance to give back a little to the sport we love (usually!).


The marathon is Sunday Nov. 30th, Thanksgiving weekend.  We start setting up around 6:00 am.  Most of the help is needed between 7:30 and 11:30, first setting up the water tables, then handing out water & Gatorade.  Even if you can only come out for a couple of hours, your help will be greatly appreciated.


Again this year we’ll be renting a sound system to help motivate the runners up the hill and we will be providing a warm area with snacks and warm beverages to keep us going throughout the day.  To help defray the costs of these items, we will be accepting donations at the Saturday morning workouts.


Please come out, as all the help we can get is needed.  We can never have too many volunteers. Family and friends are more than welcome (young children seem to really love handing out water and Gatorade).  Volunteer shirts will be available for those who want them.


I’ll be sending out more info as we get closer to race date. If you have questions or would like to let me know that you are volunteering, please contact me at:  glendor48@hotmail.com


Thanks in advance for your support,


Glen Moore

Mid week workout method

Well we should have few more nice days weather wise and then fall will be upon us so we want to make sure we take advantage of these nice days training wise because soon enough we'll be slogging through 6 months cool wet weather. Better get out and get those quality workouts in while we can do it in shorts and t-shirts.

The mid week workouts are posted with everyone pretty much doing the same as last week. Now that a lot of you have done this work once you should be able to get a little more out of it the second time around. If you're on the track look at you workout from last week and figure out what you averaged for each interval. If you were all over the place try and even it out, keep it at the same pace if possible. You'll get a better workout and and better handle on pacing. A good way to do this workout is to start on the slower side and try to do them in sets. For example if you have 12x 400 as your workout you might try doing them in sets of 3 or four. If your time trial pace is 8:00 per mile start at 2:00 per 400 for the first 3, drop it to 1:58 for the next 3, 1:56 for the next and so on. The nice thing about doing it this way is that you start out under control and pick it up as you go. Much like you would want to do in a race. Plus it's fun too be able to finish faster than you started and it's easier to because you didn't burn out at the beginning, again another goods habit to work at when racing.


Since this is a training group and many of you are training in groups when doing these kind of workouts it's good to take turns leading each interval. It's easier to follow and nice for other to be able to follow every now and then. It helps those out who are just holding on by a thread because it makes them tough it out when leading and easier when they are following. Even if there are only 3 or 4 of you it really helps if you run in single file. You are able to draft the runner ahead of you and much like in biking it does make a difference. If you take turns then each runner get a chance to take advantage of this.

Now that many of you are approaching big races in the next few weeks now is an excellent time to start planning for events after these races. It helps with your post race training and helps keep you motivated for beyond your upcoming big event. To help out I've put up a bunch of training plans for after the first of the year. If you have one you want to train for and it's not posted let me know and I'll add it. I'll be adding events for later in next year soon.

I'm in the process of ordering long sleeve t shirts, I'll let you know which colors I'm able to get when I find out. I would bet I should have them here and screened by the middle of next month.

Map of route from Madison to Seward and back- Double click to enlarge it

MId Week, Long Run Training, Seattle 1/2

We had some venture north for the Skagit Flat half marathon over the weekend with a few more PR's achieved and a little hardware (awards) picked up. Nice Job all!! So far this fall we've had some very good running with great races at SJJ, Skagit Flats not to mention the Time Trial last week. Shows that your training is paying off and obviuosly you've been working hard.

The mid week workouts have been posted with many on hills and many others on the track finishing up with some speed before their upcoming races this fall. Make sure those of you on the track that you are putting full effort into these last few workouts. They really make a difference and for those looking to improve past times now is the time to insure you get them.

As you get closer to your upcoming events. I would also be careful to not leave your race out on the road. Meaning as you taper for your upcoming events, make sure that you don't over do your long runs. Your big race isn't with us on a Saturday morning from Madison park it off in some far off land a few weeks down the road, so you can tear up your weekly shorts run because those are easy to recover from but those long runs have got to be easy.

With the Seattle half marathon schedule just starting we are getting a lot of new people joining in on the fun, so tonight I would like all of those training for the half to meet with me as a group (old and new members) so everyone can get an idea who is training for it. You know a little group bonding. I'll even throw in a little hug if you like.

Remember Madison Park on Saturday mornings 7:30.

2008 Skagit Flats 1/2 Chuckit members

Jason Epstein 1:32:59
Thury Gudmundsdottir 1:36:18
Heidi Flora 1:48:13
David Arthur 1:48:14
Lynn Schnapp 2:06:11
Susan McIntosh 2:07:44

Madison PK FAQ's, Iron Girl Help, Moving Comfort

Remember tomorrow we start meeting at Madison Park for our Saturday Morning runs.

FAQ's about running there:

1. Why? It's a nice change of scenery from running at Greenlake all of the time. The Seattle Marathon and half go through there and running from there gives you the opportunity to see much of the course while running on it so come race time it's very familiar. You'll be running along lake Wa blvd for most of the run with scenic views and Yada, Yada, Yada. Every mlie there is a park so you know where in the run you are and most parks have water and bathrooms. It's roughly 7 miles to Seward park so round trip is roughly 14 miles if you go up to the top of madison hill and back. It's 2.5 miles around Seward so you can easliy add more. Most of you are Garmined up these days so you shouldn't have a problem figuring out far you've gone, if you don't have one you buddy probably does.
   
   
2. What Time? Same time as we meet every Saturday, 7:30.
   
   
3. Where is it? Madison Park is at the end of Madison Street which starts downtown and ends at LK Wa.. The park that we meet at is about a block west of the end of the street. If you are coming from Greenlake I would jump on I5 south, take the 520 exit, from there take the Montlake exit. AT th elight go straight through the to Lk WAshington Blvd. Follow it through the Aboretum the first main street on the other end of the Arbo is Madison, go left go about a mile unless you're in Lk Wa. then go back about a block and you should see us.
   
   From the east side take 520 towards Seattle, take the Lk Wa Blvd Exit. Follow it through the Aboretum the first main street on the other end of the Arbo is Madison, go left, go about a mile unless you're in Lk Wa. then go back about a block and you should see us.
   
   
4. Where do we park? Anywhere you can find it. Have met there for years and haven't had a problem with parking.
   
   
5. Where at the park do you meet? On the Madison Street side. It's not a very big park so you should be able to find us.
   
   
6. If it rains do we still meet there? Yeap.
   
   
7. When will we go back to teh Super Jock for our runs? Somtime in early November or when ever I get tired of standing in the rain on Saturday's.

This weekend the Iron Girl 5 and 10K will be run at Greenlake and they need help with the event. Here is the info I was sent.

Hey Chuck,

We're still looking for some bodies to assist with Iron Girl this Sunday. We've got the track clubs but the increased size of the event (about 3,000) is increasing demands. If you think you can round anyone up, please let me know.

On Saturday, we could use physical labor help in the morning or afternoon setting up the venue. Anytime from around 10am on.

Sunday would be from about 6:45am to 9:30am, though we can also use people for teardown afterwards.

Let me know if you can help and I can give you the contact number.

Also I was contacted by Moving Comfort and they are looking for women for a photo shoot here is a link to the info if you're interested.

Ok so don't forget that we are meeting at Madison starting tomorrow, someone always does. So if you show up to SJJ and no one is there you'll know why.

Super Jock ‘n Jill Half Marathon Pics and Results

Since there were many of you out at the Super Jock n Jill 1/2 marathon running yesterday I'm not going to post workouts for today or tomorrow. If you ran yesterday go for an easy run and maybe throw in a few strides. If you didn't run yesterday you'll be doing the Sept. time trial for your workout this week. One good last effort for those running an upcoming marathon or half.

The weather was perfect for the run yesterday with over cast skies and cooler temps so there were many great great runs from group members with many attaining a new personal best or very close to it. I put together a photo gallery from the pics I took yesterday with some very nice shots. It's on the web site.

Here are the results that I could find:
Joe Creighton 1:18:52
Eddie Martin 1:24:54
Andrew Bryant 1:26:19
DiDi Martiniello 1:29:38
Neil Morton 1:32:31
Larry Parker 1:33:04
Nancy Dunbar 1:33:24
Kassy Bargfrede 1:34:09
Todd Culbertson 1:40:30
Steven Brooks 1:40:41
Michelle Taylor 1:41:17
Timea Tihanyi 1:43:43
Marla Totah 1:44:12
Tien Doan 1:45:09
Laurie Ponti 1:45:41
Dana Caldart 1:48:30
Amy Roe 1:50:05
Robert Frary 1:58:19
Karin Cheung 2:01:16
Kim Chinn 2:04:58
Adarsh Rema 2:05:34
Shauna Shimono 2:05:52
Susan McIntosh 2:20:52 (after running 7 miles before the race)
Lynn Schnapp 2:20:55 (after running 7 miles before the race)
Corrie Vaa 2:38:28 (after running 7 miles before the race)
Complete Results

If I don't have yours please send it my way so that I can add it to my list.