Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Mid Week 8/31-9/1

After pondering workouts for those with upcoming marathons and those running the Super Jock n Jill half next Monday. I originally considered not having you run the 2 mi TT this month but I think I like the sounds of it after thinking about it. It's shorter than any other workout I would plan so it will give you a nice quick effort leading up to your half, one that works your speed and is also one you can quickly recover from. Also with this weather it might nice to get there and get it in quickly and be done with it.

Of course it's not required but I do recommend it. Like I said I think it's the perfect workout this week for most.

Those with long runs planned this weekend who are also running the SJJ half, I would use the half as your long run and just run 3-4 miles on Saturday. As many of you have heard me say running 13 miles hard is worth running 17 miles easy in my book.

If you have an upcoming marathon I really would plan for a race in the next couple of weeks even 5K's will do the trick., I've mentioned this before over the summer but I think there is nothing like other races to help you prepare for your goal race. That's one of the reasons we run the 2 mile TT.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Mid Week 8/24-25/10, if you want to run faster you gotta run faster

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it out to the party. The weather was perfect and the food and company great. The fire pit also came in handy keeping away the bugs and keeping away the chill. In the end I think we ended up with more food and drink than we provided. A lot of left overs.

It's always nice to spend time with everyone out side of running. I think everyone had a good time and we'll plan for next year. Stephanie Buley was the lucky winner of the Gamin 310xt that we raffled off. Thanks again.

Well we're getting awfully close to your up coming fall events with only about 6 weeks away to Portland, Chicago and Victoria. Time to buckle down quality wise. So these next few weeks of Mid week workouts are very important.

As I was pondering (as I often do) about the group last week and occurred to me how many people say they join the group for the long runs and how running with others will make them faster. As I thought about it I started thinking that's pretty silly, seems to me people who are wanting to run faster should joining the group because of the midweek workouts. I mean your long runs are important if run the right way but if you want to get faster the easiest way is not through long runs, it's through quality running. Your mid week workouts are going to help you get faster, faster than your long runs. I've never thought of a long run as a hard work out. To me a hard workout is one that is going to bring benefits that will help me get  faster than other runs such as recovery runs or long runs. Recovery runs to me are the runs the day after your hard workouts. Running long is easy and are run most time a lot slower than your expected race pace. So you need to do some running at your race pace of after so that you 're able to run that race pace comfortably.

I will add here though if you're a beginner I think long runs are probably more important because you're just building up endurance and strength so you'll improve a lot from that. If you're a more experienced runner the best way to improve from the way I see it is to add more volume, be more consistent and add quality and this quality is where you'll see the biggest improvement faster.

So as you continue to prep for your fall events remember to get in those quality runs in and in the end they'll make you faster, than your long runs.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Mid week 8/17-18/10, Workout wrinkle, Chuckit Article, Party Info , Martha Stewart

Well finally some warm weather, I guess you have to be careful what you wish for. Supposed to cool down by the weekend so good weather for your long runs.

For those of you running the 10x800's I want to add a new wrinkle this week. 20x200 with a 200 jog at 5K race pace (or 2 mi t pace) the idea here is to work on your leg speed without killing you. This shouldn't be run full out. This will work on your stride efficiency and make you marathon pace seem a whole lot slower, plus I think it will add a little variety to keep your minds a little fresher. I'll explain it further at the workouts.

There is a nice feature article in Competitor Magazine this month about myself and the group. I put a scanned copy up on the web site if you're interested in it. click here to read it.

Supposed to be cool and maybe rain on Saturday, which is of course the day of the party. Oh well we'll get by. It's always grat see everyone outside of the running thing.
Ok here is the party info:
Will start at 5:00ish until when ever
Potluck, byob we will have a lot of stuff
Kids welcome, no goats please as we already have a couple.
Address: 3217 West Valley Hwy N.
Auburn Wa. 98001
206-391-3448

View Larger Map
 my house is really easy to get to. from Seattle Go south on I5 take the 272nd street exit, go left follow 272 for about 2 miles down a long hill. At west Valley Hwy go right. Go for about a mile. after you go through the intersection of 292 /37th the road starts to bend take the first drive way to the right stay left. Our drive way has the chain link fence along it.

From Bellevue 405 south, take 167 south, take the 277th street exit go right then left at the next light (West Valley Hwy) Go for about a mile. after you go through the intersection of 292 /37th the road starts to bend take the first drive way to the right stay left. Our drive way has the chain link fence along it.

I hope you can make it.

Starting on September 11th we'll be moving our Saturday morning run to Madison Park for our long runs. This will give those who are running Seattle a chance to train on the course and for a others a nice change of scenery.  Also on that day our run will be part of a promotion for Martha Stewart. Here's the info that I have so far:
This September, "The Martha Stewart Show" is moving exclusively to Hallmark Channel.  To celebrate that Martha is on the move, we are looking to partner with running clubs throughout the US to coordinate a fun run letting people know that Martha is on the Move.  These runs can be in conjunction with a planned training run or practice or an event on their own.  As a way of saying thanks, Hallmark Channel and "The Martha Stewart Show" will be providing runners with some great swag including a dry-fit runners shirt.  Of course,this being Martha we're also including an apron and wooden spoon for everyone who runs.

We'll be working with the local media to promote your group and the run.  We're hoping the groups can help by using social media to get the word out.  We want people to have FUN and channel "their inner Martha". The groups that have the most fun and are the most creative will have the chance to win one of a kind signed Martha Stewart products. 

Moving day is Monday September 13.  We are looking to have the runs take place in the two weeks prior to moving day.

The attached PDF gives you more detail on the promotion.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

mid week 8/10-/11

Had some very nice time trials last week, shows that your work is paying off. for those who would like to submit their times to the search-able data base you can do that here http://www.runseattle.com/2-mile_time_trial.asp, it goes back to about 2004. I like to look at it to see how everyone is doing although I notice that it's used has dropped a bit. I had  few people ask me how to access it last week the link is on the pace run page, which is under training on the site. Thanks to those that have submitted their times.

One lucky person with my prodding learned that to run these things fast you have to run faster  then you think might be safe or even as fast as you think you can. John Leddy was talking with someone before hand saying his best ever was 12:45ish. I heard that and said John you're going to go out the first mile today in 6:05 (got to be careful what you say around me) I got a nice little stare from him but insisted that he try it. He relented and I enlisted the Jason to help get him through 6:05,  They took off and I have to say John looked like he was jogging, it looked so easy for him. Unfortunately Jason has been vacationing more than running recently so he was only able to must a 6:10 first mile. John  stayed on pace and finished with a 12:22 a good 20 second improvement. The only way you can find out what you're able to to do running wise sometimes is to take a chance. Is it hard? You bet but you have to lay yourself out there sometimes and give it a shot or you'll never make those big improvements, is it safe nope, is it hard yeap but it's fun when you get them.

Going to get warmer this week so make sure that you take it easy in the heat, wouldn't be a problem if we had warmer weather all along but every one is getting used to those nice 55 degree Saturday long runs. I hope we get a good spell of warm weather so that you can get used to running in a bit warmer weather in case your fall event falls victim to a warm day.

Got a check from someone for membership a couple of weeks ago, stuck it in my wallet, a few days later I found it and deposited, it didn't have any information on it such as name or address so I couldn't record that. For the life of me I can't remember who gave it to me, I couldn't even make out the signature.  Anyway I got it returned + a nice $19 charge to my account for that. If you might be the person who gave it to me could you contact me so that we can settle up? Thanks.

ChuckIt Summer Party is around the corner on the 21st if you think you'll be attending let me know so that I can get a rough idea how many might be coming.

From what Glen says the Danskin Tri is still in need of volunteers, info on that is in last weeks blog post.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Mid Week 8-3-2010

Yeap time trial time. For those who are running an early fall marathon you only have two left until then.So you need to make the most of them and aim for some good results as these will give you a very good indication of you fitness and what you might expect for your goal event.

With only a couple of months to go until the October events you're heading into the heaviest load training wise. Only a month until you start cutting back so make sure you're getting these workouts in. On the other hand this being vacation time for many make sure that you get your vacation in and don't let this ruin it. The thing about vacations is that things never turn out like you think so I would say it's just good to take it easy run lightly and go with the flow. If you're allowed to get your planned work out in great but if not don't stress and do what you can and it that's nothing well just move on to the next opportunity.

Remember the Chuckit Party on the 21st down here at my house.  The goats are pretty excited about it.  I figure we can start the festivities about 5:00 pm until whenever.

As a reward to our efforts with pacing at RnR I was given a Garmin gps watch. I propose that we have a raffle at the party for it.

From Glen.

Volunteers needed!

Hey Chuckit Crew!

Do you want to be a critical part of the 2010 Seattle Danskin Triathlon?  You can by being a volunteer at this great event!

Below are some details:

Danskin Women’s Triathlon – Genessee Park, Seattle. Friday, August 13 – Sunday, August 15

Danskin is seeking volunteers in all areas of this triathlon starting with race setup on Friday to the finish line on Sunday and everything in between! Over the course of three days, we will need to fill nearly 450 volunteer positions! More than 4000 female athletes will be looking to you for encouragement, assistance, and support. Volunteers are the HEART of this event, and we couldn't do it without you! Join us for a fun and rewarding experience. Please encourage your friends, family, or club to volunteer with you. For more details and to register, go to www.seattledanskintri.com. If you’d like to sign up as a group, please indicate on the online registration form under “Additional Information”, or email seattlewomenstri@gmail.com.

New for this year: volunteers will be getting some swag (besides the t-shirt) more info to follow!