Welcome to the third week or our program.
1) Run Breaks
This is the week we begin "run breaks" in our workouts, your first introduction to interval running. This week, we will walk for 4 minutes, and then break into running for just one minute. We will repeat the 4 minutes of walking, then another minute of running, all the way through our workout until the end.
Over the next few weeks, we will increase the running segments of our workouts, and decrease the walking segments. Eventually, we will be running 4 minutes for every 1 minute of walking, a ratio we will keep up until the end of our program.
How will we know when to start and stop running during our workouts? A sports watch, which is the only other essential piece of gear you need for this program (besides running shoes).
Attached is an article I wrote about sports watches for the Summer marathon training program. But it has equal applicability for our Walk to Run program. A sports watch need not be expensive, and you will probably pay far less for one than you will for your running shoes.
For our Saturday workouts with the group, we will have one or two timekeepers, so you need not keep track of intervals on your own watch. But you will need a sports watch (and will need to learn how to use it) for your midweek workouts, which should use the same walk/run intervals we use each preceding Saturday.
2) Route for Sat. 1/24/09
Our 1-mile walk/run route for Saturday may be found at:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2489848
Careful viewers will notice that this is the same route we took last week. The difference, is that we will be running one out of every five minutes on that mile. Throughout this training program, I will strive to change only one variable - interval duration _or_ distance - every week. This week we introduce intervals, and next week we increase the distance.
We will meet again at 9 AM down at the parking lot for Columbia Island Marina. The web page for our program
http://www.marathoncharitypartners.org/walktorun/
has a map and directions to our meeting site.
The easiest way to get there, is to get yourself onto the GW Parkway, heading _South_, between Memorial Bridge and the 14th Street Bridge. There is only one sign for "Columbia Island Marina" and the entrance is right at the start of the construction on the "humpback bridge."
If your lane veers to the left and goes up sharply to cross the bridge, you've just missed it, and you will need to go around for another pass.
If you are coming from DC, please use MEMORIAL BRIDGE to cross the river, and then look for the REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT and I-395 signs which will lead you to the GW Parkway Southbound. Then, follow the directions above to Columbia Island Marina.
Please print out the map above and bring it with you on Saturday. If you weren't with us last week, please leave extra early, to give you extra time to find it without stressing.
If you get turned around and can't locate it, please call my cell phone, 703-371-5171 _before_ 9 AM. After 9 AM, I am coaching the trainees and/or doing the workout, and I may not be able to talk much on the phone.
3) Weather
The weather should be *slightly* warmer this Saturday than last. But for those of you who weren't with us last Saturday, please read the following carefully:
When you run or walk in weather this cold, make sure you cover up extremities - wear a warm hat (not a baseball cap!) and good gloves. In really cold windy weather, you may need to cover your face with a scarf, ski mask or baklava. Thicker socks and thermal undies are also good, especially since we're just walking this Saturday.
The most important thing in cold weather is to stay dry. That's why a wicking layer next to your skin is as important in Winter as it is in the heat of Summer.
You also want to stay internally hydrated. Exercising in cold, dry air can dehydrate the body surprisingly well, as you lose moisture with every breath you exhale.
We won't be out in in long enough to worry excessively about the cold, so long as you stay dry, keep your extremities covered (especially non-moving parts like hands and head), and keep moving.
The February 09 issue of Runner's World, on page 40, has some good tips on running in the cold.
4) Target Race
I am preparing a list of trainees and their target races, which I would like to complete by the end of February. If you haven't chosen a target race, please consult the web sites I noted in last week's newsletter, and pick a 5K or 4 Mile race between March 28 and the end of April.
I hope to see everyone at Columbia Island Marina on Saturday! If you have any questions, please write back, or call me at 703-371-5171.
Till then, Happy Trails!
Coach John
John H. Steitz
RRCA Certified Running Coach
USATF Level 1 Certified Track and Field Coach
Arlington Cooperation Foundation
703-371-5171
http://www.marathoncharitypartners.org/walktorun/