Next Workout:  Saturday, March 27, meet at 8:45 AM, workout at 9:00 AM
at our regular location:  the Parking lot of Columbia Island Marina!


If you need a ride to the workout location, please respond to this
message no later than C.O.B. Friday, March 26.


***************************************************

Walk-to-Run Trainees:


Welcome to the twelfth week of our program.


1)  This week, we continue with two (2) minutes of walking, followed by
three (3) minutes of running, which we will be doing this Saturday and 
next, and on all your midweek workouts over the next two weeks.


Our route will be up and around the Iwo Jima War Memorial, for a workout 
just slightly longer than 4 miles even.


You may need to reprise the running garb you wore in February; it 
promises to be rain free, but pretty chilly on Saturday AM.  As always, 
dress in layers, so you can peel off a layer of two during the workout 
as you warm up, and put it back on afterward when you cool down.


2)   Target Races


April is the time for target races, though two of our trainees are 
jumping the gun and doing their 5K already this Saturday.   Good luck 
Melissa and Alpana!


For the rest of you, I have a request -


Please respond to this email, and tell me the name and date of your 5K race:

Your name:__________________________________

Race name:__________________________________

Race date:__________________________________


Thank you!


[If you're still trying to decide which race is for you, please check 
out   http://www.runwashington.com/index.php?page=calendar.htm&pg=1 ]


3) Running Form

As you do your 3-minute running segments, try to be conscious of your 
form. Don't concentrate so much that you trip over your own feet, but on 
each run (midweek runs too!), try to concentrate on one (just one!) of 
the following points:

- Run Tall. Run with your back upright, not slouched. Head up, chest 
out, shoulders back and down. If you run slouched, the rest of your 
running form will suffer, and you may not be able to breath deeply or 
well, impairing the supply of oxygen to working muscles. Good posture 
while running also lets your abdominals contribute to the effort. In 
addition to physical benefits, running tall, with your head up, will 
make you more aware of the road or trail ahead, and any hazards you can 
avoid (like speeding cyclists!)

- Breath Deeply. Learn to take in as much air and oxygen as you can 
while running. Your body requires a lot more oxygen when running than it 
does with normal activity, but you may be able to avoid gasping for air 
at the end of your running segment, if you breath more deeply from its 
beginning. And if you have to slow down a little to breath deeply, maybe 
you're doing you're doing each running segment too quickly.

Don't be surprised if your inhaling takes less time than your exhaling. 
Many runners inhale on one stride, and then exhale on the two strides 
thereafter. But breathing patterns are highly individual, and shouldn't 
be changed - take breaths as seem natural to you. Just when you inhale, 
draw in a deep breath, and get as much air into your lungs as possible.

- Land each running stride with your foot underneath your body, and then 
push off that foot as it swings behind you. If you land with your foot 
in front of you, your heelstrike acts as a brake. Each step front of 
your body is a brake, followed by a push-off. Not only is this less 
efficient - as you have to overcome the braking motion with increased 
effort to get moving again - but the greater forces acting on your foot 
make you more susceptible to injury.

You want your heelstrike to be directly underneath you, as this 
adequately supports your body weight and aids forward momentum. If you 
find yourself striding with your footstrike in front of your body, 
shorten up your stride. Take shorter steps and concentrate on getting 
your body over your footstrike. Propel your self forward as your leg 
falls behind you.

- Front to back motion, not side to side. As you take step after step, 
and swing your arms to match your leg motion, make sure your arms are 
going front to back, and don't cross your chest as you run. If your arms 
cross your chest, it will twist your torso side to side, and result in 
wasted motion, slowing you down, and making forward motion more difficult.

Correct your arm swing by forcefully shoving your arm back as you stride 
forward with the leg on that side. The natural reaction to that shove 
will bring your arm back to your side, without letting them swing 
forward of your body, and potentially off-track.

[You may notice a pattern. Your torso is the forward element of your 
body on the run, and your arms and your legs are playing catch-up, as 
they propel your body forward.]

- Relax your shoulders and hands. Running tall, and eliminating 
side-to-side motion, do not mean running stiff. Keeping your hands, arms 
and shoulders stiff takes effort - mental and physical energy that could 
be better used by your legs and your abdominals in maintaining forward 
motion. Rather, relax your hands, arms and shoulders by concentrating on 
the rest of your body - head up, eyes forward, torso straight, and chest 
lifted up. Footstrike under your body, arms swinging back, and then to 
neutral. Your arms and hands contribute very little to the running 
effort - they're just along for the ride!

Again, don't obsess about any of these points. If you happen to resemble 
any error in form noted above, try working on it during your midweek 
workouts, and then on Saturday. It may take a few tries, but before 
long, you'll find it easier to run than it used to be, and the 
correction will have become second nature.


4) Your Running Buddy

A running buddy is someone you can run with, because he or she runs at 
about the same pace as you. If you take walk breaks, he or she can 
follow the same walk/run interval pattern.

Running with someone is also safer than running alone, and you can keep 
an eye on each other in case of injury, dehydration, or any other 
situation. And it's a lot cheaper than therapy! Bonus points if your 
running buddy lives close to you.

But a spouse, fiancée, girlfriend/boyfriend, parent, sibling, 
son/daughter or your best friend is not necessarily your running buddy. 
If the person you want to run with runs at a different pace, the 
naturally slower person runs a serious risk of injury if he or she tries 
to keep up with the faster person. If your intended running buddy runs 
at the same pace as you, great!  Just be honest in your evaluation.

Two years ago, I coached a trainee who ran/walked with her Dad, who was 
battling knee problems. She did great in training for the first 2.5 
months of the program. But then, her Dad was sidelined by his knees, and 
she started running with her younger - and much faster - sister, who had 
been running for years. The older sister lasted about 3 weeks in this 
arrangement, before she suffered an overuse injury. You may always 
*want* to run faster, but your body may have other ideas.

And apart from speed, sometimes you can't keep up with a more 
experienced runner.  Last year, I trained midweeks with a new runner, 
who was training for her first half marathon, while I was training for a 
marathon - my 19th at the time.  We were doing 4 miles workouts on 
fairly flat territory in Old Town Alexandria.

She started every run at a faster pace than I would have run solo, and 
most times, was able to keep up that pace for at least half the run. 
But by the second half, it was obvious that she had started out too fast 
- she had to drop back, just when I was ready to turn a negative split 
and increase the pace and finish strong.  A more experienced runner will 
usually have more stamina than a newer runner.

So if you want to seek out the company of your friend who's been running 
for years, even if you seem to be at the same pace, make sure it's a 
pace that you can keep up for a while.   When in doubt, slow down, and 
finish the run at an even, consistent pace.  That is much better 
training than starting too fast, then petering out midway.

A good running buddy will slow down with you if you're having a bad day, 
and you should do likewise, if he or she is having a bad day.  To quote 
a fellow coach from our Summer training program, there are no "junk 
miles."  Every mile run, at whatever pace, is a mile "in the bank" for 
when you need to call upon that training, that conditioning, on race 
day.   There is a time for training faster, but every run, no matter how 
slow, benefits you.

The way to tell if you're running too fast for yourself, just to keep up 
with your running buddy, is the "talk test" I had mentioned earlier. 
If you can keep up a conversation with your running buddy, and neither 
of you is panting, gasping out one-word answers, then you have a 
compatible pace.

You may have more than one running buddy, or even buddies at different 
paces. If you're training for distance, your midweek runs may be run at 
a faster pace than your Saturday long run. There may be someone who can 
run with you for just a few miles, whereas others who need to get in 
longer mileage for their own distance training, and would welcome a call 
whenever you want to run long.

Whenever you run with someone, please remember the pace you're 
*supposed* to be running for that training session, and if you or the 
other person wind up panting, or are obviously hurting, both of you 
should slow down. And never exceed your previous long mileage by more 
than 10% - even if your running buddy wants to go longer.

Have fun running with your buddy, but please remember the rules of the 
road or the trail. If a section along the side of the road, or along a 
trail, is not wide enough for two people side-by-side, head through it 
single file. Camaraderie, yes, but safety first.

And if a trail is crowded with other users (or there are swift bikes out 
and about), please make sure your running pair or group doesn't stray to 
the left of the center line, lest you collide with a bike or another 
runner.

And even on a quiet trail, don't always run on the same side of someone. 
The act of turning your head to one side to talk to the person running 
next to you can subtly change your footstrike. Change sides 
periodically, so you don't put a crimp in your stride, or invite an 
injury-causing mis-step.

Some people prefer to run alone, to clear their head, or retreat from 
the demands of daily life. Others view running as a social activity. If 
you fall in the latter category, you live a region with many runners, 
and through training programs past or present, running clubs, running 
stores, or mutual friends, can all lead to running buddies.

[More about additional groups to run with this Summer in a future 
newsletter.]


If you have any questions, please call me at 703-371-5171.  I'll see
you Saturday at Columbia Island Marina!


Thank you!


Coach John


John H. Steitz
RRCA Certified Running Coach
USATF Level 1 Certified Track and Field Coach
Marathon Charity Cooperation
703-371-5171
http://www.mc-coop.org/walktorun/