April 29, 2009

BA Events has announced the standings of the first race in the 2009 Cape Cod Half Marathon Trilogy. The trilogy, a new half-marathon series created this year, features the Hyannis Half Marathon in February, The Great Hyannis Johnny Kelley Half Marathon at the end of May, and a new race to be held in Harwich, the Harwich Cranberry Half Marathon. The Harwich date has been set for 4 October but additional details have not been finalized. Check our race calendar for updated information on the race. Those participating in the Johnny Kelley Half Marathon are encouraged to register now as the field is already at 75%. For more information, contact baevents@aol.com.

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It’s track time again! In conjunction with the Wednesday night runs out of Fitness Revolution in Orleans at 5:30pm, we’ll be taking anyone who wants to join us down to the Nauset Middle School track and doing some formal track workouts, stretch and strengthening sessions and other fun stuff. The Nauset Middle School track, a crushed bluestone surface perfect for strengthening ankles and all those other connective tissues which rarely get a good workout, measures to about 0.23 mile on the inside lane. We haven’t put the GPS on it yet but keep in mind that you’ll have to go almost 4.5 laps to make a mile. While I won’t be able to make it this evening due to a flu/cold thing that I’d like to refrain from giving everybody, take this opportunity to acquaint yourself with the track and get used to the running surface. For those who have never worked on a track before, read this introductory post from last year. For tonight, warmup for about 10 minutes and then try some ‘pickups’ along the straightaways or the ends of the circles. A pickup should be a slight increase in pace of about 15 seconds per mile followed by a recovery section of a single straight or circle. Beginners should aim for about 8 of these (4 laps) while more advanced runners can do 16-24 pickups. These 100m or so bursts of speed will improve your neuromuscular adaptation, get you moving a little faster than you might ordinarily run on the roads, and enhance strength without putting undue stress on your legs and cardio system.

Session

Warmup: 10 minutes, include arm circles, reaches and upper body warmup as well as running

Beginner session: 8 x 100m x 100m @ 15 seconds/mile faster than your warmup pace

Advanced session: 24 x 100m x 100m @ 5K race pace – 10s

Cooldown: 10 minutes followed by some basic running drills – butt kicks, high knees, skipping, heel slides – no more than 100m each

 

Have fun and we’ll see you on the track next week!

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