At the request of the Harwich PD, the Irish Pub Road Race start time this Saturday has been changed to 10:00 AM. Plan accordingly …

The Cape Cod Athletic Club extends its deepest sympathies to the family of United States Marine Corporal Nicholas G. Xiarhos of Yarmouthport.

Nicholas was serving in Afghanistan, where he lost his life participating in the latest push to secure the country. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan for three years, seeing some of the most intense fighting on both fronts.

His father, Steve Xiarhos, is a member of the Cape Cod Athletic Club and a lieutenant on the Yarmouth police force.

A previously planned bike ride on Saturday 25 July from Dennis to Wellfleet in memory of fallen troops will continue as planned and Nicholas will be one of those honored. More information …

The original article in the Cape Cod Times on July 24th, 2009 can be found here: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090724/NEWS11/90724009

Think you’ve got what it takes to tackle the Cape Cod summer racing schedule? How about 5 races in 4 days? Try this: Thursday – Centerville Old Home Week Road Race; Friday – Hyannis Friday Night 5 Miler; Saturday AM – Provincetown 5K; Saturday PM – The Brew Run; Sunday – Falmouth Road Race. Alternates: Nantucket Twilight 5K on Thursday, the Chilmark Road Race on Saturday, the Bridge of Flowers 10K on Saturday (ok – it’s not on Cape Cod but we really like this race and yes, it is possible to make it back in time for the Brew Run – we’ve done it!), and for those who didn’t get in to Falmouth this year, a 7.05 mile time trial on a course of your choosing. Send us your verifiable results for 5 races over those 4 days and we’ll get you some fine CCAC schwag for your collection. On on!

Hazy, hot and humid? That must mean that it’s time for the Dennis Road Race, the Irish Pub, Centerville Old Home Week, the Brew Run and Falmouth. Member Adam Ross also suggests a trip to the islands with the The Rock Run and Vineyard Scoops races just around the corner. Also check out some new races on the calendar like the Provincetown 5K. Stay hydrated and run strong at all the summer races!

This week we’ll take a look at a shorter version of a training favorite, the progression run. Many runners, especially beginners, have a habit of starting too fast and then encountering problems later in the race or training run. Progression runs will help you understand your pace and how to properly apportion your effort over a long distance so that you’re not completely spent halfway through the run. The progression run is simple – slowly speed up as the run progresses so that you’re running the fastest part of the run at the very end. For our purposes on the track today, we’ll use laps as a consistent reference point so run five laps beginning at a pace slightly faster than your warmup pace and then slowly increase your speed on each lap, taking splits at each lap if you have a watch.  Each lap should be about 5-10 seconds faster than the previous with the goal of hitting your 5K race pace on the 4th lap and 10 seconds faster than 5K race pace on the final lap. Take 2-3 laps active rest and then run another progression. After a short cooldown, make sure to finish off with the standard drill set and 4-5 50m strides.

Session

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

Session: 2 x 5 lap progression run x 2-3 lap jog.

Cooldown: 10 minutes followed by some basic running drills – butt kicks, high knees, skipping, heel slides, crossovers – no more than 100m each. Follow with 5 50m strides.