Our good club friend Marilyn Baker has been fighting cancer since November. Friends and family have put together an evening of fellowship in order to raise funds and help with all of the hospital and travel bills. On the calendar for Thursday, the 8th of October, at the Osterville Veterans Hall, the gathering will feature a silent auction, potluck, raffles, and music by Two Cool. More …

On the site of the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Skating Rink, the new Youth & Community Center is inviting everyone to its grand opening celebration this Saturday.

  The new facility features a 12,000 square foot gym with an overhead walking track, a computer room, a community room, a rec room, a cafe, and two full size ice rinks. The indoor track is a welcome addition for Cape Cod walkers and joggers but the small size and tight corners may pose problems for serious runners. An annual pass to the facility is $20 for town residents and $40 for non-residents.

• A hot shower after a run seems like a novel idea.
• The car driving up behind you turns out to not be a white van and it doesn’t toot at you several times as it drives past.
• People look at you strangely when you change in public.
• It’s unusual to not see runners in tutus or pink wigs.
• There is food other than Power Bars, gels, Gatorade and Dunkin’ Donuts.
• Jeans are too formal.
• You wake up at 3am to go for a run.
• A day with only one run is a rest day.
• You’re uncomfortable sleeping in a bed and have to spend the night in the car to find that contorted, twisted position that’s just right.
• All the cars that drive by don’t have writing on them.
• People actually work at town hall buildings or go to school at schools.
• You have absolutely no recollection of where that $400 worth of Timberland gear came from.
• You now describe the White Mountains as “moderately hilly.”
• Your arms are really light without a watch, GPS, water bottle, flash light and relay bracelet.
• Complete strangers can become close family within 24 hours.

Reach The Beach is a 200(+/-) running relay race across the state of New Hampshire. Held in the middle of September, it starts in the Franconia area of the White Mountains and ends at Hampton Beach. Teams of up to 12 runners rotate through 3 or more legs of 2 to 9 miles over the course of race. The winning teams typically finish in just over 21 hours while the slower teams can take up to 36 hours to complete the journey. For more information, visit the Reach The Beach website.

Hooray for cooler weather! Tonight we’re going to try a simple workout which can pay some big dividends. It’s going to help the novices understand pace while the more experienced runners will learn how to run faster as fatigue increases. To keep it simple, we’re going to use a set distance of 400m or one lap of the track for the work interval followed by an equal distance of rest. In a set of 400m laps, start at your marathon goal pace for the first, run the second at half marathon or 10 mile pace, the third at 10K pace, the fourth at 5K pace and the last at 1 mile pace. Don’t worry about the first two seeming to be pretty easy. This is a progression run and the first work intervals should feel easy. Beginners should do one set of 5 for about 2.5 miles while advanced runners can do 2 or 3 sets or double up the intervals like 2 @ MP, 2 @ HMP, 2 @ 10KP, 2 @ 5KP and 2 @ 1MP. After a 10 minute cooldown, reawaken your legs with a minimum of 3 50m strides. Now at your next race, practice increasing your pace as the race progresses, just like you did here.

Session

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

Session: 5 x 400m x 400m progression (marathon pace, half-marathon pace, 10K pace, 5K pace, 1 mile pace). Advanced runners do 2-3 sets or double the segments.

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.

Celebrate the end of summer with one last party on the beach. Join the crew at Mayflower Beach in Dennis at 1:00pm on Sunday, 20 September, for cookout, swimming, or just laying around. Everyone is invited but bring your own food and drink. At least one small grill will be available but if you’d like to avoid the queue, you might want to bring your own or pre-cook everything.