Racing Shorter and Next Year

Well December is upon us and the holidays are in full swing with the new year looming. The are few nice shorter races coming up , Jingle bell 5k, the Christmas Rush and the 12 k's of Christmas. You'll have a chance to use your strength that you developed over the summer and fall, so I would focus on some shorter speed work over the next few weeks to help you sharpen up and get some PR's over the shorter distances. If you're feeling tired from your year this is a great time to just chill out a bit and enjoy some light running before the new year starts and it's time for more racing.

Whether you're racing or "chilling out" it's a great time to start thinking about next year and your goals for it. What I like to do is sit down with a calendar and pick some races that I might want to run, write them on it and then start roughing up a training plan for them, this way I have an idea of where I want to be during different time of the year. It helps me focus on my goals. If you need help with this let me know.

It may seem like a long way until next year but it's only about 4 weeks away so if you're training for a spring marathon you might want to look at the training plans for them to see where you are and where you want to be. A lot of them are well underway. Make sure though if you have run a marathon recently that you allow yourself some recovery time, you don't want to get burnt out or more importantly injured.

Although most of you are done with racing the longer stuff this there are still some with races to conquer. Paul Bresson will be running in California this weekend at the California International Marathon and next weekend the water stop Czar Glen, Ms. Burt and the Peterman's (carol and david ) will be headed to sunnier climes in Hawaii at the Honolulu Mararhon. Unfortunately I will be going the other direction to Ohio for USATF National Cross Country Club Champs. You guys want to trade? Good luck to you all.

Seattle that day and after

Well the Seattle Marathon and half have come and gone for another year and thankfully the weather was about as good as you could expect. The group was extremely involved with the water stop, pacers and people running. We had about 80 people running with another 30 involved with pacing and who knows how many came and went handing out water. Thanks you all whether running the race or helping out. I must add that for many who ran on Sunday this was their first race of this kind, great job.

As is the case with this every year I tried taking pictures but didn't do a very good job. The location of the water stop isn't great for taking pictures. If you stand in front of the water stop the sun is in your face pretty much the whole day. This year I tried to stand behind it in the shade and up the hill a bit so that I could see down over the crowd but what I learned is that at the water stop people slow down to drink so they go from running single file which is helpful in locating people to all spread out and pretty much chaos as far as trying to see people for taking pictures sake. I think you can see what I'm talking about from the pictures I did post. Those are here

I did also post times for those I could find, those are here, and as you might have noticed Sunday night it was near impossible and then when I did look last night the times I had gotten on Sunday were changed. So I may have missed some (i'm pretty sure I did) please send them my way if I missed you and you want it added to my list. If I did miss you don't take it personally there are a lot of names in different races to sort though.

One helpful tool for me when it comes to looking for peoples results is the roster. Keeping your races up to date is very helpful for a lot of reasons but that is a big one. It gives me a central place to look for your names and races as it does for you. With the end of the year coming I'm going to go through and clean it up so now is a good time to go through and put your goals for next year in.

For those who ran Sunday and are coming out tonight or tomorrow night plan for somehting easy, you need a little recovery time.

To get your mid- workouts for this week click here

To get your mid- workouts for this week just plug in your e-mail that you used for the roster and your workout for Tuesday or Wednesday night should come up. If not, check the e-mail you used or let me know and I'll see if I did something bad. For a complete list of the planned workouts click here.

Workout Terms:
Strides
Tempo Run
Hills
Pace Run (Time Trial)
Speed Workout Tables
Updated 11/27

Mid week, Pacing for your race

Mid week, Pacing for your race

To get your mid-week workouts for this week

With the Seattle marathon and half coming this weekend I'm getting a lot of questions about proper pacing. First you should have a pace to run in mind. If you're not sure what that would be then I would look at the training table page on the web site. The bottom table has projections based on your two mile time trials (see there are reasons for us running these) what you should be able to run at different distances time wise. They're pretty accurate, rarely does someone run slower than it projects.

Now that you have your goal time, tonight or tomorrow night your workout is to run mile repeats at that pace. This workout should be very easy, so easy that it's hard, hard from the stand point that it's hard to run the pace because it seems do slow. That is a good sign, means you're ready to race. If it's hard because it seems to fast then it probably is and you better re-evaluate your goals.

Now that you're set with a goal time I think the best way to go about running your race is to start out on your goal pace or a little slower. It's a long race so you can make some time up as you go if needed. Think of the first few miles as a warm up for the race. I like to think of the first few miles of the longer races as a Saturday morning long run with a few hard miles at the end. So a half would be 8 miles with the last few being the race and the for the marathon 15 miles with the next 11 being the race. the first few miles should be easy so enjoy them. They will get progressively harder as you go. If you're a little faster at mile one then you want it's early enough to slow it down and get on pace. If this happens don't be fooled into thinking that the first mile was so easy so you should be able to run the rest of the race at that pace, it could happen but not likely, like I said it's a long race it can come back and get you later if you're not careful. Don't get to thinking it would be good to build a little cushion for later, bad idea. If you run the first few miles in control you'll have a ton of people to pass who aren't following this advice, don't be one of them.

As we get closer to the race and I have a handle on the weather I'll give you advice on what to wear on race day.

To get your mid- workouts for this week just plug in your e-mail that you used for the roster and your workout for Tuesday or Wednesday night should come up. If not, check the e-mail you used or let me know and I'll see if I did something bad.

For a complete list of the planned workouts click here.

Workout Terms:

	Strides
	Tempo Run
	Hills
	Pace Run (Time Trial)
	Speed Workout Tables

Updated 11/20

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No records returned.

Seattle Marathon / Half, getting there and beyond

First thing, we are back at Super Jock n Jill for our Saturday long runs. I've also added a couple of races to the training schedules page for next year. I also added a new member page for obviously new members.  I still have new long sleevet-shirts for those that haven't recieved one and thanks to those that donated to the silk screening fund.

Well the Seattle Marathon is upon us and it being our home marathon many of you will be taking part whether running, working our water stop and pacing there will probably be 200 Chuckit members involved with it with some doing multiple things. So it's fair to say we will be rather busy. With that and this being a holiday week I may not see many you until after the race or for some maybe never again as you have completed your goal to run something like this and are ready to move onto other challenges. So I say good luck in your future endeavors.

For many of those running this will be a huge event that you have spent several month preparing for. You had your ups and downs along the way but have gone from not being able to run around Green lake to now being able to run 13 or 26 miles miles both something on that first day in June you didn't think you could ever do. I think for most of you who have gotten this far it's taken a fair amount of luck, courage and determination, you are part of a special few. 

As Chuckit heads into it's 9th year I'm sure I've worked with over 1000 people.  One thing I've figured out is that only about 30% of the people who join will make it to the event they train for. So by making it this far you've been successful in your journey to complete your race, which puts you in a select few and that is an accomplishment in itself.

Now that you have taken the journey the race might seem like the real event for you but you know I think it's really about the training, I think that will have a longer lasting effect.  The race itself is rather anticlimactic because you know you're going to do it and for most you know you can do it. When you started out you never dreamed you could run 3 miles then it was 6 miles and the 9 and so on, every week was another record for the longest you have ever run.  You had to be disciplined getting out the door to get to Madison Park at 0 dark thirty for your Saturday morning long run.

I have run many marathons and to be honest I think I remember more about the training and racing that lead up to them then the 2 and half hours it might have taken me to get through the run itself. Although at times it was hard it was very rewarding, I think that's why it was rewarding.  Don't get me wrong I have some great race memories but I think the training memories have a longer lasting effect.

I think the one major thing that the training provides is the confidence to be successful in your race as long as you form a good race plan and stick to it. The plan comes the months of training and finding out what you can do and what you can't that you hopefully learned along the way.

So good luck with the event and remember the work that you've done and that will help you get through the race successfully.  For those of you moving on after it's been nice working you and I hope I can work with you again. For those of you who are moving on with the group start thinking of goals for next year and we can start moving towards them now which will help with your post race training and recovery.

To get your mid- workouts for th

Quoted from http://www.runchuckit.com/to_get_your_mid_workouts.asp:

To get your mid- workouts for th

To get your mid- workouts for this week just plug in your e-mail that you used for the roster and your workout for Tuesday or Wednesday night should come up. If not, check the e-mail you used or let me know and I'll see if I did something bad.

For a complete list of the planned workouts click here.

Workout Terms:

	Strides
	Tempo Run
	Hills
	Pace Run (Time Trial)
	Speed Workout Tables

Updated 11/13

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Mid Week, Times List updated, Seafair Plans, T-shirts.

The mid week workouts are posted. Those of you who recently ran Marine Corps and New York run the workout as an easy tempo run if you're up to it. For those training for Seattle this will be your last real test before your race so try to get it in, whether with us or on your own.

I've updated the Fall Race times list with the results of those who ran Marine Corps and New York. Fine job people!! In the last month 76 of you have run a marathon or half and we still have races coming up.

Those of you planning for a race next summer might be interested in the news I heard today. Seafair in it's quest for a better course is making plans for the half and the marathon to start at Husky Stadium, run across the 520 bridge into Bellevue, into Kirkland and then back into Bellevue finishing at the downtown park. They are trying to eliminate as many hills as they can. The date would also change as well but generally in the same time frame. I'll give you more info as I get it. Overall though I like it.

I handed out Chuckit Long Sleeve t-shirts to many on Saturday and as usual they look great. Thanks to those who donated $5 to the silk screening fund. Some mentioned that they would do it online here is that link again. Silk Screen Donation I'll bring the shirts to the track tonight for those who want one. I have plenty so don't worry if you haven't gotten one yet.

Sunday Night from 5-6 pm Super Jock n Jill will open to the store for Chuckit members to take advantage of a special discount. They will give us 15% off of everything. They will also provide food and drink.

Remember this is our last Saturday at Madison Park for this year.

illness, T-shirts,Special Sale, Results, Training, Back at SJJ

Well I'm on the mend after having the strangest illness I've ever had. Some sort of stomach flu bug that just is plain holding on. I'm fairly sure that I have it licked but after basically sitting on my butt for a week I'm really looking forward to getting out and about. I'm pretty sure that it will mostly be gone by tomorrow. Those of you who have been around the group know that I don't get sick very often so I don't have a lot of patients for that keep me down especially for a week.

I picked up the new long sleeve t-shirts this morning and will bring them with me tomorrow morning. The look very nice. A $5 donation would be appreciated to help pay for he silk screening. If you would like you can do that here or just bring it with you.

On November 11 Super Jock n Jill will be opening the store from 5-6 pm for Chuckit members for a special discount on all items. The discount will be 15% off. So if you're looking for some new shoes or gear hold on till then. They will be providing pizza and drinks as well.

We had several members in WA D.C last weekend for the Marine Corps Marathon all of who had great runs. From what I've heard it was a very nice day with a lot of crowd support and the course is marathon friendly. Great Job All!! (I know I need to post the times) This weekend there are a few venturing to NY City for that marathon so good luck to you and have a great race.

A lot of you are planning for marathons next spring. I want to mention that Chuckit members get a discount on entry for the Eugene Marathon in may. We had several people go down there last spring for the marathon and half many coming away with great things to say about it. This being the second year I would imagine it will be better with a year behind it.

At any rate schedules for that and many more races are posted on the training schedule page on the web site. If there is one not posted let me know and I can add it. Thanks to Patrick for helping me simplify the entry of these. If you have just run a marathon I think you can hold off a little bit as far as training for your next one. Having just done one gives you the background that you may not have had when you started training for the one you just finished. Allow time to recover mentally and physically. Now I'm not saying to just sit around and eat bon bons but you can keep it on the lighter side for a few weeks and like I've been saying work on your speed for awhile so that when you transition back into marathon training you've gained from the last time you started.

Next up is the Seattle Marathon and with it will be time to pull the plug on our Madison Park adventures. So our last run there this year will be on November 10th. So if you haven't ventured out on the bridge or run the last few miles of the course through the arboretum (especially those of you running the half) the next couple of weeks would be great times as your runs get shorter in preparation of the event. So on Saturday November 17 we will be meeting at Super Jock n Jill for our weekly long run.