Chuckit

Racing Shorter and Next Year

2007-11-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-27T12:59:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-20T09:56:00.001-08:00

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

email

No records returned.

Seattle Marathon / Half, getting there and beyond

2007-11-16T10:55:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-13T11:41:00.001-08:00

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

email

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

2007-11-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-02T10:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Mid week, roster,Training plans, Results

2007-10-23T10:52:00.000-07:00

You might have been asking yourself why my spelling and grammar in these things has suddenly gone from bad to worse. Well our new one has decided that he should share my lap all the live long day. Which has gotten me down to also sharing my lap with the my laptop on my other lap. So that has really diminished my already poor typing skills, so thanks for baring with me.

The mid week workouts have been posted. If you don't have a workout posted then you more than likely haven't updated the roster with you new race goals now that your fall one has come and gone.

This week we'll have people on the rack starting track work for the Seattle Marathon and half. If this is your first time with the track work the workout today is 3 time one mile with 3 min rest. Meaning you'll run a mile at a prescribed pace and then rest 3 min (jog a lap easy and it'll take about 3 min)followed by another mile at the same pace. Now a warning make sure you stick with the pace early on you'll really feel it on the last one and yes the last one will be on the hard side but that's the one that makes the workout. Make sure you keep on pace on that one.

Now you ask how fast should I do them. Go here to the workout tables page and the second one down has some paces based on your goals. If you're not sure of your goals go down to the next table and look for your most recent 2 mile time trial and you should see what you should be able to run in the race take that and then look at the table above. Got it? Good.

Many of you have decided to take me up on the 5K 10K training plans. I think it will be very beneficial for you. A couple things though, make sure that you are warming up and warming down. Also a couple of strides before you begin would be a good idea. With the cooler weather a pair of pants might be a good idea to help prevent you legs from tightening up. If you have any questions about this training please let me know.

As I've said most of the training plans for next spring are posted one thing to note is that Mercer Island 1/2 marathon is a couple weeks earlier than last year. this year it will be on March 9th so you'll have to start training a bit earlier than in in the past.

We had a few people go down south to San Fransisco for the Nike Marathon and half over the weekend. The was some nice running. I've updated the October 2007 time list with the results that I found. Great job Ladies. W also have several members going to back to D.C. for the Marine Corps Marathon this week end. Good luck to all.

Mid week, Oct. Race Times Update, 5 and 10K training, Improving Marathon times

2007-10-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

The midweek workouts are posted as well as the October Race times have been updated. There are some of you who are wanting to run the Seattle Marathon now that you have finished one recently. I've put together a training plan for you, if you would like a copy let me know and I'll send it to you.

For those of you wanting to improve your speed and times over 5 and 10K I've added plans for that on the web site. They're not designed around a specific race but would be great to follow after a few months of marathon training. Improvng your 5 and 10K times wil help you improve your marathon times. I also added more training plans to next years schedule.

Now that many of you have run your big race of the fall and are planning for the future now is a good time to sit back and look at your race and training leading up to it. If you ended the race with the results that you had hoped for congrats, if on the other hand you didn't get what you thought you should have do you think it might have been from not running the race properly, like going out too fast and doing the big death. did you go out too slow and just leave too much in the tank. These are easy to fix, you just have to plan better and more importantly stick with your plan, at least you should have come away with a good idea of what you can and can't do race wise.

Another thing that can happen is that you have great plan and prepared to stick with it and then things that you can't necessarily plan for happen like what happened to those who ran in the mid west last week or those who ran Boston, the weather doesn't cooperate. You just have to adjust and make the most of the situation and unfortunately adjusting your goal to slower than you planned, a good idea because if you don't you'll probably fail and it will be a long day. Something to consider for those of you running Seattle next week. More than likely the weather will be fine but there is a chance that it will be bad. I would set two goals for the race just in case. The bottom line though the best thing to do is adjust for the conditions and remember there are more races to be run.

Now another thing that can happen is that you plan for the race, prepare properly, the weather cooperates and you come away with a poor performance. That one is hard to deal with to a certain degree. Sometimes no matter how well you prepare you can just go out and run a stinker. I've got no advice for this one if I did i could have used it myself a couple of times.

Ok so you're sure you prepared properly , the weather cooperated and you didn't come away with the time you wanted. I have a couple of observations and suggestions. If you want to run Faster you have to run Faster ,meaning that if you've PR'd in your last marathon and you want to pr again you'll have to run faster in your training. This means your training runs will need to be slightly faster, your time trials and races will have to be a little faster, everything in your training will have to be a little bit more challenging so when it's race time you're up to the challenge of getting another PR.

Just because you have been following a "Chuckit Training Plan" doesn't mean that you'll run faster in the next race than the last race you ran. You have to put more effort into it. One way to increase the effort in your in your training to race more, especially 5 and10K's as they work your strength and speed and you can recover quickly from them.. If you get faster for those then it goes to follow that you'll be faster for your marathons and half's.

One last thing to consider is makeing sure that you are properly rested for your race, many people make the mistake of over training leading up to there big race. The fact that most training plans build in a 3-4 week taper shows you how important it is. If you're tired going into a longer race you'll most definetly have long day. You either done the work by the time the tapering is needed or you haven't you can't make up for it over the last couple of weeks.

Anyway I wrote a lot here and I may have confuse some of you, if so let me know and I can explain it one on one.

Don't forget about the Water stop that we run at the Seattle Marathon. If you're in town that weekend we can use your help and if you haven't helped before you'll find it's a pretty good time. Contact Glen if you want to help glendor48@hotmail.com

Weekends Races, Roster, Plans, Race recovery and T-shirts.

2007-10-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

I've updated the times from this weekend with a few of you I over looked, there was quite crew running races over the weekend (over 60 if I count every race ran). I also removed those who ran this weekend(if that was your only race listed) from the roster just to clean it up and save myself confusion so you won't find workouts posted for yourself. I added the link back to the web site so you can go here and add your info so that we can get cracking on your next race when you're recovered and ready to roll. For those who haven't had access just go and add your info.

Most of the winter/spring training plans are posted with hopefully the rest being added today. If you have one you would like to do and it's not posted let me know and I'll add it. Like Jim C is running Barcelona and I'll add that.

For those who ran over the weekend and are chomping at the bit to get back at it make sure that you allow yourself recovery. This means run easy for a week or so and then start building up slowly. I know it's frustrating for those who didn't have good races and feel they should get back at it but you still need to recover from your effort even if is wasn't what you planned for. For those who ran marathons I'm sure you are aware that 26 miles is along way, just remember that and allow your body and mind some time to heal. You'll be better off for it. The same goes for those that had good runs and think it's time for a run at the world record. You need to allow your boy some time to recover. A rule I always followed was for every mile raced you need a day of recovery. I really believe this one and found it served me well. So if you ran a marathon plan on about a month before you race again and for a half about 2 weeks. Trust me on this one.

I'm ordering long sleeve t-shirts from New Balance today. Royal blue for the men and a light blue for women. I'll keep you posted when I have them ready to hand out.

Racing this weekend, Running in Rain, Water Stop

2007-10-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well a large portion of the group is running their big fall race this weekend. With large contingents running in Portland, Victoria, Chicago and couple more going to the Twin Cities and Milwaukee.
Good luck to all. It will definitely be pretty lonely at the Saturday run this week.

The mid week workouts have been posted. Those who are running a race this weekend will of course have a fairly easy workout tonight (or tomorrow night) while the rest of it will be business as usual. You will be running the monthly pace run (time trial) It will be interesting to see your improvement since last month with a race and a few weeks of harder workouts.

Yes we still meet if it rains. If I'm going to stand around in it I expect you to do your workout in it. For those of you training for Seattle the chances are good that the weather will be like this so best to get used to it. It'll make it easier to run in if you've had some of it your training especially the harder workouts. As they say you won't melt.

A little earlier I was speaking about the Seattle Marathon and those who have been with us for a few years know that we run the water station at the 10 mile make of the half and the 23 mile make of the full. Well Glen Moore is the person who coordinates it and with out him it wouldn't go on. Anyway it's getting to be that time again and he will be needing help, now to make plans and later to make it happen. If you would like to help out whether now or race day please contact him .glendor48@hotmail.com Glen will be sending out in of the next few weeks. If you're able please help him out.

I want to thank everyone who has been patient with my slow replies as of late. The new addition (baby Eli) has decided that he wants a lot of Chuck time so getting much done has been quite the chore. I think though I have figured out a system though (at least for this week) that will get me through these tough times.

Did you know that you subscribe to these go here and you will get notification when I up date it.

MId week, 2008 training plans, 5K-10K training, t-shirts

2007-09-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

The mid week workouts are posted Make sure if you are running on the track to remember that others are using it as well. If you not running on it stay to the outside.

A lot of you will be running marathons or halfs in the next month so it’s time to think about races you might want to race train for next winter or spring. I’ve posted training plans for many (Marathons), there are a few more that I’ll finish up with the week. I’ll hopefully get the half marathon plans up this week.

It’s always a good idea to start making plans for your next events after your big race. This will allow you to plan for your recovery and enable you to get back into training safely while limiting the risk of injury. After building for your big races over the summer you have built a nice base for yourself. Now that you have done this building strength for you upcoming race this would be a great time to train for some shorter races, 5K and 10K’s. Doing this through the first of the year will let you work on your speed and when you start your build up for another longer race next year you will be that much faster for 5 and 10K’ which will make you faster for your longer races. The nice thing about training for the shorter races is that the emphasis is on speed and not so much on endurance which means that it’s not as time consuming. Meaning all of you runs are a tad faster and longer runs are shorter which means less time running. I always sort of thought of it as a vacation of sorts since I wasn’t spending as much time on the road. Certainly a nice break physically and mentally. If you are interested in exploring this type of training let me know and I can cook up a post marathon/half plan built on working on you speed.

Speaking of 5K and 10K many of you have taken advantage of the fall racing schedule which has many of the larger races of over that distance most gaining PR’s. Great job!!

I’ll be ordering long sleeve t-shirts this week from New Balance. So those of you newer members who haven’t gotten one will get one in a few weeks (as well as everyone else). I checking into which colors are available. They did mention that they had some new colors coming in November but I’m not sure I want to wait that long. I’ll keep you posted.

MId week, Sunglasses, Madison Park Rowdies

2007-09-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

The mid week workouts have been posted. A lot are finishing up with track work for their October 7th workout, while the rest are on hills. You Seattle Marathon and half people have been chomping at the bit to get to them so now you’ve got it. I know we started a little later then the plan says but I’ll make sure you get your monies worth. For those of you on the track make sure to make the best of these workouts as they will really help improve your fitness for the your upcoming race. One benefit I’ve always found from doing shorter track work before a marathon is that with the increased turnover from the shorter intervals it makes my marathon race pace seem a lot slower, which makes it that much more comfortable and seem easier which is bonus any time.

For those of you running 400’s this week don’t worry about the times on using the workout tables. Since your emphasis has been on training for a longer and slower paced race you’ll find them hard to do so what I would suggest is to start at your 2-mile time trial pace, run four at that pace then the next four 2 seconds faster per 400 and the final 4 2 seconds faster than the last set. It might seem hard looking at it now but you’ll find that it shouldn’t be that hard. Remember you’re getting 90 seconds in between them. If you need I can explain it at the workout.

Tonight Michael Pruitt from Axley Eyewear will be out with some of his sunglasses. I know you’re saying it’s getting dark out so what the heck do you need sunglasses for, well over the last couple of years companies have been putting lenses with transitions lens (they lighten when it’s dark) in them as well as put colors that work well when it’s dark and I’ve become a big fan of them. I think they really make it easier to see when it’s dark. Another thing that is good about sunglasses this time of year especially for those of you running marathons in the next few weeks is that early in the morning when your races start the sun is very low on the horizon. Having run Portland the one thing I remember was that sun seemed to be in my eyes the whole way and have sunglasses really help me with that. If you see something you like tonight and don’t have the $ we can still make arraignments and they do offer a nice discount to group members.

We’ve been at Madison park for the last two Saturdays and as some of you get into the longer runs be careful as the pavement is pretty bumpy and irregular. The week before last 3 people fell and I’m sure more will down the road. So keep your eyes peeled and get those knees up. Also last week someone left me a note on my clip board while I was out running (yes I do run) complaining of being chased off the road a couple of weeks in a row by bunch of out of rowdy, out of control chuckit members (maybe they didn’t use those terms). Well I’m not sure how to handle this one as this has been the second complaint in the last couple of months. I guess just keep your eyes open and try to give others some space if you see them. Maybe they should join the group so that they can pillage and plunder with the rest of you.

Mid Week, “does running ever get easy?”

2007-09-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Well I've been a little inconsistent with this lately but hope to get back on it now that school in back in session and the kids aren’t climbing all over me begging me to go down the slip and slide with them. The nice thing is that it has let a lot of stuff build up for me to ramble about. First things though the midweek workouts are posted .

You might notice that I linked back to the old site. I haven’t added that page yet to the new site. I had to abandon the old one as it wouldn’t let me edit anything but it functions except when I go to edit it I get some kind of data base error. Anyway in the long run this is better because I was able put this one together so that I have more control over such things.

So back to business, you’ll notice that the workouts the next couple of nights is the 2 mile pace run. For those running a marathon early next month this will really be your last test before your race. You have some workouts left but nothing like this where you have to put it on the line, focus and get it done after having run a race recently and had a long run a few days ago. Everything after this is all cake. You’ve got great weather and might be the last pace run this year where its light out the weather is warm so make the best of it I say.

There are a lot of new members of the group who will be doing this for the first time. I can’t think of a better way to get a grip on where you are fitness wise. From here you can only get faster, so put it in cruise control and do what you can, making sure to keep in control and run within your ability and finish strong and build from here.

Someone asked me the other day “does running ever get easy?” Well you know if you want to get better no it’s always going to have hard moments. As you get faster the effort is still the same. I think though as you get fitter your tolerance for harder stuff gets higher. Also as you get those better times, that’s the reward that makes it worth it. Knowing that you can run faster and further than when you started with the same effort is a very nice feeling and is very rewarding but it never gets to the point that you feel like there is no effort but I think it is very satisfying. So just keeping plugging along and you’ll reach your goals and the satisfaction that come with it which I think always makes it seem easy.

Super Jock n Jill Half, Madison Park, Chuckit web site

2007-09-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

It was great to see a lot of you out the Super Jock n Jill half yesterday. It was on the humid side but overall a very nice day for a run. With so may of you running there were some great performances and some not so great but overall most had great runs. Considering that for most this was a workout and you weren't overly rested for it your mission was accomplished by going into it a little tired and being able to bang out a nice hard run. With most running hard yesterday I'll hold off on posting the mid workouts until I see who comes out the next couple of nights. If you ran yesterday your workout will be fairly light. We'll run the monthly Pace Run / Time Trial next week. For those who didn't run yesterday it will be business as usual. I put together a slide show from the pictures I took yesterday. The results are also posted here.

Remember this Saturday we'll start meeting at Madison Park for the next few weeks for your long runs. This give those who are training for the Seattle Marathon / Half a chance to do some running on the course, for the others a nice change of pace. It's very easy to get to and not much a drive from Super Jock n Jill. I'll be sending directions later in the week.

I'm having some serious issues with the web site ( Like I can't edit anything without getting an error message) at this point the only thing I think I can do is tear it down and rebuild it so in the next couple of days you'll probably see it change a bit. I'll try to make it as seamless as I can. One problem will be that with it's issues you may have to register to access some things. I'm going to try and recover the user database but with the problems I'm having now I may not be able to do it. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Monday, Mid week workout, Race Projection,Potty Breaks

2007-08-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ok so a big race is coming up next Monday (Super Jock n Jill Half Marathon.). For some the race you’ve trained for most of the summer. For others a good test for your upcoming races. For those training for Seattle a good half way point check.

The workouts for mid week have been posted. I will be unable to make it tonight (father in-laws birthday). (I will be in Kirkland tomorrow) So here is the scoop. I went ahead and posted the planned workouts for everyone. Those running on Monday might make the following adjustments. For those who are following the advanced + schedule (joe and gang) do the posted workout. If you’re planning for an upcoming Marathon run 4-6 x 800 meters lesser if you’re feeling a little tired. Seattle Marathon people just run the workout that you have been. Staying on the easy side. Those who ran over the weekend at Hood to Coast and are planning to run on Monday make sure to keep the workout on the easy side. That means you still get a workout but just keep it on the short and easy side. If you’re not running on Monday then it’s business as usual.

I will be at Super Jock n Jill on Saturday for those planning a long run. If you’re running on Monday you still could get an easy 3-4 miles in and be fine for Monday. Another note about the race on Monday is that there is also a 4 miler. Those training for the Seattle Half might be interested in that.

If you’re wondering what time you should run (time wise) for on Monday use the Workout tables I put together on the web site. Take a look at your last time trial and then see what it project out for your half. Another way to use it would be to look at your marathon goal time and see what that project for a half. So if you can run the half in that time then you should be able run your marathon. They’re fairly accurate. I even used them myself this summer before Seafair. I had run two 5k’s as was getting ready to run the half but hadn’t run one hard in a few years so I didn’t know what to plan for. Using the tables my 5k’s said I should be able to run 1:32. With Seafair being pretty hilly I knew I would have to adjust that a little slower though, anyway I ran 1:34 which with the hilly course. The one thing I did the helped it prove to me that they’re fairly accurate was I only looked at my watch at 1 mile and 12 miles so I had no idea what pace I was running so I didn’t run to what they said I ran based on how I felt.

Thanks to one of our more industrious members Patrick I have added a page to the site that will helpful on your longs runs. He has made a map with most of the water and potty stops that you go by on your long runs. It’s pretty complete. Go here to see it. Thanks Patrick.

Ok I have to make this on the short side as we’re getting some work done on the house and they’re about off the power.

Mid Week, Adjusting to life factors, Seattle 1/2, Madison Park, HTC

2007-08-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

The mid week workouts are posted. Most of you are finishing up on hills this week. With a lot of you running Super Jock n Jill half next week I’ll most likely give most of you an easy track work next week. I will say that a lot of you are looking very good during the workouts. I can see that they have most defiantly made a difference, you’re looking stronger and your form is improving. Great Job.

Well it's been a little bit since I last posted here. With babies coming, a little surgery for me to prevent babies from coming and then a crisis in the extended part of my family it’s just been crazy around here, more so than normal. I can’t wait till school starts and hopefully things quiet down a bit. All of this along with a small annoying injury has put my Super Jock n Jill half Marathon plans on hold.

I know, poor Chuckie. Well as you all know life is always on the go so as you plan for races lets’ say like the Super Jock n Jill you have to be ready for what life has to throw at you and as with your training schedules be flexible. You might have something that comes up or maybe a little injury that seems to slow you down and prevent you from training like you want. Well you know sometimes it’s just best to move on from the race that you had planned and start over and pick another. The thing to remember is you probably have gained some fitness so all is not lost and as you start over you’re probably fitter then when you first started. I guess I’m one who doesn’t see the point in trying to run a race if you’re not where you want to be fitness wise, not a lot to be gained if you ask me. Certainly you could run it as a training run and see what come from it. For those longer races it probably not going to be a good thing though and more negative than positive and who needs that.

So my point is if you’ve been training all summer for a fall race and your training hasn’t gone like you might have wanted I guess now is a good time to look at your goals and where you are fitness wise and decide if you are where you want to be. If you are fantastic. If you didn’t get the work in that you wanted than maybe re-evaluate your goals and make changes, there is nothing wrong with that plus it take a lot of pressure off. If you really have missed the boat and haven’t done crap all summer and are only considering running that damn marathon because you told Suzy you were going to, well I say what the heck are you doing. Suzy probably knows you haven’t been putting the work and will get over it and you know what she probably hasn’t been doing the work either as she has been hanging out at Starbucks with you on Saturday mornings. Time for you and Suzy to start from scratch and set new goals.

Speaking of starting the Seattle half Marathon training schedule starts next week.

Also on the Saturday September 8th we will be making our annual trek to Madison Park for our Saturday runs. We will meet there until early November . This will allow those who are running the Seattle Marathon or Half to spend time on the course and it also a nice change of scenery for everyone else. I’ll send directions and such later on. It’s actually very easy to get to.

The Hood to Coast relay is this weekend, there are a couple of people in the group who are on teams and as is the case about now are needing people to fill out their squads. If you want to run here are there e-mails. Jason- jepstein88@yahoo.com ; Damiana- damianapdx@gmail.com I’ve been contacted by several other teams but they are not in the group so I’ve just let them slide. Good luck to those that are running, have a great time.

Mid Week, Stetching Guide, Run With Chuck, Member Profiles, Go Anna!

2007-08-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

I won’t be updating the mid week workout data base as it’s time for your monthly test and with nice cool weather and a few weeks of hill under your belt you should be pretty excited about the run. We’ll do it in heats like last month. For those of you new to the group here is link for a description click here. Remember you can also add your times there please do as I look at them and I notice not many from last month did . You can also search as far back as 2003 for results.

An important note about me updating the mid week workouts. Those should be considered a reminder of your workout or a place where I might post notes for someone who may be having some troubles and I want to adjust or modify the workout for them. The schedule you should worry about it the master schedule, the one with the whole enchilada as it has the workout posted. As we go through the summer months and the group grows I post over 200 workouts for the mid week workouts so. I know it’s hard to believe, I can make mistakes(OK I know those of you who have been around know that I do) or over look someone or god forbid not upload the data base when I finish, sometime unbeknownst to me it happens. So keep an eye on the big schedule for the general plan, check the mid week schedule and see if I’ve made a adjustments for you and you should be good to go. If you have any questions let me know if your workouts aren’t posted let me know and I’ll send it to you, there is no grand conspiracy I just screwed up more than likely. Remember also that you need to be on the roster to be able get the mid week workouts. You have to be registered and logged into the site to access it.

One of the most asked questions I get is about stretching, I can go over a few that I use but of course I’m not very complete so I asked one our long time members and PT Maren Bisson who has helped me out with some stretching issues in the past and she came up with what I call a stretching guide. I’ve put her stretching guide on the web site for everyone to use. Some very nice ones there. Thanks Maren.

As I was running with a couple of group members on Sunday who were kind of enough drag my lonely, sore calved, limping butt around the lake and one of them mentioned that in 3 years of being a chuckit member she had never run with me. That got me to thinking that the many people make remarks like that and some are sure that I have never run. Well it’s true I have and do run regularly but what I thought was since I run long on Sunday mornings at 8:00 what if I opened up 7:30-8:00 as a run with Chuck time. We could run 3 miles or 30 min, Maybe just get a cup of coffee. It would be an opportunity for me to do some one on one with people. Answer questions, talk about training, help with goal setting and such. So starting this Sunday if you’re interested let me know and we can set it up. I going to put a more formal process together which is probably unnecessary I don’t sense a rush of people clamoring to run with Chuck but it would help me organize it and plan it if people did.

OK the idea man is just rolling today another one I have is doing some profiles on members. There are a lot of interesting people in the group and I think it would be nice to highlight some of them from time to time. So what I want to do is put together a questionnaire of sorts for them to fill out so that I get pretty much get the same info from them will which keep it’s simple as far as putting it together. I’ll send something out soon on that.

Speaking of people if you have been keeping track of the Go Anna training log you know that she has had some injury issues which being the stubborn and impatient person she is, she seems to have gained the upper hand and is back at it again. Go Anna!!

I'mm Baaaack

2007-07-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

Well after a few days out of the loop our newest member of the family is home and all is well with him (Eli) and my bride. Having had three others I don't remember this being so time consuming maybe because I have three others who consume a lot of my time. Anyway I've gotten a bit behind on things so am trying to catch up. The Mid week workouts have been posted, with everyone pretty much doing what they did last week. I was able to see quite a few of you out at the Seafair Torchlight 8K on Saturday night as I fulfilled my job as Elite athlete coordinator and spotter for KIRO calling out the leaders of the race from a cool bright red corvette pace car. I’ve never seen a race from that perspective it was pretty fun to see how it played out.

Now that a lot of you have had a couple of weeks of hill work in I imagine that you should start seeing some large improvements in your overall fitness. Make sure to make the most of them so that they have a greater effect. As I tell most the best way for you to do this workout is to get pissed at the hill. It maybe your friend but from time to time friends have tiffs. So get angry and just work the hill hard. I’m sure next week when we have the pace run (time trial) you’ll see a nice improvement from last month.

As me move through August remember that on Labor Day (Sept 3) the Super Jock n Jill half marathon will be out in Woodinville. For those running a fall marathon this race comes at perfect time. There is nothing like this to test your fitness as you prepare for your race, so I would mark this down on your calendar. It’s a fairly flat course which affords the opportunity for a fast time.

Ok I’ll see you tonight.

Mid week, Training, Baby , $$

2007-07-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

The mid week workouts are posted. For those doing hills if you did one set last week (3) then do two sets. If you did 2 sets (6) then 3 sets tonight. If you did 3 sets last week then lucky you only 3 sets. For rest of you it’s pretty much business as usual. Remember hills are your friends!!

Remember for a lot of you we’re in the meat of the schedule so the work you do now which is the most intense will also be the workouts that probably ultimately determine how your races in October go. So try to make the most them. Most of you have made solid improvements over the last few weeks so I’m sure that will continue on through this phase. As my college coach said “you just got to rub a little tough skin on”.

Ok with Chuckit #4 due on Thursday my attendance might be a little flaky over the next couple of weeks. I might also be a little slow on the e-mail reply trigger so cut me a little slack if I am.

One more thing, with Chuckit #4 (Eli)coming into our lives my wife will be out of work for a few weeks so she won’t be getting a pay check. I know some of you owe the chuckster a little $. If you could send it my way that would be grand. Most of you know I’m pretty flexible with this and let it slide and I don’t really mind it much but for now it would great if you could help us out. I would hate to have to barbecue the goats ;)

Hills, Cold and Goats

2007-07-17T11:06:00.000-07:00

I’ve posted the midweek workouts and a lot of you are starting hills. Some a little late because we stayed with the tempo runs a little longer as a lot of you were enjoying them and some a little early but there are only a few of you and that meant running tempo runs by yourself so I put you on hills a little early. A lot of you know the drill when it come to hill work but for those who don’t know about them here is a description. I’ll also go over it with everyone so that they are clear on the workout.

Those of you training for the earlier fall events are reaching the toughest part of the schedule which also means the part that will be the most beneficial. That being said make sure that you take care of yourself with good nutrition, plenty of rest and taking care of your body. Something that you can do that really seems to help my legs out a long with icing is to soak your legs in cold water. I’ve been doing my long runs with someone who after the runs goes down to shilshoe and wades into the water and lets nature take over letting the cold water and wave action work over his legs. I living with my goats a bit out and away from Puget sound have another way of doing it. I use the Shower massage. I get into the shower and work it over my legs with cold water (of course the goats aren't allowed here) for a few minutes and then change over to hot water repeating for about 20 minutes. It’s very important to end with the cold water. The thing I like about this is that I don’t have to subject body parts that don’t really like to get cold to any part of the cold process. Another thing I like about this method is that I can isolate any particular sore spot. You would be amazed at how good your legs feel after this treatment. So whether you do it in the sound or in the shower treating your legs to a little cold. Ok I’ll see most of you the next couple of nights on the hills.

Acclimatization, Impressive Mid Week, Pacer Love,

2007-07-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

This week we had a good example of what you’ll be doing over the next few months as you train for the fall races. What I’m talking about is acclimatization. This week it was to the heat. After Tuesday and Wednesday 80 degrees seems rather nice doesn’t it? You would have said or thought that a couple of weeks ago. So now think about your training this way. If we get you out of your comfort zone from time to time what wasn’t comfortable a month ago now is. If running hills now seems hard after we do some hill work they won’t seem as hard and so on. As your long runs get longer what once seemed long won’t any more. So if nothing else after this week those hot Saturday morning long runs won’t seem so hot.

I was very impressed by the turnouts this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. The heat was making me a little soft and I thought about cancelling the Wednesday night run, I also thought that not many would show up. It did put a dent in the turnout but you know it was pretty solid. In another moment of softness I thought about changing the workout from the Pace Run (Time Trial)to something else but you know what the majority wanted to do that darn pace run. They did slowed down by the heat but they did it with no complaints. Like I said I was impressed and I told them now they had something to tell their kids about how back in 07 despite the grueling conditions they had to get out and do the workout because it would make them better runners.

A message sent to the Seafair race director about the pacers.

Hi- I wanted to take a moment to let you know what a terrific job the 2:20 pacers did for the Half Marathon today. The two women (I didn't get their names)( that would be Lynn and Cindy) were enthusiastic and very consistent. It was a joy running with them as they helped pace my friend to her personal best time. Thank you again for supplying such terrific pacers. Sincerely. Craig Wood

Thanks to you both and all of the other pacers and volunteers who helped out. Great job to those that ran the races, there were quite a few PR’s on a tough course. Running the ½ marathon myself I think you would run 2 min faster on a flat course.(maybe it just wishful thinking ) Any way great job to all.

A new member of the Chuckit Family (our fourth) will here on the 26th so the next few weeks for me might be a little come and go. I will keep you up to date if I’m unable to make a workout or so.

Mid Week, Seafair

2007-07-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

Since most of you will be running the 2-Mile Pace Run(Time Trial) tonight(except if you ran the Seafair marathon or half) I won't be posting the workouts. To make it a little easier, crowded and less dusty we are going to run two heats. 14:00 and faster will go first. Everyone else will go right after the first heat. It will be on the hot side tonight so make sure that you don't overdo it on the warm up. With warmer weather it's easier to warm-up. Those of you who ran the longer races over the weekend just run the warm-up and maybe do some light strides to warm-up.

With everyone who paced, volunteered and ran the races over the weekend at Seafair there were about 60 of you out at the races this weekend. It was great to see all of you. There were some good running especially for Ian and Erin who both ran the Marathon which with the warmer weather and the hilly course had outstanding runs. There were over 20 Chucksters in the half and I was even able to get my big butt around the hilly course. Yes it’s true I can run, but I forgot what it’s like to run hard over a hard course, whew that was hard, but I did finish ;) Great job to those that ran and thanks to the pacers who did another outsatnding job and to the people who volunteered on short notice.

I’ve updated the 2007 times list with the times from the weekend. If I missed you let me know so I can add you. Those who paced the whole half I didn’t put in your times as you more or less had training runs. If you want though I can add them.

Mid Week, Hydration II, Andy, Ironman CDA, Volunteers Needed !!

2007-07-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

As tomorrow is the 4th of July we so won’t be meeting in Kirkland. Speaking of Kirkland that little group has swollen to about 30 people on Wednesday nights, which would be an all time high for the eastside group. That makes my trek up to those parts very much worth it. I do expect those Wednesday runners to get their workout in this week.

The workouts for this week for the most part are the same as last weeks. Click here We’ll be doing the 2-mile pace run(Time Trial) next week. Those running Seafair this weekend: If you’re racing then keep it pretty easy this week. Especially with the warmer weather which has sprang up quickly. You don’t want to overdo it since you haven’t had much of this to run in. This is a time you might want to think about hydrating but remember don’t overdo it. If you’re pacing than I might suggest that you run some mile repeats at your given pace to get a feel for it before the race. Tonight would be fine instead of the planned workout.

Back to hydration. Many of you know that one of my other jobs is working on web sites, one of the sites I manage is RUNOHIO at any rate I posted an article on Hydration there yesterday that you might find interesting. The Athlete's Kitchen - Fluid Facts for Runners. Give it a read. Also if you need to hear firsthand about hyponatremia and over hydration ask our resident expert Anna as she had some issues with that recently and remember to check out her training log on the web site as she heads into week 3 of keeping it. GO Anna!!

In this month’s issue of Runners World there is a little piece on the fine looking lad pictured in the upper left corner of this. I believe it’s on page 8. Great Job Andy.

For those of you that are Tri fans a big shout goes out to those Chuckster’s who completed Ironman Coeur d'Alene. The wind was blowing white caps on the lake so much so that they allowed people to opt out and do it as a Duathlon but not our hardy Chuckiteers they finished in fine fashion. That is a long day as you can see by the results. Longer than I would be willing to put it.

GLEN MOORE 13:56:43
JIM CADE 14:05:48
STEPHEN HARDING 13:22:48
MS. BERT CHAVEZ 15:02:25

Ok I asked last week for Volunteers for this weekend’s Seafair marathon and half. 4 of you have offered, they need a lot more. They are really in need. I had two different people call me from Seafair yesterday and the second one I think is near a break done of some sort. If you have the time it would be greatly appreciated. For those who are new to the group and running this would be a great opportunity to see a race in action without having to do all of the work. All you’ll need to do it stand in or bring a lawn chair and sit and direct people in the right direction. It doesn’t get any easier than that. As a bonus you get a free t-shirt now how can you say no to that. Contact me ASAP if you can help out it would be appreciated.

Have a great 4th and I’ll see you this weekend.

Hydration, Seafair Volunteers, Pacers, July 3rd, 4th

2007-06-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

As we get into the warmer weather and longer runs in preparation for fall events I get asked a lot about the importance of hydration. Well to start with I think that people generally drink way to much water. I mean everywhere you look people are toting around gallons of water. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t drink water but it seems to me that some drink water just to drink water. I think a
good rule of thumb for that is if you’re thirsty then drink water if you’re not you probably don’t need it. If it’s warm and you plan to run drink some before you go and after you get back. Obviously the length of your run will dictate how much you’ll need. I just want to make sure that you aren’t over hydrating which can lead to a bunch of problems. To help you with this here is a link to guidelines posted by USA Track and Field on hydration - Training Library - Hydration.

I think a run of 1:15 or more is one where you think about a little hydration and maybe a GU break as it’s nice to take some GU (or whatever your gel of choice is). As we go through the summer and Fall most of your long runs will be at least that long or most will be longer. Now many of our runs have water along the way as they go through parks with water fountains in them. If you want to know where they are hiding I can share with you where they are.

If everyone was training for the same event and running the same routes every week we could set up water stops along the way but most like having the flexibility of picking their routes so I leave it to people to come up with their own methods of hydration.

Another method of staying hydrated is to carry water or whatever you choose. There are several ways to do that and several devices designed to do that. Which ones are best I couldn’t tell you. (heck remember I think hydration is over rated so why would I carry one and besides I know where the water is hiding on our routes) I would ask around the group but it seems that most are fine with a basic belt that holds a water bottle and has a pocket or two for Gu and anything else you might need.

Luckily we live in an area that is blessed with generally cool dry summer weather. I’ve lived in a lot of places and trust me we’ve got it pretty easy during the summer. Generally if it’s humid here it’s cool. So we don’t get back from runs with wrinkled fingers like I have on long summer runs from my mother’s house in Florida. Mostly the weather here in the summer is moderately warm with low humidity which makes training and doing long runs ideal. One of the reasons we do our long runs early on Saturdays is to make sure that we beat the heat if that day will be on the warm side.

Ok let’s enjoy our summer runs and remember to be hydrated but make sure to not over do it.

Seafair like last year is asking me for volunteers. They need 20 people as course marshals. Last year we had people step up and help out. Last year most from the group where on the last mile of the course where they were able to torment me as I struggled to finish the race, I believe that is where they plan to post you again, so come on out and you can do it again. If you’re interested please let me know ASAP.

Pacers I will be sending out a major update on plans for the race early next week. So keep an eye out for it.

Since next Tuesday is July 3rd and I’m sure many of you will be sneaking out of town and feeling very sad that you might miss the workout and Wednesday is July 4th holiday so we won’t be meeting in Kirkland, I’m moving the July Pace run (Time Trial) to the following week. Oh Happy, Happy Day.

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