May 24th, 2020

Hi, everyone,

I sure do hope you’re continuing do to do well. I’ve been hearing from more and more of you each week and I’ve even had the thrill of several masked socially distanced in-person visits outside Ragged. This all makes me very happy!

****Attention anyone interested in improving your MILE TIME: My son Adrian, who coaches XC and Track at Albemarle High, will be offering mile workouts starting next week. His goal is to help those of you interested in running the mile, get faster by having fun. His workouts will be partnered with our SUMMER MILE SERIES that we’ll be offering in June and July. These will be track and fast road miles, with the same social distancing protocol we’ve had for the Triple Crown (TC). Interested? Please email Adrian at Adrian.lorenzoni@gmail.com , if you’re interested, so as to give him an idea of who’s up for this. Like his Dad, he will be doing this on a volunteer basis.  

*****One pain-in-the-neck nudge from your Coach: Do NOT run in lanes 1 & 2 of the CHS track! Please take a few minutes to watch this video. Thanks for listening and respecting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgUwOVMTQ_4&t=86s

Hope to see you soon.
In the meantime, enjoy Leg 2 of the TC this weekend! 
Coach Mark
434-962-1694 (text)

p.s. Thanks for taking 5 minutes to watch my weekly video message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxb37kTVHJw

So, this weekend is Leg 2 of our Spring Triple Crown Series and oh, have I ever been cooking up some fun challenge options for you. Even if you didn’t participate in Leg 1, please feel free to jump into one of the following options. Of course, you may opt out of it all together and in that case, please feel free to run some long and easy AHR miles…but I sure do hope that you will try one of the TC options.

Spring Triple Crown
LEG 2 OPTIONS
Run one of the following options and earn your Leg 2 point:  
1.    Run one of the following 2 mile or 5K courses again to see if you can improve on your previous time or simply run a new one to test it out: A. UVA/City course (the road to Preston at 10th in front of the Monticello Dairy is now open!) B. Locust/Riverview Rocket course C. Riverview course D. Sugar Hollow course

2.    Go for the second leg of “The Triple Dare” (5K/10K/15K) by running one of the following 10K courses: A. Sugar Hollow (out 2.7 miles toward the dam and back 3.5) B. Green Springs (15 minutes east of Cville…easy drive, beautiful running venue): two 10K courses for you soft surface lovers (I’ll be sending you maps later this week).

3.    Run one of the two NEW 2 mile/5K options out at Green Springs (I’ll be sending maps).

4.    “Triple Hill Thrill” Challenge…In keeping with the Memorial Day theme (even though it’s a week later): Run one of two Triple Hill Thrills and you’ve earned you second leg point! I’ve set up and will mark two sets of three hills: One set will be over near UVa’s North Grounds (Big Jack, Mount Darden, JAG Steps) and the other set will be Downtown (The Mall Bricks, Northwood, Maple). I’ll send detailed maps. Please note that this will be an AGE GROUP competition with awards to the fastest Triple Hill climber in the following male and female age categories: 10 & younger, 11-14, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80+). IMPORTANT: Do LOTS of DYNAMIC DRILLS just prior to running each of these hills. And NO all-out sprinting or straining! Note: You may run this Triple Hill Thrill challenge in addition to one of the other 2 mile-10K race options.

****And, in keeping with our theme of “Racing and Donating”, I’ll be letting you know later this week which three organizations we’ve identified for you to select to generously give to. Thanks so much for your continued support of worthy local causes! 
PLEASE NOTE: Because right now it looks a bit steamy (69 degrees) for early Friday morning, I’m shifting the days, you can race these challenges, to Saturday (5/30), Sunday (5/31) and Monday (6/1). All of those mornings look to be in the 57-64 range. If the weather shifts, I’ll let you know if I decide to mark the courses for other dates.   

MONDAY Memorial Day
Normal AHR miles plus 6 x 12 second hill surges with a slow 48 second recovery in between each.

WEDNESDAY 5/27
Two choices:
A.   Those racing one of the weekend TC options: 10 x 45 second surges at 112% of MP or 107% of 10 mile pace on a flat surface. Take a slow 90 second recovery in between each.  
B.   Those NOT racing the TC: 3 x 1 mile on a flat road (half mile out and half mile back is good too) or in lane 3 or 8 of the CHS track (look for our flagging markers). Run the first mile at 106-109% of MP or 100-103% of 10 mile pace and run faster for the 2nd and 3rd. Take a slow 3 minute recovery in between each