Week of March 16

To my beloved athletes,


This is a strange and dramatic moment in our world and each of us are having to make tough personal decisions. And, with the situation quickly evolving, as your coach I’m also trying to make the prudent and right decisions for the overall health of everyone in our running group. That’s why I’m not going to have us meet as our usual large group this Wednesday morning. This is so hard to do, not only for you but also for me, as Wednesday mornings are truly my favorite time of the entire week…the joy of seeing each of you having such a good time together, making one another run faster, puts me on a high for the rest of the day. So, I’m sad to miss this but I’d be much, much sadder if someone was to get really sick because of us meeting together in our large group setting. And this is from a guy who intensely thrives on constant social interaction!! We all need to play a role in slowing down the progression of this virus and this is one small way of doing so.


As far as smaller groups go, I leave it up to you as to whether you personally feel comfortable doing that. It’s your personal call. But, if you do choose to do so, I implore you to keep the appropriate physical distance between one another. This is very, very important!


The other thing is, what you all personally decide to do with all of our March and April races now being cancelled or postponed. Here are some options:


1. Keep training and hope that the virus dissipates in the coming month. If it does, I, along with the help of Leah and Dr. Wilder and others, will be offering, some alternative “make-up/substitute” events for you Marathoners and 10 Milers, Half Marathoners and 10K racers in mid to late April. These would be very small and organized events open to Speedsters and Boston Bounders. And on another note: Boston Marathoners, looking to run the BAA’s postponed race in September, might consider racing the Half (instead of full) in April, if we have it, because of the quick recovery turnaround between April and September.


2. ***IMPORTANT: If you do choose to keep “training” I must remind you that there’s a decent amount of research out there that tells us, that when running with long miles or harder workouts, you can tax your immune system. So, even though training harder can make us “fitter” it also makes us “more tired” and more vulnerable to sickness. Something to think about as we enter this “new territory”.


3. Back off the regimented training and simply get in some relaxed miles for the coming weeks. In other words, cut back on the “work outs” and total weekly mileage and stick, for the most part, to good old fashioned AHR miles. If you do decide to go this route, make sure to stay on top of your rolling and stretching, as down-time is the quickest way to get really tight, especially our hamstrings and ITB’s!


4. Not sure what to do? Then please feel free to give me a shout if you have
any questions at all regarding what personal decisions to make about your personal running. As you know, I’m always happy to give you my two cents worth!


5. And, above everything else, be safe and stay positive and take stock of the special relationships we share.


A very small group of Tobacco Road folks, last minute, asked me to resurrect the old Three Bridges course, as a make-up for their cancelled race, and six of them (with good distancing) had excellent performances on our old certified half and full marathon courses yesterday morning. Congrats to Ben (2:56!), Chris B. (2:59 first sub 3!), Darren G. (3:21!), Andrew (1:41!), Hannah G. (1:54…a huge 7 minute p.r.!) and Matt E. (1:50…p.r.!).


***I’ve included my son Adrian’s latest weekly newsletter he just sent out to his Albemarle track athletes. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did.


In closing, I’d like to say how much I cherish my relationships with each of you and how I’m truly going to miss seeing you face to face for the time being. Please stay in touch by texting, calling and sending photos. I’ll look forward to that time when I can give you all a big hug again!
Be safe…


With a virtual high five,
Coach Mark
434-962-1694 (text)


WEEK of MARCH 16…


***PLEASE NOTE: This in only for those looking to keep “working out”.
***Remember: if you feel like it’s overfatiguing, please back off!


*Speedsters = ~20-35 miles


MONDAY March 16
***For those looking to still ”workout”
*Speedsters = 4-6 miles at 75-80% with 5 x 12 second flat surface surges with a slow 48 second recovery in between each.


WEDNESDAY March 18
***Please note that we will NOT be meeting as a group at our normal 5:30am time. If you still feel like you want to meet at different times and locations, please do so in much smaller groups and with adequate distance between one another. Your personal choices. I’ll miss you terribly, as this is my favorite time of the week!


Some SUGGETED COURSES for the Fartlek circuits:
-Bellair by starting at the entrance and using the upper loop (that goes left down Old Farm Road and turns right at the pond and then right again up Canterbury.
-Riverview in figure eights by running a mile loop on the flat river path (run along the lower path and turn left to head back to the parking lot on the upper path) and then head out to do one of the those hilly loops up Market and back down Chesapeake (you can turn off Market at either Riverview Avenue or 18th street, depending on how far you want to run on the hilly section)
-Towe Park by doing a combo of running along the paved path by the river and then up to the main shelter at the top of the parking lot
-The UVa Park by doing a combo of running around the perimeter loop and then up the hill to the three way stop sign at Arlington


***For those still looking to workout:
*Speedsters = Fartlek on the road as follows (rolling to hillier terrain):
-4 x 2 minutes at 106% or faster with a 60 second recovery in between each (including a 60 second recovery after the 4th one)
-4 x 30 seconds at 110-112% with a 30 second recovery in between each
Run this 16 minute circuit a total of 2-3 times (depending on how you feel) but faster with each one. Take a 30 second recovery after each circuit. Try to run it on a loop or out and back course to keep the terrain consistent for each 16 minute circuit.


SATURDAY March 21
****For those still looking to workout:


*Speedsters = 10 miles total with 2 x 3 miles (flatter course) as follows:
-1st one at 96-100% of 10 miler pace
-2nd one faster!
Take a slow 5 minute recovery in between each