Pace Groups

If you are interested in hitting a certain time, we will have some pace leaders spread throughout the corrals.   Look for us and join up if you are looking to hit a certain time.

Corral 1 - 1:30

Corral 3 - we'll have 3 leaders.  Sub- 1:40, 1:45 and sub- 1:50.

Corral 6 - 2:00

We also have a 2:15 and 2:30 leaders, I'm just not sure what corral they are in.  :)

After the race

There is a family reunion area at the end of the race.  After the race, we'll meet up under the letter "E" to get our yearly East Nasty picture.  (Weather permitting of course, don't stand out there if it is cold and raining...)

Then that evening join us for our yearly post-race party (see above).  If the weather sucks, don't let that scare you away.  The pavilion is covered, we'll have heaters and the band/beer/food/friends will totally be worth it.

We'll see on Saturday!

Mark

The Run

Run #5.  One of our favorites, the walking bridge.  6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly.  Over the walking bridge, up 1st, and back on woodland.

If you ordered an East Nasty shirt, they will be available starting Wednesday night.  If you cannot pick up your shirt tomorrow, you can pick it up at any time at NRC.  Wear it for the race this weekend!

Being Good Neighbors

As we move into the summer months, and our crowd gets bigger, it's a good idea to remind ourselves that we need to be cognizant of the size of our group.   Running with 200 people is different than running with 5.  Two things I want you to remember this week:

1) Yield to walkers.   If that means you have to jump off the sidewalk for a bit, so be it.   Just make sure that we're not monopolizing the sidewalk.

2) Don't dart across the street.  The people behind you are probably going to follow right behind.  So for the safety of everyone, cross the street at intersections when possible!

Race Weekend

This is a big running weekend in Nashville.  There are going to be a bunch of East Nasties running the half or full marathon this weekend.   Check the blog on Friday for more details.   Just remember to join us at East Centric for our post-race party!   (It might rain, but the pavilion is covered so the party is on rain or shine!)

Make plans to join us for our annual post-Country Music race party! You don’t have to run the half or full marathon to join us! You don't want to miss a great night celebrating with all your East Nasty friends! Facebook event page.

Details: Saturday April 27th - 7pm- 11pm East Centric Pavilion - 1006 Fatherland St, East Nashville, Nashville, TN. (just down the street form 11th & Holly)  http://www.east-centric.com/

Featuring: - Live music from The Coal Men! www.thecoalmen.com - Yazoo beer - Drew Jones - Light snacks (Sliders) served from 7-9 (or until they run out) - Please bring a dessert to share

IDs will be checked (21 and up) and a $5 donation is suggested.

A few volunteers are needed to help with set-up. To volunteer, contact Sarah Brown at skbrown@gmail.com

April 20 - 21

This is our last weekend run before the race!

Where: Shelby Park by the Nature Center

When: 8 a.m.

What: 60 minutes of easy running

See you this weekend!

Mark

Boston

I'm sure that as the leader of a running group I am supposed to say something profound about the events at the Boston marathon, but I haven't really completely processed it yet.  This is a tragedy that shakes the democratic and civic nature of our sport: everyone can race and if you don't run, everyone is welcome to participate in some way.   Running races are community builders that exclude no one from running, volunteering or just spectating.   This is very different than the Superbowl, for example, where only the elite can participate and only the affluent can attend.   That is what is beautiful about running events.  But how can you monitor a 26.2 mile race through a city?  The answer is you can't.

The only thing I would say is allow yourself to be sad and angry, but do not allow yourself to be intimidated.   There is no way that I can't think about this as I line up for the country music half marathon, but I'm going to run anyway.  Be diligent, look out for each other, but don't become jaded or cynical.

The Run

This Wednesday, run #4:Big Shelby Loop.  6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly in East Nashville.

Spring Celebration Party

Our post-marathon party has come together and it is going to be great.  The best news is that you don't have to run the half or full marathon to join us!  See full details below then be sure to join us for live music, Yazoo beer and sliders...

80 degrees.... finally.

The Run

Run # 3.  Musica out and back.

6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly in East Nashville.  Bring a change of clothes and enjoy a night out!  This will be a great night to be on the 3 Crow patio..

Thursday Workout

6 p.m at the corner of 11th and Holly.

It's crunch time, and if there is any week where you should attend a workout it is this week.

3 x 1600 (1 mile) @ 5k pace, with 400 meter jogs between repeats.

Mark

Week 14 Last long run

Location: Centennial Park

Time: 8 a.m. Saturday or Sunday

Workout: Conversational endurance running.

Novice: 12 miles!  One lap of the park + first 8 miles of the course + back to Centennial via Blakemore and Natchez Trace

Intermediate/Advanced: 14 miles.  One lap of the park + first 10.5ish miles of the course + back to Centennial via Charlotte

The pace for this run should be 1.5 - 2.5 minutes per mile slower than your 5k pace.  (You should be at least 30 seconds slower per mile than your goal pace.)

Mark Your Calendars!

More information will be forthcoming, but our annual post-race party is scheduled for April 27, 7 p.m. at the East Centric pavilion.  We'll have food, beer and live music.  Plan on coming because everyone is welcome, even if you didn't run the race!

Shirts

If you want an East Nasty shirt, the very last day to order is Sunday, April 7.  Information is here.

Route #2

Wednesday. 6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly.

Round the Lake.  Run #2.

Being Good Neighbors

Every so often I think  it is important to remind everyone that running with 220 people is different than running with 5.  And as the days are getting longer and the weather getting nicer, we're going to have bigger crowds.  So keep these things in mind:

(1) Run on the sidewalk, or if that is not possible, on one side of the street.  Do not run more than 2 abreast.

(2) Cross at intersections.  You need to realize that the people behind you will probably follow whatever you do, so if you sprint in front of a passing car, the person behind you might as well!

(3) Speaking of intersections... pause a moment to let cars pass.  Even if you have the right-of-way, but courteous, stop and let a car go through an intersection.  Remember, there is not just one of you...

(4) Bring a change of clothes and enjoy a Wednesday night out in East Nashville!

Pint Night

This week NRC is hosting their monthly pint night.  ALSO, they will have sample sizes of the East Nasty gear to try on before you order.   Remember, if you want a shirt/singlet you must pre-order.  Here is the information about ordering.

Thursday Workout

6 p.m. Thursday April 4.  11th and Holly.

Track Workout.  4 x 1200 meters at 5k race pace, with 400 meter slow jog between repeats.  One reminder: it's pretty much impossible to do a track workout without a stopwatch.  In fact, when you're on the track, I think that a stopwatch is even better than a Garmin.  Bottom line, bring something so that you can time yourself.

ENFL

Mark

First let's talk about shirts!

We get all kinds of questions about how to get East Nasty gear.  We do usually do three shirts a year: a technical shirt in the spring, a cotton t-shirt around tomato festival, and something in the fall/winter (i.e. long sleeve Lululemon shirt, hoody, etc...)

This spring we are doing Pearl Izumi shirts/singlets.   You do not need to be running the 1/2 marathon to order a shirt as they will not be race specific.   Men have the option of a sleeveless shirt, or a short sleeve shirt.  Women have the option of a singlet or a short sleeve shirt.   Here are more details.

1/2 & Full Marathon Training, March 30/31

Location: Centennial Park

Date/Time: Saturday, March 30 or Sunday March 31 8 a.m. both days

There are several things going on Saturday.

Injury Screening.  This Saturday will be a free injury screening by Leah Sawyer of Results Physiotherapy.  She will be around after the run, and may even make an appearance at the ....

Saturday brunch!  This will be our first ever Saturday morning pot-luck brunch.  Here's how it works: you run, and then you come to brunch. Easy stuff.   Our gracious hosts are Emily Mitchell and Loran Shallenberger who live at 1112 Gartland in East Nashville.    Everyone is welcome, but this only works if you bring something, even if it's just orange juice.  Please sign up for something here and join us on Saturday!

The workout.

This week is our last structured workout.  After this weekend, the rest of the weekend runs will be conversational endurance runs.  Our goal this week is to run 6 or 8 miles at 1 minute per mile slower than your 5k pace, or at your goal pace...which ever one is slower.

This is an important workout for three reasons. (1) It answers the question: are you ready.   (2) This is our first run on the course at a pace close to race effort.  (Going up Demonbreun feels different when you are jogging rather than when you are racing.)  This is a very different course than Tom King for example.   Almost none of this course is flat, so you pace is going to vary a bunch.  On this course you cannot be a slave to the Garmin.  For example, if you want to average 8 minutes per mile, most of the time you will not be running exactly at that pace.  Down the hills you'll run a little bit faster and up the hills you'll be going slower.    (3) It is just a good workout.

Novice: Run 1 - 2 laps of the park.  Run 6 miles on pace (First 4 miles of the course, then right on wedgewood, right on Natchez Trace - back to our meeting location in the park.)  Slowly jog an additional lap of the park to cool down. 8 - 9 miles total.

Intermediate/Advanced: Run 1 - 2  laps of the park.  Run 8 miles on pace: (first 8 miles of the course. The 8 mile mark is right about 14th and Wedgewood), jog back to Centennial. 11 - 12 miles total.

See you this weekend!

Mark

The Run

We're starting over.  (There are 12 different routes that we run in order, we did #12 last week)  Run #1: One Hilly 5k.

Wednesday, March 27.  6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly.  (If you are a run/walker, be sure to check the Lasty Nasty facebook page to see when they are starting.  They usually leave 10-15 minutes before the main group.

That a moment to check out the route.  Of all our runs through Shelby Park, notice that this is the only one where we stay on the "inside" of the lake.

Cup volunteers!

It's time to volunteer to clean the cups!    This is a great way that you can help us out on Wednesday nights, and it's easy:  take the cups home, wash them (really sterilize them) and bring them back the next week.   I'm doing them this week, and my goal is to have every Wednesday covered all through the end of June.   Click here to sign up for a week.

Why do we wash cups you ask?  When we first started, we would go through 150+ disposable cups every week. In an effort to produce less waste, we went to reusable plastic ones.  This means a little more effort on our part, but less garbage every week...

Thursday night workouts

6 p.m. March 28 at the corner of 11th and Holly.

Back to the track.  5 x 1000 meters (2.5 laps) at your 5k pace, with a 400 meter (1 lap) easy jog between repeats.  Everyone is welcome.  All you need is a pretty good idea of your 5k race pace and a watch!

The Nasty

Four times a year, our 12 route pattern cycles back to our signature run: The Nasty.

It's just about 6 miles, with just about 7 hills (or 8...or 9....)   It's tough.  But if when you finish this run, you become a true East Nasty, complete with your own sticker.

Wednesday, 6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly in East Nashville.

Thursday Workouts

This week we start our finishing work for the 1/2 marathon in April: track intervals.   Two quick notes:  (1) the next four weeks the workouts will be run at your 5k race pace, so you need to know that or have a good estimate.  (2) start bringing the shoes that you plan on wearing for the race.  What?  This might not mean anything to many people, but if you wear racing flats or lightweight trainers when you race, you should be doing your workouts in those shoes.

Which begs the question: Should I wear racing flats and will they make me faster?  You need to decide if you want to spend the money, and if your bio-mechanics can handle the almost complete lack of support and cushioning of racing flats, but they will absolutely, positively make you faster.  (Unless you already wear minimalist shoes, then you are already (basically) wearing racing flats...)

Here is a brief article that points out some things to consider...  Send me (Mark) an email if you have any questions, or contact the great folks at NRC or Fleet Feet Sports.

Week 11

Saturday March 16 / Sunday March 17

Location: Centennial Park.

Time: 8 a.m. for Half-marathoners & marathoners.

Workout:

Novice: 8 miles.  Just miles.  Run at a pace that is 1:30 to 2:30 slower per mile than your 5k pace.

Intermediate: 11 miles.  Fast Finish.   8 miles at your easy pace - speed up last 3 miles.  How fast?  Your last three miles should be about 1 minute per mile slower than your 5k pace.  So not really "fast" just "faster".

Advanced: 14 miles. Fast Finish.  11 miles at easy pace - speed up last 3 miles.  (see above)

Routes:

All of us are running on the 1/2 marathon course.  Here is a link to where you can find the printable course map.   (Go down to course information.)

8 miles:  First 5 miles of the course.  Left at Elmwood.  Left on 12th.  Left on Wedgewood.  Stay on Wedgewood (it becomes Blakemore).  Right on Natchez Trace.  Cross West End into Centennial Park.

11 miles: First 8+ miles of the course.  Back to the park via Blakemore and Natchez Trace (read above) + one lap of park.

14 miles: First 10+ miles of the course.  Left on Charlotte.  Turn on 25th.  One lap of park.