A couple of weeks ago, during a Sunday morning run in the cold rain, I asked my friend Ryan (an accomplished rock climber, but fairly novice runner) if he regretted his decision to come running that morning.   His response was that he preferred running in bad weather.  I thought...well, I agree. There is something about running outside that exposes you to extremes that we never experience anymore in this climate controlled world.  Why does the weather matter when you go from your warm house, to your warm car, to the parking garage, to your warm office?!   There is something about being human that makes us want to battle these extremes and challenge ourselves physically.  Why else would we run marathons?  Ironman races?   The Iditarod?  Climb Mountains?  Or run the completely inane  bad water ultra??

Well don't let a little cold and snow stop you from coming out this Sunday for our first tempo run.  Remember the first step is always the hardest!

What is a Tempo Run?

Long distance runners need to be able to run pretty hard for a long period of time.  Sprinters, on the other hand, need to be able to run REALLY hard for an extremely short period of time.

So how do you train your body to run pretty hard, for a long period of time?  Tempo Running.  Tempo workouts are either long steady runs (3-10 miles), or longer intervals with a very short amount of rest (1 mile repeats with 1 minute rest between each one.)  Tempo running improves your Lactate threshold, which is one of the most important physiological factors for endurance sports. (Your lactate threshold is the effort level where you start accumulating lactic acid.  Studies have shown that untrained individuals hit this point as low as 50-60% reserve heart rate, where trained runners hit it at 80-90%.  For you science junkies, read more here.)

If the science doesn't convince you, take it from the best: The foundation of Kenyan running is based almost exclusively on tempo training.  In fact an article in Runner's World called it the most important workout.

How Fast? How Far?

Tempo running is done at a pace that is about 30 seconds slower per mile than your 5k pace.   Which is why we did the 3 mile time trial last week!  So take you pace from last week, add 30 seconds per mile, and that is the pace that you will run at this week.  We will run for either 3 or 4 miles.  (Add 2 miles for warm up and up to 2 miles for cool down.)

On Sunday mornings, we are going to do tempo runs exclusively (steady runs of 3-8 miles), where the Tuesday night speed sessions will be doing some tempo intervals (1 mile repeats with 1 minute rest).

See you out there this Sunday!

Mark

Recently I came down with a bit of an injury. Around the fourth week of my training, I began to notice pain in the back of my heel. It would start out as kind of a dull ache, but pretty quickly it became inflamed in a way that made it pretty uncomfortable to put any kind of strain on it. For a little while all I did was take a couple of ibuprofens every now and then, and I would try to stretch it out both before and after a run. But the pain kept coming. Finally I buckled down and went to see a doctor who specializes in sports medicine. They told me several things, one of which was that I upped my mileage per week too quickly (going from 7 miles to 21 miles.) They also told me that the pain stems from the way my foot lands when it hits the ground. Their remedy for me was to bring the mileage back down, have some days off in-between my running days, ice my heel after a long run, and try my best to re-orient the way my right foot lands when running. I am telling this story because many of us are starting to get into the main part of our training programs for the Country Music Half Marathon, and several other races coming up. If you are starting to feel some injury, the full recovery of said injury is important for you to carry out the rest of your training. Here is a cut down version of what most doctors recommend for recovery.

START SLOW Runners returning to action often put more stress on the body, when it is not use to it. To avoid injury caused by that stress, run no more than 20-30 consecutive minutes for several weeks.

GO AEROBIC Think of aerobic easy running as the foundation of your ultimate fitness. The more fit you want to be, the greater the foundation you must build. Just as Rome was not built in a day, re-establishing your base after a long break takes time. As you advance from 20-30 minutes a day, increase your runs by no more than one mile per workout.

RECOVER WELL Run every other day for the first few weeks. Rest days reduce the risk of causing further injuries.

CROSS-TRAIN After a month, gradually change your recovery days from rest only to cross-training days. It will help build your aerobic development without increasing your injury risk. For 30 to 60 minutes ride a bicycle, use an elliptical, or do pool running in deep water.

RACE SPARINGLY And only when the result will be encouraging. You don't have to be ready to run a new PR, but you don't want to end up being discouraged by your performance, either. Avoid comparing your results with those from before your layoff. Say to yourself: "That's the fastest I've run since I made my comeback!"

Tonight’s run will be run #4

Click on the map below to view our run tonight. See everyone out there at 6pm tonight!

MAP

Benchmarking How fast should I train?  What is my potential 1/2 marathon time?  Do you think I can run under 2 hours for the 1/2?  Am I running to fast?  How fast should I run my intervals?

Who knows?

People interrogate me all the time about running, but questions like this are impossible to answer without a benchmark of your current fitness level.  Once I know your current fitness level I can begin to answer (or at least approximate) these inquiries.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) the only way to get an accurate measurement of your fitness level is to race, or to run a time trial.

What is a time trial?

A time trial is a hard effort over a certain distance.  The distance of a time trial is determined by the length of your goal race, and the effort level is about 95% full effort.  Time trials should feel almost as hard as races without the sprint finish.

3 Miles?

For many distance runners, a 3 mile (or 5k) time trial is a perfect starting point.  It is long enough to accurately measure your aerobic fitness, but short enough not to burn you out for the next week...

A well trained distance runner can run a 1/2 marathon at about 35-40 seconds per mile slower than their 3 mile pace per mile.

Planning Based on a Time Trial

Remember Huck?  He was our East Nasty runner who ran 19:52 for a 5k.  This equates to 6:24 per mile.

Right now, Huck has the potential to run about 7:00 per mile for a 1/2 marathon.

1) Long Runs - Your long runs should be completed at about 1:30 - 2:30 slower per mile.  Read more about pacing for a Long Run here.

2) Tempo Runs - Tempo Running should be about 30 seconds slower per mile than your 3 mile pace.

Huck would do his tempo runs at 6:54 per mile. (More about tempo running next week...)

3) Intervals - Interval Running would be completed at this pace!  (Advanced runners could drop about 10-20 seconds per mile, but these are really hard workouts!)

Huck is definitely advanced, so he will do his interval work at 6:14 pace.

4) Speed Work - Fast workouts should be done 30-45 seconds faster per mile than your time trial.  (This seems like a big range, but the speed would depend on the length of the interval.)

Huck would run his fast workouts at 5:39 - 5:54.

Why are you telling me this?

Here's the exciting news!  We all get to run a 3 mile time trial together tomorrow!

Here is the plan:

Novice:  Warm-up 2-miles.  3 miles hard.  Cool down 1 mile

Intermediate: Warm-up 3-miles.  3 miles hard. Cool down 1 mile.

Advanced: Warm-up 3-miles.  3 miles hard.  Cool down 2 miles +

Keep track of this time in your training log, and also write down your training times.  If you happen to be wearing a Heart Rate monitor, let me know and I can help you analyze that result as well!

Remember to bring your donations for the KIPP Track Team!

See you tomorrow morning!  (In the rain...ugh...)

Mark

Run #3.  I love this run, but we have to cross Eastland twice...and the turn from Eastland to 20th is easy to miss.  I'll be around to direct traffic, but take a moment to check out the map. After a couple of nasty weeks here in music city, we are in for a little January warm-up.  It is hard to dress for running in winter in the south because you have no idea how warm it is going to be!

Two things:

1) Dress as if you are going for a hike in weather that is 20 degrees warmer than the actual temperature.   So if it is 35, dress as though you were going for a hike at 55 degrees.

2) "There is no such thing as inclement conditions, just inadequate preparation."  ~Gino Leone.    East Nasties do not make excuses! Throw on your sweatshirt, a toboggan, gloves and get out and run!

KIPP

The KIPP Track team is 60 strong, and I am delivering the donations after the run this Sunday.  If you are able to help out financially, please bring your money this week!  Thanks for everyone who has given a gift already!

See you on Wednesday!

Why time and not distance? You may have noticed that many of the long runs/workouts on the training plan are done by time and not by distance.  This is not the normal way that people track workouts (no one ever says "I ran for 6 hours last week" people say "I ran 45 miles last week), but this is the way that people should plan their workouts.  Why?

Bottom line: your body doesn't know distance, all it knows is how long (time) and how hard (intensity) that you have been running.   (In fact, your heart and lungs have no idea that you are actually running...they just know that they need to provide more oxygen!)  Example: the Tom King half marathon vs. the Pike's Peak half marathon.  The Tom King half is flat, the Pike's Peak half takes you straight up to 14,000 feet.  Which one is longer? Of course, they're the same distance - they are both 1/2 marathons!  But believe me, your body will know the difference!

An 80 minute run at 70% max heart rate is the same workouts for everyone. Even if one person runs 10 miles and someone else runs 12.  But a 10 mile run is not the same workout for everyone.  It is much harder on the person who runs 10 miles in 90 minutes rather than the person who runs it in 60.  (Provided they are putting out the same effort level.)  That is why elite marathoners recover much quicker from a marathon than we do.  They only run for a little over 2 hours, where we are out there for usually between 3 and 4 hours!

Now at the end of the day, we are running 13.1 miles, and not 2 hours.  So it is important to incorporate some runs of a certain distance to prepare for the race. But using time as your guide and not distance is a great habit to start.  Check out more with this article from Running Times.

KIPP Track

Two more reminders!  Please bring your donation envelope this Sunday or next Wednesday.  I will have more donation forms available if you lost yours, so just bring your checkbook.  (If you are new to East Nasty - we are going to sponsor the track team of KIPP Academy Nashville.  A local charter school.  Everything we do is free, so we just ask you to give back to the community! )

Curious about KIPP?  Their first year of existence was 2005 and they were named Nashvillians of the Year by the Scene.   Last year they graduated their first class of eight graders.  Even Malcolm Gladwell wrote a whole chapter about KIPP in his new book "Outliers"!

See you Sunday....rain (ugh) or shine!

"High in the mid-40's"...those words never sounded so good.  With balmy temperatures like that, there is no excuse not to join us this week for Run #2! KIPP Academy Track Team

East Nasty is committed to give back to the youth of our neighborhood.  KIPP Academy is a local charter school (located at 123 Douglas Ave.) that is starting a track team, and we are going to raise the funds to support this endeavor!  Last week, I gave many of you an envelope with a request for a donation.   If you didn't look inside, there is a form that asks for your contact information, and donation amount.  Please fill out your contact info and bring your donations back to me this week or next week! I have more donation forms if you didn't get a chance to get one last Wednesday or on Sunday.   Let's join together and pass our love of running along to the next generation,  our goal is to raise over $3000!

Winter Speed Sessions

It is difficult to motivate to run hard...especially when it is cold.  But, up tempo running is essential if you are looking to maximize your running potential.  If you are looking for a PR this year at the 1/2 marathon, or if you are just looking for some guidance on track workouts, I encourage you to sign up for fleet feet's winter speed sessions.   These workouts are designed based on your current fitness level, and are guaranteed to significantly improve your racing this spring!  Talk to Drew or Mark to get more details, or simply sign up here.

Nashville Restaurant Week

Have you ever wanted to eat at The Acorn, The Standard, or Tin Angel but sticker shock turns you away??  Well restaurant week is for you.  This week, a variety of restaurants are offering dining specials for a set price.   Check out the link above and enjoy a night out for a (fairly) reasonable price!

See you on Wednesday!

Pacing for long runs. Perhaps one reason why people despise long distance running, is that they do all of their runs at one pace: medium hard.   It's not sprinting, but its definitely not easy either.  This is not how it should be.  There should be significant differences in your effort level based on the prescribed workout.

Fact: not all runs have to be hard to improve fitness.  In fact, the goal of coaching is to provide to most aerobic benefit for the least amount of muscular-skeletal stress.  Really?  Yes, really.  Hard running places a lot of stress on bones and soft tissue increasing the potential for injury, (Case and point: Mundy)  So if you can run slower, and achieve the same aerobic benefit, why not?!  (In fact, I tell my athletes that the only time they should run as hard as they can is during races...)  Over the next couple of weeks I am going to talk a bit about pacing for various workouts, starting with the long run.

The Long Run

The long run is the foundation to running almost any distance - for two main reasons:

1) It physiologically changes your body. Capallaries grow.  Mitochondria grow in both size and number.  Aerobic enzymes increase along with skeletal myoglobin.  All of these changes improve your ability to process oxygen.

2) It improves your body's efficiency.   Lungs become more efficient.  Your heart becomes stronger yielding higher stroke volume.  Leg muscles strengthen.  Your ability to metabolize fat increases.  Stride length shortens.  Wasted arm motion tends to go away.  All these efficiencies add up to a decrease in oxygen consumption.  Which is what distance running is all about: using the least amount of oxygen while still going fast.

Read more about the long run here.

So let's meet Huck Chargrove, a hypothetical runner who is in his mid-40's. Huck used to run at a local high school, (just for fun, let's call it Billwood), went on to run at college (let's call is Helmont) and is now experiencing a renewed passion for running.   He works as a male model and enjoys long walks on the beach, Michelob Ultra, puppies and honesty.

A couple of weeks ago, Huck ran a 5k race as hard as he could, and finished with a time of 19:52.  This equates to 6:24 pace per mile.

Long Runs:  Long runs should be run at a pace between 1.5 - 2.5 minutes slower per mile than your current 5k ability.   So Huck never runs faster than 7:54 per mile.  His effort level could be described as conversational; meaning that he can hold on a conversation during the run. His heart rate is between 70-75%of his maximum heart rate.

Huck's long runs start way slower than 9:00 per mile, and he gradually speeds up only when his body tells him that it's okay.  (Remember, the benefits of long runs come from duration, not from the intensity.)

So for your Sunday long runs, what can you learn from Huck?

1) Start slower than you think.  The first mile of a long run should be by far the slowest of the day.

2) Only speed up when you feel like you can.  Do not be held hostage by your watch or the group of folks that you are running with.  Listen to your body.

3) Focus on a short, quick stride rate, rather than long, slow strides.  Distance running is about efficiency, and short quick strides are more effective than long slow ones.

4) Have a conversation with your running partner, and if you are struggling to catch your breath, slow down.

Sunday January 10th - Shelby Park

Novice: 40 minutes

Intermediate: 60 minutes

Advanced: 70 minutes

Bundle up and I'll see you on Sunday morning!

2010. Is it "twenty-ten" or "two-thousand-ten"?  Either way, a new year is upon us.  Personally, I'm not much of a new year's resolution person, but East Nasty made some resolutions this year!

First, we wanted to create a vision.  It may sound ridiculous for a running group to have a mission statement, but we thought that it would create a good filter through which to make all our decisions.  I encourage you to read "About East Nasty."   You'll notice it's not really a "mission statement" per se,  but I want to highlight the one statement that sums up our vision:

"...we love our neighborhood and strive to be involved in making it a great place to live and run."

East Nashville is already becoming one of the best running neighborhoods, and we are committed to making it better.  And while I hope all of you guys have fun on Wednesdays and Sundays, it's just as important to pass our passion for running along to others.  With that mindset, East Nasty is going to provide several opportunities for you to get involved with the neighborhood this year!

1) KIPP Track Team.  KIPP is a local charter middle school, and is starting a track team.  East Nasty is going to support the team by outfitting their runners.

2) Eastcan.  This organization is one of the best examples of what happens when an individual sees a need in a community and takes action.  This year you will keep seeing the "rescue dog of the week", and we are going to make our dog food drive a yearly event.  And don't you dare go out and buy a dog without talking to Elizabeth first.

3) Water stops.  This year, East Nasty is going to give back to the running community by manning water stops at two races.  And believe me, you don't want to miss an opportunity to hand out  water with the Jones brothers.

4) Tomato Fest 5k.  This is our neighborhood race!  If you do not attend this event Drew Jones will taunt you for life.

5) Girls on the Run.  We would love to find some East Nasties who can become running buddies, or even an assistant coach.  But if you can't do either of those, their culminating race will need runners and/or volunteers.

6) Each Other.   We need each other.  There's no way that we can navigate life without a little help and encouragement from our fellow pilgrims.   Always be ready to lend a hand to the guy running right next to you...even if you just met!

Stay tuned for more details, and we'll see you Wednesday for Run #1.

Mark

I have always found it both strange and enjoyable that most runners like to run when it is cold outside. What’s not to love, cool crisp air, quiet empty streets, and all of your East Nasty friends out there with you. Sure, we may complain a little at the beginning, but after it is all said and done we are still out there facing the elements and keeping a good base for our winter/spring training and upcoming races. Which reminds me, no matter how hard you party this Thursday night, remember that East Nasty’s Country Music Half-Marathon training begins on Sunday, January 3^rd, 9am at Shelby Bottoms Park Greenway. For all you new East Nastys out there here are some tips on running during the winter:

Rule number one: never wear cotton, or as my brother likes to say, “cotton is rotten!” It retains sweat and will make you freeze. Wear layers – one to pull sweat away, another (if it's very cold) to insulate the body, and something reflective or flashing (only when it is dark out).

Also, remember that whatever the temperature is outside, it will feel 20 degrees warmer once you start running.

Tonight, Drew has decided to post-pone run #12, the Nasty, until Mark Miller gets back, and until they decide to punish all of us East Nastys. Instead, we will be running the walking bridge route in reverse. Here is a link.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/tn/nashville/350126218686148087

See you there tonight!

Rod Jones

Tonight's Route

Well the Holiday season is upon us, and we decided to give everyone a little present. This week we will be running route Run #11, and if you want, you can decide to not run the second half of the loop down to 5^th and Shelby, which cuts off a good two miles. That way this week’s run can be 4.43 miles, or 2.43 miles depending on how much you want to push yourself.

See you tonight,

Rod Jones

East Nasty is a grass roots group of runners who take to the streets of East Nashville.

Where:  11th and Holly

When: Wednesday at 6:00 pm

Don't wait for 2010 to make a resolution to start exercising.  You can start now because East Nasty will be continuing our normal Wednesday runs on the 23rd and the 30th! If your holiday schedule does not allow any running, be sure that you are in Shelby Park at 9:00 on January 3 for the beginning of the 1/2 marathon training.  (Check our "Sunday Morning Runs" for more details.)

We all know that a rescue dog from EastCan makes a great last minute Christmas gift.   Also, Drew has about 7 or 8 more East Nasty hoodies left if you want to share the East Nasty love.

Drew Jones is in charge of the routes for the next two weeks...and I have no idea what he has planned for you.  I would bet a trip into downtown may be on the docket.

Happy Holidays!

Mark

So it's cold and rainy today...remember the first step is the hardest, then it gets easier from there. 1/2 Marathon Training

Long Runs

If you look under "Sunday Morning Runs" you can see a copy of the three training plans.  It also gives you the location of each of the Sunday morning runs.  And while there are no more Sunday runs in 2009, we start at the crack of 9 a.m. on January 3 in Shelby Park.  See you there!

Workouts

There are two options this year.  Every year, Fleet Feet sponsors track workouts during the winter and summer.  The sessions have slightly different focuses, but both will make you a drastically better runner.  The winter speed sessions focus on 1/2-marathon type training, while summer speed focuses on shorter races (1 mile to 5k).  Winter Speed Sessions start on January 26, and meet every Tuesday through April 13.  Get more information and sign up here!

This year Chuck Hargrove has offered to lead runners through fartlek and tempo workouts on Thursdays.  He will be following the suggested workouts from the training plan, and will meet on at 6:00 in Shelby Park.

East Can

Thanks so much for those who donated to make Christmas happen for a local family.  And don't puppies make great Christmas presents??   Check out the adoptable animals.

West Side Christmas Party

I know it's dangerous over there, but our friend (and former ENOW) Hugh Mundy is hosting a Christmas party tomorrow night (december 19: 7 till midnight) at 1921 19th avenue south.  Cost of entry: a non-perishable food item that he will give to the families of his clients. (Hugh is a federal public defender.)   Everyone is welcome!