Sunday April 18: 9 a.m.  Yes 9 a.m.   Like I said, 9 a.m.  In Shelby Bottoms.  Did I mention the week's Sunday run is at 9 a.m. in Shelby Bottoms?? This Sunday is our last 1/2 marathon training session...so here is what I want you to remember:

The week before a race there is nothing that you can do to make yourself run faster, but there is a lot you can do to make yourself run slower.

Your body has an adaptation period of about 7-10 days before you receive any cardiovascular benefits from a workout.  So there is not enough time to get yourself in any better shape between now and the marathon.  That means that our goals over the next week are:

1) Fully rest and recover from a hard winter of training.

2) Stay loose and flexible.

3) Maintain a sense of running at your goal pace.

4) Get hydrated and be smart about "carbo-loading".

Here's how those things play themselves out:

a) While you only want about 10-20 miles of running the week before the 1/2 marathon, you definitely don't want to run zero miles... Plan your week so that you have some running - but almost all of it should be run at a very easy pace.

b) This Sunday we are going to do 5-7 miles total with 3 miles of goal pace running.  Also, one day this week you should do 2-3 miles of goal pace running split up into intervals.  (Example: 6 x 800 at goal pace with 2 minutes between each repeat.)  It's important to have a little bit of running at goal pace to maintain that sense of effort.

c) Drink an extra glass of water with each meal, watch your caffeine and alcohol intake, and go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual this week.  Eat lots of carbs, but be careful not to over indulge  so that you feel bloated on race day... Carbo-loading does not mean eating a huge pasta dinner the day before a big race.

Remember: bring $20 for your East Nasty CMM2010 half marathon shirt.   And clear your schedule Saturday night to join us at the post-race extravaganza!

Check the blog next week for details about the race, whether you are running or cheering - also we have a couple of really exciting post-marathon announcements...

Mark

PS  Of course, join us for one last brunch after the run.  314 S. 17th street.  We are going to fire up the grill and break out the cornhole boards...everyone is welcome.

We've got lots of announcements this week...starting with

The Run

This week is Run #3, My favorite.  Click on the link in the side bar and get acquainted with the run.  Also,this is perfect beer garden weather, so bring a change of clothes (or not) your ID and a couple of bucks for 3 Crow.

The Shirts

The shirts are in, and the design is fantastic!  Thanks Duane-o.   The shirts will be available after the run.  Bring $20.

The Race

Next Saturday is the CMM 1/2 and full marathon.  Wear your East Nasty shirt (you will get tons of cheers) and once you finish the race, meet under the "E" in the family reunion section for a massive Nasty photo at 10:30.

The Cheering Section

If you are not running the race, join the East Nasty crew at 1215 Battlefield Drive to cheer on the Nasties.   It should be a great time!

A little help please!

Erin Pauling is organizing a group of folks to collect all the discarded clothes at the starting line to donate them to Thriftsmart.  Can anyone help out?   It will only take about 30 minutes...you should be finished by 8:30 and have plenty of time to go watch the finish.  Plus you'll be helping out a great organization.

The Party

The night of the race, Micah Puncochar (622 McFerrin) will host the (??fourth, third??)annual East Nasty Post Marathon celebration party!  All nasties are welcome!  We will start grilling at 5:00 and the celebration won't end until D.J. Zach shuts things down.   Plan on coming.  We will provide the burgers and beer, you provide the side dishes and the people...oh yes and a $5 donation would be much appreciated.

I run for the party...

Emmit Martin will be back tomorrow with discounted entries to the Cinco de Mayo Race.   Normal entry fee is $35, but you can save $5 by signing up tomorrow night.  (But you do need to pay with cash or check.)

See you tomorrow.

Mark

PS Friday, I will be blogging about nutrition and running for these last 10 days before the marathon.   Bottom line, run easy, drink lots of water and get some extra rest.

Nasties... First of all, thanks to Team Green/Lightning 100 for hosting a great happy hour last night.  The had some great give-aways...amazing really.  Of course the big winners were the Jones brothers, no surprise there.  Thanks again Tom and Keeley.

Okay, we have come to our last long run before the 1/2 marathon.  And it is a long one.  12 miles for novice, 14 for intermediate, and 16 for advanced.

We are starting at 8 a.m.

Since the weather is getting hotter, and this run will take most folks over 2 hours, we are going to move the start time to 8 a.m.

The course

We usually run Bongo-to-bongo but we have made some changes so that we complete the last 2 miles of the marathon.

• We'll start at Bongo East (of course) then we will go down Fatherland and over the walking bridge to get to Demonbreun.
• Once we are on Demonbreun, we will just run the 1/2 marathon course. Except at the end, run past the stadium to finish at Bongo Java. (Advanced group, do the 2-mile add on loop to complete 16+ miles)
• Here is the map of the new course.  Please take a moment to check it out.  Thanks Duane-o.

The Brunch

Andy (of  salted, chocolate-covered bacon fame) and Heidi will be hosting brunch this week.  Everyone is welcome - talk to Zach about what you need to bring.

Odds and ends...

Next Week: We will meet for a run next Sunday.  The run will be 6 miles total, with 3-4 of those miles at goal pace.  After the run, stick around as we grill out at my place and celebrate a great Spring of training!

Tapering:  If you are running the 1/2 marathon, you need to allow your body to fully rest and recover over the next two weeks.  1) This Sunday is your last long run.  You should do one medium hard run in the middle of the week, and all your other runs should be slow and short.  2) The week of the marathon, you should only run 10-15 miles before the race.

Post-Run Party: Every year Micah hosts East Nasty's post-marathon party of legend.  Stay tuned for more details...  No offense to "John Rich with Cowboy Who-ever"  but this party is not to be missed.

See you tomorrow at 8 a.m.

Mark

Besides Run #2, there is some other stuff going on this week... MG 64 Cards

Be sure that you bring your MG 64 cards.  Turn them in to Tom from Lightning 100 and enjoy an MG 64 on him (even if you don't have a card, you're welcome to an mg64)!  Then be sure and join the fun this Friday evening where you'll have chances to win more free stuff from Team Green and Lightning 100.

IRFTP

Emmit Martin from "I Run For the Party"  will be set up after the run for the next two weeks to give you a discounted entry into the upcoming IRFTP Cinco de Mayo race.  The race normally costs $35 but if you sign up tomorrow or next Wednesday, it will be $30.  If you want to take advantage of this deal, it's cash or check only.

Sunday

Planning ahead for our Sunday run.  Since we are running Bongo--to-bongo (and more) we will move the run up to 8 a.m.  The advanced runners will cover 16 miles, the intermediate 14 and the novice 12.  So make note!

Warrior Dash folks

You need to see Hunter Lane, Christy Brown, or Rod Jones to discuss travel arrangements, accommodations, and what to expect for the May 22-23 weekend.

See you on Wednesday.

Mark

Sunday April 4.

Our Sunday long run will be at 9 a.m. in Shelby Park.

What are we doing?

8 mile Tempo run.  Whoa.  Yes, tough.  This is our test effort to make sure that we are ready for the 1/2 marathon.

What is my pace again?

Take your 3-mile time trial (or recent 5k race), find your pace per mile, then add 35 seconds.  We do these tempo runs at Shelby because every quarter mile is marked, so you can lock right into your proper pace.   If you have  a recent different race distance, check out the MacMillan Running  Calculator, type in your race time, and use your estimated 1/2 marathon time as your pace for tomorrow.  This pace is much slower than the pace you would use to run away from muggers.

Shout out to Erica Tober for showing off those East Nasty skills!  Heeeyyy Ohhhhh!

What's coming up

We are close!  Can you believe the race is less than three weeks away!  It is time to make sure that we are doing the things to prepare mentally and physically for the race.  Here are four easy things you can do for these last weeks before the race:

1) Sleep.  Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual.

2) Hydration.  Drink an extra glass of water with every meal.

3) Run easy.  At most you should run hard twice in one week.  All your other runs should be easy.  Make sure that your body is recovering from your hard runs.  (Yes, a long run is considered a hard run.)

4. Block out your calendar  for the post-race East Nasty party at Micah's.  (This is not one to miss...)

See you in the morning!

Mark

After last week's nasty run, we need a break...  So we are back to run #1, the shortest and just about the easiest of all 12 runs.

(For you new nasties, look over on the side panel and you will see that we cycle through 12 runs.  Run #12 was last week, so we are back at the start.)

Tomorrow could be the best weather of the year so far, so you have absolutely no excuse not to attend.

For those of you who read the book Born To Run, here is a Running Times interview with the real Caballo Blanco.   If you have no idea what I am talking about, go get "Born To Run".  It is a very interesting read, and has really fueled the fire of the barefoot running debate.

See you tomorrow.

(And remember The Sipper Club on Fridays.)

Mark

Sunday, we are back on the actual 1/2 marathon course.  We start at 9 a.m. in Centennial Park.  We'll have fluids for everybody, but since we are running our longest run thus far, you may want to bring a gel pack. Novice: 11 miles.  Run the course all the way back to Musica.  When you get to the roundabout (for the second time) go straight - turn left on West End.  And follow that back to Centennial.

Intermediate:  13 miles.  Follow the course through the gulch all the way to Charlotte.  Turn left on Charlotte, then turn left on 25th to take you into Centennial.

Advanced: 15 miles.  Follow the same course as the intermediate runners, then add two loops of Centennial.

Remember, your long runs should be conversational.  And since this is our longest run yet, be sure to start out conservatively and then build your speed slowly as the run progresses.  Your pace should be 1:30-2:30 minutes slower than your 3 mile time trial pace.  So if you ran 8 minute pace.  You should probably start your run at about 10:30 pace, settle into the run with 10:00 miles, and try to finish at 9:30.

Note: This last mile of this run is hard, so be prepared for the long slow grind up Charlotte...

See you Sunday!

Mark

The Run

Well folks, it has been since October 7^th, 2009 since we have run this ultra hilly 6 mile course. Route #12, “NASTY”, is not for the faint of heart as it takes you up and down several hills, including one that could easily be mistaken for a 100 foot wall.

Now some of you may be dreading this week, but I do not see why. This is what we have been training for people. We should now be able to look at a six mile course designed by the sinister Mark Miller and say, why don’t you bring on a “real” challenge, good sir. I know that former ENOW Will Arnold could not be any more excited about this route, he even called me today just to confirm that we were running it.

It is suppose to be great weather this Wednesday, so what better time than now to conquer this beast.

Don’t worry though, if you’re a new runner or just not feeling it this week, there’s a 3.8 mile option, known simply as “nasty light.”

6:00 pm Wednesdays at 11th and Holly. BE THERE PEOPLE!

Rod Jones

First off everyone, we are not moving to 8am mornings just yet. Tomorrow's Centennial Park run will be an easy 10, 11, or 13 miler, depending on where you are at in your training. It is suppose to be rainning, but in the lower 50's by the time we get started. So be sure to dress accordingly.

9am people, that is 9am in the morning...see you there at Centennial Park.

We are past the Ides of March people, but Saint Patrick’s Day is going to be on the same night we run, so there are a couple of things that you need to know. 1-      There is going to be a pub crawl at 5 Points in East Nashville tomorrow night. This means that parking may be bad, and definitely that 3 Crow Bar is going to be absolutely packed out with people by the time we finish running. We will discuss alternative options Wednesday night before the run on what our post-game will look like.

2-      Wednesday night’s run is # 11 , the Church Run of East Nasty. We are doing it to honor St. Patrick for banishing all the snakes out of Ireland (look it up!), and because we ran #10 last week. It is a great run for new runners as well, because you can cut off your run at 2 miles. There should be a pretty big group this week because of the time change and because the weather is supposed to be nice!

3-      We are compiling video footage for a special project on what East Nasty means to you. So come ready to say a couple of sentences of why you enjoy running with our little community.

4-      You should probably wear green.

Join us at the East Nasty water stop tomorrow morning! Water Stop

Thanks to all who came out to rock it! And way to go all you runners who tore up the course!

Sunday Morning Training.

We are moving to Centennial Park.  The runs will still begin at 9 a.m. but for the next three weeks we will be running portions of the 1/2 marathon course.  This week we are running the first 8 1/2 miles.  Now of course the 1/2 marathon does not finish in Centennial Park, so after you pass Belmont you need to work your way through Vanderbilt back to the park.  Check out the map here.

Hey East Nasties, would you like the chance to train for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon while raising money to fight hunger and create a more sustainable food system? Manna-Food Security Partners (Manna-FSP) is a non-profit that works to end hunger and build a healthy, just and sustainable food system. Each day, we are working in Nashville to address the root causes of hunger and food-insecurity. Come train with us!!!We are offering runners who train with Manna-FSP a regimen, a fun team to run with (the "Farm to Fork to Finish Line" team), some swag and a pre-race carbo-loading dinner. There is no cost, but we do ask runners to help us by getting your friends, co-workers and/or family members to sponsor you. And in return, you get the team, the swag, a lot of pasta and the knowledge that you are supporting an organization that promotes healthy food options for all Nashvillians.

Please visit foodsecuritypartners.org and mannanashville.org for more information on our work. To join Farm to Fork to Finish Line, please email Miriam Leibowitz at miriam@foodsecuritypartners.org.

Thanks ahead of time!

Brian Zralek