Hi Y’all, We are headed back to the hills this weekend!

But first…SHIRT ORDERING is now UP and RUNNING! Wahoo! Orders will only be taken from 9/3-9/20 so we can have them back in time for the Space City 10-Miler on 10/12. Our options are: Men’s and Women’s t-shirt and tank – $15.50 Men’s and Women’s long sleeve – $17.50 *NEW* Men’s and Women’s cotton shirts in 2 color options – safety orange or sport grey – $11.50 *NEW* Youth cotton shirt in safety orange – $11.50 Visit here to get your order in no later than 9/20 (don’t worry, you’ll get a reminder or two): https://goparr.com/shop/

Another option – if you would like to purchase your own SAFETY ORANGE shirt and have the logo printed on it for $5 per shirt, please do the following: Place your shirt with your name on it in a Ziploc bag also with your name on it, along with $5 per shirt for printing. Payment for the printing will NOT be taken via the website. Please give these to either Sandy Patterson or Sarah Barton by 9/20.

A few questions we’ve received and wanted to answer to whole group…

Do I have to buy a shirt? No…but if you don’t already have one, you totally should. It is something else to see all the orange Pearland shirts at the races!  You are now an important part of this group…show it!

Does PARR make money on the shirts? No. We sell them at cost.  We don’t want you to pay any more than you have to to look awesome.

Can I bring a green, red, blue, black, white, yellow {insert any color that isn’t SAFETY ORANGE or neon orange} and have it printed? Sorry, no.  The group decided to keep the PARR orange a standard and OWN it!  But we did get all crazy and add grey cotton shirts, just because we felt like it.  Who knows, maybe next year it will be SAFETY ORANGE track suits for everyone! Embrace the ORANGE.

If you have any other shirt-related questions, they can be sent directly to Sandy sandy.patterson@me.com

We’ve almost got everyone placed in a group!  Please take a look at the groups and make sure you are where you are supposed to be! https://goparr.com/groups/   And there are still about 15 of you that need to let me know where to put you!  You are listed in the “Who Me?” groups at the bottom of the group pages. Take a look at each of the Group Pages (Full and Half) to see where you need to go.  If you are still unsure, send me a note and we’ll get you in the right place.

Plan for Saturday is to meet at PJHS track – 120 Minutes for the Full Marathon groups and 90 minutes for the Half Marathon groups, with both groups doing between 5-7 hills, depending on your level of fitness (see below).  Ric is going to talk a bit BEFORE the hills, get our groups together and we’ll all head out with our groups.  FM meet at 5:35AM and HM meet at 6:05AM.  We’ll meet back at the track at 7:45 for stretching and core work.  I’m including the instructions for running the hills below – the only difference is each will be doing 1 more hill than they did last week.

Thanks y’all – have a great run!

Aimee

Hills Instructions: You will see when you are on the sidewalk next to Bailey Road (CR 101) just past the natatorium on your left an orange line going across the sidewalk. This will be the start of the mile across the bridge. We should have ice towels and cold water at this location as well. Just prior to starting up the hill (bridge) you will see another mark across the sidewalk indicating a quarter mile from the start line. You will see a third mark (1/2 mile) at the top of the bridge, another on the flat portion on the other side (3/4 mile) and the fifth and final mark about 50 yards or so from HWY 35. This is the 1-mile mark and the point in which we will always turn around. And remember, the paces mentioned below are based on your Magic Mile time and can be found at  https://goparr.com/training-paces/    Please read below to see which is the best fit for you in the following categories:

If you have not run very much in the last 3 months (less than 10 miles a week) OR  New to running OR Do not desire to improve speed Do the following:

– Do a warm up jog from the track to the neighborhood behind the jr high, right on Veterans and then left on Bailey to the second mark on the sidewalk (just before heading up the bridge). Run a 4:1 interval to this point (run 4 minutes and walk 1 minute)

– Increase speed slightly going up the hill working on your cadence (180 steps per minute) – Walk down the hill to the next line.

– Do slow jog to the next line (HWY 35)

– Turn around and start slow jog to the line just prior to the going up the bridge.

– Increase speed slightly going up the hill working on cadence – Walk down the hill to the next line.

– Do slow jog to the next line and turn around and repeat

– Repeat the steps above for a total 5 Hills and then run back toward track and around neighborhood for a total of 90 minutes for HM and 120 minutes for FM. In other words, once you finish your hills, run until your minutes are up.

If you have been running for the last 3 months or so and > 10 miles a week Do the following:

– Do a warm up jog from the track to the neighborhood behind the jr high, right on Veterans and then left on Bailey to the to the ¼ mile or second mark on the sidewalk (just before heading up the bridge). Run a 4:1 interval to this point (run 4 minutes and walk 1 minute)

– Increase speed to about your 10K race pace (MM + 1:30 Minutes) going up the hill working on your cadence (180 steps per minute)

– Slow Jog down the hill to the next line making sure that your stride is very short. If you are having a hard time keeping your stride or cadence down the hill at 180, then feel free to walk so as not to increase the risk of injury

–  Do slow jog to the next line (HWY 35)

– Turn around and walk for 2-3 minutes or to the next line if needed to bring heart rate down.

–  Increase speed to your 10K race pace going up the hill working on cadence

–  Slow Jog down the hill to the next line making sure that your stride is very short. If you are having a hard time keeping your stride or cadence down the hill at 180, then feel free to walk so as not to increase the risk of injury

– Do slow jog to the next line and turn around and repeat

– Repeat the steps above for a total of 6 Hills and then run back toward track and around neighborhood for a total of 90 minutes for HM and 120 minutes for FM. In other words, once you finish your hills, run until your minutes are up.

If you have been running for the year or and have been running about > 15 miles a week for the last month or so: Do the following:

– Do a warm up jog from the track to the neighborhood behind the jr high, right on Veterans and then left on Bailey to the to the ¼ mile or second mark on the sidewalk (just before heading up the bridge).

– Increase speed to about your MM pace going up the hill working on your cadence (180 steps per minute)

– Slow to FM + 1 minute pace down the hill to the next line making sure that your stride is very short. If you are having a hard time keeping your stride or cadence down the hill at 180, then feel free to walk so as not to increase the risk of injury

– Slow to FM + 2 to the next line (HWY 35)

– Turn around and walk for 2-3 minutes or to the next line if needed to bring heart rate down.

– Increase speed to about your MM pace going up the hill working your cadence (180 steps per minute)

– Slow to FM + 1 minute pace down the hill to the next line making sure that your stride is very short. If you are having a hard time keeping your stride or cadence down the hill at 180, then feel free to walk so as not to increase the risk of injury

– Slow to FM + 2 to the next line (Start) and turn around and repeat

– Repeat the steps above for a total of 7 Hills and then run back toward track and around neighborhood for a total of 90 minutes for HM and 120 minutes for FM. In other words, once you finish your hills, run until your minutes are up.