Hi y’all
WEEK ONE! How’s it going? You thought running was hard? Wait ‘til you try to get to the bottom of this email…
Old members, bear with us as we get all the new members up to speed on all the things you already know and what makes PARR so special. BUT…you will be delighted that a whole new perspective is entering our email world with Laurence Tien and Daniel Imrecke and their thirst for running knowledge and wanting to share with us. I’ve met my match on words, y’all.
We had quite a few new folks join even after Saturday (and as I type this email, seriously WHERE ARE Y’ALL COMING FROM?!?)…to get caught up on what happened and where we are now…if you fall into the “I joined after the kick-off on Saturday,” please check out the Welcome to PARR page first.
A Situation
We are still dealing with the email “situation”…and we think we have it narrowed down to folks with @sbcglobal.net, @att.net and @prodigy.net. So those folks will be getting a personal email from me. We have been delisted and cannot send emails to those domains. AND I have no idea what that means or how to solve it. But we will continue to try to figure it out. If you have a different email address that you can use, that will solve it. Need help updating your email address, I can help with that. If you don’t have another email address, and are on Facebook, you can see when emails are sent. Or you can always see what has been sent out here: https://goparr.com/category/17-18_emails/
Facebook has been a game changer for PARR – such a great place to communicate, collaborate, coordinate and motivate. But I know not everyone is on Facebook. While we can’t email out everything that is posted on Facebook, I have added some of the gems that Laurence and Daniel shared this week to the bottom of the email. Facebook is also hard to go back and find really old posts, so we’ll try to send the good stuff, so you can search your email or the past emails on the website. You can thank the three of us and our mutual lack of being able to get to the point for this season’s weekly dose of “What have I gotten myself into” (Not in our private Facebook Group, request to join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/246625075376797/ (Requested and you didn’t get added? Just reply to this email and tell me. We get folks requesting all the time and occasionally we miss a real member.)
Soak up all this knowledge that these guys are sharing. It applies to all of us…whether were chasing a Boston Qualifying time or chasing the time cut off, we are all working to our own goal => to give our best for that day.
WHAT A KICK OFF WE HAD SATURDAY
And if you didn’t make it on Saturday, guess what? We will have a make-up session this Saturday (info below in Saturday Details). If you have done your Magic Mile on your own, please just reply to me here with your time. Or if “you’ve done on your own” *wink, wink – not gonna do it* and have a past race time (10K, HM or FM) that you feel is right for you, send that to us . We’re working to collect all the info to split out the pace groups. It will take a few weeks to collect all this info. There is no magic line that will be drawn between the groups…we just want everyone to be training close to where they should be and with those near their pace. SO if we inadvertently split up you and your soulmate, just let us know which group to shift you to. Then we’ll make sure we break up into the groups before a run to introduce and connect group members. These first few weeks will be just a mass of us on the hill. Lots of high fives and getting to know everyone…since we’re all doing the same thing. Over. And over. And over. So for now, just show up at the designated time and do your thing.
THE Schedule
The entire schedule is posted here: https://goparr.com/schedules/ But please keep in mind that this is subject to change. Laurence made some adjustments in the schedule this year scaling back the mileage a bit, for more of a middle of the road training plan, knowing some will do more and some will do less than what’s on the schedule. With 300 of us, there is not one training plan that fits all paces, goals, and wants. So keep that in mind when you load your printer up to print out this beast.
REMEMBER: the official PARR runs are the Saturday runs and the most people show up. The weekday runs are up to each of us to complete. BUT…Lots of folks coordinating those. And Laurence has kind of built in fake-official runs, in addition to the official Saturday runs, to give more opportunities to run with folks, regardless of your pace. These are Mon/Wed/Fri…If you want a ton of motivation and a smidge of accountability, try to make it out to some of these:
Monday – 4:30AM – Hills…or not All Paces meet at Natatorium for hill workout, this can also be easily made into an easy run with a hill in the middle by lengthening your run on either side out to 35 and all the way back to the Nat. I only mention this because it ensures you have a group running where you are running.
Wednesday – 4:30AM – *Track – there is a large group that meets at the track between Rogers Middle School and Berry Miller Jr High. All paces – come do the workout Laurence or Daniel makes up, or come do your own thing. It’s so dark out there, no one will even notice what you are doing. They’ll cheer you on for standing there timing people.
Friday – 5:15AM – Recovery Run – Fridays are always an optional/recommended run of 30-40 minutes of recovery pace. Easy pace. So we decided this year that we’d put a time/location for these on the schedule to give the masses another opportunity to run. Because once the season really gets going, the groups naturally split up in their paces and this will give us all a time to regularly meet when we can. This Friday, 7/14…we’re meeting at Wild Pear…and we will alternate with Turner each week.
*NOTE: There is a small cult following that is doing the Track day at Turner on Wednesday & Thursdays at 4:30AM too, if that side of town sounds better to your 3:45AM self. Let’s load that track up too and share the running 4:30AM love.
Just a few questions that have come up…
HM or FM? – this always means Half Marathon and Full Marathon
What is the PB? The PB is the Professional Building at 2225 County Road 90 that that folks sometimes meet for weekday runs.
PACES: What pace do I run? This is where the Magic Mile comes in. We have posted the pace chart that gives several paces based on that Magic Mile. Those paces are your predicted paces for each “thing” – so even if you aren’t running the Full Marathon (FM) you have a predicted FM pace. And these paces will be referred to in the schedule at different points. To get your paces use this calculator => http://runsmartproject.com/calculator/ by selecting the event distance you have a time for (preferably your Magic Mile) and inputting that TIME (not pace) and clicking Calculate, then EQUIVALENT to get all of the different distances. NOTE: This calculator is basing it calculations on your BEST time…so don’t input your average mile pace of your 3 mile loop in your neighborhood. Magic Mile is intended to be the very fastest mile you’ve ever run in your life. We don’t train at that pace, so it’s okay to use it. It’s just a tool to help you on training paces.
SATURDAY DETAILS
If you missed last week, we will do a recap of all the words and then do a Magic Mile Make up. We will meet at 6:00AM at Turner Track.
As far as the schedule, you’ll notice that we alternated the Hill weeks between the FM and HM folks. So this week the FM will be doing just a timed run, while the HM folks head to Bailey Bridge to do their first Hill Workout. We will meet back at the Track for a CORE workout led by Caroline/Kaylin, wrapping up by 7:15ish. BRING A MAT OR TOWEL. Your elbows and knees will hate you if you don’t.
FM: 5:45AM – 60-minute Easy run + CORE – you’ll run out the back of the track behind PJHS up MacLean, Left on Magnolia and turn around at 30 minutes
HM: 6:00AM – 40-minute with 4 HILLS on Bailey Bridge + CORE
Daniel’s Note on Hills: Running hills improves leg and heart strength, central nervous system stamina, and forces you to lift your knees (a desirable trait in running form). Running uphill reduces the impact forces on your feet and legs, but be careful while running downhill to not over stress your knees. While running uphill, your stride should be slightly shorter than on a flat surface and you should be looking directly ahead (not down). While running downhill, be sure to not overstride (try landing with your feet directly beneath your hips and let gravity carry you downhill). One way to accomplish this is to increase your cadence (# of steps per minute) while running downhill. Increasing your cadence/strides downhill will also reduce the impact on your legs.
There are a variety of ways to tackle hill workouts, but we will keep it simple for the first week. We’ll start at Turner track, do a warm up run to Bailey Bridge, via back side of Natatorium and along Bailey Road. Once you get to Bailey Bridge, run uphill at Marathon Pace and then run downhill at a slower, easier pace to recover and relax your breath. Once you have reached the base of the other side of the bridge, immediately turn around and repeat going the opposite direction. Try not to stop unless necessary. One uphill counts as 1 hill. A roundtrip up, down, and back over will count as 2 hills. Continue this for the assigned workout, 4 hills for the week 1 half marathoners. Once you have completed 4 hills, please run back to Turner at an easy conversational pace to complete your 40 minute workout.
Some Facebook Highlight Posts
Just capturing some of the good stuff that was shared this week.
DANIEL’S WELCOME TO PARR MESSAGE: I think i’ll start with Jack Daniel’s (Running Coach, not the Whiskey Guy) basic laws of running
- Every runner has specific running abilities
- A runner’s Focus must stay positive
- Expect ups and downs; some days are better than others
- Be flexible in training to allow for the unexpected
- set intermediate goals
- Training should be rewarding
- eat and sleep well
- DONT train when sick or injured!!
- Chronic health issues should be checked by a professional
- a good run or race is NEVER a fluke
Keep the above in mind, and you will have an amazing season.
Now. With regards to Laurence Tien’s recent post, he mentioned this week is the Base Building Period. We have a long time until Chevron, Woodlands, BCS or any other local marathons and half marathons. Therefore, we have ample opportunity to ramp up mileage. I would recommend everyone get an idea of a key target milage they would like have during peak training (a few weeks before your ‘A’ race marathon). This may be 30 miles, 40 miles, or 50+ miles. By week 9, ideally you will be running 70% of your peak milage. The only correct answer to “how many weekly miles is enough to complete a marathon?” is “the number that doesn’t get you injured.”
During base building, your goal should be to ramp up your miles, but you need to do so in a structured way. By building mileage too quickly, you set yourself up for injury. Ideally, you should only increase milage by 10% every two weeks. This means, if you are running 20 miles this week, you should only run 20 miles next week and then 22 miles the following week. The base building period will be approximately 8 weeks, so this will give you time to reach almost 30 miles a week by week 8 if you are currently running 20 miles and want to increase to 30 by week 8. The key is, take it slow to avoid injuries. By the time we get to our next phase of training (speed, you will be at 70% of your peak mileage). You are of course free to build your mileage however you see fit, just stay injury free.
Regarding injuries: If you feel that you might be developing pain that will result in an injury, please rest. It takes less time to rest a non-injury pain than it does to heal a broken foot/leg/etc. 3-4 days off of running, to avoid an injury, is better than taking 3-4 weeks off being injured. Also, if you are afraid at any point in the season of “losing fitness” because you need to rest a developing pain for a few days, know that it takes more than a week of inactivity to see any loss in fitness. After a week, fitness starts diminishing SLOWLY, but we have some awesome members that can recommend excellent cross training that will keep you in top marathon shape while you rest what is needed.
TRACK POST BY LAURENCE: For those members who are familiar with this routine, just show up. You know what you need to do. 6-8 x 800 yassos tomorrow and it’s time to start being more particular to keeping a consistent pace and monitoring the time for your recovery lap.
For our new members, please feel free to read Daniel Imrecke’s write up below.
If you have never done any sort of speed training or Yassos, I would only do 2-3 yassos to get a flavor. I would spend the rest of the time running aroud the track at a comfortable pace.
I’ll post a map of the track shortly. I don’t know how many people will show up but we may need to park on both sides of the road. I think it’ll be ok from 4:30-6 a.m. There may be a voluntary core workout afterwards,
The number one question we’ll hear tomorrow will be, how fast do I run the 2 laps? Until we know your MM and pace, I would say run your yassos at a comfortably uncomfortable pace (about 80%-85 effort). You should be breathing hard and I should be hearing your breathe. Aimee knows that if I don’t hear someone breahing heavy, I just assume s/he is not running hard enough.
Lanes 1-3 are for runners doing the yassos, lanes 4-6 are for the recovery lap and lane 7-8 are for folks who are running miles and not partaking in yassos. We will running clockwise around the track tomorrow from north to south because I heard we’ve been favoring our left side too much on the track.
DANIEL’S TRACK POST: Sorry, brevity doesn’t seem to be a trait we share.
Track Day Welcome both new and seasoned PARR members. Wednesday’s running schedule is either track or an easy 45-50 minute easy run. We encourage all members to join us at the track at Roger’s Middle School at 4:30AM. Track day might sound terrible to some of you, but we all actually have a great time doing it. The funny thing about running is that we pay money to enter a race, and then want the race to be over as quickly as possible. Track day will undoubtedly help you shave minutes off your race time. We have seen significant improvements in running performance from all our members who have committed to one track day a week for several months.
There are two options for track day: 400m or 800m intervals (we call 800m runs “yassos”). The purpose of track day is to 1) practice the biomechanics of running fast and 2) get your heart rate up. You will be running fast for a short period of time, followed by rest. Regarding biomechanics: you can only run fast by practicing running fast. While you run fast, your body naturally begins to adjust to more economical biomechanics. In short – this means you are practicing running in such a way that you put forth less effort at any speed. Therefore, you run end up running faster with less effort later in the season. Regarding heart rate: if the first benefit to track day is to practice running fast, the second benefit is targeted stress of VO2max. We use the term VO2max a lot in track. VO2max is the maximum volume of oxygen your blood can carry (measured within a minute). Our track day workouts are designed to apply the correct amount of stress to your circulatory system to improve your VO2max. By improving your VO2max, you are increasing your physiological capabilities to run at a faster pace for a longer period of time.
If you’ve never run track before, I recommend starting easy (only 4 400’s or 4 800’s). Again, we are in the base period of the training season, and you should slowly be applying all forms of running stress (including speed-work) to minimize injury. We have two options for workouts depending on what you feel is right for you. Both options begin with a 1 mile conversational pace warmup and end with a 1 mile conversational pace cool down. If you have a GPS running watch, bring it. If you don’t have a GPS watch, but you have a stopwatch, that will work too (the timer on your smartphone works also). Please feel free to chat with Laurence Tien or Daniel Imrecke regarding any questions you might have about the workouts (I figured I’d say that before you read all the words below) Suggested workouts: (note one lap around the track is 400m)
OPTION 1: 400’s Do the following 4 to 6 times: 1 lap around the track at (slightly faster than) Yasso speed, followed by a one lap recovery jog.
OPTION 2: 800’s (aka Yassos) Do the following 4-6 times: 2 laps around the track at Yasso speed, followed by a one-lap recovery jog.
But wait, what is Yasso speed? Officially, your Yasso pace is based on your predicted marathon (FM) finishing time, that is predicted by your Magic Mile. (See PACES earlier in this email) Even if you are not running the full marathon, we use this pace as reference for training paces. For example, a 4 hour 5 minute marathon translates to finishing 800m (2 laps around the track) in 4 minutes and 5 seconds. Similarly, a 5 hour 10 minute marathon equates to finishing 800m in 5 minutes and 10 seconds. If you have a gps watch, try to run the same pace throughout the entire 800m, not going too fast in the beginning and not slowing down too much by the end of an 800m set. keep in mind that your yasso time will be half of your mile time as shown on your gps watch, so a 4 minute 5 second yasso equates to running 2 laps around the track at an 8 minute 10 second per mile pace (what your gps watch will say while running).
Note: If you are doing the half marathon, you should still run 400’s and 800’s in the same way that the full marathoners are running them. In fact, these workouts are very advantageous for you, since the half marathon is a speed-endurance race. To find your marathon pace, go to the PARR web site, login to the “workouts” members area, and download the paces chart from the link (blue hyperlink at the end of one of the first sentences). Use your magic mile time to determine your full-marathon pace, then extrapolate your full marathon time.
Finally, almost all of our members run these workouts with at least one other person. That’s what makes it fun. We’ll hook you up with people of a similar pace to you so that you are not running alone. Running together is the best motivation for getting this done.
***END
Did you seriously read this far? BRAVO. This season will be nothing for you.
Questions…as if…just let us know!
Aimee Galley | aimee.galley2@gmail.com | 281-728-4848
Laurence Tien | ltien@bpblaw.com | 713-471-8350
Daniel Imrecke | daniel.imrecke@icloud.com