This weekend marks a first for the Whippets – hosting our own road race! In case you haven’t heard, it starts at 9am Saturday morning in Astoria Park. It’s a fairly flat, two looped course on the park pathways finishing on the track
http://www.meetup.com/dashing-
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We are looking for volunteers to help with race logistics and course marshals so come on over and help us out:
http://www.meetup.com/dashing-
Whether you run or not, post-race party will be held at Sweet Afton:http://www.meetup.com/dashing-
Marathoners not racing Saturday but volunteering: seek out others who are adjusting their long runs to attend the road race. I’ve heard from several folks who are considering both Friday night and Sunday morning. Use the FB page to post your intentions and find people to run with. “Misery loves company” and the miles will go by much quicker with a fellow Whippet.
For marathoners who plan to race, the plan is different than Team Champs weekend: use the race as a long workout day. Run a longer-than-normal warm-up of 5+ miles before the race, race as you see fit, run a longer-than-normal cooldown of 5+ miles. Logging the miles are more important than race effort so it would beneficial to total 15+ miles. Feel free to skip Thursday’s workout in place of the race to ensure the long run mileage is achieved.
For those of you running NYRR Long Training Run #2 on Sunday, use the event to practice your on-course techniques for the marathon. As mentioned last week, these early/ mid season long runs prepare you for race day (sneakers, socks, apparel, etc). One key suggestion worth practicing on the long training run is water stop navigation. Whether I am racing or volunteering, I see the same thing: people always go to the first table!
My advice: stay in the middle of the road until halfway through the water table then move comfortably toward the table and grab your beverage:
- Prevents wasted time in pushing through the logjam to pick up your drink
- Avoid sudden movements/ injury risk caused by the chaos at the front
- Volunteers in the middle and the end are much happier to see you because they have been ignored for an hour
- When picking up the cup, do NOT pick it up from the side. Grab fromthe top and pinch the sides to prevent spilling. Continue to pinch the top as you bring the cup to your mouth so liquid does not wind up all over your face.
The old saying in the marathon is “don’t do anything on race day that you did not do in training” and the same goes for liquid consumption. While the Gatorade offered at the table may not be your favorite flavor, it is the liquid available at all water stops on race day so the sooner you adapt, the less likely your stomach will negatively react on race day.
Also, for those experimenting with GU’s, gels, etc., this run provides an excellent opportunity to practice consuming before the table then chasing with your chosen beverage.
As always, we’re here to help. Look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday!
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