Friday Happy Hour

The Dojo will be holding a happy hour Friday, 5:30 PM @ Chef Geoff's (no relation to our Geoff, we think). Be there or be square!

Friday Tempo / Speed Workout

A special edition Friday workout:

8 miles at PMP - or - 5 x 1 mile for the less marathon-inclined.

6:50 am @ 12th and Penn
7 am @ Hains Point

Weakester Excuse for Skipping Workouts?

The next chapter in the ongoing saga:

"Sorry - I meant to let you know sooner, but I found two orphaned baby birds and I've been feeding them and trying to get the mother bird to find them. Definitely Thursday though."

Brian has revealed his identity as the excuse maker. And below is a video of Brian's birds:

Weakest Excuse Ever...

For missing a workout? Courtesy of a Dojo member whose identity will remain anonymous so as to avoid unnecessary shaming and embarrassment:

"Turns out I have no clean running clothes, so I'm not going to make it."

He actually had a much better excuse, which he chose not to use, which is, 'I ran a killer marathon really recently and doing a 4 X 2 mile workout is probably not a good idea at this moment in time.'

Tuesday Speedwork

We are going to be going with 4 X 2 mi @ ~10k pace

Leaving 12th and Penn at 6:50 am
Hains Point at 7 am

Capitol Hill Classic 10K

El Classico returns to Capitol Hill. The 10k is coming up on May 15th. More info here: http://www.capitolhillclassic.com/

If anyone is interested in jumping in this race, let me know so we can try and put together a team.

Long Run Saturday

18 mile long run Saturday morning at 7 AM, leaving from Dan's Pruitt's place. We will be going south on the GW Parkway trail, through Old Town towards Mt. Vernon.

Added enticement: due to an overpurchase of Costco eggs, attendees will have the option of enjoying complimentary organic post-run omelets. We will be raiding Pruitt's fridge.

Easy Friday Run

Easy run through Georgetown, leaving 12th & Penn at 6:50 AM.

Tempo Thursday

7-8 at planned marathon pace.

12th and Penn @ 6:50 AM
Hains Point @ 7 AM

Current attendees: PJ, Dan

Boston Marathon Race Report - Savitch

And now for Brian's Boston Marathon recap:

I wanted to run right at about 6:00 for mile one and settle into 5:55s for as long as possible. The tailwind made that pretty tricky as I was holding back and still way fast. My first ten miles were as follows:

1. 5:53
2. 5:49
3. 5:46
4. 5:48
5. 5:58
6. 5:53
7. 5:50
8. 5:54
9. 5:54
10. 5:57

I hit a little bit of a bad patch shortly after, but was looking forward to Wellesley to pick me back up. It did the trick and I made it through the half in 1:17:24. I was able to stay under 6:05s until the Newton hills. Around mile 17 or 18, I began to feel the effects of taking in too much water/gatorade in too short a period of time. I started to feel a stitch in my right side that turned nasty and brought me to a jog for a good mile or so. I was sure that my race was over at that point. Finally, I was able to concentrate on breathing deeply to work out the stitch.

I was ready to begin pushing hard again at around the bottom of Heartbreak hill. Great timing! But, I happened to hear Starship’s ‘We built this city’ playing on a radio and it helped me along. I somehow made it through 20 miles in 2:01:xx and was overly optimistic thinking I could run a 38 minute final 10k on the Boston course. Why do I always forget how absolutely horrible my legs felt the other times in Boston at this point in the race? My legs were on fire and I was just thinking about how angry I was that I made a deal with myself to not give in, no matter how hard things got. DAMNITALL!

At about mile 23, I saw some of the people I stayed with – Josh, Christy, and their 2.5 year-old son, Oz. Josh and Christy got everyone in their area prepared for my arrival and I was greeted with a huge ovation and Oz’s blowing on a vuvuzela. If that wasn’t enough, my stepsister, Rachel was volunteering at a water stop shortly after and provided quite a bit of noise. And then Alan and crew just before mile 25 was something else. It was just amazing that I was able to hear Alan over all of the drunk people calling me a leprechaun. Thank you, Alan!

Everything was kind of a blur until when I dipped under Mass Ave and could see people turning onto Hereford St. I started to pick up the pace as much as my legs would allow. I turned onto Boylston St and could see the clock at mile 26. I remember trying to figure out if the time on the clock was faster than what it read last year. Who cares, no more thinking – just run! Then I saw my biggest supporter, Farah, standing in front of the Prudential Center with a sign that read "You're the best...around, nothin's gonna ever keep you down." YES! I watched the finish clock as I approached the finish line. Holy shit, I think I might PR. I crossed the finish line and the clock at the finish line read: 2:41:43, my exact time from last year. Man, would I have been pissed if I ran the same exact time two years in a row on the same course.

My final time was 2:41:36, good for a seven second PR. I’ll take it and I’m not putting an asterisk on it either. All I know is that the Boston course sucks and I’m serious this time when I say I’m not running it again for a while. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Pike's Peek 10k

(photo credit goes to the Washington Running Report - Henry Wigglesworth battling at Pike's Peek, his torso clad in an intimidating Dojo singlet and his eyes filled with metaphorical murder)

It was a great day for racing on Sunday, with temps right around 50 degrees and a (mostly) tailwind on the point-to-point course from Shady Grove to White Flint.

For the first time this season, I made a concerted effort to taper and treat a non-marathon as a serious race. This meant a moderate 2 X 2 mile workout on Thursday, a light day Saturday, and actually doing some focused hydrating and eating on race night/morning. With this prep, I went in with a goal of running something around 35 minutes for the 10k, which would be a PR for me.

The race started off pretty quick, and I ended up running about 5:20 through the first mile. I was running alongside local legend Jim Hage for a bit, until he had to put on the breaks to tie his shoe. Jim lost to the vagaries of chance and laces, I continued on. I figured 5:20s was probably a bit ambitious, so I relaxed a bit and cruised through the next two miles went right around 5:30's, and hit the 5k split in 16:59, which basically amounts to a 5k PR for me (that is, the fastest I've run since at least college). At that point, my primary goal was to keep on clicking off 5:30's as best as I could.

Over the last three miles, I experienced the thrill of passing some of the best road racers around. Granted, these were the guys who packed it in after they realized they weren't going to finish in the money, but I take it as a sign of progress that I stayed close enough that I could still catch them on once they decided they had enough. (This is reminiscent of my high school teammates who boasted that they managed to beat HS XC legend Sharif Karie in a race. The omitted portion of this story is that Karie was curled up wretching on the side of the course when my teammates passed him...). Crossed the line: 34:09! Big shock! Henry, who had silently been stalking me the entire race, cruised in a mere 10 seconds or so back, managing to win a stacked age group.

Tuesday Workout - 3X2mi or 2X3mi

3X2mi or 2X3mi at Hains Point tomorrow
6:50 AM at 12th and Penn
7 AM at Hains Point

Current attendees: PJ and me

Boston Marathon - Breaking News

Christine Rehwald destroys the 3 hour barrier, running a 2:58:32 for a fantastic 93rd place among women. Metronomic pacing, coming through the half at 1:28:56.

Brian Savitch PRs with a 2:41:36, good for a very impressive 222nd place among men.

Race recaps coming soon?

Charlottesville Marathon Race Recap

And now for Charlottesville Marathon runner-up Geoff King's race recap:


I went into the race thinking I was in 2:40ish shape, and having seen nothing but the elevation profile and map of the course, I figured I should expect to lose maybe a few minutes. I figured going out in about 6:10ish (on average, not counting varying hill effects) would be conservative enough. This proved not to be true.

I started the race right on planned pace, running right next to the eventual winner (a former UNH runner named Rob Zolla) for the first 10 miles, with just 3 reasonably quick half marathoners out front and out of mind. Seeing the rest of the field after a turnaround at the 6.5 mile mark, a few other marathoners looked to be in reach and running strong, but they never got closer. It seemed to be a 2 man race, but about 5-6 miles in I developed a sharp pain in my toe from something rubbing in my shoe. I would find out after the race that my toe had broken through my sock and bled pretty badly. It didn't slow me down, but I had a tissue in my pocket, so I decided to make a 10 second stop at about mile 10 to add it as a little cushioning and see if I could improve the situation. By doing so, I gave up the lead, and felt it wasn't worth my while to try to catch up immediately at that point.

Zolla put in a solid surge over the next few miles, but it seemed much too early to take the risk of following, so I let him go and he was out of sight by mile 14. By that point, I could tell the hills were starting to take their toll, as my leg muscles had really tightened up and felt much heavier. I allowed myself to gradually slow down over the next few miles to about 6:25 pace, thinking I'd really hit the wall if I didn't. My toe fix helped minimally, but other than be annoying it had no effect on my running, and faded out of mind as the miles went on.

I was all by myself from that point on, and with the exception of 2 brutal 1-mile hills, the 2nd half of the course was considerably easier. It was kind of surreal, as my energy level and cardiovascular performance were steady, but every muscle in my legs felt completely shot and heavy by mile 15. Obviously this was pretty concerning, but I was surprised to find that I could continue to hammer out 6:30s without really fading from there (with the exception of a couple of 7+ miles up the 2 big hills). I never really hit the wall, I basically just felt like I was trying to drive a smart car on the interstate.

I never saw Zolla again until mile 26, just a little too late. I was told he had about a 5 minute lead on me at one point, but he apparently faded pretty badly at the end. If it had been 27.2 miles, I might have taken it, although I was pretty glad to be done at 26.2.

I was definitely hoping for a faster time, but all things considered I'll take it. Knowing what I know now, I probably would have gone out much more conservatively, which probably would have saved my legs and allowed me to pick up the pace on the easier second half of the course. I think a smarter race would have put me under 2:45 and given me the win, but there's obviously no way of knowing for sure.

For those running Boston, I'll leave you with the advice to go out conservatively and trust in your conditioning to negative split and run a solid race. Boston's course is considerably more forgiving than C-ville, but I made a similar mistake my first time at Boston and really paid for it. Best of luck to all!

CHARLOTTESVILLE RESULTS

Great performances by three members of the Dojo this weekend! Geoff, Richard, and Gareth rocked and/or rolled at Charlottesville. The official results:

2 Geoff King 2:47:23 2:47:23 6:24 M F Washington DC
44 Richard Rainey 3:22:27 3:22:29 7:44 M F McLean VA
50 Gareth Coville 3:25:06 3:26:14 7:53 M F Washington DC

If you want to read more details about the battle for the win, see here.

Gareth and Richard get qualifying times for Comrades, along with solid training for the big race. Geoff dukes it out for the win on Charlottesville's legendary hills, nearly pulling off the first marathon victory for the Dojo.

Hope to have a full race report soon...

Sunday Long Run

See the Boston crew off this Sunday in their last long run. 8 AM at 3300 M Street in Georgetown. We are going an easy 12-14 or so.

Marathoning / Bank Robbing Movie This Sunday

Attention All Dojo-ists -

An interesting German film is showing this weekend at Filmfest DC,
called The Robber. See more info here:

http://www.filmfestdc.org/filmView.cfm?passID=54

Here is a brief description:

Based on the incredible true story of a talented yet taciturn Austrian
marathon runner whose compulsive bank heists were for the endorphin
rush more than the money (though he gets plenty of both), the film is
an assured marriage of action thriller to character study. "I don't
think there is a real explanation for his behavior," Heisenberg told
one interviewer, "yet people still understand this guy totally."
Stunningly photographed and rigorously edited to the rhythms of
exertion and adrenaline, The Robber redefines the phrase "take the
money and run."

I am likely to go to the showing on Sunday night at 7 pm, if anyone
else is interested. Tickets are $11.

Charlottesville Marathon Preview

It's the final countdown to Charlottesville, with Geoff and Richard locked in and ready to roll. Marathon-watchers are eagerly anticipating the 2011 marathon debuts of the two. Charlottesville is a tough course and we expect a decent field. Richard has been putting up HUGE mileage numbers in anticipation of a possible Comrades run, so we will get a preliminary peek at the results of all Rainey's dedicated aerobic training. Given the way Geoff has absolutely destroyed training sessions all season, the only question seems to be how high he will place.

Feel free to place your friendly wagers and make your predictions in the comments below.

Cherry Blossom Recap

HUGE performances from the Dojo at this weekend's Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. Here is the rundown courtesy of Alan:
(time, pl/g, pl/a, pace)
PJ 0:57:57 74 6 5:48
Brian 0:58:06 76 7 5:49
Alan 1:04:07 222 5 6:25
Gareth 1:06:37 347 69 6:40
Christine 1:07:15 68 17 6:44
Sarah 1:07:28 71 23 6:45
Richard 1:10:34 668 86 7:04

and to two honorary members:

David B. 0:51:46 25 15 5:11
Kelly J. 0:57:06 6 3 5:43

Reports regarding Christine, Sarah, Dave, and Richard are that due to late arrivals, they were dodging moving pylons through much of the first half. To that end, Richard reports opening with 7:45 miles, and finishing at 6:34. The less-tardy members of the squad lit up the front of the field. PJ holds off a hard-charging Brian at the end, with the result being a big PR (I think) for both. Great job all around, and good omens for Brian, Alan, and Christine at Boston, Richard at Charlottesville, and Richard and Gareth at Comrades (!!!).

Leisurely or Non Leisurely Wednesday

We have two options for tomorrow:

(1) An easy 7-9 mile run through Georgetown

(2) A few planned marathon pace miles at Hains Point for race prep

Folks will be doing both, leaving 12th and Penn at 6:50 AM