Workouts for the Week of 11/28-12-3

From Coach Jerry:

We had many excellent performances over the weekend from our Club Nationals crew. Rather than focus on the athletes who were tuning up for big performances in Seattle, I want to comment on two runners who will not be running Clubs and from whom I expect big things in 2012, Jake and Elizabeth. Jake has been trying to recover from a serious injury for more than a year, and after months of taking two steps forward and one step back, he is on the verge of being healthy enough to resume full training with an eye towards being race fit in the spring. During his lengthy recovery, Jake has shown incredible determination to return to action, and has continued to perform his time-consuming, often thankless role as GRC captain. If there is justice in the running world, Jake’s dedication to the sport and the team will pay off in 2012, and his successful return to racing without having done any track workouts in 6 months portends more excellent results from him in the future. In contrast to grizzled GRC veteran Jake, Elizabeth made her GRC debut on Thursday after a successful collegiate career at Johns Hopkins. Elizabeth has a world of potential and she’s ready to work extremely hard to make the transition to road racing after focusing on the 1500 and steeple in college. I’m excited to see what she can do with a few months of training under her belt.


A couple of administrative notes before we get to the workout for the week:

1) We will practice on Saturday morning at the cell tower field, likely at 9:00 a.m. If you’re running Clubs, you want to be there if at all possible (but everyone is welcome). And if you’re running Clubs, you do not want to do a long run on Sunday. I want everyone rested and ready to roll in Seattle, so we’ll get in some work on the grass on Saturday, and after that we’ll be in taper mode.

2) The workout next week, which will be short and sweet, will be on TUESDAY night at BCC to accommodate our race/travel schedule.

3) Don’t forget the team meeting on December 17 at 5 pm in a bar-to- be-named-later in Bethesda. If you’re getting this email, I’d like you to be there if at all possible, as we will be discussing some pressing training/racing and administrative matters that are of concern to all of you.

The workout on Wednesday will be our last hard session prior to Clubs and we’re going to get after it. The men will do 4 x mile with a 3 minute recovery. The A group will go 5:00, 4:50, 4:40, 4:30; the B group will go 5:15, 5:05, 4:55, 4:45. The women will go 3 x mile with a 3 minute recovery in 5:40, 5:30, 5:20.

If you have any questions, give me a shout. See you Wednesday at BCC