Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Weekly Recap and Wednesday 9/19 Workout

From Coach Jerry:

RACES

In the spirit of the Jewish New Year, I'm kvellig over all the great performances this weekend. In no particular order, some of the highlights for me were:

The GRC debuts of Catherine Campbell, Alex Benway, Stefan Kolata, and Matt Hassett. Catherine and Alex both ran very well in the 8k on Saturday, and demonstrated that they are going to be in the hunt for the GRC top 5 at Clubs. Stefan ran a very solid half in Philly, and he is going to be a great addition to our marathon group. Matt ran his first race longer than 10k, and showed that he has a great future on the roads.

Lauren's HUGE half marathon PR at Navy. We've seen some big PRs in the last few months, but knocking off almost 7 minutes in one race is truly outstanding. To put Lauren's improvement into perspective, her 5k PR when she joined GRC in the spring was the pace she ran for a half marathon on Sunday.

Lindsay's half marathon debut in Philly. Lindsay had never raced longer than a 10k, and while her respect for the distance caused her to run conservatively early, her 18:41 last 5k demonstrated that she is capable of running much, much faster next time.

Drea and Beth's big PRs in Philly. I've become so accustomed to seeing huge PRs from Drea and Beth that this seems almost routine, but it's worth emphasizing that they ran PRs of a minute, and 80 seconds, respectively. Drea has dealt with some injury issues the last couple of months, and to see her back in form is welcome news indeed. Beth has had some bad luck in the half the last few times out, but she took advantage of the favorable conditions in Philly in a big way.

Teal’s PR in Philly.  Teal has been training very, very hard since she started with GRC this summer, and this will be the first of many PRs for her in the longer distances, which are her strength.

Dave Burnham's wire to wire victory in the Navy half. Dave was unchallenged from the gun, but he ran hard and will be ready to roll at Army, where there will be a wee bit more competition.

Sean's solid effort in Philly. Sean missed a PR by a few seconds, but he ran hard, and will be ready to roll in what will literally be a command performance at the Marine Corps Marathon.

Witty’s PR at the 8k.  Witty’s training has been sporadic of late due to a very demanding work schedule, but clearly his fitness is there.

Michelle’s return to racing at the 8k.  Michelle’s rust showed, but her fitness level is outstanding, and she is poised for a great fall season.

Tex Paul’s return to racing at the 8k.  Paul ran much faster than he expected, which bodes very well for the fall.

Solid performances from Maura, Hilary, and Susan at the 8k.  Those 3 former Ivy League greats will form the core of our cross country squad in Lexington, and they are all very fit, and will be ready to run well this fall.

More solid performances from Jake, Dave Wertz, and Jason at the 8k.  That Jake running 25:32 for 8k is not a headline proves how far he has come in his recovery. Dave and Jason narrowly missed PRs, and they are both ready for excellent seasons.

A hearty mazel tov to you all!

ADMINISTRATIVE

  • We will be on the cell tower field on Saturday morning.  I’ll send more details later in the week.  As an added incentive to attend the workout (as if one were needed), Charlie is hosting a brunch at his house in Tenleytown after practice.  Please let him know if you plan to avail yourself of his gracious hospitality.
  • Please remember to enter your fall races on the spreadsheet on our web site, so that we can accurately track who is racing when.
  • If you raced this weekend and ran a PR, please email Jimmy Daly to update your bio.  It’s important that the bios reflect current PRs, because I use them when dealing with race directors to seek comp entries and travel expenses.  Also, if you raced, please take a few minutes to review the photos posted on the blog and/or the official race sites to find one of you in the new singlet that you’d like on your bio.  We’ve got the beautiful new gear, so let’s show it off to our adoring public!


WORKOUT

We’re at AMERICAN again tomorrow.  Because there are no lights at American, the gun will go off at 6:45, so those of you who are driving to AU should meet at 6 at the track for the warmup.  Those of you who are taking Metro should arrive at Charlie’s house no later than 6 for the run over. 

As for the workout itself, the men will do 2k, 4 x 1k, 4 x 500, all with a 3:00 recovery.

See you at AU tomorrow for a 6:45 start.  Contact Sam or Charlie if you plan to use their house to store your stuff.

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