Brick workouts are on! For the next 2 Saturdays there will be experienced riders showing you a beautiful route in Franklin. I'll review some safety tips and group riding tips for the 7 a.m. start at the Horace Mann Middle School Parking lot in Franklin:
Click here for 224 Oak Street (HMMS) map
At about 8 a.m. you can choose to join in on the "brick" workouts which means you'll ride your bike to the track, dismount and start running! After your first quarter or 1/2 mile, we can re-group, but the important thing is to feel what a run feels like immediately after dismounting from the bike! We can tailor a mini track workout to your ability and speed.
For those of you training on your own, please follow the "rules of the road" while biking: travel WITH the cars (right side of road), stop at red lights, use hand signals and wear bright clothes or use your flashing lights. By race day, you should be carrying a spare tube with you and have asked your local bike shop how to change a tire and put your chain back on should it fall off. Please also start experimenting with shifting gears - if you're afraid of your chain falling off - shift the gears when you are closest to home to start.
Tips for running: Have good sneakers (new). They should be replaced every 500-600 miles! Try to land mid-sole and then role onto your toes, whith quicker steps vs. long strides. Relax your shoulders and drop your hands. I like to have runners pretend they are holding some dental floss with their two hands at their hip-level and try not to let the dental floss hit your body, i.e. you don't need to "pump" your arms while on flat ground therby using up too much energy! Figure out your baseline distance...can your currently run 1 mile without stopping? Is your goal to run 3 miles on race day?
Let's do the math using the rule of:
Never increase your weekly mileage more than 10%
Week 1: I currently run twice a week for 1 mile = 2 miles
week 2: I will run 2.20 miles
week 3: I will run 2.42 miles
week 4: I will run 2.66 miles
week 5: I will run 2.93 miles
week 6: I will run 3.22 miles
week 7: I will run 3.54 miles
week 8: I will run 3.90 miles
week 9: I will run 4.29 miles
week 10: I will run 4.72 miles
This may sound like a slow start, but by race day, you'll be running 5 miles! If you haven't really started your running program, I highly recommend walking as much as possible - not only in between the running, but in addition to the running. You'll be surprised how far you can get on a lunch break!
Happy Training,
Donna
