On The Run (March 2009)

(This "On The Run" column first appeared March 2009 in The Daily Progress)

With only days until The Charlottesville Ten Miler, I thought it might help to share some tips to help smooth out the pavement for those of you participating in the area’s oldest and most prestigious footrace.

First off, know what you’re getting yourself into. The Ten Miler course, while widely considered to be the most beautiful urban footrace course in Virginia, is very challenging. Newcomers to the race quite often ask about the terrain. The answer is simple: Hilly! Sure, this famous course is packed full of hills but stay positive because for every “up” there’s a “down” waiting to reward you on the other side. When you hit the base of an ascent shorten your stride, work your arms, stay focused on the shoulders of the racers directly ahead of you and break the hill into thirds, using each third as a way to draw you to the top. Once on a downhill, open up your stride length and really lean forward. Running the descents properly will actually allow you to pickup valuable time without taxing your engine.

Having a race day game plan is essential and everyone’s strategy should be focused squarely on the first two miles of the event. Easing into the race by taking it out slower than your targeted goal pace is the key to any racer’s success. How you approach these two early and critical miles will ultimately dictate how you feel over the last half of the race. The golden rule for any long distance footrace is to run the first few miles slower than the rest and the best way to prepare for this negative split (each mile faster than the previous) approach is to actually practice it in the shorter runs leading up to race day. For example, if your goal is to run ninety minutes for the race (9 minute pace) your first mile needs to be in the 9:15-9:30 range.

If temperatures are above 55 degrees at the start on race morning, you will need to take it out even more conservatively. Failing to recognize how a hot early spring morning, especially after an exceptionally long and cold winter like what we’ve just been through, can severely handicap you and will always negatively impact your race performance. So, on an unseasonably warm morning, that same sub 90 minute goal racer should think about adjusting their overall goal to 9:30 pace, therefore taking it out in the 10 minute range.

Never, ever try anything new on race day. That goes for clothing, shoes or any pre-race ritual like eating or drinking. This also applies to what you do the day before the race, like what, when and how much you eat and drink. I advise the athletes I coach to repeat the exact same regimen on race day that they have followed and practiced all winter with their weekly long runs. The goal is to fool your body into feeling like race morning is just business as usual, as in no surprise attacks!

TEN MILER TIDBITS: Co-Race Directors Alice and Dan Wiggins report that entries are close to last year’s record 2,500 and there are still spots available for this popular race…2008 champ Charlie Hurt will be on the line to defend his title and one of his challenges will be RMR teammate Bob Thiele, who is the husband of last year’s female champ, Dana Thiele, who will be cheering from the sidelines…Monticello’s Master Gardner Peter Hatch will be running in his 22^nd straight Ten Miler…As is tradition with this not-for profit event, The Charlottesville Track Club will once again donate the race proceeds to a worthy area cause and this year’s recipient is PACEM…The highest point on the course greets the racers as they come off Rugby Road and crest the top of Grady at the 3.3 mile mark…Last year’s median time was close to 95 minutes (9:30/mile pace)…For the first time in race history the participants will not race on the Downtown mall. Because of the brick renovation the racers will instead head up Market Street…WINA/1070 AM will broadcast the race live on the morning of April 4^th from 7:45 until the overall male and female champs come across the finish line…

OUT OF TOWN FEATS: Several area runners fared well at long distance events from afar in the past few weeks…

Bill Potts, Theresa Coppola, Larry Saunders, Joe Rice, Beth Cottone, Gerhard Van de Venter, Jim Neale and Alex and Philip Mahone were among our neighbors who had excellent outings at the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach last week. They were joined by Clark Jackson, Tara Friedman, Lewis Martin, Deb Gilbert, Ky Lindsay, Mike Clark, Pam Acker and Vada Fallica, who were just a few of the area folks who ran well in the half marathon at the same venue. Kara Williams, Tara Friedman, Daniel Allen, Dan Bayliss, Sarah Cramer, Matt Shields, Leah Connor, Eileen Wittwer and Holly, George and Karen Rich all had excellent times at the National Half Marathon in D.C. last weekend and they were joined by Erin Trodden and Jim Cunningham, who took the long route, as they successfully completed the 26.2 mile course at the same event. Twins Becky and Kristen Keller had p.r. efforts at The Disney Princess Half Marathon in Orlando, Kim Morris scored a big personal record at the Snickers Half Marathon in Georgia and Ken Nail ran a personal best at the Myrtle Beach Marathon.