Weekly Message from Linda L. Francisco Your Program Rep at Griffith Park (Saturday) And Manhattan Beach (Sunday) September 6, 2000 Yahoo AIDS Marathoners! The Chicago Marathon is just six weeks away. Are you starting to feel the excitement? Not to stress…everything will be great! The training run this weekend will go a long way toward getting you ready for Chicago. 23 Miles! (I hope you are hydrating!) Think about this: you'll take 40,000 3-foot strides this weekend. (Give or take a step or two! :-) It sounds scary, but not to worry…we know the secret to finishing in good shape. You've heard it before, but it works… going slow (remember the tortoise and the hare), taking more frequent walk breaks (Yahoo!), staying hydrated (water, water, water) and carbo load (pasta-yum yum). All the miles we have run to this point have prepared us for this distance. Plus you have your group to keep you entertained (I've seen you folks and you are pretty entertaining) and to support you the whole way. LOGIC OF GOING SLOW REVISITED During the next six weeks, we have three very long runs: the 23-miler, the 26-miler, and the marathon itself. This is a good time to re-emphasize why it is so important to slow down during the training runs. 1) Avoid injury. You have worked very hard to get to this point. Now is not a good time to get a stress fracture, IT Band Syndrome, or any number of other scary Boo-boos. The slower we go and the more we walk, the less our risk of injury. Your body will achieve exactly the same level of endurance whether you go slow or fast. So slow is good during training and it will help you be faster during the actual marathon. 2) You've got to recover. There is no training program anywhere that would recommend you do three marathons in six weeks. Why? The time it takes to recover is directly related to how fast you run. We don't want you to be worn out by marathon day. So don't maintain marathon pace during the training runs. By sticking to the slower recommended pace now, you are paving the way for a great experience during the marathon. And that is the goal of the training runs! As mentioned before, if any of you missed the 20-miler, please see the coach or myself so we can put together a modified schedule to get you ready for the marathon. REVISED PACE AND RUN/WALK RATIO This week we will be reverting back to the pace times and run/walk ratios that we used for the 20-mile run. We realize it can be confusing at times to know which schedule to use, so please refer to the chart below. The goal of this weekend is for everyone to get to the end of run without injury and with the ability to be fully recovered before the 26-miler. You need to train a full two minutes per mile slower than you could run the distance, so we are adding two minutes per mile to our original training pace and adjusting our run/walk ratios. Please don't forget to reset your watch. Pace Group Original Pace Original Ratio Revised Pace Revised Ratio Arthur Blake 8:30 7:1 10:30 5:1 Jack Foster 9:00 6:1 or 7:1 11:00 4:1 or 5:1 Jeff Galloway 9:30 6:1 or 7:1 11:30 4:1 or 5:1 Bill Rodgers 10:00 6:1 12:00 4:1 Frank Shorter 10:30 6:1 12:30 4:1 Cathy O'Brien 11:00 5:1 13:00 3:1 Rodolfo Gomez 11:30 4:1 or 5:1 13:30 3:2 or 3:1 Steve Prefontaine12:00 4:1 14:00 3:2 Miki Gorman 12:30 4:1 14:30 3:2 Roberta Gibb 13:00 3:1 15:00 2:2 Beth Bonner 13:30 3:1 15:30 2:2 Abebe Bikila 14:00 3:2 or 3:1 16:00 2:3 or 2:2 Salvador Garcia 14:30 3:2 or 3:1 16:30 2:3 or 2:2 Nina Kuscsik 15:00 2:2 or 3:2 17:00 1:2 Hwang Young-jo15:30 2:2 17:30 1:2 Rosa Mota 16:00 1:3 or 1:2 or 2:3 18:00 1:4 or 1:3 or 1:2 WATER VOLUNTEERS (We love our volunteers!) We have had such wonderful volunteers come out this year and give their time while supporting their friends and family. We thank them all very much. And with the two long training runs coming up, we need volunteers now more than ever. If you know someone who would like to sign up as a volunteer to distribute water and food and to support the runners in these important training runs, please call or e-mail us and we will add them to our schedule. It's a great way for others to be a part of your training experience and it will help with your fundraising as well. THANK YOU LETTERS/REMINDERS/FUNDRAISING PARTIES We would love to see some of the things you have created to help you with your fundraising. In fact, we would like to choose some of the more creative/successful ones to pass along to other participants to assist them with their fundraising. If you have a letter, reminders, or any fundraising tool that has been successful for you, please send us a copy so that we can share it with others. PICNIC AND FUN: Remember this week we plan to picnic at Griffith park on Saturday, I will even supply the hot dogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers for all that attend. Just remember to bring a dish to share. It will be lots of fun. This would be a good week to bring your cameras and take pictures of your fellow runners if you haven't already done so. It is the last long run before we all combine in Marina del Rey for the 26-miler, and we are expecting a large turnout this week. MARK YOU CALENDAR AND BUY YOUR TICKETS: Laugh'n Jam for $$$! (Chicago or Bust) 15304 Carretera Drive Whittier, CA Comedy, music, raffles and silent auction! (Several of your running mates will be performing!) (Don't miss comedy by Peter Berman, Linda Francisco, Kevin Shone, and many others!) (Music by Christopher Spinks, Shannon Ryan, The Road (Shawn Davis), Michael Yorky (Imginary Friends) and many others!) Sunday, September 17th 2 pm to 7 pm Tickets are only $15 (Only 400 tickets are available!) I'M HERE TO HELP! As always, if you have any questions regarding injuries, training, fundraising, etc., or just needing a little reassurance or support, do not hesitate to call or email me. I would love to talk to you. OTHER STUFF: Check-in: Remember to check off your name each week. If you visit a different Run Site, print your name on the special sign-in sheet for visitors. If you won't be at the run site this weekend, send me an email or give me a call to let me know you're OK. Line-up by your pace groups signs: As you gather for the run each weekend, be sure to line up with your pace group by the pace group signs. That way, visitors from other run sites can find the group they like to run with. Cheer in the next group: Stick around after you finish the run and cheer in the next group. High-fives add to the fun and camaraderie. It reminds each of us that this is an incredibly heroic endeavor. I'll see you this weekend. Have a Great Run. Linda