Absentee Organization

Okay, first off, it was REALLY COLD, REALLY WET, REALLY WINDY, and just all around NASTY on Tuesday. So props to you Catherine for braving the OLP in a freakin' pseudo-hurricane (and not those warm tropical ones either). I do really appreciate you showing up and not making me feel like a total ass...heheh.

As for this coming Tuesday's run, I'm not sure it's looking too much better, but we are a few days away yet. I'm posting abnormally early because I will be out of town starting tomorrow (Friday) through next Tuesday. I'll be in Washington, D.C./Arlington, VA rooting on my lovely wife as she conquers the Marine Corp Marathon. Therefore, I will not be present on Tuesday. However, the rotation must go on, which means 800m (1/2 mi) intervals as follows:

• 1 mi warm-up (again, it's probably going to be cold, so I recommend a mile warmup)
• 800m (1/2 mi) fast
• 800m (1/2 mi) recovery
• repeat on/off cycle 2x-3x
• 1/2 mi cool-down

This will result in 3.5 - 4.5 mi (depending on how many intervals you choos to do) all together. As always, feel free to adjust to fit your current conditioning/needs. I'll stress again though, that I think the 1 mi warm-up is something we should not skimp on as the temperature begins to drop. Put it this way, if your cold before you start running, do a full mile (if not more) warm-up before jumping into any high intensity running.

Lastly, I want to start a brainstorming session on how to keep participation up throughout the winter months. So, this is an open invitation to post comments with your ideas. For example, some that have already been mentioned (but please feel free to mention again so I can kind of get a tally as to how many feel a certain way) are moving inside (would obviously need a venue to support this), moving to a weekend run (would need permission from the T in TRY), keep pushing up the time to avoid darkness, etc. Like I said, please post some ideas, even if they are duplicates.

I hope you guys have at least some mediocre weather this week....HAVE A GREAT RUN!!!