Charleston Runs

Palmetto 200

The Palmetto 200 is a new race for South Carolina. It’s a 200 mile relay race from Congaree National Forrest, near Columbia, to Folly Beach. Teams can range from 4-12 and there are two divisions: Ultra Teams (4-6 runners) and Relay Teams. My friend, Jeff, and I are putting together two teams. I’ll keep you informed about the training and what we’re doing as we move to the race start on April 30.

In general, for a 12-person team, the race organizers suggest that runners be trained for a half-marathon and work on the speed for a 10K. I see the biggest challenge in getting runners who aren’t used to big distances or 2-a-day workouts to work on dialing in their nutrition. There is some experimentation needed in putting in a 10K race effort in the morning and then putting in the same kind of effort twice in the next 24 hours.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Even though we didn’t get hit with snow like they did further north, the weather in Charleston has certainly changed. Yes, it will be nearly 70 on Christmas Day but we have entered the 74 days that pass for Winter in the Lowcountry.

When that alarm clock rings first thing in the morning and it’s 35 out, it’s tough to get up and get going. Weather changes will do that to you.  However, if you want to do more than just finish the Cooper River Bridge Run this year, you need to begin training and hit the roads in January. It will set the tone for the rest of your racing season. (I would consider the local winter/spring season to be from the last Saturday in January to the first Saturday in June - roughly from the Charlie Post Classic to the Floppin Flounder, and the highlight of course being the Bridge Run.)

Make the plan the night before. Don’t leave things to how you feel in the morning. Once you get out and get going once or twice when it’s cold or raining, you won’t even think about it next time. Dress as if it’s 20 degrees warmer than it is and you might even consider warming up on a treadmill or by doing some high knees before you head outside.

I’ve never worn more than a long sleeve top and a long sleeve jacket on the top and cool weather running pants on the bottom. You can wear warmer clothes but you generally don’t need them once you get going. I do keep a heavy sweathshirt in the truck for when I get done.

Hats and gloves are essential - If you’re too warm, you can take them off and easily carry them. This is also the place where you can not spend a ton of money and get some clothes that are highly reflective.

Big Hairy Goals

Are you ready for Cooper River Bridge Run Training?

I love big hairy goals - the ones that are so monstrous that they can be downright scary. Besides tackling them myself, I love helping others attain theirs. A new athlete, David, contacted me a few months ago after looking at the Charleston Running Club’s website. He saw I was coaching our Couch to 5K clinic and decided he wanted to take part.

Couch to 5K is not a big deal for most people but David was and is a big guy. He decided it was time to take off the excess weight. By the time I met him in the beginning of November, he had already dropped over 30 pounds. As of this week, he’s dropped 61 pounds. And he is still a big guy and has a long way to go.

One of the things he shared with me is that he wanted to do the Cooper River Bridge Run and he wanted to raise money for the YMCA in his hometown for a program that gets kids active. I understand that feeling. David wanted to time himself at the beginning of his training and compare it to his actual bridge run time. Yesterday morning, we set out to see what his benchmark was.

We couldn’t have picked many mornings that would have been colder. My friend Steve and I parked our cars downtown and then had my friend, Allan, drive us to Mt Pleasant. We met David and started towards Charleston. He started out very quickly and didn’t run very far before he started walking. We talked some more about pace and what that should feel like. At one point, coming off of the bridge and into Charleston, he ran for over 15 minutes - the longest such period of continuous running since David left high school. Eventually we finished the 10k in 1 hour 58 minutes and 2 seconds. He was very happy to be done and when I took him back to his car, he was on his way to buy new running shoes.

Cooper River Bridge Run training begins January 9. More information.

I Love Living Here

'Winter' in Charleston

I love living in Charleston. Recently, I received an email from a runner in Naples, Florida who is visiting here next week. She wanted to know if there were indoor tracks available to the general public. After telling her about the one I know of I pointed out that we’re in South Carolina, not Maine. We pretty much run outdoors year round. In three years, I’ve run indoors once because of the weather - we had 2.8 inches of rain in 1.5 hours, right at the time when I would have been running.

This week, the Charleston Running Club began a Couch to 5K program. Part of our mission is to encourage running in our community. I’m coaching the clinic, along with Irv Batten from On the Run running store. Irv has been a fixture in the Charleston running scene for over twenty years and regularly at the top of the leaderboard. Many clubs wouldn’t start a training program at the beginning of winter. Here, it’s one of the best times to run.

I also began track workouts again after taking November off. I have one new athlete and some returning. More will join us again after the first of the year. Not only are my athletes back on the track - I am as well! We’re all looking forward to cutting down those 5K times.

Cooper River Bridge Run training begins in January. Sign up now.

Marathon and Post-Marathon Report

Charleston Runs Marathoners - We missed a few at our post-race dinner.

Everybody at Charleston Runs arrived at the start line healthy. We did have one runner with a nagging knee issue but she was able to complete her training. Some of our athletes ran much faster than they expected; some were dissappointed with their performance. I’ve spent time with most of them, reviewing their training and what we might do differently the next time. All had a great experience and all are looking at the future.

Yesterday, a few of them did the Turkey Day run here in Charleston. One of them set a new personal record for the 5K distance. This was after a month of standing down, no track workouts, and even multiple days off. Amazing what recovery can do for you!

Charleston Run’s Noah Moore on Live5

Noah Moore appeared on WCSC Channel 5 and talked about why he’s running the Marine Corps Marathon. Great job, Noah! If you’re reading this as a note on Facebook, click on ‘View Original Post’ to see the video at CharlestonRuns.com. (Give the video a few seconds to load.)

Are You Piling On?

The last 21 days of marathon training are critical. As Charleston Runs athletes approach the Marine Corps Marathon, they need to keep careful track of their training and how they’re progressing. We cutting miles but we’re not cutting back on effort.

I’ve put together a one-page document that might help you track your taper. On each day, write down your workout, mark whether it was an easy, medium, or hard effort. Also keep track of your food using the categories poor, ok, or great. Visually look and see if you’re piling hard effort on top of hard effort. Check to see if you’re eating junk for days on end. Only you will see this so be honest and use what you’re learning to make adjustments.

One more thing - SLEEP. It does a body good. You are in the rest, recovery, and restoration phase. Each week, you should go to bed 30 minutes earlier than you did the week before. If 10 pm is your normal bedtime, then by the time the marathon is here, you should have been retiring at 8.30 for a week. Yes, life gets in the way but you’ve spent the last four months or more diligently preparing for this race. Don’t let the lack of sleep and recovery slow you down.

THE Long Run

For months we’ve been preparing for the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of the month. One last long run and we start our taper. Tomorrow we’ll run 12 miles, do the Isle of Palms Connector 10K and then run 2 more cool down miles. Our speedsters may go a little further. They will check in at the end of the 10K and I’ll see how they’re doing.

We did have one runner who strained her back this morning. It’s happened to her before but she’s such great athlete that she still wants to get the 20-miler in. Most runners started building to the marathon in July. Charleston Runs athletes went through a few months of base and strength building before then - about 8-10 weeks worth, depending on when they joined the program.

That big base has enabled them to do hard tempo runs in the heat on one day and knock out a track workout the next day. My number goal with my athletes is to get them to the start line healthy. That big base will also get my runner to the start line without doing a 20-mile run before the race. She’s ready to race today.

Four out of Seven

Seven Charleston Runs athletes entered the Carolina Children’s Charity 8K this weekend. FOUR of them walked away with hardware. All were age group awards - one first place, two seconds, and one third. I don’t know who was more excited - them or me.

16-Mile Long Run

We’re now just 48 days away from the Marine Corps Marathon. If you have built a good base during the summer, then bumping up the mileage every two weeks over the next two months shouldn’t be an issue. When Charleston Runs athletes are finished with the longer runs, everybody is worn out but they do recover nicely over the next few days.

Yesterday, we ran from Mount Pleasant to the Coast Guard Station downtown and back. It was a beautiful day to run. Running across the Cooper River Bridge was tough but in the Marine Corps Marathon, there is one significant hill at the 8-mile point. Somebody running for time needs to have a strategy to not only attack that hill but also a strategy to deal with the ups and downs of the highway ramps that are part of the last 5 miles of the course.