I'm continuing a Rank Stranger tradition of weekly training tips, in the interest of informing newcomers and also stoking your excitement about the June 12-13 race. The tips are recycled but I'm adding a "featured runner" section to recognize the relay achievements of our veterans. The world can follow the tips and other news on the web - www.rankstrangers.info. Again, most of the Tips will be familiar to veterans though these messages will be spiced up with facts from the Rank Stranger record book, including wacky trivia, analysis of likely small changes to the course, excerpts from the Ragnar "Race Bible" and the mystery story "How DO the Madison Runners Get Home?".
Updates since last week:
1.There are changes to the schedule - 19 of 36 legs have small to large changes in mileage. The attached PDF matches today's version of the Ragnar site; we can expect more changes between now and race day, especially since Ragnar hasn't nailed down three of the leg routes and a transition area. http://www.ragnarrelay.com/race/chicago/legs
2. Speaking of transition areas, there's much change. (a) The race start is moving from south to north, to Warner Park in Madison. Accordingly, we'll move our Friday morning meet-up and breakfast to the Perkins Restaurant at 4863 Hayes Rd. Chicago runners will stay at the Comfort Inn & Suites Madison - Airport on E. Washington; I'm holding rooms for us. (b) the finish has moved back to Montrose Harbor in Chicago after a one year hiatus. (c) The Racine transition is moving 1 mile north from the infamous ice cold water shower YMCA, to North Beach Park in Racine. (d) transition #18 which has been at Martin Luther High School since the beginning of time (2005) is listed as "TBD" -- think good thoughts because those showers worked!
3. Angie Patnode joined the team, giving us a full complement of 12 runners.
Counting down: at the Monday, April 20 Boston Marathon, Rank Strangers Monique Faber (2005, 2012) and David Maze (2007) will run for the first time, Randy Meacham (2006, 2007, 2009) for the third time and Denise Meacham (2007, 2009) for the second time. The Boston Marathon will be streamed live online for free starting on Monday, April 20 at 9:30 a.m. ET. I'll mention this again; I so enjoy tracking our runners on the course.
Best,
Eric
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Featured runner:
Randy Meacham will be running for the fourth time and will move from 12th place in overall mileage (45.6 miles) to 10th place, passing Jennifer Sell and Holly Dowling. Randy's 23.5 miles in 2007 was the 5th most ever for a Rank Stranger in a single race. Randy has the 10th longest single run, 9 miles. He is one of 16 Rank Strangers to top 20 miles in a single relay (6 of those runners are on this year's team). Randy returns afer a 5 year gap (he last raced with us in 2009).
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Training tip:
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2013 2:49 PM
Subject: Rank Stranger tip - Training distance (circa 2011)
Fun videos: http://rankstrangers.blogspot.com/2011/08/video-introduction-to-run-relays.html
Today's tip:
For relay training, don’t focus on the total distance of your legs as an endurance target. You might think that if a runner needs to run a combined 18 miles (6 miles x 3) they should really get in at least an 18 miler prior to the event. While that endurance base might be helpful, what is really more important is to run a fair amount of mileage at your target race pace and focus on running that pace for a distance slightly longer than the longest of your race legs. So if you’re running a 5, a 6 and an 8 mile leg, then you want to be able to comfortably cover 9 or 10 miles at your race pace. (See the Rank Stranger tip on pacing for more advice. It says your pace should be appropriate for your total relay mileage).
Remember, the tough aspect of running in the relay is not so much the distance, but rather the short recovery time between the runs. Added to that is the fact that most runners will run too fast, especially in their first leg, which means they will be especially tired going into their second or third runs.
(credit: coachjoeenglish.wordpress.com )
This pearl of wisdom is one of a series to prepare Rank Strangers for the relay. Email any comments or questions to team co-captains Eric Engdahl ericmaxengdahl@yahoo.com or Mark Clear mark@markclear.com
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