We love our neighborhood and strive to be involved in making it a great place to live and run. Last week I wrote about how you can get involved with the local schools as a Nasty.  This week I want to talk a little about East Can.

I have known Elizabeth Chauncey for a long time.  In fact, the first time I met her, she had come over to my friend Katy's house to help her paint.  I think that was about 10 days after Elizabeth had moved to Nashville from up north somewhere...(New Jersey maybe...)

So I immediately saw that Elizabeth had a heart of service - and when I discovered that she had started East Can , it was no surprise...  EastCan is an organization that rescues abandoned animals and tries to find them homes.  And even if you cannot adopt an animal right now, here are several ways that you can help:

Adopt:

If you are ready to go all the way and adopt, EastCan can facilitate that process.  What I love is that EastCan goes through a process when you seek to adopt.  You must first complete an application, which includes references, followed by an in-home visit.  There is a recommended "sleep on it" period of 1-2 weeks before the adoption is finalized.  The adoption costs $100, and includes as much helpful guidance that you need as you adjust to your new best friend.

Foster:

Before an animal is adopted, sometimes there is a need for a temporary foster home. This is a no-brainer.  First, EastCan will interview you to match you up with an appropriate pet given your particular circumstances.  Then they provide the food, crate, bowls, leashes and will pay for all vetting expenses.   If you cannot commit to foster for an extended period of time, they always need weekend "doggie-sitters", and foster dog walkers/runners would be great.

Donate: Getting stray animals off the streets makes East Nashville safer. Period.  And adopting gives you the opportunity to turn a potential ankle biter, into a run-loving companion.  But I realize that we cannot all be animal owners, and that is why donations are much appreciated.  Elizabeth never asks for money, which is why I'm asking you guys to consider making a donation sometime in the next month.  (There is a Google-Donate button on the web site.)

Come on a Wednesday night to talk with Elizabeth or there is more information available at the web site.  Check out the FAQs.  That is where you can find the necessary applications to foster or to adopt, and great resources to help with all your doggie questions.

Other Fun Stuff:

This week we are running Benji (Run #10) and should have a chance to try on our fall shirts, which will be from Lululemon!    (Also I think the Lululemon ladies have something special for us which I don't even know about...)

See you tomorrow!

Mark

We love our neighborhood and strive to be involved in making it a great place to live and run. If you have come to an East Nasty run more than once, you probably recognize that community service is part of our vision.   Over the next couple weeks I want to introduce you to small opportunities where you can join your fellow East Nasties in giving back to the community.  Take a little bit of time to read this posting, because there is a way where all of us can get involved this week!

Getting Involved Part 1: Schools: As a lifelong runner, one of my passions is to pass this sport on to others. Not only is this part of my vocation (I teach math and coach cross country and track at CPA high school), but is is a huge part of my avocation as well.   That is why East Nasty will always support our local schools, especially since the schools on the East Side serve many students whose families struggle financially.  There are several easy ways that you can get involved.

Stratford: Here is an immediate opportunity to make a difference! I received an email from the cross country coach asking for help.  They have their largest team ever (40 runners), they have their first girls squad ever (yes!!)  but they need our support.    Many of the runners don't have running shoes, and some of them are running in their school uniforms!  *So this week (September 1) I want all of us to comb through our running gear, and bring at least one piece of clothing to donate, AND one new pair of socks.* We will be able to provide the shoes.  In fact, this is exactly why we have been collecting shoes for the last 6 months!  While we should have plenty of shoes for the Stratford runners, consider replacing your shoes a little bit earlier than usual, and bring us your old ones on Wednesday night!

KIPP Academy: Last year through your generous donations, KIPP started a track team.  By the way, it was because of you...like many schools, KIPP did not have the funds to equip a track team, so last year we raised about $3500 to get them up and running (pun intended...)

Also, several East Nasties had a chance to help coach! Jenny Dew, Stoner and Jay Tift volunteered hours of their free time to aid these fledgling track stars.  Track season doesn't start until the spring, and we'll get a wish list from the coaches in late winter.  But think through if you will have the time/desire this spring to help out coaching these kids.

Wednesday night run:

Our new "corral" start system really helped to spread out the start of the run. Bear with us as we work out the details, but right now we will leave in 4 groups separated by pace, starting 2 minutes apart.  (1) Under 7:30 pace, (2) 7:30-8:30 (3) 8:30 - 10:00( 4) 10:00 +

Our run this week is #9.  Check out the map before you come!

See you Wednesday!

Summer Trail Run Series I hope that you have enjoyed these summer trail runs.  I used to run 80-90% of all my runs on trails, so maybe some of my excitement has rubbed off on you guys!  Trails provide a break from the pounding on the pavement, a welcome relief from the sun and just a great change of scenery.

If you haven't been to one of our trail runs, this is your last chance!  This Sunday we are making a short road trip to Long Hunter State Park for runs of 4, 10 or 15 miles.  So you have options for an easy Sunday recovery run all the way to 15 miles.  The trails are extremely run-able and flat, especially if you are used to running at Percy Warner!

Here are the details:

When: 8 a.m. Sunday April 29.

Directions: From Nashville, take I-40 East to Mt. Juliet Road, Exit 226-A. Go south (right) and continue on SR171/Hobson Pike 6.2 miles to the Baker's Grove entrance. SR171 passes Granny Wright Ln on your right, and then soon after entering the park you will see Bakers Grove Rd on your right. (There will be a sign on your right for Bakers Grove Rd, too.) Turn right onto Bakers Grove Rd and go left at the fork to the parking lot for the Bakers Grove Area."

Trails: The Day Loop trail (4 miles) begins at the Bakers Grove lot, and that connects to the Volunteer Trail (5.5 miles). Thus you will have 3 mileage options: 4 mile Day Loop trail loop; 10 mile loop + out&back; 15 mile Day Loop trail + Volunteer Trail out&back.

The trails at Long Hunter are fairly flat and really wonderful for running. Most of our course parallels the edge of Percy Priest Lake, and there are some great views of the waterfront. Lots of rocks and roots make it challenging but quite fun. Come join us for a great end to the summer trail run series!

Two important notes: 1. BRING WATER!! You must bring a water bottle or other hydration method if you are doing more than the 4-mile loop. There will not be water available on trail. 2. Parking is limited, so please carpool if possible.

Park website: http://tn.gov/environment/parks/LongHunter/

Many thanks to Jenny Magill, Margaret Jones and Holland Carley for organizing these outings!

Mark

The exciting "how to get involved" post is going to have to wait until next week, because it's Tuesday night, school has started and I'm just out of time...

SO....just come and join us for run #8 (Rick's Market, coldest beer in town) on Wednesday night - and since the weather is cooling down, join us for some patio time at 3 Crow.  If you are new, check out the "Wednesday Night Runs" page and join us!

ALSO... this Sunday is our last trail run for the summer!  This week is going to be a road trip to Long Hunter State Park.  (It's only about 20 miles from downtown, but we're still going to call it a road trip...)  These are flat, runnable trails, and there will be 4, 10 and 15 mile options.  Check the blog on Friday for more details.

See you tomorrow!

mark

There are a lot of new East Nasties, and we have a lot more going on than we used to...  So  I thought that I would give a quick run down of East Nasty late summer/fall plans just to let everybody know what's going on.

Wednesday Night Runs: These runs go on year round, rain, shine, heat, or cold.  If you are new, don't be shy!  There are many different paces represented, from 6 minutes per mile, to 12 minutes per mile.  But before you come (and this goes for your seasoned East Nasties as well!) please familiarize yourself with the course by clicking on the appropriate run.  (August 18th is run #7)

Questions?  email Mark @ millema6@hotmail.com

Sunday Morning Trail Runs: We only have two more runs in our Summer Sunday Trail running series.  This Sunday at Percy Warner and next Sunday at Long Hunter State Park (I think...more details next week)  We start at 8 o'clock.

Questions? email Jenny @ jenny.magill@gmail.com

Women's Half Marathon Team: We have a group of East Nasty ladies training for the women's half on September 25, but you don't have to be running the half marathon to train with us.

Questions? email Heidi @ hphuerta@gmail.com

Potato to Tomato: East Nasty had about 45 folks train for their first 5k this summer, and they have decided to continue meeting on Monday nights. (Of course, they will also join us on Wednesday nights.)   So if you are a novice runner looking for a good Monday night run, these are the people you need to meet!  They will be running between 35 and 45 minutes at a casual pace.

Questions? email Esther @ esther.smith@stthomas.org

December Marathon Group:  Lots of people from Nashville run an early December marathon (Huntsville or Memphis specifically).  East Nasty does not do any official training, but there is a large contingent of East Nasties training for these events.  They will be training, traveling and celebrating together!  Let Christy know if you want to join them.

Questions? email Christy Brown @ christy.brown@daveramsey.com

How can you get involved??

Mark Scrivner tells me that people stop reading blogs after about 2 sentences...so I am going to save this stuff for next week because community involvement is near and dear to my heart!  :)

See you tomorrow for Run #7!

Mark

Yes I know that there is a big East Nashville race coming up this weekend, but first I wanted to give you guys my own shout out...

Alley Clean Up

Have you ever done something and wondered if anyone notices, or even cares. Well, if that is your motivating factor then you should probably rethink why you are being charitable...BUT...it is nice when folks notice your efforts.   You guys did such an amazing job with the clean up efforts that the neighborhood noticed!  Check out this thread from the ListServ.

Tomato Fest

Tomorrow morning, 7:30 a.m. Tomato Fest 5k.  Stick around for the awards ceremony so we can get a group picture.  'nuff said.

I'm not going to harp any more about the race, but the tomato festival itself is a fantastic, kid friendly way to spend an afternoon.  Let me give just one plug: Coal Train Railroad.   They describe themselves as "great jazz for kids and their grown-ups."  So for those of you with little ones, this is a great way to start the morning.  (Then stay around for the 12 foot long ice cream sundae that kids get to decorate and eat.)

Shirts

Wear your East Nasty apparel.  If you need to get your shirt, email Drew Jones (rdrewjones@hotmail.com)  asap and he can meet up with you tomorrow morning before the race.

New Folks

When you get questions about East Nasty, direct folks to the web site.  (Or just tell them to google "East Nasty".  We surpassed the rap group as the #1 search response about a year ago!)  We don't have advertisers, so we don't really need more traffic going to the blog, but it helps us when people get in the habit of reading the post before they come...

See you tomorrow.

Mark

It's here....the Tomato Fest 5k.

Wednesday is going to be hot.  But there are several important things that we are doing this week.  So even if you run earlier in the morning, please come by to join us in steps 2 and 3. (Alley clean-up and shirt pick-up)

1) Running the course

The 5k course has been changed.  To get a feel of the new layout, we will jog the course on Wednesday night.  Here is a link to the google map of the course, where you can check out the elevation change by clicking on the upward-arrow thing.

2) Alley Clean Up

We need everyone to stick around after the run for 20-30 minutes.  And if you don't come to the run, please come by at about 6:45 to join the clean up efforts.  We are going to blanket the course with East Nasties to pick up trash.  You don't need to bring anything: we have trash bags and gloves and we'll send you out in groups of 2 or 3 (which is a great chance to get to know a fellow East Nasty...)  Please make this a priority!  Remember our vision is to make East Nashville a great place to live and run, and efforts like this are where the rubber meets the road...

3) Shirts are in!

Duane-o has done it again: he's created a fantastic shirt design, featuring a unique Tomato Fest 2010 design on the back.   Shirts are $25, and here are the two important details: (1) pick up your shirt on Wednesday (2) wear your shirt on Saturday!

Bottom line: even if it is too hot for you to run, please come and join us for the alley clean up, and then pick up your shirt.  If you definitely cannot make it on Wednesday, but ordered a shirt - email Drew rdrewjones@hotmail.com to make other arrangements.   You can even pick it up the morning of the race.

See you on Wednesday and Saturday morning!

Mark

PS: Encourage the couch to 5kers when you see them this Wednesday and Saturday.  They have worked hard and are reaping the benefits of 8 weeks of training.  They will be running in the red East Nasty shirts...

East Nasty in the News. We'll be in the Wall Street Journal soon enough, but the Lockeland Springs News Letter is not a bad place to start... Check out the article here.

August 11

August 11 will be our post-run alley clean up day.  You don't have to bring anything, just be ready to: (1) run the Tomato Fest 5k course, and (2) spend 20 minutes with 100 of your friends making the streets and alleys along the course look great!  So next week, do not leave after the run!  If everyone pitches in, it'll take less than 30 minutes to blanket the entire course.

August 4

First, we all need to give the ladies at Lululemon a shout out for the water stop on these hot Wednesday nights.   Their water stop has been the highlight of these last two scorching runs.  So be sure and say thanks when you see them on Wednesday.

This week is our 4.6ish mile run down Riverside (Run #6).  The course will be marked (pink), and the map should be accurate this week.

Fall Marathon

As you know, East Nasty is going to  win the team competition at the Nashville Women's Half Marathon in September.  (If you want to join the East Nasty squad, email Heidi Huerta for details: hphuerta@gmail.com)  But there are also lots of people training for an early December marathon.  We won't have a training program per se, but Christy Brown is going to coordinate some long runs.  So if you are looking for some company for your 18+ milers send her an email.  christy.brown@daveramsey.com.  Also, the Nashville Striders coordinate some long runs targeted for the Chicago Marathon.  (The Chicago Marathon is in October)  These runs are well supported and well attended.

Sunday Trail Runs

Our Sunday trail runs are finishing up at the end of August.  So you only have a couple more weeks to learn the trails of Percy Warner Park.  (The last weekend in August will be a trip to Long Hunter State Park.)  8 a.m. Sunday mornings.

Mark

August 14, Tomato Fest 5k

If you have done the Tomato Fest for several years, you may notice that the course is a little bit different.  We'll run the course together on August 11, but I wanted to let everyone see the changes.

Clean East

"Most importantly, we love our neighborhood and strive to be involved in making it a great place to live and run."

That quote is part of the vision of East Nasty: to make East Nashville the best neighborhood in Nashville.  Clean East is an organization that shares our vision. So on August 11, we are going to team up with Clean East to do a little course clean up.   After we complete our Wednesday run, we're going to take about 20 minutes of our post-run time  to do a quick alley clean up.  Which gives you plenty of time to enjoy 3 Crow!  Stay tuned for more details...

Run #5. This week, we are on run #5, by far our most popular.  It's basically a giant rectangle that takes us over the pedestrian bridge, up first (or third) avenue and back over on the Woodland street bridge.  (What we actually run is a little bit different from the map...)  You'll have to wait 12 more weeks if you miss this foray into downtown!

Women's Half Marathon

Remember, if you want to join the East Nasty Women's Half team - you need to send Heidi an email ASAP.   hphuerta@gmail.com.

Shoe Program

Remember East Nasty is still taking in your old shoes.  If you are trading in those old trainers, or those racing flats that you never use - bring them to a Wednesday night run.  We clean them up and find them good homes.  In fact, we will be heading to the local schools in early fall / late summer, so now is a great time to bring them in.

See you on Wednesday, rain or shine.

Mark

Want to Age slower...Run! If you have had a chance to run with East Nasty Richard Kalmanek, you probably could have guessed this yourself.  But here it is...a little validation of what we all know: running slows the aging process.

Women's Half Marathon

East Nasty is going to field a team for the Nashville Women's 1/2 Marathon. The effort is going to be led by Heidi Huerta.  So if you are interested in training with some folks, wearing an East Nasty shirt, or if you just want to get a group discount on your entry fee...this group is for you!  Sign up with Heidi over the next two weeks, or send her an email for more details: hphuerta@gmail.com.

Speaking of Shirts...

We are about a month behind this year, but we are going to order our summer shirts this week!  Men's will be a Nike Fit sleeveless t-shirt, and women's will be a Nike-Pro sleeveless v-neck.  We won't have shirts to try on, but we will have a catalogue..sorry! We are only taking orders this week because we are trying to get these in time for the Tomato Fest 5k.  If you want a shirt, you need to order it on Wednesday or email Drew Jones with your size: rdrewjones@hotmail.com. Shirts will be $25 this year.

Okay this Wednesday: Run #4...  Remember: the run is only half the fun, stick around and get to know more of the nasties as we head over to 3 Crow for some post-run hang.

Mark

One month away... August 14, Tomato Fest 5k.  Sign up, get ready, be there...

Speaking of 5k races...there has been a surge in long distance races, and I think that it is partly a bad thing. It seems strange that a lover of endurance races such as myself would have a negative view of long distance races.  But recently it seems that a marathon or a half-marathon or even an Ironman is often a new athletes' introduction to racing. Long races are great accomplishments, and are usually extremely fun events - but they are also exhausting, often cause injury and very time consuming if you train properly.

So I encourage you to learn to enjoy shorter races.  The ones where you recover after 2 days rather than after 2 weeks. Where your weekend long run is 8-10 miles instead of 18-20.  Why not try and run a fast 5k, as opposed to another marathon?  Read this article from Running Times for more thoughts on the matter...

Run #3

Check out run #3.  The first 1.25 miles of the run is identical to run #1.  But then it changes: you run all the way down Franklin and turn left on Scott Ave.

Potato to Tomato

Our couch-to-5kers are in their 4th week of training.  We all know how difficult it can be to maintain motivation during those middle weeks of a training regimen (think: mile 2 of a 5k, or miles 6-10 of a half marathon).  Take a moment tomorrow to encourage them in their journey!  Who knows, maybe they'll become full time East Nasties at the end of the program...

Sunday Trail Runs

Trail runs continue this Sunday, 8 a.m.  at Percy Warner park.  Be there for 4.2 or 9.2 miles.

Mark

Trail Run Just a quick reminder that our Sunday morning trail run (and free yoga sessions) return to Percy Warner park this Sunday (July 11).  Meet at the end of Belle Meade blvd at 8:00 for either 4.2 miles or 9.2 miles.

Ms. Parsons

Annie Parsons, East Nasty Denver's correspondent, gave a great shout out to Rod Jones, (the current ENOW penman).  Check out the love here, and then let Annie know that she has to move back.

See you Sunday!

Mark