Seeing the Mayor in an East Nasty shirt made me think of one thing: our responsibility to be good citizens in our neighborhoods and great advocates for the running community.   This mindset is what I think distinguishes East Nasty from other running groups, and I think it is a mindset that is shared by our mayor. Community focus is the foundation that this group is built upon, and if that ever goes away, we should just disband!   So what does that mean?

1) May 11 - Alley Clean Up.  We had our pre-marathon alley clean up planned for April 27, but it was stormed out.  So we rescheduled for this week.  After our run tomorrow, everyone needs to get into groups of 2-3, grab some bags and gloves and go pick up trash!  This is one way that East Nasty gives back to our great community.  And all you need to bring is a willing spirit.  We will give you gloves, trash bags, and a map that highlights your section of the neighborhood to clean.   This should only eat into about 20 minutes of our post-run fun!  So plan on sticking around for that tomorrow.

2) June 6th - Potato to Tomato kick-off meeting.  Our couch to 5k program (called potato to tomato) will run from June 20th until the Tomato Fest 5k.  Not only is the training program free, but this year we will have scholarships available for people who cannot afford the race entry fee.  Combine that with the East Nasty shoe program and there is no excuse not to take part!  If you are already a runner, we could use some mentors/coaches, or you can just encourage a friend to take part in the program.  Our informational meeting is at 6:30 pm, at the Margaret Maddox YMCA on June 6.  Please email Holland Carley dutchrunnerchickusa@gamil.com  if you are interested or have questions, then show up at the Y on June 6th.

3. Run #8: Rick's Market Coldest Beer in Town... is our run for this week, but we are going to tweak it slightly...  Check out the new and improved Run #8.  Why did we tweak it?  Because want East Nashvillians to look forward to seeing us out on the streets.  So to that end, remember that we need to defer to traffic, and stay on the sidewalk, or right up against the sidewalk at all time!  (We also tweaked it because Lillian is sort of "dog-central", so we are going to avoid Lillian between 14th and 11th...)

Also remember to bring your slightly worn shoes!  With the new crop of Couch-to-5kers approaching, we will need more shoes soon.  Now is as good of time as ever to go buy a pair of summer running shoes, and give us your old ones!

See you on Wednesday!

Mark

Congrats! First of all, congrats to everyone who ran the country music 1/2 or full marathon!  It is time to take some well deserved rest.  A good rule of thumb is that you want to have 1 easy day of running for every 2 kilometers of racing...   A 1/2 marathon is about 21k, so you need to take about 10 days of easy running.  A marathon is 42k, so about 3 weeks of easy running is in store for you full marathoners!  (Easy running could mean no running, or it could mean 30 miles a week...it just depends what your "easy" is...But either way, nothing fast!)

!!!!!!!Everyone needs to read this!!!!!!!!

This week we will not be meeting in our normal spot or at our normal time.  We are going to meet up with Mayor Dean at LP field to join him in his quest to walk 100 miles.  So if you show up at 11th and Holly, you'll be very lonely.  Here are the details:

When: Wednesday, May 4.  Meet at 5:15.  The walk starts at 5:30

Where: Park in LP field parking lot J.

What: We'll walk 2 miles (across the pedestrian bridge) with the Mayor, and then head out for our own run after wards. (if you want)

I know that many of you may not be able to make it that early in the afternoon, but please make every effort to join us this week.  This is the first time since June of 2008 that we have canceled/moved a Wednesday night run...so you know that we think this is an important event.   So leave work a little bit early on Wednesday, wear your east nasty gear and support our mayor as he tries to make our city more active!

Speaking of East Nasty gear...

Check out our new banner...can you tell what it is???  Well among other things it is the back of our new East Nasty t-shirts!  If you want one, which you do, they're $20, we ordered 200, and when they're gone they're gone...see Drew on Wednesday nights.

Potato to Tomato.

Just to put this on your radar...

We will have an information meeting about our couch to 5k program (we call it potato to tomato), on Monday night June 6th at the Margaret Maddox YMCA on Gallatin road.  If you are interested in participating, or if you would like to be a mentor/coach, please send Holland Carley an email at dutchrunnerchickuse@gmail.com.  More details soon....

Festivals.

I grew up in Illinois, and one things I loved about Chicago summers was that there was a street festival every weekend.  Ever since I moved to Nashville, I thought, "where are the street festivals?"  In fact every single festival seemed to be in Centennial Park...  East Nashville to the rescue!  Of we have the world famous Tomato Festival...but now there is going to be another one called Feastival.  It is a first year event on May 21, and it looks to be a great, kid-friendly event.

See you on Wednesday!

Mark

This is a big running weekend in Nashville - and a busy weekend for East Nasty... Saturday, April 30 - Country Music Marathon and 1/2 Marathon

7 am Start.  Here are a couple of thoughts:

Before the run: There is a shuttle that will take you from LP Field to Centennial Park (the start line.)   This is a great service, but it takes forever to get out of LP field after the race.  Here is my thought: park in East Nashville and jog over to LP field to grab a shuttle.  Then after your race, walk back to your car.

After the run: There is an area called the "family reunion" area or something like that. After you finish your race, meet your fellow Nasties under the letter E.  Then after you recover, head over to 9th and Russell to help out at Lee Wilson's water stop.  (If you are not running, and would like to help out at the water stop, he could probably use some help early in the morning to set up or later in the day to clean up.  Send him an email for details lwilson07@hotmail.com)

Way after the run: Everyone is welcome to join us for our post race party!  Erin and I are hosting at 314 S. 17th street.  It starts up at 4.  Bring something to throw on the grill or something to share...or both!  Here is the sign up sheet, just add your name and click "save".  But even if you don't have a chance to make anything, please come join us for an evening to celebrate 16 tough weeks of training!

Shirts: At the post race party we will unveil our brand new East Nasty shirts!  This will be our first non-technical t-shirt, and Duane has done another fantastic job designing it...  They will be $20.

Quickly looking ahead: Wednesday, May 4th...Walk with Mayor Dean

Next Wednesday, we will not be meeting at our normal time or location!

We are going to join the Mayor for his 2 mile walk over the Pedestrian Bridge at 5:30.  We will meet at 5:15 in parking lot J of LP field.  I know that this will be impossible for many people...but please make every effort to join us as we support his efforts to get Nashville active!   This is a great way to demonstrate our mission: to make running accessible to everyone in our community!  So wear your east nasty gear and let's show up en masse!  (After the 2 mile walk, we will head out for a typical Wednesday night run...)

Good luck and I'll see you guys on Saturday!

Mark

Hello East Nasties - hope all of you are doing well. The weather may be a little rough out there for our Wednesday night run but as always we will be out there rain or shine. We will be running route #7 ( little hollywood ) which is our shortest route that we run. It comes at a good time as most of you are tapering for the country music marathon and 1/2 marathon. Please study the route as we will need some knowledgeable pace leaders out there. Upcoming events

April 27 – Alley clean-up.  After our run on April 27th, we need everyone to stick around to do a little neighborhood beautification.  We need you guys to split into groups 2 to 4 and will send you out into the neighborhood to pick up trash.  Everything will be taken care of, gloves, bags, maps…all we need is your willingness to make this another fantastic success! JP Blazer is in charge. Note - this may be cancelled if the weather is no good.

April 30 – 1/2 marathon/marathon.  Lee Wilson will be out looking for some volunteers if you care to work the water stop at 9th and Russell (mile 19 on the marathon course).  Also this Saturday night is the post-race party hosted by the Millers (Mark and Erin) from 4-11.  We will be grilling out, hanging out, drinking and celebrating life. The new east nasty shirts will be for sale at the Millers as well. We have ordered 200 american apparel style shirts for those who want to have one to wear out on the town or after a run.

May 4 - Walk with the Mayor.  Mayor Dean has challenged Nashvillians to get more active.  And part of that is his 100 mile challenge.   We are going to join up with him for a couple of his walks, starting with a 2-mile jaunt across the pedestrian bridge on May 4. Note:  There will be a location and TIME change for this week.   The walk will begin at 5:30 at the pedestrian bridge on the LP field side of the river.

I know that some of you may not be able to make it, but we are going to make every effort possible to support the mayor as he encourages this city to get active!

June 6 – 6:30pm – Speaking of getting active….On Monday June 6th, we will have an informational meeting at the Margaret Maddox YMCA on Gallatin for everyone interested in joining our Potato to Tomato 5k training group.  More details soon, but email Holland Carley, dutchrunnerchickusa@gmail.com if you are interested.

Thought/Cause of the week 

My co worker and friend Erin Pauling is in charge of collecting clothes after the country music marathon this Saturday - please see her note below.

For the last few years Thriftsmart has been collecting discarded clothing at the start of the country music marathon to raise money for several missions. So in addition to shedding your warm ups or rain jackets please bring any other clothes that you are able to part with as they will all go to a worthy cause. There will be volunteers at the race start to collect the clothes. If you have a large amount of clothes you are donating then handing them to a volunteer is preferable. They are also still looking for some volunteers for those of you who may not be running in the race. If you are interested or have any questions please contact Erin at erinpauling@yahoo.com.

I hope to see everyone out and about this weekend - It is going to be a fun one :-)

Drew

Last Long Run...meeting at Shelby @ 8 am... I always tell runners that the final week before a race, there is nothing that you can do to make yourself run faster, but there is a lot you can do to make yourself run slower!    (This is called a "taper") So this week the focus is on being fully rested, hydrated and to stay "sharp" with your running.  What does that mean?  Cut all of your workouts in half, but keep a little bit of intensity.   The long run this week is a great example:

Run 1-2 miles easy + 3 miles goal pace + 1 -2 mile easy.  As of late, our runs have been 10+ miles. Notice that we are running only 5-7  miles, but adding a little bit of intensity in the middle of the run.   The rest of your runs this week should be similar.  Run about half of what you normally do, but have some race pace efforts in the middle of those runs.  Also, it is a good idea to include some 50-200 meter strides after almost all your runs this week.

If you think that you have missed too many long runs and want to get on last log run in this week...don't do it!  You will be better off on race day just doing our 6-8 mile run, than if you try to sneak one last 12 miler in... Resting will allow our bodies to fully repair all the damage we've done to our muscles the last 16 weeks, and some short bursts of speed will help to maintain your leg turn-over.  Here is a pretty good article about tapering, and here is another article about the mistakes people make when they taper.

Easter Brunch

Brunch this week is a little bit different that normal.  Erin and I will be hosting, and it will have more "lunch" type foods than normal.   Zach will provide a turkey and a ham.  We'll have mashed potatoes, green chili mac and cheese and other assorted type items.   So if you are away from your family this Easter Sunday, please come join us!  We'll try to eat around 11:00, which gives you time to run home after the run if you would like.  Here is the brunch sheet.   Please take a moment to add something if you are able to provide a side dish or dessert!

See you Sunday!

Mark

Boston. What a great race!  A world record (not official because of the point-to-point and downhill nature of the course, read more here), Ryan Hall runs a 2:04.58 - plus a couple of sub-3 hour East Nasties!

Reminders:

Anytime that we have to cross an intersection with a light, we must stop at the cross walk if the light is red.

Also, this week we will be running down Eastland, turning left on 12th.  Be careful when crossing Eastland.  Try and cross where there is a cross walk.  (there is a cross walk at the new three-way intersection right at Porter & Eastland and at Eastland & 14th.)

The Run:

This week we are running route #6.

In the future...

April 27 - Alley clean-up.  After our run on April 27th, we need everyone to stick around to do a little neighborhood beautification.  We need you guys to split into groups 2 to 4 and will send you out into the neighborhood to pick up trash.  Everything will be taken care of, gloves, bags, maps...all we need is your willingness to make this another fantastic success! JP Blazer is in charge.

April 30 - 1/2 marathon/marathon.  Next week Lee Wilson is going to come out and get some volunteers if you care to work the water stop at 9th and Russell.  Also that night is the post-race party hosted by the Millers (that's Erin and I) from 4-11.  More details next week.

May 4 - Walk with the Mayor.  Mayor Dean has challenged Nashvillians to get more active.  And part of that is his 100 mile challenge.   We are going to join up with him for a couple of his walks, starting with a 2-mile jaunt across the pedestrian bridge on May 4. Note:  There will be a location and TIME change for this week.   The walk will begin at 5:30 at the pedestrian bridge on the LP field side of the river.

I know that some of you may not be able to make it, but we are going to make every effort possible to support the mayor as he encourages this city to get active!

June 6 - 6:30pm - Speaking of getting active....On Monday June 6th, we will have an informational meeting at the Margaret Maddox YMCA on Gallatin for everyone interested in joining our Potato to Tomato 5k training group.  More details soon, but email Holland Carley, dutchrunnerchickusa@gmail.com if you are interested.

I won't be there tonight, so give Drew your undivided attention!  :)

Mark

Short and sweet. Tomorrow morning we are meeting at 8am at Bongo Java to run 10 miles, with the final 3 miles fast.

See you there!

The Green Wagon One of the founding principles of East Nasty is that we love our neighborhood, and we want to support those people, schools, charities and businesses who are making a difference.   The great thing about East Nashville is that many businesses feel the exact same way!   The Green Wagon is one of those places...

Post-run this Wednesday, Johnny and Tara Shields (the owners of the Green Wagon) have invited us over to check out their store, enjoy some Yazoo Pale, and potentially buy some food out of a truck!   So bring some cash (for food if you want any, the Yazoo is free)  and plan on walking the 2 short blocks after the run.  The Green Wagon is located across the street from The Red Door East on 11th and Forest.

The Run

This week is the crowd favorite...The Pedestrian Bridge, Run #5.   The weather looks great...see you at 6pm @ 11th and Holly.

Looking Ahead

Sunday, April 17: 1/2 marathon training.  8am Bongo Java: 10 miles - Fast Finish.

Sunday, April 24: Last 1/2 marathon training session, Shelby Park. 8am.

Wednesday, April 27: Alley Clean Up.   We run and then we clean up.  Seriously, this is one way we give back to the neighborhood, so plan on sticking around after the run to help out.  More details to come...

Sunday, April 30: 1/2 or Full Marathon!  Then 4 pm post race extravaganza!

Wednesday, May 4: Walk/Run with the Mayor!  More details soon...

Mark

Long Run... As you train for a marathon or 1/2 marathon, by far the most important workout is the long run.  And this Sunday is our final and  longest run of the spring.  We will run 12, 14 or 16 miles.  (Novice, intermediate, advanced...)

The basic course is the Bongo-to- Bongo run - with a slight alteration to simulate the 1/2 marathon course.  Meet at Bongo Java in East Nashville at 8am and  here are the route options...

Bongo East to Bongo Belmont and back = 10 miles.

Bongo East past Bongo Belmont to 440 and back = 12 miles

Full Bongo to Bongo route (see above) = 14 ish miles (we are going to run back on Granny White rather than retracing our steps on Belmont,  to trace the 1/2 marathon course.)

Full Bongo to Bongo route + 2 miles add-on loop = 16 miles!

Brunch...

Zach had the great idea of having a little post-run shelby picnic.  So this Sunday, the grill will be going, and it looks like the weather will be great.  So even if you have never joined us, this is a great week to join us to meet some of the nasties!  Here is the brunch sheet.

Looking Ahead

Saturday, April 30 4 pm Half Marathon Post-Race party...  The Millers (Erin and I) want to invite all the East Nasties over to our place for a little post-race get-together.

Speaking of the half/full marathon...our friend Lee Wilson is in charge of the water stop at 9th and Russell, and he needs some volunteers.  If you are not planning on running the race, we could use your help!  On April 27 (the last Wednesday before the race) we will get folks to sign up to help.

Speaking of April 27th...that will be our final Wednesday run before the 1/2 marathon, and it will be our bi-annual alley clean up!  This year the marathon returns to East Nashville and we want to show off our neighborhood.  So after a short, easy run - we will split up in groups of two or three to clean the streets.  Plan on being there to give back!

Mark

Hello there East Nasty. We are going to alter the running route rotation again this week. We are going to skip route #3 and proceed right on to route #4. We are having to skip the runs that take us across several big intersections. So tomorrow we will do the big shelby loop. Please take a look at route #4 down on the right side of this page and plan on volunteering to lead a group tomorrow. We typically have the same people lead pace groups each week so it would be nice to have some new pace group leaders. Most everybody has been doing a great job of staying to one side of the road on our runs but there are still some big time repeat offenders out there. WE CANNOT RUN DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD !!!  Did you hear that ? We have to continue to be very strict on this point. We need the pace leaders and pretty much everyone out there to be policing everybody that runs with us. Don't be afraid to bark at someone if they need to be barked at :-) Upcoming events

We have a few things on the east nasty calender coming up so go ahead and start planning ahead for some of these events. We will, of course, be discussing these events in greater detail as they approach.

April 27th (Wednesday) - post run alley clean up. The country music marathon course is coming through east nashville and we want to do our part to make the community look presentable. We did this last year and it was a big success. This is a weather pending event but we will need as many people there as we can get.

April 30th (Saturday) - big race day for the country music marathon and 1/2 marathon. We will all be meeting at Mark and Erin Miller's for a post race grill out party. This is also a weather pending event but things should start up around 4:00 with some cornhole, grilling and, of course, social drinks.

June 6th (Monday) - kickoff day for the Potato to Tomato couch to 5k training program. Start telling your friends or anyone who will listen. We want to get as many people as we can in this program. It is free and it's the best way to get anyone started on a running program. We will need to have plenty of volunteers out there to help with this program. It is a great way to give back to the sport of running that we all love.

August 13th (Saturday) - East Tomato 5k - this is our homecoming race and the one that we support the most. Our coach to 5k'ers will be running in the race and so will most every East Nasty brother and sister there is. It is fun race and a fun day in East Nashville so plan on joining us there.

Thought of the week

Just a simple message this week. Running is supposed to be fun. Now that the weather is getting a little better for us on East Nasty Wednesdays, running should be even more fun that it was earlier in 2011. The reason that I mention the "fun" aspect is that lots of runners can forget it from time to time. There are so many things out there now that make running more fun. So whatever it is that makes running fun for you then concentrate on that. Get an Ipod, buy a Garmin, get some new comfortable socks, run with your best friend, run in a local race, drink alcohol after you run ............ whatever it is that makes running fun for you then that is where you focus should be.

Hope to see everyone out in the sun tomorrow night.

DREW

The countdown to the 1/2 marathon has begun... Is anyone getting tired?  Feeling worn out?  We are entering into the last couple of weeks of training.  The next two Sunday runs are the hard ones, then our last two runs are tapering down, getting us ready for the race.  So now is a good time to refocus on getting enough sleep, proper nutrition and staying hydrated.

The Run

REMEMBER WE ARE MEETING AT 8 am!!  Meet at Shelby outside the visitor's center.

We are back at Shelby Park, doing our third and last...and longest tempo run.  We will run 9, 10 or 12 miles total - with the middle 6,7 or 8 miles run at tempo pace.  Remember tempo pace is 35-50 minutes per mile slower than your 3 mile time trial pace.   Since this is our longest tempo, stay on the slower end of your tempo pace.

Brunch is hosted by Alexis Hoag!!

The route... Last week was the nasty (run #12), so you may think that we are cycling back to Run #1...but no.  In an attempt to avoid traffic conflicts, we are analyzing all 12 routes and changing/eliminating some of them...starting with Run #1.  (We are trying to avoid crossing Eastland...)

So we are going to jump forward to run #2, which takes us into Shelby Park.  Take a moment to check out the map, this one is fairly easy. Like always though we will need some volunteers to help pace the groups so come out there ready to lead.

Thought of the week

So not really much to report this week. Its getting close to crunch time for those training for the country music marathon or 1/2 marathon. Being in the running/shoe business this is always the time of year when injuries start to be more frequent. People are out there doing some of the longest runs they have done all year or maybe even their whole life and your body does not always agree with what your doing. I have told people many many times that your body is actually designed for long distance running but, that does not mean you can go for a 10 mile run and not feel it somewhere. There are many things out there that make running easier or more enjoyable like a new pair of running shoes. But again, if you run for anytime really over an hour you can expect to feel it the next day. The main reason I mention that is this: - As you run more and more your body will certainly get acclimated to that but it does take a while. If this is your first marathon or 1/2 marathon then you need to be ready for some soreness and discomfort along the way. The main thing to watch out for is sharp and direct pain in a very specific place. If you ever have something like that occur then you should not continue to run on something like that and may need to either take some time off or see a physical therapist / doctor. So as a brief recap - soreness is normal and to be expected - pain is something that should be taken seriously and a doctor 's attention may be necessary.

Hope to see everyone tomorrow - East Nasty for Life !!!!

Drew