While it's all relative, this has been a rough February for runners.  (Imagine running in Boston...)   It's been cold, and the ice has made some streets nearly impassable.  But, on Wednesday nights we are still out there, splashing through the slush enjoying every minute of it! Wednesday night, 6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly in East Nashville.

As always, bring a change of clothes to hang out afterwards...

Route #8: Rick's Market

Note: We will descend into and ascent out of Shelby Park.  Slow down and be careful of any icy patches!   You'll also notice that we are going up the new greenway.

Thursday Night:

As of right now, our Thursday night workout is on!   Thursday at 6p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly.   The workout and/or the location of the workout may need to be adjusted, but plan on meeting being there Thursday night.

Half/Full Training

Saturday long runs are also back on!   Saturday morning at 8a.m. (7:30 for full marathoners).   This week we are back at Shelby Park by the nature center.  We are going to run 10k at our goal pace.   It should be a good one!

Our Thursday night workout is canceled for tonight.  There is one thing to go for a slow jog when it is slippery, it's a totally different thing to try and run hard.   We will return next week for more pedestrian bridge hills.   If you run outside today, be safe and cover every inch of bar skin!

You do not see the words "Nashville" and "negative temperatures" in the same sentence very often, but it looks like that's where we're heading tonight.    Are we running tonight?   Yes, but use wisdom when making your decision about attending tonight's run.   I would only plan on running if you live in the neighborhood and can easily get over to 11th and Holly.  And, if you do run, don't even try to run fast. 3 Crow is open tonight!

Run #7

Route #6 Since we are making every effort to run on the new greenway that goes down into Shelby Park, several of our routes are slightly different than in previous years.   Route #6 is one of those.   The major change is that (a) we will be going down the greenway into the park, therefore (b) we will keep the lake on our LEFT (this is different) and go up that side of the opposite hill, (c) as you are going up that hill stay on the RIGHT side of the road, (d) turn right and go under the train bridge, then we are back on the old route.  (i.e. Turn left on Riverside.   Stay on the left side of Riverside in the bike lane.)

NOTE: To those of you who have done "The Nasty"...  The hill we are going up, is the hill that we come down after running up Mt. Nasty.  Hopefully that gives you guys a landmark...

Here is the new map:

Final Note:   This run is going to be a little bit longer than 4.6 miles - closer to 5.1.  Here is a link to the new map on MapMyRun.

Thursday Night Workouts

Thursday night we meet for workout #2: tempo running.   6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly. Everyone is welcome to join us - provided that you can run 5 miles without stopping.   If you cannot do that, these workouts are a little too aggressive for you...

Full/Half Training

Saturday morning we are again at Percy Warner Park.  7:30 am for full marathoner, 8:00 for the halfers.  We meet at the stone gates at the end of Belle Meade Blvd, so give yourself a little extra time to find parking.

Timex

Have you every considered a GPS watch?    Well here is your week to try one out!  Tonight, representatives from Timex will be at the run with a limited number of their GPS watches to try out for the run.    Show up early (5:30 ish) so that you can get a demo about how it works.   They also are going to have lots of free give-aways...

ENFL

Mark

Route #5 + Pint Night

The Walking Bridge.

Couple of reminders:   If you find a parking spot that is too good to be true, it's probably too good to be true.  Remember pay attention to parking signs, and it is illegal to park within 30 feet of a stop sign.

If you are a run/walker - get there early and be ready to start at about 5:45.   Check the "Lasty Nasty" facebook page for more information.

This week is pint night at NRC, so plan on heading over to NRC after the run.

Thursday Night Workouts

Just going for easy runs with friends is great for your heart, your physique and your emotional health.  (In fact, the medically recommended amount of exercise is 150 minutes of brisk walking per week...)   But there may come a time when you want to get faster.   We get that...and we want to help.   That is why we offer 12 weeks of free workouts that will improve both your fitness and your running IQ.   Here are some details:

When: Thursdays at 6 p.m.

Where: Corner of 11th and Holly

What: Hills, Tempo runs, and intervals on the track

Who: Anyone!  As long as you can run 5 miles without stopping.   If you are not to that point, keep up the good work, but these workouts are a bit too aggressive for you.

As a side note: it's helpful (not necessary, but helpful) if you know your approximate 5k pace.   It's necessary to have your own watch!   (It doesn't need to be GPS, a good old Timex Ironman will do the trick.)

Route #4 Some minor changes...

This year, we are making some minor changes to some of our routes.    Some of it is for safety reasons, and some of it is just for a change. This week is one of those minor changes.   If you have been to Shelby Park recently, you may have noticed that the greenway that parallels the Lillian street hill has been extended all the way to the zero mile marker on the Shelby Bottoms greenway.   We are going to follow that greenway to the playground and then turn right onto Davidson.

Half/Full Training

We are meeting at Shelby again this Saturday.   8 a.m. by the nature center.

Thursday Workouts

Mark it on your calendar that our Thursday night workouts begin next week!  (Can you believe it's almost February...)   Everyone is welcome to join us.  6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly.   Our first workout is pedestrian street bridge hill runs.

ENFL

Mark

Route #3 This is an out and back route, so you can choose your distance.   The full run takes us around Musica and back for over 6 miles.   If you want to run a shorter distance, a good landmark is the pedestrian bridge.  If you run across the pedestrian bridge, turn around and come back, that is almost exactly 4 miles.

6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly in East Nashville.

Half Training and Thursday Workouts

Our half/full marathon training continues this weekend.  8 am at Shelby Park by the nature center.

Mark your calendars for February 5th.  That is when our Thursday night workouts begin.  This is a great way to not only improve your fitness, but to improve your running IQ as well.   You'll learn how to do hills, tempo runs, and track workouts.   (You'll also find that it is much easier to do a workout when you are in a group...)   Like everything we do, it's free, so there are no excuses!

Here are the details:

Dates: Thursdays from February 5 through April 23

Where: Same place, the corner of 11th and Holly in East Nashville

When: 6 p.m.

Who: Everyone is welcome, but if you cannot run 5 miles without stopping, these workouts will be a little too aggressive for you.

Route #2: No-Longer-Round-The-Lake

Well, this route needs a new name (and map for that matter).   If you remember, when we enter Shelby Park, we are no longer going down the Lillian Street hill - we are going to take the greenway that runs (basically) parallel to the street.   That means that we won't be going around the lake on this run, but will finish the run as planned.  (We will rejoin this route right before the 2 mile mark.)

Saturday Long Run

This Saturday's half marathon training is a 65 or 80 minute long run.   We meet at 8 a.m. by the nature center in Shelby Park.   Everyone is welcome to join us even if you are not training for a race!   (We have a group training for the marathon as well...they meet at the same location but start at 7:30.)

Also, Thursday night workouts return in February!

There have been some questions about our spring training offerings, so here are some details:

Wednesday Night/Morning Runs:

6a.m. or 6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly.  These runs are offered year round.

Saturday Morning Half/Full Marathon Training

7:30 or 8 a.m. - various locations.  From now until the end of April.

The marathon training group meets at 7:30, and the half training group meets at 8 a.m. but you do not have to be training for an event to join us.   This is a great place to jump in for a long run.   This weekend we are meet at the Shelby nature center, and the run will be 55 to 70+ minutes long, with a large variety of paces represented.

Thursday night workouts

6 p.m. at the corner of 11th and Holly.

These workouts start on February 5 and end on April 23.

If you are looking to get more intensity and structure to your running, join us for our Thursday night workouts.   We will run hills, do tempo runs and track workouts.  Everyone is welcome to join us, but we ask that you be able to run 5 miles without stopping before joining up.  (It will also be helpful if you know your approximate 5k race pace.)

Our first Wednesday night run of 2015 is going to be freezing...but it will be followed by pint night at NRC. So here are some cold weather running tips:

1) Dress as though you are going for a hike in weather that is 15-20 degrees warmer than the outside air temperature.  So if it is 15 degrees Wednesday night, dress as though you are going for a hike in 30-35 degree weather.

2) Wind changes everything, so wear something wind proof or wear multiple layers.   Wind cannot get through gor-tex or 4 shirts layered on top of each other!

3) Old socks are a perfect substitute for gloves.

4) Wear a hat.

5) Don't wimp out!   Once you get started you will warm up, and you'll feel like a champ for finishing.

As always, we meet every Wednesday at the corner of 11th & Holly in East Nashville at 6pm (and also at 6am for the morning crew).

Cup Volunteers

We needs some volunteers to wash the cups.  If you have never done this before, this is a great/easy way to give back.   Here are some details about what it entails.   If you have done the cups before and are willing to do it again, please consider signing up here!   Thanks.

Note: From now on, anytime we are going up/down Lillian Street into the park, we will be using the greenway that runs parallel to the road.   See below.   The portion of the greenway that we will be using is between numbers 1 and 7 in the map below.   In the case of this run, we will be going uphill from #7 to #1.

We are meeting at 2 p.m. on New Year's Eve.  Same location: corner of 11th and Holly in East Nashville.   Course TBA. Then Saturday at 8 a.m. at the nature center at Shelby Park we will begin our half/full marathon training.

ENFL!

We have a handful of extra hoodies available for purchase at Nashville Running Company in East Nashville! $36 cash or check. Bandanas too for $7. NRC is open until 7pm tonight! Closed tomorrow through Friday. Open again on Saturday 9am-6pm. First come, first served!