Saturday 5/12 – RACE DAY!

Hey there!

I hope everyone has a blast at the pot-luck!  Thanks for coming and bringing all of the amazing food!  It was a great way to cap it off before race day! 

Here are a few more reminders:

Sports and Fitness Expo
Friday, May 11, 2012
11:00 am – 8:00 pm
DeVos Place, Halls A and B,303 Monroe Avenue, NW,Grand Rapids

Gazelle Sports VIP Room inside DeVos Place on May 12, 6am – 11:30am

Location: Our space is the back half of Hall B inside of DeVos Place – you will enter in DeVos Hall A and look for the Purple Gazelle Sports flag half way down on the wall – this will allow you to enter into Hall B.

Members of our Training Groups – (All of your names will be on a list, you don’t need anything with you)    

 

It has been such an amazing time training with all of you!  You all have grown so much! 

As we all know, not every is a good run, but your dedication to your training and your goals have gotten you through these past 17 weeks.  All of the hard work is now behind you.   Trust your training and enjoy the race!

Race Day words of wisdom:

• Eat a good dinner the night before the race, but don’t totally overload on carbs.  Increase the amount with a normal meal, but don’t make yourself sick.
• HYDRATE!
• Plan out what you are going to wear the night before
• Plan out where you are going to park
• Get good sleep
• Eat a good breakfast
• Get down there early – Plan to be there around 7am.
• Use the restroom…a couple times
• Don’t start too fast
• Take a few sips of water at every aid station
• Take your nutrition supplements
• ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!  You all deserve it!

I will see you all in the VIP room!

Tuesday’s Run – 5/8

Hey guys!

Can you believe that race week is already here!  AH! It’s a very exciting week, and I’m sure for many of you, a very nerve-racking week.  Keep yourself calm this week.  Follow the training schedule and allow your miles to come down this week.  This will be for your benefit come race day.  Make sure to be hydrating, starting TODAY.  Please don’t wait until Thursday to start thinking about that.  Also, make sure to be eating food that you know wont upset your stomach.  Lastly, make sure to be getting your sleep!  This week is about being smart!

Check out these helpful tips for race day!

http://running.about.com/od/racetraining/tp/racedaytips.htm

As for tomorrow’s LAST group run together before the big day, we will be running 4 easy miles. 

Dont forget, we will be meeting at Katie’s house. We are going to run from her house and then have some food.

Katie’s address is 7821 Sudbury Ln, Ada, MI, 49301.  Check out the previous blog post for directions on how to get there. The directions are from the Southeast YMCA. This is Katie’s number if you need further assistance on directions 560-1183.

The break down on food is by last name. A-G=  Salad, H-N= Other(dip, chips, whatever..) and O-Z= Desserts. Feel free to switch with some one if you don’t want to bring what your last name indicates.

See you tomorrow!

Saturday Long Run – 5/5

 

Hi Everyone!

Great job Tuesday!  It was a beautiful day for a run and everyone looked great!  Yes, team 11 had a run in with an angry driver and I had my sign stolen, but all in all, it was a great last run in the neighborhoods.

We will be meeting at the downtown YMCA for our run on Saturday. The clinic is Race day 101 and that will be at 7:15am. The run will start at 8am.

The schedule says 8-10 miles.  I am planning to have you guys run 8 miles.  Remember that it is taper week.  You will most likely feel sluggish and lazy, but remind yourself that it’s important to let your body recover.  This is important for race day.  Trust yourself and the training that you have been doing since January.  It’s all in the bag and it will all be let out come May 12.

Eat, sleep, and drink smart!!!  Last long run of our training!!

 

Important information:

INFO on the VIP Room on race day….

Gazelle Sports VIP Room inside DeVos Place on May 12, 6am – 11:30am

Location: Our space is the back half of Hall B inside of DeVos Place – you will enter in DeVos Hall A and look for the Purple Gazelle Sports flag half way down on the wall – this will allow you to enter into Hall B.

Who is welcome to use this room?

Gazelle Sport staff (wearing Gazelle Sports attire)
VIP Shirt holders from the Brooks promotion (Bright yellow/green)
Members of our Training Groups
Team in Training Participants (will wearing Team in Training or Team in Training Coach shirts)
Run GR members (will be wearing Run GR shirts)

Official River Bank Run 25k Pacers (will be wearing Pacer shirt)

Amenities:
Dry location near the start

Refreshments bottled water and fruit

Restrooms with no lines

Place to stash gear (the room will be monitored at all times by Rodger Garner but we are not responsible for lost or stolen items)

 

 May 8^th Potluck:  We will go for our run from Katie’s house and then enjoy some food!

This is the food break down by last names. A-G= Salad. H-N= other ( snacks, dips whatever you feel like). O-Z= dessert. Gazelle Sports will provide the plates, napkins, silverware, cups and lemonade/water.

Thank you Katie for having all of us out to your place! 

Directions to Katie’s House from the Southeast YMCA:

Left on Forest Hill

Left on Cascade Road…past 28th St. and over the river.

Second street on the left past the river is Wycliff….turn left

Quick right on to 30th

About 1 mile turn left onto Stonington/Sudbury….Stonington Acres

Turn right at the fork onto Sudbury

7821 Sudbury is the third house on the left…..green ranch, circle drive, pole barn

Park off of the circle drive in the grass.

Katie King
616.560.1183

 

Tuesday Workout – 5/1

Hey guys!

Hope everyone is feeling good after our long run Saturday!  Great job conquering those Thornapple hills!  One more “long run” left!  Can you believe it?!  We are almost there…that means, don’t do anything crazy, like start-up some new exercise routine!  After this week we will be tapering our miles and letting our bodies recover enough to be ready for this race.  Keep up the great work!

Tomorrow we will be doing a workout in the neighborhoods. 

Heads up:

*May 8th we will be meeting at Katie’s house(from the 5k group) for our last group meeting. We will run and then have a pot luck after. More details to follow on the breakdown of the food. Katie’s address is 7821 Sudbury Ln, Ada, 49301. I will have copies of the map and a link on the next blog. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up of what’s to come.

Wish good luck to Bill, Molly, and Joanna!  They are running their half marathons this weekend!

Since we are pretty much in our “taper week” now, I figured I would start sharing some important tips on tapering.  Here are 7 tips that will help make this race a success.    http://www.active.com/running/Articles/7-Tips-to-Taper-Smart.htm

Saturday Long Run – 4/28

Hey there!

Great job on those hills Tuesday!  Everyone really put all they had into them…not sure if it was because of it being the last hill workout, or because there was a man in the bushes with a camera.  Either way, everyone did great!

As for Saturday, we will be at the Southeast YMCA, in the Teen Center.  There is a clinic on Strength at 7:15am, by Metro Health.  The run will start at 8am.

We will be running down Cascade, then taking a left onto Thornapple until the turn-around.  We will be running 11 miles (sounds pretty nice after the distances we’ve been doing, huh?)

We only have a couple of weeks left, so if you havent found what “gel packet” works for you yet, please stop in the store and grab some for Saturday.  It will make a difference! 

Keep up the great work guys!  We are almost there!

See you Saturday!

 

Exciting News!

Brooks Run Happy with the Urban Herd on Monday, April 30, 6:30pm

Join us for a fun, informal, FREE 2 or 4 mile run or walk from Gazelle Sports Grand Rapids. This evening’s Urban Herd is the Brooks Run Happy Fun Run and will have our “spin to wheel” ready with prizes after the run.

http://www.facebook.com/events/437647682917094/

Tuesday Workout – 4/24

Hey guys!

Great job Saturday!  You all finished very strong and confident!  It’s downhill from here.  Keep up the great work; we are almost there!

Tomorrow we will be running our LAST hill workout for our training season!  Hard to believe how these weeks have flown by!  Come ready to dominate those hills one more time!

We have lots of news for this blog post.

* Tuesday ( tomorrow), Rudy will be with us to take pictures of the training group in action. (I am not sending this to you so that you have the excuse to miss the group.)  I want you all to be there with bright-colored clothes ( if they say Gazelle Sports, even better) and smiling happy faces, ready to dominate some hills! You have all done so great so we are going to show you off!

* Race day is approaching fast. Check out this link to some questions asked about race day and packet pickup. If you love GU and are planning on using it during the race, get some now. It looks like they will not provide GU this year on the course so I would get your favorite nutrition supplement from Gazelle Sports and save it for race day.

http://www.53riverbankrun.com/faq.php 

 

*Monday, April 30, 6:30pm Urban Herd Spin to Win – 2 or 4 mile walk/run from the store with Brooks Spin to Win after the run – great prizes!

Let us know you are coming and share with your friends!
http://www.facebook.com/events/437647682917094/

 

*See Scott Rigsby!

Friday, April 27, 5:30-7:00 pm OR Saturday, April 28, 6:00-9:00pm

I met Scott Rigsby the last time he was in town and he is a real inspiration. If you have the chance, come out and meet him.  http://www.scottrigsby.com/  He has a great story and message. 

Saturday Long Run – 4/21

Hey there!

I hope everyone is feeling positive after our 800′s on Tuesday!  You all rocked them!  Everyone looked so strong! Keep up the good work!  Three more long runs to go!

As for tomorrow, we will be at the Belmont YMCA, running north on the White Pine Trail. 

Warm weather hit us a little early and I am sure some of you could not decide what to wear.  Still wondering what apparel and accessories would be beneficial in the warmer weather?  Come to the clinic at 7:15am! 

Remember to stay hydrated, if you are thirsty you are well on your way to being dehydrated.  It should be a great morning for a long run!

See you in the morning!