Coach's Note from Kevin

Benefits of Cross-Training for Runners

Cross-training is any sport or exercise that supplements your main sport -- in this case, running.  Whether you're a beginner or an experienced marathoner, you can benefit from cross-training.             

Here  are several reasons why runners should cross-train:

•You'll maintain or even improve your cardiovascular fitness.  Many cross-training activities are great cardiovascular workouts, so they build on those similar benefits of running.

•You'll avoid getting bored with running.  Running day after day will eventually burn out even the most hard-core runner. Cross-training gives  runners a much-needed mental break from their sport, which is especially important for those training for long-distance events such as marathons.

•It reduces your chance of injury.  By balancing your weaker muscles with your stronger ones, you'll help reduce your chance of injury. Participating in low-impact cross training activities, such as swimming or water running, will also lessen the stress on your joints, which are often a sore spot for runners.

•Change your route and routines.

•You're bound to get bored or burned-out if you run the same roads week after week. Switch up your route or even the time of day that you run. Go for a run before work in the morning, if you usually run in the evening.

•Run for fun. You don't have to run your heart out at every practice. Sometimes it's fun to run at an easier pace than your race pace and just enjoy the run. It may give you the freedom to run with someone you don't usually run with, like a spouse and gives you the opportunity to get to know other participants on the team.

Workout Wednesday for 2/27

There are two days left in February and time certainly is flying by! We are now officially in week 13 with just about four weeks to go until event day.

Hats off!

• To our fundraising mentors Heather, Kristen and Andrea for organizing and throwing not only a successful fundraiser, but an amazingly fun event last Saturday. BC Squared proved to be a model example of a successful event that we hope to mimic for all future seasons

• Also thanks to everyone that participated in selling tickets and helping run the event. You know first hand just how successful this was!

Pictures and Updates via Facebook

• Be sure to "like" the page www.facebook.com/RunCoachJeffrey for training tips, updates and to view many of our pictures!

• Please also contribute to the photo galleries by uploading any pics you have

Next Training

• Saturday, March 2nd at 745 am

• Tremayne Shelter at Creve Coeur Lake

• The meeting area is 1.4 miles on Marine Drive from Dorsett Rd, see the map here

Welcome

• To our newest teammate: Half Marathoner Bryant!

• Bryant is recently out of military service and excited to join the team and will be running the Half Marathon. He also recently ran the Tokyo Full Marathon!

Happy running!

--Jeffrey

Mentor Monday Email - 2/25/13

Happy Monday TEAM!!!

I want to start off by saying what a success BC Squared was! I had such an amazing time that night and hope that those of you who attended did as well!! The bands were FANTASTIC, and the guest speakers were so motivating.

The mentors and I are so thankful to anyone who supported the event. We are still currently counting the money from that night, but hopefully we will have the final totals for you all by GT on Saturday.

In case your were unable to attend BC Squared and hear all of our survivor stories, I want to fill you in on something that they all had in common......they were proud that people like us are fighting to make a difference! They want us to keep pushing because it's working!! All the training on cold mornings and raising money is all worth it. They also wanted us to know how grateful they are that we don 't give up!! We are doing all of this for those that can't! Never forget that, and never give up! Through a TEAM effort we can do, and WILL DO IT!!!

Now on to the important things coming up:

1. St. Patrick's Day parade is on March 17th (a Sunday) and we will be gathering a group to do a bead drive. So anyone who is interested will need to RSVP to the mentors by Friday March 8th. Feel free to have your friends and family help you at the drive. It will be super FUN and family friendly!!
2. If you haven't turned in your Recommittment paperwork yet, please contact Rich B and get that turned in ASAP!! I want to make sure that we ALL cross that finish line together!
3. If you are still concerned about your FUNdraising please contact us and let us know what your concerns are and how we can help.We are all here for the long haul and will do what is needed to get you to your goals and beyond, so please utilize us :)
4. Don't forget that our TEAM goal is to raise $139,000!! Any one who has met their goal or is close to meeting their goal, now is NOT the time to slow down. Let's kick it into high gear and finish strong! Every dollar you raise puts us one step closer to finding a cure for blood cancers.

Here are some ideas to help everyone exceed their goals........

• Do you have friends who like to take risks, loves basketball and loves a competition??? Well March Madness is right around the corner, and this would be a great time to start a pool in your office or with your friends and family. Have them make their picks and it would be a $10 dollar donation to be admitted into the pool . Then at the end, $5 of the ten dollars they originally donated will go the winner and the other $5 will be donated to your FUNdraising account. Easy right??
• Do you work in a large company? Or even a moderate sized company?? You could organize a dress down day or a brown bag lunch day. For the dress down day you could have your coworkers donate $2-$5 and wear jeans on a Friday. Or you could even put a spin on it and have a themed day? Maybe a sports jersey day or Disco Tuesdays!! The possibilities are endless!
• A brown bag lunch day would be where you would have all your co-workers bring a bag lunch for the day and donate what they would have spent on lunch had they ate out. This is also very easy to arrange!!
• A pub crawl is another fun way to gets friends and family involved in your FUNdraising. You will find that a lot of the bars/taverns in your area are excited to have groups come in. All you would need to do is contact the bars, tell them why you are FUNdraising and ask what they would be willing to donate for the event. **I have done one in the past, and have some good pointers on where to go and how to make sure you get the maximum donations that night**
• Reach out to any organizations that you belong to, i.e churches, choirs, lodges and see what they would be willing to team up with you to do. It never hurts to ask!!

Please keep up the all the good work you are doing, and make sure that you are communicating to us and your coaches as the event dates draw closer. As always any questions you have, please don't hesitate to ask us! We are all here to help you and love it when you give us the chance to do so!!

GO TEAM!!!!!!!

Kristen Raetzloff
Team In Training FUNdraising Mentor/ Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Group Training and BC2 Concert

Group training was cancelled on 2/23 because of icy trail conditions, but that weather didn't stop the group from rockin' out at the BC2 concert on Saturday night!  The mentors did an awesome job!

Picture taken and formated by Run Coach Jeffrey

Mission Moment 2/22/13

 We are raising funds today so that cures happen faster. That’s a theme of the new LLS campaign, “Someday is Today.” Our goal is cures today, not someday in the future. This link provides access to two videos, one about our new campaign and the other about LLS’ success in speeding therapies to patients. These successes are due to your support.

Coach's Note from 2/21/13

Two Reminders

• Get a fuel belt or running water bottle - we are in long miles now and you need constant hydration. They are worth the $10 - $30, trust me

• Like RunCoachJeffrey on Facebook to see pics! And...post your stories to serve as motivators

If you'd like to hear more about a particular topic in the weekly Coach's Email then let me know and I'll put it in the next one.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

If you did not see on RunCoachJeffrey, I'm proud to announce the future baby boy in this Promnitz household! He is expected on 7/15/13!

This Week's Coach's Message: Mental Preparedness

As a coach, one of the most important things to do is look for trends by staying in contact with everyone. When more than one participant begins asking related questions it reveals important milestones of our training. Thankfully, this team does a great job of emailing me and responding to my contact.

Training for an endurance event is a journey. A journey is defined both as moving from one location to another and also as a move that accumulates memorable experience. It's easy to see why training is a journey. It takes us months to train and we're forced to endure a number of challenges: some positive and some setbacks, but both contribute to our experience.

The most common theme I've been fielding from you can be summed up as: "am I still training appropriately?". Some questions have been about treadmill versus road, taking an extra rest day, guilt for missing a day or reaching a plateau.

We are training appropriately because generally speaking we've encountered very limited injuries that would prevent us from training. So the answer to the question is: Yes, you are training appropriately by following the schedule. This then poses the follow up question of: why do you ask?.

If you are injury free, but not feeling as though you're doing well then this may be an indicator of a very important symptom of burnout or boredom. The number one cause of this symptom is the lack of variability in your training schedule. You have to keep your training fun!

It's very simple to keep your training fun, think about these bullet points, but also think of some of your own:

·      Change your midweek routes. Map out new paths to keep the scenery fresh and your body guessing just a little on hills and terrain

·      Run with a friend, or don't. If you run alone, try running with a friend so you can chat or if you normally run with a friend then go by yourself. It's amazing how a solo run can be a meditative experience that will clear your mind of many stresses

·      Instead of running on Wednesday, ride a bike or crosstrain. Or, vice versa. Even a 30 minute stretching or yoga session will add significant variability to your experience

·      Unplug the headphones! Use your mind to think.

·      As the coaches on Saturday how to run a different path at the park instead of what you usually do

·      If you run in the morning, try running in the evening. Or, vice versa.

·      Incorporate a speed goal by talking to your coaches. If you're healthy and have been sticking to the schedule, then adding a new goal is quite interesting.

Team, I'm proud of you. More importantly, you're making a difference for our patients and families. You rock!

Go TEAM!

Run happy,

Jeffrey

Coach's Note from 2/15/13

Hello Heroes!!!

Thanks to all who made it to Saturday's group training at Forest Park last week. Everyone did a great job!!! Thankfully, the weather has been holding up pretty well so far.

Mission moment: So much progress has been made over the past 25 years since TNT's inception. Childhood cancer was considered a death sentence back then, but now, as many as 90% of these little darlings are living normal lives all because you sacrificed yourselves and gave them the gift of life. We're not done yet, but we're sure getting closer to a cure. Ask for every dollar you can. That last dollar you raise might just be the one to put researchers over the top. I'm attaching a link of a speech I gave at the 2010 San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon, just 4 months after my wife, Debbie's, diagnosis. We were chosen to be the national speakers at the inspiration dinner the night before the event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMpEt6g0UPI

OK, we're starting to climb into the higher miles. Many of you are hitting distances that you've never done before. It's a pretty amazing feeling, isn't it? Maybe now's the time to look back to when you started your training in Nov. You probably looked at the schedule and thought "what did I get myself into?" Now, fast-forward to today. The miles you're doing during the week used to be your long miles!! Pretty cool, huh? The coaches knew all along you could do it and we know that, going forward, you won't have any problems as we head into the next several weeks. Which leads me to this weeks topic - staying motivated. Training is not only physical but mental. You'll need mental toughness to finish those last few miles of your event. Now is the time to start thinking about what you can do to help yourself during your long miles and especially on event day. Some things to consider:

·         We know it's tough to get out sometimes, especially with the short days and colder weather, but it's essential to get your miles in during the week. You need the shorter miles to help you from one long run/walk to the next. No doubt there have been many times when you felt like saying "I don't feel like going out today, I'll wait until tomorrow". The hardest part is just getting out there. Once you start, you'll be glad you did. Sometimes you have to push past the negative thoughts and force yourself to go. Some of my best runs happened when I almost didn't go at all.

·         Mantra- create your own mantra when you hit a tough part of your run/walk. Something like "our HTM's can't quit, so I won't quit", or anything you want to say to yourself. It really helps.

·         Honored Teammates - Think of your HTM's. They are the ones you're doing this for. They should provide more than enough inspiration to get you through any run/walk. Think of their fight and what they're going through. We should all be looking at Barnes Hospital each time we pass that part of Forest Park. Many of the patients we're training for are receiving treatment in that facility.

·         Don't think of your long miles as one long run/walk. Break it into several 3-4 miles segments. Imagine one of your weekday workouts when you're doing 3-4 miles and picture that as you're doing your long run/walk.

·         Start your long run/walk about a minute or two slower than your normal pace. Mentally and physically, you’ll feel better at the end and you’ll finish stronger.

·         Pick out landmarks (trees, signs, intersections, etc.) along your course. Run/walk from one to the next. This will mentally help you set small goals that are reachable giving you more confidence to complete your workout stronger.

·         Put your favorite music in your Ipod and head out. Sometimes mixing up the music helps. Sometimes running with no music helps. Personally, I never run with any music. I love hearing everything around me. During your event, I highly recommend leaving your music behind. Hearing the crowd cheering you on is all you'll need to get through.

·         Find a partner to workout with. Coming to group training will increase the odds of finding a teammate who runs/walks at your same pace. The miles go by very quickly when you find someone to talk to. Plus it makes the overall TNT experience so much more fun.

·         Don't get discouraged if you have a bad training day. We all have them. I always say that you don't want to have your best workout during training. You'll want it on event day.

·         Change your routes often to keep those weekly workouts fresh. Running/walking the same trail or streets can get stale. Try somewhere new to liven things up. New scenery will help keep your workouts from becoming mundane. Plus it's fun to explore!

OK, that's about it for this week. Hope these tips help. You'll see as the miles get longer, having a strong mental game in place will help you have a successful event day.

As always, the coaches, mentors and staff couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of you for all you’re doing. We realize it’s a sacrifice to train and fundraise with everything else you’ve got going on, but that’s what Heroes do. You are making a difference and we can’t thank you enough.


John 
Certified Marathon Coach
Team in Training
TOGETHER WE TRAIN TO BEAT CANCER