Royal Wedding Workout

Feeling rather cheeky this morning, the jolly crew were gallivanting about the province while speaking the Queens English. The beautiful lads and lassies were simply smashing. Their quite the bees knees. And the weather was cracking.

The procession was more of a rehearsal for tomorrow mornings meeting. We plan of giving the rest of the field bloody hell. We will be legging it around the park again tomorrow at 8AM. Please don't miss the gun.

4 miles, 650 reps

The Day Before The Day Before

Two days before a race, we like to take it easy. Taking it easy is a relative term. What we did today was transferred our effort from (lungs & legs) to (Arms/shoulders/back). We did run 120 meter strides on the grass in between sets of exercise, so "taking it easy on our lungs & legs" means we only ran 4 miles in strides.

We figured we did about 800 repetitions of various upper body exercises. The guys ran and worked out with the guys while the girls ran and worked out with the girls.

Daily exercise has a way of regulating how we sleep, what we eat & how we feel. We tend to sleep better, eat smarter and feel more relaxed when we work out every day. On the surface, we look like a group of deranged, neurotic half wits chasing deamons. But that is through the eyes of the average slack bag that would rather sleep walk through life.

We are not a bunch of house plants waiting to be watered or fat cats waiting to be fed. This daily exercise is true to our nature.

Name Attendance
Prancey 26
Jenny 25
Kaffee 25
Susie Mac 24
John S 23
Gary 22
Cindy 21
Harriott 20
Kathleen 20
Michael 20
Michael S. 20
Paige 20
Todd 20
Holly 19
Love 19
Matthew 19
Amy 18
JoEllyn 18
Liz 18
Caroline 17
Dave B 16
Jennifer 16
Mary D. 16
Stacey 16
John O. 15
John O'Neill 15
Kristin 15
Lisa 15
Maggie 15
Mary Blythe 15
Charles 14
Jodi 14
Dave D 13
Frank 13
Irene 13
Jimmy F 13
Roxanna 13
Christine 12
Kristen 12
Margaret 12
John Mears 11
Allison 10
Anne M 10
Carolyn 10
Arnaud 9
Sally 9
Julianna 8
Slawek 8
Lisa M. 6
Sam 6
Steef 6
Wendy 6
Dolly 4

Conversational 8's

5 miles 500 repetitions of core exercise
Click on the link above to see the workout. Click the aerial view above the red 8. Pretty cool.

We took the "crazy" out of the Crazy 8s and made it coversational. Conversational is the type of workout where you go just as hard as you can go while carrying on a conversation. This mornings workout more resembled a cocktail party than platoon style group basic training. It was a perfect two day combination. We went hard on the hard surface yesterday and easy on the soft surface today.

Yesterdays workout must have been hard because, even with the big swinging richards at the front, the inevitable testosterone injected jail break never materialized. Folks were happy to get it in. By the way, todays medium day was FIVE miles and FIVE HUNDRED repetitions of various core exercise. This is a special group.

Name Attendance

Prancey 25
Jenny 24
Kaffee 24
Susie Mac 24

John S 22
Gary 21
Cindy 20
Paige 20
Todd 20

Harriott 19
Holly 19
Kathleen 19
Matthew 19
Michael 19
Michael S. 19
Amy 18
Love 18

JoEllyn 17
Liz 17
Caroline 16
Dave B 15
Jennifer 15
Kristin 15
Maggie 15
Mary D. 15
Stacey 15
Charles 14
John O. 14
John O'Neill 14
Lisa 14
Mary Blythe 14

Dave D 13
Irene 13
Jodi 13

Frank 12
Jimmy F 12
Roxanna 12
Kristen 11
Margaret 11
Anne M 10
Carolyn 10
John Mears 10
Allison 9
Arnaud 9
Sally 9
Julianna 7
Slawek 7
Lisa M. 6
Sam 6
Wendy 6
Steef 5
Dolly 3

TRACK

15X400 with 50 reps of legs exercise for recovery

We did a track workout today. We are the only Boot Camp in town that does anything close to this. In fact, this workout was tougher than anything going on in high school track. It was just flat out hauling butt.

Caroline was wearing the watch today. She was smack in the middle. If you look at the readout, on the left side is a summary. In the box below the summary click on "view splits". You can see how consistent she was for the entire workout. This was blazing fast but "in control". Notice her "best pace" was stuck on 4:50 until the final laps where she kicked it in. Controlled.

The pack around her was a little faster or a little slower but everyone was in control. We started out with two groups. About half way through the workout, each group split in two. We had four groups simultaneously running repeat quarters. Then near the end of the workout we merged back into two groups and finally we reconnected everyone for a final 600 meters.

For those of us who have a Track & Field background, this was beautiful poetry in motion. The sight of 40 people taking turns galloping around the oval in perfect harmony, striding in packs and drawing energy from the pack to continue was beautiful. 4 miles, 750 reps.

We are going to take it easy for the rest of the week.

Princess  got off the hook. Arnaud's bride, Dawn joined us today. We did the exercises but we only dropped the hammer once.

Name Attendance

Prancey 25
Jenny 24
Susie Mac 23
Kaffee 22
John S 21
Gary 20
Cindy 19
Paige 19
Todd 19
Amy 18
Harriott 18
Holly 18
Kathleen 18
Matthew 18
Michael 18
Michael S. 18
JoEllyn 17
Liz 17
Love 17
Caroline 15
Dave B 15
Stacey 15
Charles 14
Jennifer 14
John O'Neill 14
Kristin 14
Maggie 14
Mary D. 14
Dave D 13
John O. 13
Lisa 13
Mary Blythe 13
Irene 12
Jodi 12
Christine 11
Frank 11
Jimmy F 11
Kristen 11
Roxanna 11
Anne M 10
John Mears 10
Margaret 10
Carolyn 9
Allison 8
Arnaud 8
Sally 8
Julianna 7
Lisa M. 6
Sam 6
Slawek 6
Steef 5
Wendy 5
Dolly 2

Day 21

We have 9 more weekdays in the current session.

Now that Lent is over, many of us feel the need to indulge our cravings and make up for lost time.

The workouts are going great. We have solid crowds, we are adding newcomers weekly, and weather is cooperating. Today's crowds knocked out 3 miles and 500 repetitions of core muscle exercise.

Saturday we did the Crazy 8 combo's. We had a great workout. We did 4 miles 600 reps. It was really 1,200 reps if you double count for the combinations. We did Arm/Leg combo's on every stop. It was a fairly advanced workout. People were still talking about it this morning.

Name Attendance
Prancey 24
Jenny 23

Susie Mac 22
Kaffee 21
John S 20
Gary 19
Paige 19
Cindy 18
Todd 18
Amy 17
Harriott 17
JoEllyn 17
Kathleen 17
Liz 17
Matthew 17
Michael 17
Michael S. 17
Holly 16
Love 16
Dave B 14
Jennifer 14
Mary D. 14
Stacey 14
Caroline 13
Charles 13
John O'Neill 13
Kristin 13
Maggie 13
Dave D 12
John O. 12
Lisa 12
Mary Blythe 12
Christine 11
Irene 11
Jimmy F 11
Kristen 11
Roxanna 11
Frank 10
Jodi 10
Anne M 9
Carolyn 9
John Mears 9
Margaret 9
Allison 8
Sally 8
Arnaud 7
Julianna 7
Slawek 6
Lisa M. 5
Sam 5
Steef 5
Wendy 5
Dolly 1

Friday Fun Day

It did not rain. There was a transformer explode near by during the warm up, but no actual storm.

We had a large crowd leave E Rivers at 6:03AM and head south on Peachtree. We stopped at the grass outside of Willy's (where has that guy been?) and did 40 sit ups. Early in the workouts, folks whine about getting the morning dew on their pants and back. We ran further up the way until we reached the Wells Fargo grass where we did 40 V Crunches. We ran past Justins and took a right before Whitney Huston's and ran down the hill to Colonial Homes.We have been spending Fridays on the Belt line. This is where we jump on it. We did 40 push ups at the start of the belt line then began to follow it. We stopped about 400 meters down and did 80 flutter kicks. We took an extra 20 seconds to demonstrate the correct form for flutter kicks. Another 1/4 mile over the river and through the woods we cranked out another 40 push ups. There are two children's playgrounds on the belt line. We stopped at both of them, once for 40 more push ups and again for plank crunches. Dan's yard had become a weekly stop. We would like to thank Dan for his wonderful grass. He's got the good stuff. We did 24 (6 count ab builders) on Dan's yard. (new record). We ran to the hospital where there is always an eager group of employees waiting in line to drive into the parking deck and get to the honorable task of caring for the sick. We were careful they didn't run us over. 40 more push ups then we ran to Peachtree St. There is another awesome patch of grass across the street from Chic-fil-a where we did 80 bicycles and 80 back bends. We stopped 2 more times on our way back to E Rivers. Both times for 40 push ups. That made 5 sets of 40 push ups combined with 520 various core exercises during a 3.5 mile run.

Princesses did the same workout in a Church Run.

Name Attendance
Prancey 22
Jenny 21
John S 20
Kaffee 20
Susie Mac 20
Gary 19
Paige 19
Cindy 18
Todd 18
Amy 17
Harriott 17
JoEllyn 17
Kathleen 17
Matthew 17
Michael 17
Michael S. 17
Liz 16
Holly 15
Love 15
Jennifer 14
Stacey 14
Dave B 13
Mary D. 13
Caroline 12
Charles 12
Dave D 12
John O. 12
John O'Neill 12
Kristin 12
Lisa 12
Maggie 12
Christine 11
Irene 11
Jimmy F 11
Kristen 11
Mary Blythe 11
Roxanna 11
Frank 10
Jodi 10
Anne M 9
Carolyn 9
John Mears 9
Margaret 9
Allison 8
Julianna 7
Sally 7
Arnaud 6
Slawek 6
Lisa M. 5
Sam 5
Steef 5
Dan 4
Fred 4
Wendy 4
Owen 3
Caroline V 2
Marc 2
Martha 2
Dana 1

Church Run

30 of the finest guys and gals in these parts set out this morning before sunrise for exercise. They warmed up, stretched, stepped, stomped, squatted, lunged, stomped some more then lunged some more. By the time we hit the trees at the Duck Pond, we were warmed up and ready to work. We raised, lifted, spun and squeezed our lower leg muscles in between short runs around Church campuses at the bend on Peachtree St. Participants cranked out 820 repetitions of various lower body exercises before running back to the E Rivers track. Those who have mileage minimum requirements ran a miracle mile before calling it a day.

Princesses did the same exercises around Chastain.

Saturdays bonus workout will be at 8AM.

Garden Hills

CLICK HERE AND SIGN UP TODAY

Many of us have already registered for the 5k weekend after next. Get signed up before it closes.

Today was medium. We visited Church Turn and Garden Hills today. There was slow running with lots of stops. We did 600 repetitions of various core exercises. The temperature outside was perfect. Conditions for outdoor training are excellent.

The Pack is beautiful. Boot Camp is on cruise control. It is wonderful to step back and see.

Running great Grete Waitz lost her battle with cancer this week. As we celebrate one of the greatest Boston Marathons ever run this past Monday, we can also remember Grete as a gutsy competitor and wonderful ambassador to road racing.

Name Attendance
Prancey 20
Jenny 19
John S 18
Kaffee 18
Susie Mac 18
Gary 17
Kathleen 17
Michael 17
Paige 17
Amy 16
Cindy 16
JoEllyn 16
Todd 16
Harriott 15
Matthew 15
Michael S. 15
Holly 14
Liz 14
Love 13
Jennifer 12
John O. 12
Mary D. 12
Stacey 12
Caroline 11
Charles 11
Dave B 11
Dave D 11
Jimmy F 11
John O'Neill 11
Kristin 11
Lisa 11
Maggie 11
Roxanna 11
Frank 10
Irene 10
Kristen 10
Mary Blythe 10
Christine 9
Anne M 8
Carolyn 8
Jodi 8
Allison 7
John Mears 7
Julianna 7
Margaret 7
Arnaud 6
Sally 6
Sam 5
Slawek 5

Gas on the Grass

Triple Nickel's Crazy 8s                        http://connect.garmin.com/activity/80189955

People are getting in great shape. The attendance has been good. The energy is up. We are watching folks melt layers of pudding away and leaving beautiful shapes and distinctive lines. We talked about it all winter long. Now we are seeing it.

 Working out reduces stress and depression. Working out helps us sleep better. Working out raises our energy levels. Working out is fun and social. Its all good,  but really... it gets down to LOOKING GOOD.

Everyone did 600 reps of various arm, shoulder and back exercises. The Princesses ran barefoot on the grass and worked on their stride.

The 555 laid it down. We split into two groups, Men and Women. The Ladies exercised while the Gentleman ran then, they switched. The group exercising created a gauntlet that the runners ran through. Every time the runners passed, there were spectators watching. Oh Glory. Aint nothing like a set of eyeballs to keep everyone honest. This mornings workout was hard. Everyone was hammering and there was nowhere to hide. Beautiful.

Beltline 5K on 4/30/2011    This is a neighborhood race on our turf. Friday Fun Day has featured a loop that runs along the Beltline. Many of you have run this new fan favorite many times. Some of you may have never seen it in the daylight. It is a beautiful oasis in the land of concrete and asphault. It is a quiet nature trail that intown families are discovering.

Now for the good part. We are going to set up camp at the start/finish line of this race. It is a perfect place to bring the family. Awards will be given to overall female/male. Top female/male in each age category: 14 & under, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and 60&over.

We are going to collect nearly every award. Plan on running because we are going to need everyone. Go ahead and sign up today.



Name Attendance
Prancey 19
Jenny 18
John S 17
Kaffee 17
Susie Mac 17
Gary 16
Kathleen 16
Michael 16
Paige 16
Amy 15
Cindy 15
JoEllyn 15
Michael S. 15
Todd 15
Harriott 14
Holly 14
Liz 14
Matthew 14
Love 12
Mary D. 12
Dave D 11
John O. 11
Maggie 11
Stacey 11
Caroline 10
Charles 10
Dave B 10
Jennifer 10
Jimmy F 10
John O'Neill 10
Kristin 10
Lisa 10
Mary Blythe 10
Roxanna 10
Christine 9
Frank 9
Irene 9
Kristen 9
Anne M 8
Carolyn 7
Jodi 7
John Mears 7
Julianna 7
Allison 6
Arnaud 6
Margaret 6
Sally 5
Sam 5
Dan 4
Lisa M. 4
Slawek 4
Wendy 4
Owen 3
Steef 3
Caroline V 2
Fred 2
Marc 2
Martha 2
Dana 1

Start of week 4

Princess Loop                           Saturday on campus

Everyone did 700 repetitions of various core muscle exercises today. Triple Nickel did the E. Rivers/PRUMC/E. Rivers out and back. We stopped all along the way up Peachtree St for exercises until we arrived at the Church. The Preacher said a few words and we ran back down the hill.

The Princess loop was interrupted by road rage. Of course it was a lady. No dude would road rage on a dozen beautiful women crossing the street. Man, it was weird. There are some wacky, unhappy motorist in the world. Running and working out is such a peaceful, harmless, victimless event. We can only guess that fear is the cause of the rage. On the exact same run we passed a lady smiling from ear to ear bidding us good morning and showering us with her joy and love. She was taking pleasure in our workout. We cranked along and observed with curiosity. 700 is a lot. Princesses are in fantastic shape.

Saturdays workout was pretty hard. We did 1,000 reps of leg exercise. We did a ton of squats and lunges. Our legs are still sore from that over the top effort.

Belt Line 3.5 w/ 710 reps of core exercise (200 push ups)

There will be a massage therapist at the workout tomorrow. The workout is OPEN. Bring kids, bring friends, come visit if you have been away for a while.

Deka Atlanta sells more Newtons than any store in Atlanta ... They will have shoes to Demo tomorrow.

Newton Advertisement:

Newton Running is the leader in designing footwear that mimics the movement of your bare foot and the first running brand to introduce Natural Running form to runners and retailers world wide. We were founded in March 2007. Our core technology development took place over fourteen years of work with top athletes and industry professionals. We strive to be an information center for better running form, injury prevention and training. Our shoes are proven to provide superior shock absorption and energy return.
 Newton Running shoes were designed to simulate the efficient, natural motion of barefoot running while providing superior protection from unnatural surfaces. The low-profile design, level construction and energy-enhancing technology improves your body’s sensory feedback of the ground while positioning the body in the most efficient posture for running. With N ewton R unning S hoes you’ll naturally have a higher cadence, an increased energy return, greater biomechanical shock absorption, and lower impact. Y ou’ll run smoother and more efficiently, putting you on a path to stronger, healthier and faster running.
Striking on your midfoot/forefoot is the most natural and efficient way to run.

Find your sweet spot - When you walk, you land on your heels. When you sprint, you land on your toes. An optimal running gait falls somewhere in-between. Efficient running is about landing on your sweet spot. Not your heel, not your toes. Newton R unning encourages running on your midfoot/forefoot.

Natural Running Form
01 Athletic position (ankles and knees slightly flexed, not locked)
02 Hips and shoulders level
03 Stand tall – belly button to chin
04 Head level (look forward, not down)
05 Feet pointing forward
06 Arms at 90o and relaxed
07 Pull arms back (keeps upper body forward)
08 Fall forward, short strides (90 steps per foot, per minute)
09 Land midfoot (Chi) or forefoot and let the heel settle (performance)
10 Lift the foot off the ground (don’t push off)

Common Mistakes & Prompts
- Heel striking/braking (land under center,shorten stride, increase cadence)
- Landing on toes or pointing toes down (land parallel to the ground)
- Pushing off toes with excessive force (lift and the place foot under your body)
- Feet pointed out or pigeon toed (feet should point a forward direction)
- Side to side movement, e.g. arms or hips (all body movements front to back)
- Too much vertical motion (higher cadence, shorter strides/lean forward)
- Looking down (look forward to the horizon)
- Landing with loud foot strikes (land lightly and quietly/self regulate your impact)

Barefoot Running

In today's encore excerpt - some members of an emerging class of very long distance runners known as "ultrarunners" have begun to advocate running barefoot or in thin-soled shoes:

"Running shoes may be the most destructive force to ever hit the human foot. ... Consider these words by Dr. Daniel Lieberman, a professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University: 'A lot of foot and knee injuries that are currently plaguing us are actually caused by people running with shoes that actually make our feet weak, cause us to over-pronate, give us knee problems. Until 1972, when the modem athletic shoe was invented by Nike, people ran in very thin-soled shoes, had strong feet, and had much lower incidence of knee injuries.' ...

"We've shielded our feet from their natural position by providing more and more support," [Stanford track head coach Vin] Lananna insisted. That's why he made sure his runners always did part of their workouts in bare feet on the track's infield. ... 'I think you try to do all these corrective things with shoes and you overcompensate. You fix things that don't need fixing. If you strengthen the foot by going barefoot, I think you reduce the risk of Achilles and knee and plantar fascia problems.'

" 'Risk' isn't quite the right term; it's more like 'dead certainty.' Every year, anywhere from 65 to 80 percent of all runners suffer an injury. That's nearly every runner, every single year. No matter who you are, no matter how much you run, your odds of getting hurt are the same. It doesn't matter if you're male or female, fast or slow, pudgy or ripped as a racehorse, your feet are still in the danger zone. Maybe you'll beat the odds if you stretch like a swami? Nope. In a 1993 study of Dutch athletes published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, one group of runners was taught how to warm up and stretch while a second group received no 'injury prevention' coaching. Their injury rates? Identical. Stretching came out even worse in a follow-up study performed the following year at the University of Hawaii; it found that runners who stretched were 33 percent more likely to get hurt. ...

"In fact, there's no evidence that running shoes are any help at all in injury prevention. ... Runners wearing top-of-the-line shoes are 123 percent more likely to get injured than runners in cheap shoes, according to a study led by Bernard Marti, M.D., a preventative-medicine specialist at Switzerland's University of Bern. ...

" 'The deconditioned musculature of the foot is the greatest issue leading to injury, and we've allowed our feet to become badly deconditioned over the past twenty-five years,' [the Irish physical therapist] Dr. Gerard Hartmann said. ... 'Putting your feet in shoes is similar to putting them in a plaster cast,' Dr. Hartmann said. 'If I put your leg in plaster, we'll find forty to sixty percent atrophy of the musculature within six weeks. Something similar happens to your feet when they're encased in shoes.' When shoes are doing the work, tendons stiffen and muscles shrivel. Feet live for a fight and thrive under pressure; let them laze around, as [miler] Alan Webb discovered, and they'll collapse. Work them out, and they'll arc up like a rainbow. ...

"[The change began in 1962 when Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman created] the most cushioned running shoe ever created - the Cortez. ... Bowerman's deftest move was advocating a new style of running that was only possible in his new style of shoe. The Cortez allowed people to run in a way no human safely could before: by landing on their bony heels. Before the invention of a cushioned shoe, runners through the ages had identical form: Jesse Owens, Roger Bannister, Frank Shorter, and even Emil Zatopek all ran with backs straight, knees bent, feet scratching back under their hips. They had no choice: the only shock absorption came from the compression of their legs and their thick pad of midfoot fat. ...

"But Bowerman had an idea: maybe you could grab a little extra distance if you stepped ahead of your center of gravity. Stick a chunk of rubber under the heel, he mused, and you could straighten your leg, land on your heel, and lengthen your stride. ... He believed a 'heel-to-toe' stride would be 'the least tiring over long distances.' If you've got the shoe for it."

Author: Christopher McDougall
Title: Born to Run
Publisher: Knopf
Date: Copyright 2009 by Christopher McDougall
Pages: 169-181

Day 13 Crazy 8s

Triple Nickel Crazy 8s

Princess Boot Camp Frankie Allen Ball Fields

The Grass is The BEST surface for The Pack. Grass is forgiving. Grass absorbs impact. Grass likes us. Grass is our friend. You see, when we get down on the grass breathing real hard, grass gets excited. The stuff coming out of our mouths is carbon dioxide. Grass loves it when we shower it with CO2. Grass is very grateful. Grass shows its appreciation to us by returning Oxygen. Many of us are sucking as hard as we can to get O. The relationship between us and grass doesn't stop there. Many salads we eat look like yard clippings before we swallow it. Many of the animals we consume for food also eat grass. Although we do not recommend it, a few of us may have smoked grass too.

We are very grateful to have the largest yard in Buckhead available to us. Today's run was 5 miles. We knocked out 100 push ups and 400 core exercises. 5 & 500 is the crazy 8 standard. Click on the links above to view the splits. Click on "view splits" to see "average moving pace". We were a little better than 8 minute/mile pace before finishing faster. The Pack did THE BEST job ever today. In 5 years, we have never seen this workout run so well. Perfect execution.

Name Attendance

Jenny 14
Cindy 13
John S 13
Kaffee 13
Prancey 13
Susie Mac 13
Gary 12
Holly 12
Kathleen 12
Michael 12
Michael S. 12
Amy 11
JoEllyn 11
Matthew 11
Paige 11
Todd 11
Harriott 10
Mary Blythe 10
Liz 9
Love 9
Maggie 9
Mary D. 9
Dave B 8
Dave D 8
Jennifer 8
Kristen 8
Caroline 7
Irene 7
John O. 7
Roxanna 7
Stacey 7
Anne M 6
Charles 6
Christine 6
Jimmy F 6
John O'Neill 6
Kristin 6
Lisa 6
Carolyn 5
Frank 5
Julianna 5
Allison 4
Arnaud 4
John Mears 4
Sam 4
Wendy 4
Dan 3
Jodi 3
Margaret 3
Owen 3
Sally 3
Caroline V 2
Lisa M. 2
Marc 2
Martha 2
Slawek 2
Steef 2

Day 12

The social aspect of The Pack should not be underestimated. The Pack is very social. The Pack looks after its own. Even new folks in the pack can start to identify with the people they are working out with.

When we wake up and leave our families in our houses, drive, park, get out of our cars and take off our sweat suits, we have stripped ourselves of the things by which most people identify us. When we step on the track, we leave our status and standing in the world behind and join a fellowship that moves with a common purpose. It doesn't matter if we individually can run a lap in one minute or three, we are all working one hour a day to improve our fitness. Each and every person who attends these daily rituals plays an important part to that end.

We draw an amazing amount of energy from The Pack. We accomplish quite a bit more together than we would on our own. As the days go on, we become more familiar with The Pack and The Pack becomes more familiar with us. Rrelationship's in The Pack grow and we rely on The Pack more and more.

Today The Pack cranked out 780 reps in a 3 mile Church Run. All the exercise was lower body muscles. Lots of squats and lunges today.

Name Attendance

Jenny 13
Cindy 12
John S 12
Prancey 12
Susie Mac 12
Amy 11
Gary 11
Holly 11
Kaffee 11
Kathleen 11
Michael 11
Michael S. 11
Paige 11
JoEllyn 10
Mary Blythe 10
Matthew 10
Todd 10
Harriott 9
Mary D. 9
Dave B 8
Dave D 8
Liz 8
Love 8
Maggie 8
Caroline 7
Irene 7
Jennifer 7
Kristen 7
Anne M 6
Christine 6
Jimmy F 6
John O. 6
Kristin 6
Roxanna 6
Stacey 6
Charles 5
Frank 5
John O'Neill 5
Lisa 5
Carolyn 4
John Mears 4
Julianna 4
Sam 4
Wendy 4
Allison 3
Arnaud 3
Dan 3
Owen 3
Caroline V 2
Jodi 2
Marc 2
Margaret 2
Martha 2
Sally 2
Slawek 2
Steef 2
Lisa M. 1
MLKDay5K

Day 11

Name Attendance
Jenny 12
John S 11
Kaffee 11
Prancey 11
Susie Mac 11
Amy 10
Cindy 10
Gary 10
Holly 10
JoEllyn 10
Kathleen 10
Michael 10
Michael S. 10
Paige 10
Mary Blythe 9
Matthew 9
Todd 9
Harriott 8
Love 8
Mary D. 8
Caroline 7
Dave B 7
Dave D 7
Irene 7
Jennifer 7
Kristen 7
Liz 7
Maggie 7
Anne M 6
Jimmy F 6
Kristin 6
Roxanna 6
Stacey 6
Christine 5
John O. 5
John O'Neill 5
Carolyn 4
Charles 4
Frank 4
Lisa 4
Wendy 4
Allison 3
Arnaud 3
Dan 3
John Mears 3
Julianna 3
Owen 3
Caroline V 2
Marc 2
Martha 2
Sally 2
Steef 2
Jodi 1
Lisa M. 1
Slawek 1

Saturday's Hammer Time
 
We have growing crowds at every workout. We have over 20 folks that make it nearly every day. This Pack is setting the bar pretty high.
 
If getting in shape is a high priority, join this pack. Its real simple. Show up every day. Get in the pack. Systematically remove the carbon rubber from the bottom of your shoes. Be mindful of your form during exercises and running. Drink plenty of water. Ice whatever muscles hurt. Keep showing up.

Friday Fun Day

850 repetitions of various core exercises. 200 were push ups. 3 times we did sets of 100. We are known as the "running bootcamp" but we can crank out some exercises. All of this exercise came during a 3 1/2 mile run. We completed the workout in 54 minutes. Try that on your own sometime. 3.5 miles and 850 reps. Tough stuff.

We are meeting for a Saturday workout tomorrow morning at 730AM. This is an open workout. If your are in Boot Camp, have done Boot Camp before, have never done Boot Camp, never wanted to join but want to attend a free workout, hate working out but like to watch fitness nuts suffer, cant sleep and you are looking for someone to talk to, want to bring your kids and throw them in the mix, want to bring your kids and let them play while you work out, want to set up an outdoor breakfast buffet for some random people, or have serious fitness goal this summer, COME ON.

Hips, thighs, quads, hams, calves, butt, cardio

The flow of this mornings triple nickel workout was roughly the equivalent of a conga line at a reception that's had an open bar past midnight. Folks were out of step and stumbling everywhere. Then there were the "non participants" that were yapping on the sidelines.

We have a simple solution for workouts with zero attention and no energy. We line up on the track, pull out the watch and run intervals. Yet again, this age old, time tested workout put the BOOT back in Boot Camp.

The rebooted workout was beautiful. 6 X 400 w/ 80 reps recovery. Total of everything was 3 miles, 700 reps. Michael S. finished with an 84 second quarter. This is a guy who couldnt break two minutes to save his life. Kaffee was dropping this guy like a sack of potatoes last year.

The Princess worked the lower body muscles too. These beauties can keep the intensity high and carry a conversation. We did the Buckhead tour, 3 miles, 700 reps. Always a pleasure.

Name Attendance
Cindy 9
Jenny 9
Kaffee 9
Amy 8
Gary 8
Holly 8
JoEllyn 8
Kathleen 8
Michael S. 8
Paige 8
Prancey 8
Susie Mac 8
Harriott 7
John S 7
Liz 7
Mary D. 7
Michael 7
Todd 7
Anne M 6
Caroline 6
Kristen 6
Love 6
Maggie 6
Mary Blythe 6
Matthew 6
Dave B 5
Irene 5
Jennifer 5
Jimmy F 5
Kristin 5
Christine 4
Dave D 4
John O. 4
Stacey 4
Wendy 4
Arnaud 3
Carolyn 3
Frank 3
John O'Neill 3
Julianna 3
Lisa 3
Owen 3
Allison 2
Caroline V 2
Charles 2
Dan 2
John Mears 2
Marc 2
Martha 2
Sally 2
Leslie 1
Steef 1

Core Muscles

555 - Church Run

830 - Lenox

Everyone did 700 repetitions of core exercise. 50 sit ups, 100 bicycles, 50 back bends, side crunches of various types, 6 count ab builders, 100 flutter kicks and much more. It was a lot. All middle.

There is not a whole lot to say about these workouts. Anyone can hang with us for a day. We don't kill ourselves in a single workout very often. We have harder days and easier but we rarely go all out. Our style of fitness is designed for one hour of activity every day. We want to leave every workout feeling refreshed and not beat up. We want to wake up every morning looking forward to our one hour of physical exercise. If we take care of ourselves( drink lots of water, sleep, eat right after workouts, ice muscles that hurt, get massage, warm up before workouts, stretch after), we can reel off 100 days in a row. We can even lead an active lifestyle outside of bootcamp,( tennis, golf, road racing, playing with kids, chopping wood, wrestling, triathlon, cliff diving, snow boarding, mountain climbing... just to name a few)

Jazzercize on the sponge

A violent storm wreaked havoc across the Magic Kingdom last night. Everywhere we looked there was debris scattered about. Running in the dark on the streets this morning would have been a bit like navigating a field of land mines. It was likely someone in the platoon would have gone down screaming of a twisted ankle.

So, we ran down and back  20 times on the field at E Rivers. In between each down and back, we worked shoulders, back & arms. At the end of the exercise we ran a "Miracle Mile." Miracle miles are tempo type efforts where we stride the straight aways and jog the turns. This type of running is designed to practice race pace running form without beating ourselves up with a race effort. Over the years we have figured the best way to learn how to run faster is by practicing running faster.

3.5 miles, 700 reps.

Princesses took a beating in the little shop of horrors.

Name Attendance

Cindy 7
Kaffee 7
Michael 7
Prancey 7
Amy 6
Gary 6
Holly 6
Jenny 6
JoEllyn 6
John S 6
Kathleen 6
Michael S. 6
Paige 6
Susie Mac 6
Dave B 5
Harriott 5
Liz 5
Love 5
Mary Blythe 5
Mary D. 5
Matthew 5
Todd 5
Anne M 4
Caroline 4
Dave D 4
Kristen 4
Kristin 4
Maggie 4
Christine 3
Irene 3
Jennifer 3
Jimmy F 3
John O'Neill 3
Owen 3
Stacey 3
Wendy 3
Allison 2
Arnaud 2
Caroline V 2
Carolyn 2
John Mears 2
John O. 2
Julianna 2
Lisa 2
Marc 2
Martha 2
Charles 1
Dan 1
Frank 1
Sally 1
Steef 1

Day 6

The week started with wonderful weather. We could not have asked for more perfect conditions for outdoor exercise. Even the pollen count was down from Saturdays insane #.

555 - We did the out and back this morning. We left E Rivers at 6:04 and started North on Peachtree. We stopped early and often. 40 V Crunches, 50 push ups, 50 sit ups, 50 side crunches, 50 dips, 50 back bends, 50 this, 50 that, 100 flutter kicks (ouch), 100 bicycles (hang on baby), more push ups and back bends. We continued to run North in between sets of various core exercises. Exercise, run, exercise, run. We finished at PRUMC 2 miles up up up the road. Having completed 700 reps(140 of which were push ups), we ran back down, down, down the hill.

830 - Big crowd. The Hot Moms and one Hot Dog got after it at The Frank on Bagley. They did the same workout as the early group.

We had decent crowds all winter. Spring is here and folks are in  shape. Very impressive.

Good running is springy and quiet

Exercises or drills in sport have a recognized way of performing the movements that have two purposes:

1) Avoiding injury: by using proper or 'good' form, the risk of injury is lowered. A lack of proper form commonly results in injury or a lack of effect from the exercise being performed.

2)Maximize benefit: Good form ensures that the movement only uses the main muscles, and avoids recruiting secondary muscles. As a muscle fatigues, the body attempts to compensate by recruiting other muscle groups and transferring force generation to non-fatigued units. This reduces the benefits in strength or size gain experienced by the muscles as they are not worked to failure.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267-268-8210-0,00.html

Good running is springy and quiet.

Name Attendance
Jenny 5
John S 5
Kaffee 5
Michael 5
Michael S. 5
Prancey 5
Cindy 4
Gary 4
Harriott 4
Holly 4
Kathleen 4
Liz 4
Susie Mac 4
Amy 3
Caroline 3
Dave B 3
Jennifer 3
John O'Neill 3
Kristen 3
Kristin 3
Mary Blythe 3
Mary D. 3
Matthew 3
Owen 3
Paige 3
Todd 3
Wendy 3
Allison 2
Anne M 2
Arnaud 2
Caroline V 2
Christine 2
Dave D 2
Irene 2
Jimmy F 2
JoEllyn 2
John Mears 2
Love 2
Maggie 2
Marc 2
Martha 2
Stacey 2
Carolyn 1
Charles 1
Julianna 1
Lisa 1
Steef 1