Posted by Ron Riskie on November 2, 2013 under Club Events | 
Valley Caterers
Mark your calendars for Saturday December 14th for our second annual RRCW Holiday Party!! The time is 7 PM to 11PM and the location is Valley Caterers, 523 Princeton Boulevard, (Oak Valley) Wenonah, NJ 08090 The cost is $30.00 per person and includes a sumptuous gourmet buffet, beer, wine, soda and awesome music provided by our very own DJ Rockin’ Ron Riskie! Deadline for payment is Saturday November 30th.
Posted by on October 2, 2013 under Running Tips |
“Focusing on Leadership” seminars, while logging in 55-mile weeks, have implanted an important word on my mind –‘diligence’. The definition of diligence is: “a steady application of effort to accomplish a task”; “exerting yourself to fulfill what is undertaken without unnecessary delay.” Attempting to understand the full strength of this concept, I asked a friend what diligence meant to him. Phil stated, “Moving in an intense pace with a strong motivation and purpose; being productive towards a mission.” I felt the statement – moving in an intense pace with a purpose, describes serious runners. Whether pertaining to running or living life to the fullest, the need to practice diligence is imperative.
We’ve all heard before: If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right. A diligent person knows, “If I don’t have time to do it right, then when will I have time to do it over?” This statement rings especially true, when applied to a training run. When the training run is finished, so is the participant (fatigued). Diligence teaches us to put the effort in at the beginning. Working relentlessly by investing all energy to complete the task of proper training, will result in a well-trained athlete. Diligence also finishes what it starts. It analyzes the investment and strives to finish the race to its productive end. In fact, for the diligent person, recognition is not needed; the final finish of a successful training or race is more meaningful than the accolades of others. Endurance refuses to fail. Though the road may be tough, the diligent runner maintains the ‘means to the end’ perspective.
Diligent leaders transform challenges and failures into stepping stones that increase ones character. Through diligence, people consciously choose to make the most of every skill and are capable of overcoming any disability. People of character are able to focus on the unseen goal. They do not take anything by chance – only to win by choice. True success requires that both ends and means are the product of correct principles as a result of character. Diligence works in collaboration with praise. It takes diligence on a teacher’s part to instruct students towards developing good morals. With daily praise, the teacher molds the children into value-driven humans; a feat worthy of every sacrifice. Applying diligence to every area of our lives will bring profitable results.
The diligent take time to plan and prepare, so that they can perform with excellence. In fact, it’s impossible to be truly diligent if you don’t have a clear vision of your goal. Men without vision will Parrish. A runner without vision of their goal will not win or in some case not finish. A good example of this principle pertaining to a consistent effort is marathon training. To be successful in running a full marathon requires a lot of mental and physical discipline. Diligence is necessary for proper preparation on the road to desired improvement towards a successful marathon finish. Every area in our lives starves for the performance of diligence.
“A true runner in their purist form utilizes diligence”
John K Carlson
“The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.”
Confucius
“Patience and Diligence, like faith, remove mountains.”
William Penn
Happy Running!
John K Carlson V.P.
RRCW
Posted by on September 23, 2013 under Running Tips |
Success in any endeavor requires a need for passion. Passion is a strong feeling of enthusiasm towards a goal or stated accomplishment. The sport of running requires a person who is enthusiastic about improving their physical fitness and race performance. The fuel that precedes the physical position is a great desire or passion. A lifetime routine that includes the discipline of running requires the ingredient of passion.
What has propelled the ordinary person to achieve great accomplishments? The answer is passion. Passion is the answer to personal growth. The extreme passionate runner breaths, sleeps, and eats running. Passion creates in us a dominating thought of running. An example of a dominating thought relative to running is “Concentrate on the sport of running, and do it better than anybody else.” The level of passion is in direct balance with the success rate of running. If we look into the lives of different athletes such as Michael Jordan who was cut from the high school basketball team, we can determine that passion played a big part in their success. Michael did not fit the success model in the beginning (according to someone else’s opinion); however Passion propelled his success later to become the best at the sport of basketball.
The law of explosive growth includes passion as the main component. Runners include many drills and ideas such as speed work, which is an important part of the training process. Without passion mixed into the physical elements of training the runner will eventually fade away. Your desire determines your destiny, weak desire brings weak results. The stronger your fire, the greater your desire. Nothing can take the place of passion as the main ingredient in the recipe that produces a successful runner.
Having a desire to follow your passion instead of allowing other people’s perceptions shape you, designs a well built freeway leading to success. Passion is the fuel for the will. The person who is struggling with passion can look to others for help. If you have lost your burning desire get around leaders who have the winning desire. When passion is failing me I turn to Geoff Shute who is a top runner in the RRCW family. Geoff is known for his incredible speed and desire for racing. Passion is contagious, so if you want to catch the disease get around the sick runners.
“Get it, feel it, be it, and then do it!”
“Anyone can dabble, but once you’ve made that commitment, your blood has that particular thing in it, and its very hard for people to stop you.”
Bill Cosby
Happy Running!
Coach John
Posted by on September 18, 2013 under Running Tips |
If you decided to become a runner, then seeking advice on how to start out is important. New runners ask the question “how do I get started? The last time I ran was in high school.” The answer to this question is: SLOW. The RRCW welcomes all new runners to join the club. There are many tips available on the site for experience racers involving intense training programs. On the flip side there are many tips available for beginners such as the article “Baby Steps.”
For the new runner I recommend the tip Baby Steps. The important message here is to get started and begin slow. If you are a person who desires to add running to your life, then congratulations for taking this courageous step towards health. The following is a small summary on how to get started.
The first step involves the process of taking that first step. Plan a weekly schedule that involves at least three days to commit to running and walking. Start slow, don’t go out and expect to run a race. The first four weeks should consist of a slow pace jog with walking sessions in-between.
Week one is based on the “don’t over do it method,” which introduces running to the body slowly. The main concern is injury prevention. We want to continue running while avoiding injury. A good measurement process is to monitor your breath. If you start to feel out of breath, slow down. If you are running with a partner be sure you can hold a conversation without breathing to hard. Drink plenty of water during the day and follow a good nutritional plan.
Week one example
Training, nutrition, pace, and hydration tips can be found on the RRCW site. The following week-one plan is from the tip Baby Steps.
WEEK 1
- Day-1 run one minute/ walk five minutes- repeat 4 xs
- Day-2 Same
- Day-3 Same
This is meant to be a very easy and simple start concerning the first week of training. Weeks 2-10 can be found by reading the article on Baby Steps.
I want to welcome all new runners and congratulate you all for having a winning attitude. It takes a person with courage to include a running routine in their life. The RRCW team is here to help and guide anyone who is serious about a successful running lifestyle.
“A ship in harbor is safe-but that is not what ships are for”.
- John A. Shell
Happy Running!
Coach John
RRCW
Posted by on September 11, 2013 under Running Tips |
The sport of running is intensified by the introduction of racing. Competitive runners use racing as a barometer of performance. The serious runner measures performance by a term called PR (performance record). The true motivation for a runner is not by comparing ourselves to others, but against yourself. The motivation is not the rewards, or place in the race, it is to run a particular distance faster than ever before. The focus is the quest for our own personal record.
This week’s tip focuses on increasing your PR at one of the best 5Ks in South Jersey (Race down Broad Street). Woodbury’s Race Down Broad Street takes place on Saturday October 5, 2013 at 5:45 PM. The attendance at this race includes many top competitors with a main focus on improving their PR. This 5K has an excellent course, which provides ideal conditions to improve on race performance. Let’s review what types of training that can be done to prepare for this race.
Interval Training
Running at high intensity at short periods of time is the art of interval training. The goal of interval training is to increase the body’s tolerance to oxygen debt. When muscles are overloaded, they cannot process enough oxygen to burn fuel efficiently. This form of training increases your body’s capacity to handle oxygen debt. The result is a body that has better endurance, which can produce a faster PR.
21 minute temp run:
The 21 minute tempo run was designed by yours truly based on the average time a runner is engaged in a 5k race pace. First take your 5K PR pace per mile and decrease by 30 seconds. This is the pace that you will hold for 21 minutes. This type of training will increase your comfort level in maintaining the goal pace to the finish line.
Fartlek’s:
Fartlek’s is Swedish for speed plan. This is one of the easiest and convenient training practices that can be performed anywhere except under water. Fartlek’s can be done even without a certified track or a marked course. The simple idea is to accelerate at different intervals within the runner’s normal run. The best way to perform a fartlek is to incorporate small spurts of speed in between objects or within a certain measured time. The average amount of intervals is from four to ten repeats per session.
Examples:
- Run a speed interval from one telephone pole to the next with a three minute easy recovery jog in-between.
- Time 20 second speed spurts with a three minute easy jog in-between.
Track Work:
Track work is still the best way to measure speed and pace performance. A certified track is measured accurately to inform the runner what pace he or she is running. Speed work is usually done on a track, which provides three main benefits?
- Improves running form.
- Helps push through mental barriers
- Helps runners to adapt to oxygen debt.
Examples of speed sessions:
- 400’s- 10 repeats @five seconds faster than 5K pace with one lap recovery
- 200’s- 12 repeats @five seconds faster than 5K pace with one lap recovery
- 1000’s-4-6 repeats @ five seconds faster than 5K pace with a three minute walk in-between for recovery.
Start these training sessions this week to help sharpen up for the Race Down Broad Street. Please get plenty of sleep and rest in-between sessions. Do not perform two speed or interval sessions back to back; make sure you have an easy two days in-between. Always warm-up before and cool down after each session. Stretch after each session to increase flexibility and reduce injury. Last but defiantly not least drink your water (a gallon a day). I will see you all at the race, and I know you will do great!!!
Happy Running!
John K Carlson V.P.
RRCW
