Hi everyone, hope all is well. Crazy it is already week 10. We are in the middle of the training. It may be getting a little harder to wake up for practice. You might be a little sore. Many excuses could keep you from coming to practice. I strongly encourage you to stay tough and keep motivated. You will be so proud of yourself!! Dig deep and stay for the long haul. :)

Miles: 14
Time: 6am
Location: Granada Park
6505 North 20th Street
Phoenix, AZ
East of SR 51/Squaw Peak off the Glendale/Lincoln Road exit. Go south on 20th Street to Maryland. Park is on the east side of the road.

Good luck to Erin this Sunday is one of her big races of the season. She will be running a ½ marathon in San Jose, California. Good luck and keep us posted after the race.

Many of us are planning on running the Susan G. Coleman 5k race this Sunday morning. The race is to benefit breast cancer awareness. It would be great to see you in your IKAG shirts. We will meet 1 hr. before the race. http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm

Many of us are planning on running the Las Vegas ½ marathon the 1st weekend in December. The race is on Sunday, I also found a fun 5k Santa run on that Saturday. I will be doing the 5k so if anyone has family going to watch and they want to run with Santa visit www.opportunityvillage.org

This weekend is longer mileage so it is important to hydrate before hand and dress appropriately. This will give you a chance to layer your clothing. Early you will be cold, later you will be warm. If you keep your head and hands warm your body will feel better. So I usually start out with gloves (cheepies at Wal-Mart), shorts, tank, and a long sleeve. I can take the gloves off and tie my long sleeve tee around my waist when I get too hot.

If you are having shin splints, ice your shins before you run on Saturday. Trust me it is worth waking up a little earlier to take care of the injury.

Sorry this is going out so late this week. (I have mommy brain and totally forgot to send this :(

OK, now this is really late, so sorry! Our internet just started to work again.

Hope everyones week has been going well.

Location: Chaparral park
Time: 6am
miles: 13-14

TIMED MILE THIS WEEK :)

The calendar on the website says the location is SCC, it is not. We
will meet at Chaparral park, 6am.

We will have a question/answer review over topics this weekend.

One tip on Blisters:
As you know, blisters are formed by constant
rubbing of your skin. What happens is the friction
causes the skin layers to separate. Fluid then
enters the space between the separated skin layers
and a blister is formed.

What most people do is apply a lubricant such
as powders, gels, oil or glycerin. This is
fine on shorter training sessions, however the
lubricants actually trap moisture in the applied
area and worsen the likelihood of a blister forming.

The ideal way to prevent blistering is to remove
the moisture build-up in the area you develop
blistering. The best way to do that is to invest
in a pair of moisture wicking socks, that are
available at most good sporting stores.

Have a great rest of your week, Sarah

Hi Guys,

Attached is all the information for the race. If you are unable to do
the race please just run for one solid hour on your own.

We forgot to talk about the pre-race pasta party at our house. We
will be serving pasta at 6:30 pm this Friday night. We will talk more
about race day tactics and have some inspirational stories to share.
Feel free to make it a family event. If you can please RSVP so we
know how much food to prepare.

Home # if you are lost -480-812-1675
Or cell 602-69709448

Our address: 447 W country estates Ave.
Gilbert 85233

Our house is off of Cooper between Warner and Ray road.

Awesome job on the hills last weekend. They kicked my you know
what!!! We are so excited for all of you doing your 1st race this
season.

See you soon, Sarah, Josh, and baby

NEW SATURDAY START TIME: 6am :)
Place: South Mountrain Park, 6am direction at bottom
Miles: 13-14
Time: 6am
Topic: Preparation for racing

Next week is the Moon valley 5K. If you have not registered you can
register race morning.

Tip for racing: Be prepared! The night before it is very important
to have your h2o bottles ready, the food you will eat planned out,
your clothes set out, socks and shoes ready, and a double alarm clock. If
you do all these things the night before, the stress of race morning
will be minimized. Josh will go over all his tips on Saturday to get
us all ready for the big event.

Review of last week: Keep track of what you eat/drink on your runs to
determine what works best for your body. The sheet Josh handed out is
attached. I have never done this before so I'm pretty excited to do
it and figure out what works best for my body.

Yeah, its finally cooler. We have no middle ground. It might be
chili on Saturday morning early and heat up while we are out on the run.

See ya on Saturday,
Sarah, Josh, and baby Iris
If we have not heard from you in a while please drop us a line to let
us know what is going on.

Directions:
Take Central Ave South of Baseline for about 4 miles. Central Ave will
become the access
road for South Mountain State Park. Enter the park. At the FIRST
Guard Shack make a left
and follow the road all the way back to the Large Parking Lot. Look
for our big van and
awesome new team sign :)

Eating & Drinking on the move

Have we mentioned how proud of you guys we are. So many of us have
been out there running, getting in shape, starting a new lifestyle.
It's awesome! It only gets easier, the heat will soon go away :)
Keep it up. This is when you have to dig deep. We are all a lil'
sick of the extreme temperatures. But you have come this far, 6
weeks. Nice work!!!

Location: Pecos Park
Directions to Pecos Park:

From I-10 exit Chandler blvd head West, turn S. on 48ths street,
drive straight into the park. We will be in the 1st parking lot on
the right. Look for our new nice sign and big ol van.

Time: 5:30 am
Miles: 9-10 we are dropping down for a lil rest :)
Topic: Eating and drinking on the move

I'm very excited about this topic. The better the fuel inside your
body the better you walk/run.

1) HYDRATE
This is very important! Hydrate everyday not just on the long run
days. Personally I try to drink 1 gallon of water on Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday. The better you are hydrated the more efficient
and optimally your body operates.

2) FOOD
You need to eat. One of the most important meals before a long run or
race is the dinner 2 nights before the race. The food you eat at this
meal is what gives you the long sustainable energy during the run. As
a marathoner it is extremely important to eat balanced. No carb
cutting. We need lean protien, good fats, and complete carbohydrates
such as fruits and veggies.

3) GU or GELS
The number one mistake most people make with the gels is they start
them too early and do not take enough of them. You never want to use
a gu on a workout 90 minutes or less. The only exception is if you
are running a quick 5k. Once you start using the gels your body needs
one every 30-45 minutes optamally so your sugars don't crash leaving
you feeling yucky.

More of the topic to come on Saturday so you better all show up. :)

New goal setting time. Write down your goal on a paper, hang it up
where you can see it often.

Moon valley grasshopper 5k is in 2 weeks. Hope everyone can make it.

Wow, nice job and congrats to many of you on the timed mile last
night!!! Crazy fast times :)

This week:
Location: Granada park
Miles: 8-9 :)
Time: 5:30 am
Topic: Motivation

Review of last week: Having a strong core will improve your
running/walking times. When the miles get longer or you want to go
faster to beat some guy/gal that just passed you in a race, your
strong core is what will get you through. So push ups, squats, and ab
work is essential to an injury free, strong athlete.

Josh will be at the strapped jock thursday night 5:30 pm. If you
cannot make the meeting please let us know better times for you and we
will try to schedule one more meeting.

Think of ways to share how you personally get motivated.

Quote: Soreness is just pain leaving the body.

Attached is directions to Granada Park. See you Saturday, 5:30 am

Love, sarah, josh, and baby Iris.

Ps. We DO have practice Monday, Labor Day. 5:30 am SCC

Location: Rose Mofford Park
Time: 5:30 AM
Miles: 7-8
Topic: Resistant training

Hi guys, hope all is well. It has been an awesome start to this new season. Welcome all the new people who have joined us this week and Andreas closet! It is not too late to join if you have more friends or family who are considering. I know this weekend we should have a few more new members.

Review of walking/running form:
-Look out in front of you, never look down
-hands to hips
-take smaller steps traveling up hill
-take slightly bigger steps traveling down the hill
-work past the hill at least 3 steps, not just to the top

Remember sunglasses, hat, sun-block, bug spray, good shoes, extra water for after the workout?And Practice starts at 5:30

Directions to Rose Mofford Park- (I-17) Exit @ Peoria East to 25th Avenue Turn Right heading South. Look for our sign and green and white van. We will be in the 1st parking lot.

Question of the week: What is the best exercise to increase speed?

We still need to finish up your goal setting and one on ones. Josh will be at The Strapped Jock shoe store on Saturday morning after practice and breakfast, about 10 am. He will also have a meeting next Thursday the 30th at 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm at the Strapped Jock before the Thursday Rose Mofford practice. If you live on the west side this is a great opportunity to meet with Josh. Also, if you need to buy shoes this would be a great time.

Strapped Jock 35th ave/Thunderbird
3522 West Calavar
Phoenix, Arizona 85053
602-547-0699

For the east siders come to our house this Monday the 27th at 6:30 for a meeting with Josh.

Have a great week, Sarah, Josh, and baby Iris

Location: South Mountain directions on bottom
Time: 5:30 yes it?s a little earlier, Its just so hot!!
Topic: Form
Miles: 5-6 (hills ?)
Josh will go over running/walking form. We will warm-up, he will give his talk, and than we will workout.

Tip of the week: When running/walking never look down at the ground. Look straight out in front of you. If your looking down, your posture slumps toward ground making you ?put on the brakes.?

Quote of the week: Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Injury Prevention review for those of you that missed practice-
ICE, ICE, ICE, ICE, ICE
After a hard workout a wise thing to do for your body would be to ice down anything that is sore. This will prevent injury. If your knee for example is hurting don?t hesitate if possible and ice down.

Ice will reduce/eliminate inflammation and takes the pain away. It also helps muscles to recover after workouts.

A general rule is to ice for 15-20 minutes. Not more than 20 minutes at a time.

Ways to use ice
-ice bath: This sounds horrible, but your body will thank you later. Put cool water into your bathtub, get into the water and slowly add ½ to a whole bag of crushed ice. Sit in tub for 15-20 minutes.
-Cool pack
-frozen dixy cup for ice massage
-frozen water bottle for feet: If your feet bother you, at night after work roll feet over frozen water bottle for 3-5 minutes.

Other things to do
-Epson salt, sea salt, and baking soda bath- The salts will put vital minerals back into your body and the baking soda is a neutralizer and a cleansing agent. Soak in warm tub for 20-30 minutes.
NOTE: If for example your ankle is bothering you at practice, you come home take this warm salt bath, you NEED to ice the ankle after the bath. The warm water brings blood flow and oxygen to your tissues, but you need to ice afterwards to lessen the inflammation.

-Arnica: This is a natural anti-inflammatory agent. You can take it internally or rub it on externally. For more information on it just ask. My favorite brand is The super salve company-arnica salve. You can purchase it at Desert Sage Herbs in Chandler. I can always pick some up for you too.

-Foam roller: This is my favorite tool. When laying on the foam roller it presses on 156 muscle attachments on the spine. This is an instant back saver. It increases blood flow and oxygen over the entire body. By increasing the oxygen throughout the body, you will be able to have a stronger workout, lift more, run or walk quicker and fatigue less so you can actually do more for longer.

I have been using my roller for over 7 years now and have been pretty much injury free. Once in a while my hip and low back hurt a little. I just get on my roller do the exercises and within a couple days my pain is gone.

If you are interested in purchasing a roller I have some. I am giving you a special price on $20, normally $25. Just email me back and I will bring you a roller on Saturday. I will be sending out a flyer on how to do all the exercises on the roller this week.

LAST CHANCE TO JOIN THE FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE
If you are interested please contact Michael at m.d.ratcliff@gmail.com

Have a great week, remember practice on Saturday is at 5:30am
Thursday night 7pm at rosemoford park, Friday morning 5:30 SCC

Take Central Ave South of Baseline for about 4 miles. Central Ave will become the access road for South Mountain State Park. Enter the park. At the FIRST Guard Shack make a left and follow the road all the way back to the Large Parking Lot. Look for our big van and awesome new team sign :)

Hi everyone,

How is your first week of training going? Myself, I feel great, a little sore in the feet and calves but generally it is great to be working out again.

This week is injury prevention week. The person who emails me 1st the correct answer to my question will win a prize at Saturday?s practice.

Question of the week: Name the number one way to prevent an injury?

This Saturday we will go over many ways to treat/prevent injuries that are common to runners/walkers. We will also have a drawing for a bunch of injury prevention tools. I will go over what a foam roller is and how to use it. If you?re interested in one you can purchase it from me for a special price of $20, normally $25.

asdTHIS WEEK:
Saturday August 11th
Pecos Park
6am
4-5 miles

If you are interested in fantasy football please contact Michael at m.d.ratcliff@gmail.com He needs at least 10 teams to make a league but the more the better. It is simple and fun and he will help you no matter the amount of Fantasy football experience you have.

Tip of the week: When purchasing your training shoes make sure they are comfortable, try them on with the socks you will be wearing, and remember your feet will swell so don?t buy your shoes too small.

Quote of the week:
"Make progress one time and it makes you happy. Make progress day
after day, week after week and it makes you a champion."
Greg Werner