Tag Archives: Half Marathon Training

Track!

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Track Workouts for the week of January 9 - 15, 2012 written by Coach Stephanie

Intermediate to Advanced Runners
Warmup 10 - 20 minutes
8 - 10 X 400m at max speed with 2 min rest. Focus on breathing and quick turnover.
Cool down jog or walk 5 - 10 minutes
Stretch

Novice to Intermediate (less experienced runners and walkers)
Warmup 10 - 20 minutes
8 - 10 X 400m at steady speed with 2 min rest. Focus on breathing and light, mid-foot strike. May want to shorten stride and see if the foot strike gets "lighter".
Cool down jog or walk 5 - 10 minutes
Stretch

Marathon Minute

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by Lauren Ganes, Marathon Coordinator
January 10, 2012

It was so exciting to see so many women participating on Sunday at the WOW Team January 8 “kick-off” to the 2012 season.

A number of women will be running the half marathon in Oakland on Sunday, March 25. There are now 11 more weeks to go before race day. This Sunday the long run will be 80 minutes of running, running and walking, or walking; or 8 miles—whichever comes first. This is a slight variation form what the training program says, as we increase our mileage gradually. We will also be practicing hills while training at Lafayette Reservoir.

Photo by Lauren Ganes

Oakland is great about letting us know that there will be 8 aide stations along the Half Marathon course. There will be water and lemon-lime Gatorade at each station. Some stations will also have various flavored Gu gels. It is a good idea to try both the Gatorade and the Gu during your training. If either of these do not agree with you, you’ll know to bring your own supplies on race day.

On your mark, get set, run! GO WOW TEAM!

The Weekly Pep Talk

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The Weekly Pep Talk
January 4, 2012

"It's not my job to motivate players. They bring extraordinary motivation to our program. It's my job not to de-motivate them." - Lou Holtz

Woman of the Week:  Kiera Newton, winner of the free registration for upcoming Oakland Half Marathon. Go Kiera! (Kiera is third from the left with team mates Filomena, Lauren, Kiera, and Kosheno)

Coach Stephanie’s Tip:  Steady as she goes. Jump into 2012 full of vim and vigor but temper that energy with a bit of patience. Good things come in fitness through time and dedication. You will reach your goals if you are patient and realistic, along with getting TOTALLY PSYCHED about the great things in store for you in 2012!

Dear WOW Women and Interested Readers,
I am EXCITED about 2012! We have an incredible year ahead and it starts this week! As our first week of training for the Oakland Run Fest I want to encourage each of you to push your limits. In other words, I encourage you to dream big and train hard.

This, as most of you know, does not mean to train for too much too soon. What I mean is that I want you to set a goal and put your heart and soul behind accomplishing it. I will help you with being realistic about distance and speed and how to improve. Your team mates will provide the encouragement and moral support. You need to bring the motivation. I don’t want you sabotaging your goals by not allowing time or not truly committing to the task at hand.

We are going to have a lot of fun! There is nothing better than training with others, making new friends, and learning a new skill while working toward a substantial goal. I want you to leave each workout feeling psyched about the next one! I want you to be tired and proud of what you’ve accomplished. I want you to work hard and know that you are making progress, with each step!

The first step is to come out and get moving with WOW! We have our veteran WOW Members returning Jan 4. Yahoo!

New participants are encouraged to come to our Pre-Season Race Introduction Clinic on Saturday, Jan 7 and/or our Training Kickoff on Sunday, Jan. 8.

Details for the many wonderful things that happen with the WOW Team can be explored, initially, by going to our website and clicking on the Resources Tab. The WOW Web Address is http://GoWOWTeam.com.

2012 has so much potential. Let’s jump in with our eyes wide open, ready for the wonders of fitness, friends, and fun, all in one package…The WOW Team!

Go For It! and Set that Bar High!
Coach Stephanie
And the winner is! Kiera Newton is the lucky winner of our Oakland Run Fest Drawing. OK Kiera, time to get serious about your training…
Happy January Birthdays - Laura Lance, Coach Stephanie, Iris Torres, Pamela Brenman
Oakland Relay Teams – If you are interested in this topic, please contact Eileen by posting on the Winners Circle to let her know of your interest. I believe she was forming a team.
Questions, Comments? – Start at the Resources Tab on our website and take it from there

Set your goal. Take action. Get Moving! Go WOW Team!

Go WOW Team is an all women's, year-round training group. The kick-offs are open to EVERYONE. We hope to meet you soon!



Note: If you have a question but cannot attend please post your question on the WOW Team facebook page  and I'll do my best to post a response there within 1 business day. Go WOW Team!

Marathon Minute

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MARATHON MINUTE October 30, 2011
by Lauren Ganes, Marathon Coordinator

BRAV0! To Coach Stephanie! Our fearless coach continues to train for her full marathon in December in the midst of moving. We all know how stressful moving is, and training for a marathon on top of that is a huge commitment with its own stresses. We are so lucky that Coach Stephanie can do all this and still coach the rest of us with her unfailing support. Thank you Coach Stephanie for providing all of us with great training and keeping us motivated and moving.

Sometimes you are so busy with races and keeping track of mileage and pace, that you forget to just enjoy the feeling of running and being outside in nature. I was delighted to see that although Coach Stephanie is in training, she just took off for a second part of her run this morning, without her Garmin.

Don’t get me wrong, knowing your pace and mileage is important, especially when training for a race, but it’s also important to let your body follow its rhythm. In recent weeks, while not training for a specific race, I have been trying to focus on form. Here are a few things I’ve focused on: leaning forward, keeping my arms close to my body, lifting my knees and rolling forward on the balls of my feet.

Let’s keep on running and enjoying the camaraderie of the wonderful women of the WOW Team.

A Word from the Coach

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August 2, 2011 - from Coach Stephanie

July was a very good month for the WOW Team. The weather cooperated; we added several new members; we had some super workouts; and we finished out the month with a great performance at the SF Marathon, Half Marathon, and Progressive Marathon!

Whether you were out there on race day or not, I hope you benefit from the way we set a team goal, follow through with the training, go for it on race day, then move on ahead to something new. The importance of the WOW Team, in my mind, is not to race all the time. The WOW Team is about the cycles and the traditions that we honor.

The tradition of setting race goals is essential to staying motivated. The WOW training cycle means that, not all women will always train for the same things. When we are not training for our own race, we can be out there helping other women go for their goal while, at the same time, keeping our base steady and ready to pick up the pace when our next goal is set.

The women who worked so hard for the July 31 SF Marathon deserve a lot of credit and a little rest. Burnout and injury can result from too much too soon so give yourselves a little down time. That said, setting the next milestone and looking ahead is essential to staying motivated and finding purpose.

I love coaching you, helping you set goals, and supporting you in reaching them. Here’s to the completion of one cycle and the beginning of another! The WOW Team has set races for 5K, 10K, 13.1 miles, and 26.2 for the fall and winter. Choose your distance and let’s get training together!

To Success!
Coach Stephanie

Congratulations to all SFM Participants Aisling Forbes, Kelly Woodard, Merilee Fahlman, Kosheno Moore, Christy Gerren, Pam Skiles, Kathrina Weekes, Beth Robb, Chelsea Deming, Heidi Harrison, Iris Torres, Julie Yokoyama, Maria Kristianti, Kerry Sullivan, Stephanie Atwood, and pacers Simone Adair and Jeanetta Mack who paced us to victory!

Thanks to Lauren Ganes and Filomena Bettencourt who cheered us on.

Half Marathon Training

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Photo of WOW Member Mayra M at Point Isabel taken by WOW Marathon Coordinator Lauren Ganes

If you are a novice to intermediate level runner or run/walker wanting to successfully complete a half marathon, this training program will get you going!

Follow the link for a day to day training program. If you can't do the same days progression, no worries. Just tweak the schedule to fit your own with the goal to include three running workouts a week, rest in between, and cross training as you can handle it.

Now, the final component of a good training program is a great group to train with and the best coach you can find. ENTER The WOW TEAM! Join us soon. We'd love to run with you and help you reach your full potential.

Follow the link for a day to day training program. Good luck!

Marathon Minute - Tapering

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MARATHON MINUTE May 30, 2011
by Lauren Ganes, Marathon Coordinator

Photo of Gina H at training run on the actual course taken by J. Garcia

Helpful Hint: East Bay skin doctor and half marathoner, Tomi Wall, recommends using a sunscreen lip balm around each eye to keep the sweat from irritating your eyes during your run. We should all be wearing sunscreen on our bodies when we are outside.

Hooray for the See Jane Run Half Marathoners, you are in full taper mode! You have trained hard, and in this final week it is time to relax, rest, fuel your body, and rely on your training to get you through the race. It’s normal to be anxious, and it’s o.k. if you can’t sleep the night before the race, your adrenaline will pull you through to the finish line.

On Sunday after a beautiful sunny run, we had coffee and shared past successes and “learned from experiences” from on our past half marathon experiences.

Here are a few tips:
• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate (eat well, and stay hydrated this week)
• Don’t go out too fast
• It’s o.k. to be cold the first mile, you won’t want that extra layer at miles 2-13
• It’s a good idea to have a small amount of water, or electrolyte with you, in case they run out on the course before you reach that aid station

Have a fabulous race; we look forward to celebrating with you at the WOW Tent after you cross the finish line!

Go For It!

Update from Coach Jen

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4-16-2011
It was a beautiful day in the Outer East Bay! I had a great birthday run with Raymie, Gina, Maura, Monica, Yael, Janice G., and our two newest members, Jane and Janice B.!

The ladies ran for 60 or 105 minutes along the Contra Costa Canal Trail in Walnut Creek/Concord, and a few of us went 10 miles! We are approaching the halfway point in training for the See Jane Run Half Marathon and everyone is looking strong! Keep up the great work, ladies!

See Jane Run Half Marathon Training SF

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Welcome to the WOW Team special training page for the San Francisco See Jane Run Half Marathon Training Program. Thank you for your interest in training with us.

For the SF Program, you need to be an experienced runner. (Not sure? Please call Coach Stephanie at 415 682-8819 to go over the details.)

Look at our meetup details for our morning track, SF, and Sawyer Camp weekend workouts and get a sense of what we mean by experienced. We are by no means elite.

Price for the entire training is $199 and includes:

  • 10 weeks of training starts Thursday, March 31 with boot camp orientation at Kezar Stadium and Saturday April 2 for our first long run from the See Jane Run Store in SF.
    SF track workouts are on Wednesday morning at 6:30am, runners boot camp Thursday evening at 6:30pm and Saturday long runs are at 8am through the race on June 5.
  • Practice run on the actual course on Saturday May 7, 8am
  • WOW Team tech t-shirt and water bottle
  • Free daily training program for 1/2 marathon
  • Coaching by Stephanie Atwood and staff. Coach Stephanie has more than 30 years of experience and is certified through USATF, RRCA, and the National Association of Sports Medicine as a trainer and coach.
  • The Weekly Pep Talk Newsletter and Weekly Pep Talk Live Call
  • Discounted shopping at See Jane Run Stores
  • And more

    • If you haven't already paid, please do so now by clicking on the link below.

    When you join the WOW Team you are able to run at any of the weekend locations in our club. Currently this includes Saturday in SF/San Mateo, or Contra Costa County, and Sunday in Oakland/Berkeley. You may also join our weekday track and tempo workouts for no extra charge - Tuesday at 6:30pm in Contra Costa County, Wednesday at 6:30 am in SF, 6:30pm in Oakland.

    For details and reminders on all workouts go to our main meetup site at this link and join that site. Thank you!

    Here are the next steps to get your training going:

    1. Enter your name in the info form to the right. This will put you on our members mailing list

    2. Go to Membership Packet and Application for the application and more details about the WOW Team. Scan and send the form back to us, please, especially the survey and application.

    3. Click SJR 2011 Int-Adv-Half Marathon for the intermediate/experienced half marathon training program

    4. Get ready to meet a great group of women and train for the experience of a lifetime.

    Welcome to the WOW Team!

    The WOW Week

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    Here are the times and locations for this week's workouts. Want more than a week's worth? Go to the calendar tab for dates into the future. Need directions? Go the the WOW locations/directions tab for information on how to drive to our workout sites.

    Here is what WOW is up to for January 10 - 16, 2011

    Join WOW - Fit Women of the World Today!

    Please RSVP for workouts at meetup or on our facebook facebook page. While there is no additional fee for current members, whether you are a member or a drop-in we ask that you RSVP.

    Not a member yet? Go to http://gowowteam.com/join-us to pay the drop-in fee or join long term. Thank you.

    Tuesday, January 11, Live Call Open to Members only. 8 - 9pm. Note the new time! - Live, Interactive Call About Women's Fitness. Join WOW Team Coach Stephanie this Tuesday
    Where: WOW's Virtual World Online
    What: Open dialogue about the world of women's fitness
    When: Tuesday 8 - 9pm
    Details: Members only. You will be sent an automatic invitation if you are a current, paying, subscriber to the WOW Team.

    Wednesday, January 12, 6:30am - SF Women Intermediate to Advanced Track Workouts
    Where: Kezar Stadium
    Map link: Click here
    What: Interval workouts for increased speed and performance
    When: 6:30am
    Details: Workouts change each week. Bring water and layers. Must be able to run a mile in less than 10 minutes. Meet on the track. Look for a group of women and the WOW white board. We usually meet on the north side of the track but, due to lighting, sometimes we meet on the south side in the middle of the straight.

    Wednesday, January 12, 6:30pm - Fitness Walk, Tempo Run and Strength Training, 6:30 PM. Join us!
    Where: Lake Merritt, El Embarcadero
    Map link: Click here
    What: Speed and strength training for overall improvement
    When: 6:30pm
    Details: Workouts for walkers and runners - beginners through experienced athletes.
    Saturday, January 15, 9:00am - Intermediate Runners Train for the Oakland Running Festival
    Where: Sawyer Camp, San Mateo
    Map link: Click here
    Sunday, January 16, 9:00am
    Where: Harbor Bay, Alameda
    Map link: Click here
    What: Weekend workout (long run or walk) for fitness maintenance and the races that WOW is currently training for.
    Details: We're training for the Oakland 1/2 marathon and 5K along with our 60 minute maintenance workout offered every weekend. Join us!

    Upcoming...
    Wednesday, January 19 6:30am - SF Women Intermediate to Advanced Track Workouts
    Where: Kezar Stadium
    Map link: Click here
    What: Interval workouts for increased speed and performance
    When: 6:30am
    Details: Workouts change each week. Bring water and layers. Must be able to run a mile in less than 10 minutes. Meet on the track. Look for a group of women and the WOW white board. We usually meet on the north side of the track but, due to lighting, sometimes we meet on the south side in the middle of the straight.
    Wednesday, January 19, 6:30pm - Fitness Walk, Tempo Run and Strength Training, 6:30 PM. Join us!
    Where: Lake Merritt, El Embarcadero
    Map link: Click here
    What: Speed and strength training for overall improvement
    When: 6:30pm
    Details: Workouts for walkers and runners - beginners through experienced athletes.

    Go Oakland - Train with WOW

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      The WOW Team is an official training club for the 2011 Oakland Running Festival offering training for all three events.

    The ORF includes 3 races - a 5K (3.1 miles), half marathon (13.1 miles flat and fast), and a full marathon (26.2 challenging miles).

    WOW Training starts soon and you can join any time for the marathon, half marathon, and 5K.

    Time to Get Started! Join Now and Train until March for $99.

    The WOW Team is a club that offers ongoing workouts in the East Bay on Wednesdays and Sundays, for women only, every week of the year and Saturday workouts in the Peninsula/SF Area. WOW chooses certain events to train for and the Oakland Running Festival - Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K is one of those choices.

    You can sign up and start training anytime between now and December 31, 2010 for the same price. Training includes weekend workouts and weekday track (not mandatory but very helpful), online weekly news and training pep talks with certified running coach and personal trainer, Stephanie Atwood.

    You are also eligible for WOW Team discounts for the race itself, a post-race meeting area in the Celebration Village after the race, and more!

    If you are ready to go for it, sign up now! Sign up early! Start training now!

    Price goes up to $129.00 (plus one time application fee of $29) on January 1 for the Oakland Running Festival. Your membership allows you to 'roll over" into the SFM Training for $24.95/month and stay at that price for as long as you are a member.

    *Member Discounts on races, bootcamps and other special events

    For your racing success and injury prevention WOW requests that:

  • You have experience with a 5K or 10K race before trying a half marathon or marathon (you can fit in a 5K race while training with us if a half marathon is your goal)

  • You have experience with a half marathon before attempting a full marathon (start training now and you can fit in a half marathon between now and March if the Oakland Marathon is your goal.)

  • You have run for a minimum of a year or train in the walk/run technique for your first full marathon (the run/walk technique is a way to increase distance and minimize injury. An average pace of 9 minutes/mile is attainable with run/walk so you don't have to think SLOW! with this technique)

    • Come to a WOW Team potluck/orientation/get to know us meeting In Oakland on Saturday, October 9, co-hosted by Go WOW Team and Alive Chiropractic. Starts 5:30 and will include a meet and greet time, cheers and kudos for our current trainees in fall races (San Jose Rock'n'Roll, Nike Women's, Long Beach), and opportunity to participate in the upcoming relay or marathon at CIM on December 5, AND a chance to talk over the training program for the whole Oakland Running Festival - all 3 events - The Marathon, The Half Marathon, and The Twilight 5K.

    Join us! For more information, a free, daily, training program, or to register, please request more information in the form to the right. Get ready to get fit and have fun with the WOW Team!

    *All new members will be charged a one time processing fee of $29. Please look at our page for details. Click on this link

    The WOW Team encourages fitness, through running and walking, for all women, all sizes, all ages, all abilites, all year round. Join us!

    Training Tips

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    WOW Training Tip #1 - If you want to train well and injury-free, do it gradually. In other words, add distance and intensity a little bit at a time. Generally we say not more than 10% a week. This translates into a mile more next week if you did 10 miles this week.

    The real point is that you can't overdo it and not expect to get injured. It takes the body a while to adjust.

    More questions? Join us at the Weekly Pep Talk Live. Free, every other week. Your questions are welcome.

    Sign up at http://gowowteam.com/ at the information box. Thanks! Coach Stephanie

    J. Watters at Inspiration Point. Photo Credit/EA Gordon Designs

    Stephanie Atwood | Create Your Badge

    Can You Ever Complete a Half Marathon?

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    Yes, you can run a half marathon. Possibly even a marathon. Go for it!

    My gut answer would be YES.

    As a professional coach and personal trainer I find that it is possible for the majority of us to complete a half marathon (13.1 miles) or a full marathon (26.2 miles). The issue for most of us comes down to a vision of someone racing across the finish line, built like an Olympian, having just run an entire race in less than 5 minutes per mile!

    If this is your expectation, NO, you will probably never complete a half marathon, or a mile, even. But, if you are interested in training to CROSS A FINISH LINE after 13.1 miles of movement (at your pace) then I'm sticking with my original prognosis. YES! Chances are VERY GOOD that YOU can complete a half marathon.

    Please enter your questions or comments to this post and let's talk this over. Let's start the dialogue now...

    http://www.examiner.com/x-21216-Bay-Area-Womens-Fitness-Examiner http://www.facebook.com/pages/Go-WOW-Team-We-are-The-WOW-Team-Fit-Women-of-the-World/215391204501 http://www.hfpn.com/Back-Office-cid-1449 http://twitter.com/gowowteam

    The WOW Team encourages fitness, through running and walking, for all women, all sizes, all ages, all abilites, all year round. Join us!

    SFM Half Marathon Training

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    Six Weeks to Go! The San Francisco Marathon's half marathon is on July 25.

    The end is getting closer! You are strong and confident at this point if you have been following the training. Let's go through a bit more clarification on the run/walk technique for training.

    While this training method works just fine if you run or jog your entire workout, the concept we're following advocates that you give yourself a break in form by walking at regular intervals. This doesn't mean that you will run/walk your race (although you certainly can). This method suggests that, as you are increasing your mileage, you are allowing your body a recovery break, on a regular basis. Double protection to keep you uninjured. When you run your race, if you want to "run" the whole distance, go for it!

    For example, if you started with a 2/2 (2 minutes walking, 2 minutes running) rhythm, try adding another minute to your running, making it 2/3, or dropping a minute of walking, making it 1/2. Either way is decreasing your walking and increasing the time running. See how it feels. Keep tweaking as you feel stronger and are picking up mileage uninjured. If you start feeling twinges of pain, head back to your previous comfort rhythm for a week or two and try to "up" the intensity of the running portion without changing the time increments. See how that feels. 

    6 Weeks to Go! Week of June 14 - 20, 2010

    Monday - REST
    Tuesday - Strength and core training minimum 60 minutes
    Wednesday - Track Workout for 60 minutes or 4 miles, 40 minutes hard pace/tempo plus 5 min warm-up, 10 min cool down
    Thursday -  REST
    Friday - 60 minutes or 6 miles hard alternating 5 minutes hard, 5 minutes steady, start and end with 5 minutes easy
    Saturday - Cross Train 1 Hour or REST
    Sunday - 12 miles steady pace or 120 minutes, whichever comes first (including 5 min easy warm-up) 

    ALWAYS STRETCH AFTERWARD!

    About the Author: Stephanie Atwood, M.A. is a writer, award winning speaker, and fitness professional. 

    Coach Stephanie, a long distance running coach and personal trainer founded the WOW Team, a women's running and walking group in the Greater Bay Area. Go WOW Team - Fit Women of the World meets throughout the Bay Area, several times each week. Drop-ins are encouraged. For the schedule of workouts go to http://gowowteam.com/calendar  or visit the WOW Team Home Page at http://gowowteam.com  or search for Go WOW Team on facebook or twitter.

     The WOW Team is training for the SF Half and SF Progressive Marathon. All women are invited to join.

    Train for the SFM Half Marathon

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    Only Three Runs a Week!

    This is a tough one for those addicted runners to buy into but it works!

    In Run Less, Run Faster, Authors Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, and Ray Moss explain the benfits of "less is more". For experienced runners, you add quality to your workout instead of injury-prone extra miles. For relative newcomers you limit the amount of miles you train, keeping yourself from the likelihood of high impact and over-use injuries. Sound good? It is!

    The difficulty comes in the intensity of each workout. Each week you need to run with a purpose. Workout 1 practices all out speed. Workout 2 adds mid-distance at a tough pace. Workout 3 works on distance and endurance, based on your past running experience. Each workout has a specific purpose. Additionally, you are expected to cross-train on some of the other days with rest also being essential. How much rest depends on your experience level and your recovery. Please refer to the article about Resting Heart Rates. You're half way there!

    May 24-30 - Goal - Build Strength and Endurance
    Monday - REST
    Tuesday - Cross train, focusing on core strength and upper body conditioning plus flexibility
    Wednesday - Track Workout or 3 miles or 30 minutes hard pace/tempo run plus 5 - 10 min. warm-up
    Thursday - REST or Cross Train
    Friday - 4 miles or 40 minutes tempo pace plus 5 minutes warm-up
    Saturday - Cross Train 1 Hour or REST
    Sunday - 10 miles or 2 hours steady whichever comes first (5 mins warm-up, 110 mins steady, 5 mins easy)