Tag Archives: marathon training

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.

Marathon Training Starts August

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Monday, August 15 is the first day of the WOW Team 16 Week Intermediate Marathon Training Program. Are you planning to run with the WOW Team?

Don't miss out on our dynamic and (partially) free clinics!

August 6 - Burlingame, follow this link for details

August 7 - Emeryville, follow this link for details

August 13 - Walnut Creek, details posted soon

The WOW Team CIM Marathon Training Program is for an intermediate level runner who already has a solid base and can handle the increase in mileage and speed that we will use. Our clinics can help you determine where you are with your training and make a confident decision to train (or not) for 26.2 miles.

Our half marathon training program starts at exactly the same time and offers 17 weeks of training for the Walnut Creek Half Marathon. This is an intentional plan to allow our trainees to put in several weeks of 60 minute runs before increasing the time they put into their training. It is our hope that, during those first 6 weeks, you will become faster and stronger while remaining uninjured and confident for the next phase of your training.

Here is the training schedule with distances planned for the WOW Marathon Training Team. Follow this Fall 2011 Marathon Training Team Saturday Locations

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

    Marathon Minute

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    Lauren G has 1 week before her marathon. Training has gone very well.

    Coach's Note: Lauren G (center) is training for a 4:30:59 or faster marathon time. When she completes her marathon she will qualify to run the Boston Marathon. Go Lauren!

    MARATHON MINUTE, by Lauren Ganes
    October 11, 2010

    It’s hard to believe, but the training is over and my marathon is this week-end! The anxiety of last week has passed, and I’m excited!

    I just finished writing down my packing list so I will have everything with me for the BIG DAY. I’ve worn all the clothing and I’ve used the gels, blocks and electrolyte liquid, so everything on race day will be the same as it was on the training runs.

    I am extremely grateful to Coach Stephanie and the WOW Team for their incredible support. Coach Stephanie provided us all with her gift of knowing just how fast or how hard each of us should work when we were at the track. Her advice was always thoughtful and her words of encouragement kept me going as we ran together on the long runs. I’m looking forward to more runs together, but more of them at shorter distances.

    It is heartwarming to know that I have so many supporters. I was so touched by the card signed by the WOW team on Saturday night and please know that it will be with me when I go to Long Beach.

    Best wishes to the Nike Marathoners and my fellow team mates participating in the Long Beach Marathon. ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!

    Time to Taper

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    Nike Womens Marathon time to taper

    October 17 Marathon and Half Marathon Training is now in taper mode

    For those of you who have trained long and hard for the upcoming marathon and half marathon at Long Beach, Nike, Redwoods, and others, the light is at the end of the tunnel!

    Now is the time to rest, eat well, and mentally prepare for your event. Take the time to run the course in your mind. If you have already seen or raced on the course, this helps. If you have not been a participant before, try to drive the course ahead of your race. In the meantime, look at a map on the website and mentally “map out” your strategy. Think the course through. Consider the START and how to navigate the crowd; think aid stations- how you will utilize them and how much time you allot to them; think bathroom stops and how to avoid them or, in an emergency, what are your options; think nutrition – how long will you be on the course and what will you need to stay strong.

    There are other questions to think about so, do this in a quiet place when you are in a relaxed mode. Run the course virtually, several times, always improving, always fine tuning your strategy.

    The physical training is waning and the mental component is taking over. Take on this challenge and practice it. This is the final part of your training plan. This is the culmination of what you’ve been working so hard at for the last several months! Go for it! Your time is here!

    Marathon Minute

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    MARATHON MINUTE—September 26

    BRAVO to the women running their first Half Marathon next week, and all the other veteran women running a Half Marathon! You have trained hard and you have already run the distance, so you will have a great Half Marathon. Isn’t it wonderful to be in the taper week?

    Marathon training does present challenges. On September 10, Coach Stephanie and I had a great 20 mile run. When we started walking for 10 minutes and then running for 10 minutes after our 20 mile run we were able to continue comfortably. We were quite pleased with our 24 mile journey.

    Now, fast forward to this past Friday at Sawyer Camp, very excited about this being the very last long run; however, we did not follow the sound advice we give to others. It was warm, and we ran out 4 miles and came back to refuel. Then, we ran out again and decided along the way to go out 5 miles, not 4. The weather heated up into the 80’s, and both of us were without water on the 5 mile return. We ended up walking over a mile, and thus did not accomplish our pace goal. The heat and lack of liquid had us too depleted to finish the run--so the long run will be early this week. Thank goodness it’s three weeks until race day.

    This has to be a good learning experience—make sure you always have extra water on hot days. Luckily this was a training run, because there is water at the aid stations along the race courses. I still bring a small container of liquid to races, so I can have a mouthful whenever I need it.

    From Coach Stephanie:
    Lauren G is the marathon coordinator for the WOW Team. Please direct your questions to her at LaurenG@gowowteam.com

    Lauren is also training to qualify for the Boston Marathon. She's going to make it!

    Go Lauren!

    Follow Coach Stephanie's Bay Area Women's Fitness Column on examiner dot com. Here's the link
    Follow the WOW Team on Facebook. Here's the link
    Follow the WOW Team on twitter. Here's the link
    The WOW Team encourages fitness, through running and walking, for all women, all sizes, all ages, all abilities, all year round. Join us!

    Go to http://gowowteam.com/join-us or click on the Join US TAB at the top of this page for details.

    Go WOW Team!

    The Marathon Minute

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    From Marathon Coordinator Lauren Ganes

    PREPARATION STARTS NOW FOR A FALL MARATHON

    Are you ready to challenge yourself?

    Now is the perfect time to sign-up and step into training with the WOW Team for that marathon or half marathon.

    Come join us as we train for the plethora of fall marathons out there including the Long Beach and Nike Women's Marathon on October 17. The Humboldt Redwoods Marathon and Half, and several other races fall on the same day!

    October is the month for Marathons throughout California. Begin training for the Wine Country Marathon October 10, or the San Jose Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon on October 3. There is also the Los Angeles Half Marathon on October 23 and many more.

    By beginning your training now, you will be will prepared to finish the race with a smile on your face. You’ll also have the support of your WOW team members. It certainly is fun to train together and then support each other at the race.

    So mark your calendar now for a race in October!

    Join us this weekend for your first long workout. You have to start some place, right?

    Marathon Coordinator Lauren Ganes is trying to qualify for Boston with a time of 4 hours and 30 minutes. Our marathon training group will be running based on paces in the 9.5 to 11 minute per mile pace range for completing a marathon. Ask Lauren or Coach Stephanie if you have questions about your pace or running a marathon. WOW wants you to train with us!