Coach Duckett's Weekly Recap

November 7th, 2008

2008-11-11T07:35:00.001-08:00

Hey gang,

Well, once again I apologize for the confusion tonight as we had to move our workout from Lake Highland to Howard Middle School. I appreciate your patience as I attempt to work out the kinks in the communication channel with Lake Highland Prep.

With that being said, great job by everyone who made it to the workout at Howard Middle School! Everyone looks to be running strong as the weather has cooled down. I wish I could be out there running with you!

Tonight the 5k/10k'ers did 6 sets of 2 x 400 and the marathoners did 3 sets of Mile/800.

Don't forget to mark down a couple of dates:

Saturday, November 22nd: We will be hosting a group club run out at the Clermont dirt road. We used to hail this as the "Flirt in the Dirt" race. It isn't so much a race as it is a good fun workout at somewhere other than the streets of Orlando. Please visit the website: www.flirtinthedirt.com for information. Thanks to Adam Gifford for putting up the website for us!

Saturday, December 13th: The Standing Broad Jump Invitational and YMCA Runners Club Christmas party! We will hold various events at our "winter" meet which will then culminate into evening festivities at a place to be determined. Feel free to bring me Christmas gifts! j/k More information in the Invitational will be forthcoming as soon as Pat reminds me of the events! lol

Best of luck to everyone competing in the Celebration 10k this weekend, or as they call it the Founders Day 10k. I expect to see some awesome results from the group based on the work I have seen at the track!

A few reminders as we have entered Daylight Savings Time: It is DARK out there, so we need to be extra careful. Mark Russell at the YMCA has been graceous enough to purchase blinking lights for our safety. These will be passed out and returned for each Monday run. Please remember to return them or at the very least bring them back the next time you run. Also, please try to wear white tops or reflectors to help you be visible to drivers out there!

Remember that we also have the Friday run at 6:00 pm. This is a great way to wind down the week!

Have a great week and be safe!

Paul

November 3rd, 2008

2008-11-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to Fall!

We had some awesome performances yesterday in New York. I guess they have a marathon or something up there every year.....probably not as big as the Lake Nona 5k, but close. :) Kurt Brewer put together a little race report for us...so here it is:

*********
November in New York. The leaves are changing in Central Park, the summer hoards are a distant memory, and the natives can finally find seats at all the good shows. Few things herald the beginning of fall in Gotham like the New York Marathon. Marathon purists tout Boston as the world's best marathon, but the millions of screaming New Yorkers who stand 10 deep throughout NYC's five boroughs beg to differ. In many ways, it's the difference between McCain and Obama. Boston, like McCain, has all of that glorious history, experience and perfect pedigree. The race in New York is far less experienced, but it has all the energy and enthusiasm of a monster rock concert (like, say, AC/DC & U2 together).

Five of our YMCARunners performed onstage at this consummate marathon show and posted some blazing times, although all claimed beforehand that 'I'm just taking it easy and enjoying the sights.' We didn't believe it for a moment. Hulya Atli, in particular, ran one of the fastest times ever posted by a woman YMCARunner. Here are their results:

Hulya Atli 3:08:16 (7:10 pace)
Donnie McCammon 3:08:22 (7:11 pace)
Mike Masur 3:12:24 (7:20 pace)
Jeff Tecau 3:03:54 (7:00 pace)
Kelly Partain 4:12:52 (9:38 pace)

**********

These time are obviously a testamant to the high calibre of coaching that they are receiving. I may have to ask the YMCA for a raise!!!

To honor these brave warriors, we will be having dinner in their honor on Wednesday night after the track workout. OK, actually we have dinner every Wednesday after the track workout, but this should make them feel special. :) This week we will meet at Tijuana Flats, next to Hue in Thornton Park. As usual, sometime between 8:00 and 8:15.

I hope to see everyone tonight and Wednesday night!

Take care,
Paul

October 27, 2008

2008-10-27T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Some important things in this Monday's edition...so pay close attention!

First, Track Workout:
My apologies for the mixup last week at Lake Highland. As some of you found out (the hard way), there was a football game on Wednesday that forced us to to move to Lake Davis and run repeats around the lake. The game was a makeup game and was not on the schedule....so unfortunately I found out the same time you did! Anyway, we are back at the track this week!

Second, Birthdays:
Last week we celebrated the birthdays of Sean McCormack and Ryan Hall, they are 19 and 18 respectively (just kidding, I think they are 28). This Wednesday we celebrate the birthday of the running club matriarch, Teresa Calio. I'm also gonna guess that she is 28 too....(momma didn't raise no fool). With that in mind, we will be having a Birthday dinner after track on Wednesday night, at 8:00, in Teresa's honor. I'm thinking Dexters in Thornton Park. I hope everyone will attend!

Third, Race Results:
This weekend had some exciting results from the group. The Great Floridian Ironman and Florida Challenge Half Ironman took place in Clermont on Saturday. In the Ironman distance race, Mike Easterling had an awesome performance..taking 5th Overall with a time of 9:54:00. In the Half Ironman distance Sean McCormack blistered the course in 5:18:45 to take 1st in his age group. Also putting the hammer down were Heather Bellardo (6:21:09), Adam Gifford (6:30:47), Chris Scott (6:52:53) and Julie Scott (7:02:03).This weekend also showcased the inaugural Daytona Beach Half Marathon. The race was won by Running club alumni Stanley Mania with a time of 1:17:33. Also competing was Erin Walsh from the YMCA front desk with a very impressive 1:50:31. Congrats to both of them!

Finally, Future Events:
Stay tuned for another email later this week to discuss two upcoming 'weekend' events. The first will be an informal 'Flirt with the Dirt' Clermont run...probably the weekend of November 15th. For those of you who have not run the Clermont Dirt Road, you are in for a treat (as long as it isn't raining). The second will be the annual Standing Broad Jump Invitational in December (date TBD) with the always fun, post meet party!

Lake Nona 5k - 11/1 (http://www.trackshack.com/)
Celebration 10k - 11/9 (http://www.trackshack.com/)
Junior League 5k (inaugural) at Baldwin Park - 11/15 (http://www.buttar.com/)
OUC Half Marathon - 12/6 (http://www.trackshack.com/)

Look forward to seeing everyone tonight. Please make sure to congratulate all of the great performers from this past weekend when you see them!

Regards,
Paul

October 20, 2008

2008-10-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang,

Another great weekend here in the Sunshine state and I hope we all took advantage of the awesome weather! I know I was outside all weekend long.

**We have a couple of races to report on this week. This past weekend, we had 4 running club members participate in the Mount Desert Island Marathon in Bal Harbour, Maine. Here is Kurt Brewer's race report:

A small and arguably insane group of YMCARunners travelled to Bar Harbor, Maine for what many runners consider to be the toughest marathon course in the U.S. After running it this Sunday, we can confirm as much (the pre-marathon disclaimer states that the race runs more like an ultra marathon and that participants should train accordingly). The Mount Desert Island Marathon was the perfect nightmare just in time for Halloween. The relentless course (as Tony Stafford put it) is a gut wrenching roller coaster of nonstop hills with very little level terrain. Add to this a race start temperature of 32 degrees and a stiff wind off the Atlantic on the straightaways, there was more trick than treat to this marathon. Nevertheless, the Downtown YMCA Running Club was well represented despite the conditions. Here are their results:

Tony Stafford 3:03:20 7:00 Pace (17 / 928)
Kurt Brewer 3:04:52 7:04 Pace (18 / 928) 3rd Age Group
Teresa Calio 3:22:17 7:45ish Pace 1ST Age Group PR!!
John Fish 3:35:08 8:10 Pace PR

**As well, we had quite a few great performances at the Track Shack UCF 5 Miler this Sunday. Here are the names and times that I could find. If I missed you, my apologies!!!

Patrick Marshall, 26:13 (4th overall)
Bill Vanos, 29:01 (1st AG)
Aleks Markovic, 29:53
Bruce Geise, 30:37
Brent Schmierbach, 30:40
EJ Wunderlich, 31:49
Danny Wardeh, 31:54
Brian Furgala, 32:07
Kathy Gagnier, 32:35
Cesar Estrada, 32:52
John Napolitano, 32:58
Oneal Barnett, 33:54
Carey Rothschild, 35:08
Rod Jaeger, 35:10
Dina Meng, 37:24
Peter Barts, 37:35
Bob Erickson, 42:22

Great Job everyone! Keep up the good work.

**This past week's track workout was a Ladder workout: 2x400, 800, Mile, 800, 2x400. This was a tough one. Group 3 really did a great job on this one! The marathoners did the always exciting Mile repeats.

**Running Club member Tara O'Keefe has a condo for rent here in the city. Please read this if interested:

Wayfarer Place Home for Rent! 4 bedrooms, 3 full bathroom's, perfect for roommates!*

Looking to move to the Downtown Orlando area? Want a spacious, comfortable place to call home?

Available December 1st, this house has a great layout out for roommates and is conveniently located minutes from Downtown Orlando. If you or anyone you know may be interested in renting this home, please contact Tara O'Keeffe at 407-620-1244 or Tara124@gmail.com to learn more and set up an appointment to view the property.
That is all for now. I look forward to seeing everyone tonight and at the Wednesday Track workout!

Take care,
Paul

2008-10-09T14:10:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Last night we had a great track workout (as usual), with the always invigorating 'Michigan' workout providing the pain. The 'Michigan' workout is definitely difficult, but at the same time fun because a lot of it is done off of the track. It consists of a Track Mile (5k pace), a Road Mile (10k pace), a Track 800 (5k pace), a Road Mile (10k pace) and finally a Track 400 (as much as you got left). The only break between each of these intervals is a short 50 yard walk. I hope everyone had fun!

Now for some 'shout-outs': This weekend we have 3 significant events being tackled by members of our group.

First, our very own Kathy Gagnier will be taking on one of the most difficult races in the world...The Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. We all know Kathy as one of the most talented athletes in Florida and I know she will do awesome. Best of Luck Kathy!!!

Second, we have 6 members running in the World Renowned Chicago Marathon being held this Sunday. The weather is always a toss up in this one, let's hope they all have favorable weather! Those members are:
Donnie 'Melbourne Chapter' McCammon
Amanda 'Sort of related to Donnie' McCammon
Carlos 'The Mad Spaniard' Pereyra
Dan 'Native Son' Traver
Adam 'Marathon is too short' Gifford
Mike 'Chicks dig me' Hoffman

Finally, we have 3 members running in the Steamtown USA Marathon in Scranton, PA. (isn't Joe Biden from there?)
Those members are:
David 'Hammertime' Dix
Tim 'The Machine' Perry
Alan 'The Judge' Lawson

(sorry, I couldn't resist giving them stage names....maybe they will stick)

Best of luck everyone....and most importantly HAVE FUN!!!

If you haven't done so in a while, make sure you check out all of the changes Kurt has made to the website....www.ymcarunner.com.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend.

Paul

2008-10-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone had a great weekend and did something healthy. Not much to report this Monday, but I haven't sent anything out since last weekend and was bored at work...so I figured, what the heck.

We have a few people that will be heading to Chicago for the Chicago marathon this weekend, best of luck to everyone going up there! Having watched our marathon group's training sessions, I know everyone is ready to go. You guys have really been flying!

We had another great track workout last week with 52 people showing up. The weather is really starting to cooperate, which has made it very nice here lately. This past week's track workout was a doosy...especially for the marathoners. The marathon group did 5 x 1000 with a 200 jog as their rest. I saw some tired people after that one! :) The 5k/10k group had fun with the mile, 4 x 400, mile workout. I will have this week's workout posted tonight, so tune into the website for that info. For those of you doing Chicago, it will be an easy 2 x 1 mile at marathon pace...and then go eat some pizza!

A VERY happy birthday today to our very own Kurt Brewer (aka, the webmaster). I think he is 27 (ok, maybe not). I know some people are going out for dinner and drinks tonight after the run. Please see Teresa Calio at the run if you are interested!

Also, if you haven't taken a look at the website lately please take a few minutes to look at the changes that Kurt has made....excellent Job Kurt! www.ymcarunner.com

My public service announcement for the week: As many of you are doing longer workouts to prepare for marathons, half-marathons and 15k's it is important to pay attention to a coupe of things:

First, make sure that your footwear is adequate. If you start getting mystery pains in your ankles or knees...the first thing to look at is "how old are my shoes". I cannot tell you how many people have asked about "mystery pains" only to find out that their shoes are a lot older than they think. The rule of thumb is between 350-550 miles. This number depends on factors such as weight, running surface and running style (i.e. lighter runners can go a bit longer in shoes, harder surfaces wear down shoes faster, etc). So if you are averaging 25 miles per week, you are looking at 14 weeks (that is 3 1/2 months). I would guess that many of us are doing more than 25 miles per week and would therefore need to look at replacement around the 3 month timeframe!

Second, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! It will tell you when it is time for a break. I have seen too many people get caught up in the idea that they need MORE mileage, MORE mileage as they prepare for the marathon. It is true that you need to up your mileage as you prepare for the long races, but that also means you need to increase your rest! This is especially true the older you get. The body doesn't rebound quite as fast when you reach your late 30's and 40's (not that I would know, only being 25).

The reason I bring this up is that I recently sustained an injury while ignoring my own advice. A couple of Monday's ago I ran on some OLD shoes because of the rain. That combined with a hard track workout on Tuesday tweaked something in my knee....needless to say, I haven't run in two weeks. So, please be careful! (At least my golf game is getting some work).

Well, enough for now. See everyone tonight and on Wednesday!

Train safe,
Paul