The Little Things . . . a Going the Distance newsletter September 2017 || issue #60
Share on Facebook | It wasn't our idea. It was yours. The Going the Distance (GTD) summer programs finished their 7th year a few weeks ago. We call them "speed and conditioning" because the goal of the programs is to improve your athletic quickness and speed, and give you the conditioning you need to compete. | We also call it "The Edge" because the programs give you the edge to win -- you have the quickness to make the quick cut that beats the defender, you have the conditioning to play better than your opponent in the last 2 minutes of the game. You have the strength and confidence to come out of the last turn from the woods and run past that runner you were tracking for most of the race. What do you call it?
Braz Camp.
Go to www.brazcamp.com | The holistic approach to this program captures all the pieces that enable a good runner to become a great runner. This, we found to be invaluable in recommendations made specific to Marissa and findings with blood work and diet changes! Further, it was all made possible through suggestion and the results rendered immediate changes in her performance! Proper training, prevention of injury with options for open means of communication, diet and nutrition with intermittent goal setting equates to enormous success!!! We were thrilled with the 1:1 coaching experience and have every intension of enabling Anthony with the same guidance from Coach Braz! [Robin Farago (Salisbury)] | [Kath has trained with Coach Braz's program for many years. She loves a challenge. Here's her report on a pleasant 36k -- that's 22.3693629 miles.] The Grampians National Park, Victoria, Australia: Wonderland Trail races, two distance options: "36Km of intensity I will own" being the tag line of the longer. It had to be done. I had planned on visiting the Grampians whilst working here in Australia for a few weeks, so googling trail runs in the Grampians, stumbled upon this Salomon sponsored event taking in some key peaks of the region; it had to be done. Chilly, dark 7am start, slick rock after the night's incessant rain, the first 7 miles went straight up.. and up.. watching my step keenly, no experience with the surface, curved boulders, roots, waterfalls.. I hadn't planned on racing.. but after 7 miles, lead female.. head down staring at foot placement, the tunnel of brush opened up suddenly on Mount Rosea, I had lost sight of the men just steps in front of me. Missed a turn. Crag hopping, cliff dodging around, wind howling, conceded and back tracked to find a small group with 2 women. Time to put the smack down. Ran a hard 13 remaining miles, beautiful trail surface descent, meadows, forest tracks, final kilometer on the road to take the win. Hurt a lot in the last few miles, but; it had to be done. Loved it. [Kath finished this 22.4 mile trail race in 3:48:47. She was 1st woman out of 62 finishers and 14 out of 193 overall finishers.] | We do a large and varied group of exercises at Braz Camp as part of the dynamic warm-up. Before starting the serious running and speed/conditioning drills, it's important that your muscles and joints are ready. You want to activate and elongate your muscles. The dynamic warm-up before each session may include heel walks, leg swings, skipping, high knees, butt kicks, squat jump, karaoke, and others Your coaches are very creative. What's karaoke? Not singing, though you're welcome to sing. Karaoke is a hip opener. Move sideways with your arms out, and cross one leg over the other, then again, and again, and so on. Then go the other way. If you started by crossing your right over your left, next time cross your left over your right, always moving laterally. It's easier to SEE how to do it than explain how to do it. Here's Val MacDonald, an Andover soccer player, doing karaoke at the GTD Speed & Conditioning program on a Monday evening. |  Val throws in a High Knee, lower left. | | The dictionary defines a cartwheel as "an acrobatic feat in which a person starts from a standing position, with arms extended, and wheels the body sideways, landing first on the hands and then on the feet and usually repeating this in a series." | One Monday evening at a GTD Speed & Conditioning session, Coach Braz asked the athletes, while they were nearing the end of a short break, "can anyone do a cartwheel?" Sitvi Singh, an Andover soccer player, said "sure." Coach Braz said "show me." Sitvi did a cartwheel. Coach Braz said (and we think he was kidding), "no, all way to the 50 yard line." We were standing under the goalpost. Without blinking, Sitvi cartwheeled in a steady flow to the 50, and then jogged back to us. The other athletes were thinking "oh NO, do WE have do that?!" They didn't, but next summer at Braz Camp, who knows. |  Both feet off the ground running uphill. Must be xc runners at Braz Camp | | Coach Braz provides personal, one-on-one coaching for runners at all levels who want to improve their performance or want a guided maintenance program. The program is designed for runners who have a specific racing goal, or a series of races to prepare for, or want to build or maintain their running fitness. Your personal program may include a weekly track session that may be done at a site convenient to you or with Coach Braz on Tuesday evenings at the Beverly High School track. Program details
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Sign-up Steps | Previous Issues of The Little Things Please go to this link for previous issues of The Little Things. | Going the Distance is a coaching service for runners at all levels.
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Head Coach -- Fernando Braz
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For more information, contact Dave at dave@goingthedistancefb.com | |
