November 14, 2010 marked the day as the Fall GOTR (Girls On The Run) 5K in Atlanta. This season I volunteered as a Coach for MSE working with 3rd- 5th grade girls. The season had it's ups and down, but seeing all the girls from Atlanta come together with their family and friends to run the 5K (3.1 miles) made it all worth it! To see the girls so proud of themselves at the end brought a little tear to my eye. To feel so selfless in doing something so good for the community made me have a new appreciation for people who volunteer on a regular basis. To dedicate your time to an organization is a big deal, and sometimes frustrating. However, at the end of the day it's worth having those parents thank you for your time, encouragement, knowledge, leading by example of a healthy lifestyle, and tell you how good of a job you did. My point is, it was fun to volunteer for an organization structured around something I love to do, run, and teach girls many life lessons including health.
The weather was perfect in Atlanta for the run. The picture above was the morning sky before the race. It started out a little chilly, but by the time the start of the race came around it was shorts with a light long sleeves running type of weather. All of the MSE girls finished under 40 minutes, with more than half of them being their first 5k! So proud of my girls! :-)
Remember it is important to give back to the community in any way you can. Teach people your skills and knowledge and feel good to contribute. It's important to take the seriousness out of some things. For example, I normally always try for a new PR, or just work my butt off when running. But to take time to "enjoy" the 5k and take my time was something new. Not to mention I had done a 6 miler Friday and an 8 miler the day before, so my muscles got a nice active rest. I got to see how hard the girls worked, enjoyed the motion of running, and not be so competitive. Everyone has their own reasons to why they exercise (weight loss, muscles growth, because they "have to", etc), but remember sometimes it is nice to have an "easy" or light exercise. You let your muscles rest while still doing work, active rest!
Training Exercise: 100 Jumping Jacks/ 1-2 minutes of high intensity cardio after a workout! After a hard workout add in a minute or plus of high intensity cardio to keep that heart rate up resulting in burning more fat! Not only does this give you the feeling of being exhausted after the workout (some people like it as a feeling of accomplishment), burning more fat, but it also give a little stretch to your muscles. It keeps them "warm" allowing you to have a nice cool down/ stretch afterwards. Your muscles are still lose; therefore, resulting in a longer and further stretch of the muscles. High intensity cardio helps keep the blood blowing throughout your body, as does stretching! Do both!
Training Tip: Relax while exercising! Remember to relax your shoulder, stand up straight, keep your chest out, back straight, and breathe in your nose out your mouth. This will help to keep you from cramping. During running, runners sometimes have a tendency to shrug their shoulders when stressed. This causes the neck muscles to contract, they tighten up, and you feel a cramp/pain like feeling around your neck. It can cause your breathing to be off forcing you to cut your run/workout short. So remember to relax, it will help you cover more distance regardless if it is in miles or time! This is your "me time" so enjoy it!
Training Songs: I kind of have a "love" type theme going on for some reason, well kind of. I love Ray LaMontagne and his voice always puts me in a good mood even if it is a sad song. Weird, I know. Enjoy!
1. Love- Matt White
2. Cameras- Matt and Kim
3. Trouble- Ray LaMontagne
4. Let It Be Me- Ray LaMontagne
5. Forever My Friend- Ray LaMontagne
Training Lagniappe: I just love Fall and everything about it. I know I say it a lot. There is something about it that motivates me to run further, especially in the mornings. I love the cool weather, pretty colors, and falling leaves. So I took some pictures, of course! Enjoy! :-)
The tree outside our front door!
Fallen leaves!
Happy Running,
Jayme Bergeron, BS
ACSM Health Fitness Specialist
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