ProSport New York Marathon

Run run run...

2011-02-28T02:11:00.000-08:00

On Friday 18th February the New York team pulled together to organise 'Drinks on the Deck' - a cocktail evening to raise money for the charity we're running for in the New York Marathon - the Police Dependants' Trust.

It was a fantastic evening for us all to get together with friends, as well as a great opportunity for a bit of team bonding. A fantastic night was had by all - and thank you to all our friends and family who came along to support on the night.

Moving on....

Whilst Sunday 27th March was not deal weather for a run, 5 of the New York Marathon team dragged themselves out of bed and down to Burnley for a Sri Chimnoy fun run. While Eliza, Ben, Bec and Mitch had a run in the 10km event, Katie 'took one for the team', slogging it out in the 15km event.

One more thing...the team is holding a Super Saturday this Saturday 5th of March at The Tan from 8:00-9:00am with a fantastic cooked breakfast and some great give aways to follow. We want to make this one a big one - so please come down and support! Everyone is welcome!

Saturday 12 February

2011-02-17T01:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning was meant to be a gentle run to get some km's into the pins, but "Herr Commandant Hazell" obviously hadn't heard the orders from Gestapo headquarters. Bright and early a crack unit of Eliza, Katie, Ben and Steve reported for duty smiles on their face and a bounce in their step, that didn't last long!

Drill sergeant Hazel, EXCITED as usual, barked orders from his high post, and in a distinct german accent he yelled "Zwei(2) km warm up, Vier(4) Anderson street hills und i don't want to zee your knees drop , Zhen a casual run to albertz park lake (not sure what was casual about it), Zwei(2) laps of zee lake und den home to me, Achtung Achtung Achtung don't be last!!" and with a sharp crack of his whip we were off like headless chooks.

Steve showed his endurance heritage and cruised around the lake like it was a goldfish pond... Eliza was a solid performer all morning, pushing it to the limit on a tough and windy course leaving many of the saturday morning social runners dressed with designer tights, underworld supersized black sunnies, bright coloured shoes and token Muscle Mary PT alongside in her wake, showing them what real hard work is..... Ben tried to keep up with the greek olympian Steve but struck quick sand on the second lap and the Albert Park Swans were seen waddling past him toward the finish line...while Katie cool, calm and collected as usual only raised three beads of sweat and motored home ready for another lap or two. Lucky we all had such a great support crew of Kerry and Judy giving us water along the way, despite the drill sergeant Hazell ordering them to only serve us vinegar on a sponge. Thanks you two, it got us through.

On our return to camp Herr Commandant Hazell, still EXCITED, was very encouraging of our efforts and as he made his way to a day of Luxury and picnics up at falls creek with Whit, Fi and Bec he was heard shouting "recovery, recovery, recovery eat your saurkraut and mung beans!" we were a spent force, but another NYC marathon session in the bank none the less! Well done to the Falls creek crew too, a tough weekend all round!

Another Super Saturday!

2011-02-06T02:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday 30th January saw the ProSport New York Marathon running team host our third Super Saturday session. The gods turned on a stellar day and the crew met bright and early for a morning packed with fitness, fun, and a fabulous cooked breakfast.

There were many highlights to the morning – the 60 minute fitness session down on the ovals were challenging, fun and rewarding. Bec, Fi and myself ran 3 x 15 minute circuits of boxing / running and ab work. Everyone did extremely well and seemed to enjoy the session (especially those ab exercises – they looked tough).

With the session done and dusted, the much anticipated breakfast was once again cooked to perfection on the BBQ. All the participants enjoyed a very healthy and yummy meal while sitting on the edge of the Yarra - can it get any better than that? Don’t think so!

ProSport’s major sponsor – GNC Livewell where in attendance again to explain the benefits of all the GNC products. Jim was on deck armed with free samples and giveaways which everyone appreciated. The ProSport runners are currently using some of the GNC products in preparation for the New York Marathon – hydration and protein are 2 very important things to have covered when training hard for such an event. Thanks Jim!

Another big thank you to Rick from Active Feet who also attended. Rick was available to chat with participants and help sort out their footwear woes. He also kindly donated three lucky door prizes which were another highlight of the morning. Thanks Rick!

One of the newer faces at Super Saturday was Andrew from the new and thriving business, Sleep n Round. Andrew donated a set of mens and womens pajamas as two 'spot prizes'. Another big thank you to Andrew for donating these trendy PJs and taking the time to come down and visit the crew.

Thank you GNC, Active Feet and Sleep n Round for yourongoing support – we really appreciate it.

Whitney shares a week of training...

2011-01-30T01:38:00.000-08:00

As January draws to an end, the team are faced with the harsh reality that the marathon is only a little over 10 months away. No longer can we use the excuse “it’s next year – we’ve got plenty of time”. Everyone is slowly adjusting to the idea of frequent and steady training. The more time on the legs now, the easier it will be (hopefully).

Last Saturday’s running session was headed up by Tim Strapp. It is fair to say that most were feeling a little under the weather; some feeling the repercussions from a big Friday night and others experiencing general soreness from getting back into a training regime. The idea of sitting by the Yarra sharing Tim’s newspaper was far more appealing than what was on the schedule. However, with a few gentle nudges from Tim, we went for a steady 7.5km tempo run, followed by sprints on Gosch’s Paddock. As always though, any pre-run complaints were soon forgotten with the high of getting through another solid training session.

Australia Day marked the start of our Wednesday morning training sessions. A few appropriately chose to sleep in and run on their own, however a couple of us needed the power of the team to get the training done. It was a damp, wet morning, however nice and cool conditions to get a few Anderson St hills in, a lap of the tan and a couple 500’s. All in all it was a perfect way to kick off Australia Day and counteract the damage of any Australia Day festivities that were in order for later on that day.

2 weeks into our official training program, all seems to be tracking well (only 10 months left). Bring on a HUGE 2011!

Whitney Hammond

New Year, New York

2011-01-19T02:11:00.000-08:00

Well 2011 started off with a bang! The ProSport runners got together for our first run of the season.

Whilst there was a couple of the crew getting out for their first run since Christmas, and one of the team nursing a bit of a sore head, it was a stellar way to start our 2011 'quest to New York.'

The group met down at 'The Tan' running track, bright and early, and headed off for a lap of Albert Park. With the sun beaming and the water on the lake glistening, the team put in a fantastic first training session.

Following a lap of Albert Park, it was back to 'The Tan' for a couple of 500m dashes, a cool down and a bit of time to 'debrief' on our holidays.

The team is looking forward to our first fundraising event for 2011 coming up on Sunday 29 January - the Super Saturday at 'The Tan' proudly sponsored by GNC and Active Feet. If anyone is interested in coming along for a fitness session, cooked breakfast, fantastic spot prizes and a fabulous show bag, contact Tim at tim.hazell@prosport.net.au.

Till next week....