Monday, October 2, 2023

Travis Manion Foundation 9/11 Heroes Run (Ruck Division)

I had a rare Saturday off from work this past weekend and took advantage of that to take part in the Travis Manion Foundation's 9/11 Heroes Run. I had participated in this event last year with the Apex Ruck Club and was excited to join up with my rucking crew for this year's event. With a very user friendly start time of 9am, this allowed me to enjoy a cup of coffee at the house before heading out to Sugg Farm ( a mere 10 min drive, which is another great feature!) The weather was great! After some pre race ceremonies, we lined up at the start and were off!I was really pleased to see so many ruckers out there! I had heard afterwards that there were around 75 people (20+ from our club) rucking this 5K. The course was mostly mulched trail arounf the lake with a small stretch of paved greenway that connected Sugg Farm to Bass Lake. We got spread out fairly quickly within the first 800 meters, and I spent most of the race hanging with fellow club membrs Jan,Christo and Cary.I was using my Rucker 4.0 20L with a 30 pound plate. We were all somewhat surprised to roll through mile 1 at 15 minutes flat! Our second mile was 16:07 (hills) and mile three was 15:48, with a nice little climb out of Bass Lake back to Sugg Farm. Finished 5K in 47:24. A great way to kick off the weekend supporting the Travis Manion Foundation! For more information on what they are all about, visit them at https://www.travismanion.org/ A reminder that winter is coming! Take care of those rough, dry hands with "The Cream" from my friends at Heavy Handed!

Monday, March 29, 2021

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Sunday, July 14, 2019

Birthday Celebration, Runner's Style

Let's face it, runners are an odd lot. How many times have you casually mentioned to a non runner friend details about one of your runs and they have looked at you like you are nuts? Exactly.

So when one of my athletes came up with the idea to run 40K on her birthday, I thought it was a fantastic idea! To be somewhat discreet, I won't say how old my client was turning, but you can kinda figure it out. I think back to my father's sage wisdom: "Always remember a woman's birthday, but never her age."

Nickie's plan was to run a loop trail around the lake at one of our area parks. The loop was right around 1.85 miles and a few of our running friends were going to join in the fun at different times throughout the run. Our buddy Ian wound up running the entire distance as a show of support! I joined in for the last 7 miles or so. I had a coaching session with a cross country client earlier that morning, doing one of my favorite XC workouts, mile repeats on grass. Nickie arrived early to the park to get started before the blazing NC heat rolled in and got a great shot of the sunrise.


We ran, we walked, we talked and laughed.......and since we are dog lovers, we stopped to pet all the dogs!

The dog whisperer


  Nickie hit the 40K mark and we decided to do a victory lap and get her to 26.2 miles. All in all a great day and I was happy to help her celebrate by sharing some miles with her!


Have you done any wacky birthday ( or other life event) celebrations that involved running? Let me know by leaving a comment!

Coach G

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Fall Update




Fall. My favorite time of year to run! I am just waiting for some "autumnal" weather to actually arrive here in NC. We just got through the first week of October and the XC team battled warm temps all week long, including a hot 6K race on Saturday at Lee Mansion in Newport News, Virginia.

Previewing the Course!

 I am ramping up my own training after a stubborn knee issue over the summer. I race a 5K in November, then start training for the Black Mountain Marathon in February of 2018.
Black Mountain Marathon

I know lots of folks are beginning training for a spring race, so if you need a great source of plant based protein to help you recover from all that hard training, check out the great products from my Friends at Nuzest USA! Click on the link below and you will get 15% off and free shipping!

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What race are you training for? Drop me a comment and let me know!

Coach G

Monday, July 10, 2017

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