RunnerDude's Full-Body Fitness for Runners

It's a Bouncing Baby Book!

Writing a book, I've discovered, in many ways is not too unlike giving birth. There are months of anxiety, weight gain, moodiness, second-guessing. Your brain is rolling with questions like, "How am I going to afford this child?", "How will I know how to take care of this living being?", "Will I be a good parent?" Biggest difference was my gestation period was about 24 months instead of eight.

In the beginning stages of creating this book, I had similar thoughts. "What makes me think I can write a book?" "Will anyone want to read it.", "How am I going to publish it?" But like having a child, if you wait until you're ready, you'll never have it. So, I took the plunge and began the process a little over two years ago.

I spent several months creating the workouts and brainstorming the other sections of the book. If your luck is anything like mine, you're probably familiar with the the "Suck-it-Away-Syndrome. You know whenever you have extra money, something breaks down sucking up every bit of that money. Bonus Money! Woohoo! Air conditioner breaks down. Refund check! Woohoo! Transmission goes out. Never fails. So, a couple of years ago, when I ended up with some extra money, I decided to go ahead and do a photo shoot for all the exercises in the book, even though the book was yet to be written. I hooked up with an awesome photographer, Daniel Rice of Allez Photography. We spent an entire day shooting the exercise photos with two of my clients (Matthew Halip and Kristen Bowles) who graciously agreed to be my exercise models. Now, when looking through the book, it's hard to believe that those 100+ exercise photos were all taken in my (at the time) little 400sq.ft. studio—a testament to Daniel's talent. (The cover photography was done by another talented photographer Deno Kontoulas of 48 Layers Photography.)

After the photo shoot, business at RunnerDude's Fitness began to grow and so did my need for space. I remodeled a larger space in the complex where the original RunnerDude's Fitness Studio was located. Great for the business, but not great for having time to work on the book. So, it was shelved for a while. During this time, I was working with a pretty big publisher who was very interested in the book. An insider told me it was at the final executive-level of approval. Then I was informed that the publishing company had cleared house and the new head editor wasn't interested in publishing my book. I was disheartened to say the least. I submitted my proposal to several other big publishing houses who all liked the concept, but all declined. I talked with some of my author friends who all encouraged me to self-publish. The upside is I have more control of the book. The downside, I have to do all the hoofing to publicize the book.

I took the plunge and investigated all the self-publishing options and found CreateSpace to be the best option for my needs. Ironically around this same time, I got a press release from the publisher that was originally interested in my book announcing their new fitness book for runners. Looked very familiar. For a short time, I was livid. How dare they!  But after looking through their version, I realized that my book still had so much more to offer. So, I forged ahead.

One of the many things that Full-Body Fitness for Runners offers that "the other" book does not is contributions from some of running's greatest. Olympian Jeff Galloway provides great before-, during-, and after-running nutrition tips. Endurance runner Dean Karnazes, ChiRunning Founder Danny Dreyer, and international yoga expert Sage Rountree (among others) provide recipes for some of their favorite fueling and/or refueling snacks. Author, illustrator, and creator of the nationally syndicated comic Frazz and author of Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete, Jef Mallett also wrote the foreword for the book. Their insight is an awesome addition to the book.

Another thing this book has is the behind-the-scene input of an  awesome editor, Iris Sutcliffe. Not only did she do a great job in the editing of the book, she was a wealth of valuable advice on many other aspects of the book. She provided a sounding board, another eye, a fresh focus. We worked our way through some formatting and document issues, but we prevailed. When it was time to approve the final proof for CreateSpace, I was a nervous wreck. The finality of it was a bit overwhelming. Not only because of the worry of missing a mistake, but also just the shear fact that all the work had come to an end. That feeling however was short-lived and soon replaced with the panic that now I have to sell the book. LOL! That's where you come in. I hope you'll take some time to check out the book at www.fullbodyfitness4runners.com. And, if you like it, tell your running buddies about it.

Providing over 90 exercises for runners, nutrition tips from Olympian Jeff Galloway, fueling recipes from experts such as endurance runner Dean Karnazes and ChiRunning founder Danny Dreyer, good running form tips, and more, Full-Body Fitness for Runners is a must-have resource for every runner. Three levels of workouts (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced) are divided into lower-body/core and upper-body/core circuits. Each circuit consists of 12 exercises designed to build muscular endurance to support your running helping you run longer, strong, faster, and with less injury.

Inside Full-Body Fitness for Runners you’ll find:

• Jeff Galloway’s before-, during-, and after-running nutrition tips
• Anatomy of a runner
• Five steps for getting started
• Acclimation and what to expect
• 10 tips for new runners
• Stretching
• How to complete the workouts
• Lower-Body/Core Workouts (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced)
• Upper-Body/Core Workouts (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced)
• Full-body exercises
• Additional core exercises
• Partner exercises
• How to fit the workouts into your week
• Good running form
• “Wise Choice” foods for runners
• Pre-, during-, and post-run snack ideas
• Recipes from the experts

I'm pretty sure that as in the case of our family when "maternity amnesia" kicked in paving the way for a second and third child, I too will have "book-creating amnesia" paving the way for another RunnerDude book for runners. Stay tuned.

From Engelberg to RunnerDude

When I was in elementary school, I played baseball for 2 years. Hated every minute of it. I was basically Engleberg from The Bad News Bears except I played right field. The first year I played we had to wear those old scruffy, itchy wool uniforms. Remember this was in the early 70s. There I was, the pudgy kid in this itchy as heck gray wool uniform out in right field, praying hard the ball wouldn't come my way. 

I knew from day one of practice that I was not cut out for baseball. I think it was when the ball popped up and smashed into my face that I had that epiphany. Somehow I made it through a second year of baseball. A short career (so I thought). Maybe if Tatum O'Neal had been on my team I would have lasted longer.

I figured I was supposed to be the fat kid in the plaid pants. You know the happy-go-lucky kid who always had a joke to tell. Back then, if you were "husky" (as they so politely called it) you had very little options for clothing. And it seemed that the designers at the time believed that fat kids looked best in plaid. Better yet, plaid pants with reinforced knees (guys you remember Sears Toughskins?). 

That's how it played out for the rest of elementary school and middle school too. My older brother played baseball, football, basketball, and tennis while I ate twin bags of Lays potato chips on the couch after school watching General Hospital. My best friend Dennis, however, was a gymnast. I always admired his bravery to be the only male on the gymnastics team. He was probably the strongest guy in our class, but he took a lot of ribbing from the other guys. 

Looking back, it wasn't really that I wasn't athletic or didn't have athletic potential, it was that I was not a team sports person. Because there weren't any alternative athletic activities (or at least any that I knew of) it was just assumed I was non-athletic and thus an oddball. My 8th grade PE teacher used to love picking on me in class. I still have nightmares of trying to climb that rope that hung from the gym ceiling. I wish I could challenge him to a road race now.  

The summer before high school (circa 1979) I decided to lose weight. I went on Weight Watchers and lost a little over 40 pounds. During my freshman year we had to run the mile in PE. The previous year in 8th grade, the mile had been torture. That year I ran the mile in 18:20 (and yes I was wearing plaid pants and wallabees). This time it was different. I ran the mile in under 8 minutes. By no means a world record, but I was astounded. For the first time, I realized I could actually do something athletic. I still didn't have the confidence to go out for cross-country or track. Even after losing weight you still feel like a fat person on the inside, even though the weight is gone.

About 5 years later I ran my first 10K. This was around the time (in the mid 80s) when road races began to gain some popularity with "average runners." I was hooked. I finally found my niche. Something athletic where I could compete against myself...or others if I wanted.

Running has taken me many places and provided me the opportunity to meet many people from all walks of life and eventually has become my career. Who'd a thunk that the fat kid in the plaid pants would become RunnerDude! 

Children today as well as adults have so many more opportunities to be involved in exercise. If you're a parent, be observant and foster the activities that interest your child. If you're an adult, be willing to explore different options until you find what clicks. It might be baseball, soccer, walking, running, kick boxing, or hot yoga. Doesn't matter—just get up and move!

I think I'm going to see if I can find me some plaid running shorts. :-)

Avoid the Taper Tantrums

If you're training for a spring marathon, then many of you are about to head into your Taper Time or as I call it sometimes... Taper Tantrum time. Of all the many weeks of training, these last three weeks can often be the most difficult.

A non-runner looking in might think, "Cool! Now you get to run less. Rest. Recover." But a runner's mind is often thinking, "I'm losing my mojo. I'll get weaker if I don't keep running 20-milers up to race day."

The last three weeks are extremely mental for runners. Lots of head games and self-doubt can creep in. Many can find themselves in trouble when instead of heeding to the taper, they try to make up for all the "lost runs" from their training.

Family members of endurance runners know exactly when their loved ones are in their taper. They're grumpy, grouchy, talking to themselves, doubting, irritable, and on edge. Just ask your significant other or your kids. They'll tell you, you act like a trapped animal.

Typically a full-marathon taper begins 3 weeks from race day. The first week is usually about 75% of your longest mileage a week (which is usually the week right before the taper). Most of the decreased mileage comes out of the long run. So if your last long run before the taper was a 20-miler, then your first taper week long run would be 15 miles. The second week into taper is about 50% of your longest mileage week. So, your long run for that week would be 10 miles. The last week is the week of the race. Your long run for that week is your race. You run that week, but very little and while you can have a speed workout early or mid week, it should be more around race pace instead of blowing out your usually tempo or interval pace.

Rest for many runners means weakness. This is a HUGE misnomer. Rest is Strength. Rest is Stamina. Rest is endurance. Rest is rebuilding. Rest is improvement. Rest is growth. Rest is repair. In reality, a runner could probably do no running those last three weeks and end up having an awesome race on race day, but many would end up in the mental ward with no running for 3 weeks.

It's kind of funny how runners all during their training will moan and groan about all the running, the aches and pains, the fatigue (myself included), but then when they're given the gift of a taper they freak out. Research has shown that runners that don't heed the taper hit the "wall" sooner in a race than those that took advantage of the taper. These non-taper runners also have a tendency to peek a week or so early. The taper is a time for rebuilding your body. Giving it time to repair from the weeks of hard training. It's also a time of preparing mentally for the race. Use this time to think strategy. Look over the race course. Learn where the hills are, where the long flat stretches are. Think about the weather conditions. Are you prepared gear and clothes wise for any weather condition that possibly take place on race day? Are all your trip arrangements in place.

Embrace the taper. You'll be glad you did on race day.

RunnerDude's Small Group Personal Training

Customization is what sets our small group fitness program apart form the competition. Unlike traditional whole-group fitness programs, each participant in RunnerDude's Small Group Personal Training Program gets a custom workout geared for his/her own fitness goals. In any given small group personal training session you'll find a mix of individuals each working on his/her own unique workout for his/her specific fitness goals. Constantly on the move during the workout, the trainer is teaching new exercises to participants, checking individuals for proper form, motivating, and answering questions. So, while you may have to count your own reps, a trainer is constantly available for support and guidance.

Flexibility is a big perk of the Small Group Personal Training Program. Participants can choose to participate in the AM or PM group. But, they can also (with advance notice) switch between groups or between days as needed. Sessions are 45-minutes making it perfect for a warm-up and two cycles of their exercise circuit. Or, maybe you'd prefer to do two circuits and use the remaining time for stretching. Or better yet, maybe you'd like to use the 45-minutes to get in 3 rounds of your custom exercise circuit. Both the AM and PM Small Group Personal Training groups meet 5 days a week (M-F). You select the number of days per week you want to workout. Whether it's one day or  five days, you'll get a great workout.

Affordability is an even bigger perk of Small Group Personal Training Program. Because you're sharing space with others during your workout, the per-session fee for each 45-minute workout is only $20! Sessions are sold in 4-week bundles. The cost of your bundle depends on the number of days per week you select to workout.

Cost: Base price is $20 per session;
Sessions are sold in 4-week bundles
1-day-a-Week 4-Week Bundle      $80
2-days-a-Week 4-Week Bundle  $160
3-days-a-Week 4-Week Bundle  $240
4-days-a-Week 4-Week Bundle  $320
5-days-a-Week 4-Week Bundle  $400

Group Meeting Times: 
AM Group: Monday - Friday 6:00-6:45am
PM Group: Monday - Friday 5:30-6:15pm

Do Your Runs Have Purpose?

All runs are not created equal. Giving each run a specific purpose can help keep you on track, reach your goals as well as be liberating.

Sometimes the sole purpose of a run is to workout the frustrations of the day. Depending on the runner, a good long run might help clear the mind, while another runner might choose to attack a 10 x 200m hill workout. Both can achieve the same outcome...peace and contentment.

I have an acquaintance who is a pretty good runner, actually he's pretty dang fast. Well, fast that is when he's not injured. You see, every run he runs is a hard run. He's very competitive and that sometimes gets in the way of practicality. He's never trained with me, but sometimes runs with the group. I laughingly tell him he needs to stay away from my runners. I'm kidding...well sort of. Really, I don't won't my runners thinking you have to run yourself into the ground to be a "real runner." I'd rather have smart runners not injured runners.

This is no more true than with many of my marathon training runners. For some it's a challenge getting them to come to the understanding that every run doesn't have to be a hard run. Each run in my training
plans have a purpose. Some are hard and quick to help increase VO2Max (the body's ability to utilize oxygen at max effort). Others are hard but not quite as fast. Their purpose is to build pace and endurance needed to sustain that pace. Others are long and slow. These have the purpose of building mileage and endurance. While still others are even slower and easier but shorter with the purpose of recovery.

We're all guilty at times of not wanting "other runners" seeing us running "slow." In the back of your mind your wondering if they may think you're not as fast as they are, or worse, maybe they're smirking at your pace. I've always liked the saying, "You can't judge a book by it's cover." I think that same philosophy applies to running....."You can't judge a runner by his pace."

Any runner worth his or her salt knows that a short slow recovery run is just as important as that gut wrenching 10 x 800m interval workout.

Giving each run a purpose from the get go, helps release you from the worries of what others will think. You're on a mission, knowing that each purposeful run will ultimately help you reach your goal. Even if you're not in training for a race, giving each run a purpose will help motivate you and keep you from getting injured so when you do want to train for a future race you'll be in shape to do so.

Below are some "Purposes" you can apply to your weekly runs.

The Social Run: It's vitally important to get with your running buddies solely for the purpose of running and catching up with each other as well as then heading for the post-run bagels.

The Long Run: The purpose of the long run is build endurance and increse your cardio fitness for the long haul. This run is usually about 1-minute slower than race pace. If you feel the need for speed, save it for the end or near the end of the run. It's very beneficial for your body to know that you can pull up the pace later in a long run. So increase the pace up to or just past race pace within the last 2 miles of the run. But...make the majority of the run at a conversational pace. You're building mileage.

Easy Run: These runs help you build that weekly mileage and build a strong base. They're not fast nor very long runs. They are run at a conversational pace that's a little faster than your long run pace.

Speed Workouts (Intervals): The purpose of intervals (be it 800s, fartleks, hill repeats, or another workouts) is to increase VO2max and push out your lactate threshold. These runs help build pace. This type of run is run at a non conversational pace.

Speed Workouts (Tempo and Progression Runs): These runs help build pace, but they also help to build endurance to help sustain the increased pace. You'll run hard but not quite as hard as in a shorter interval workout.

Steady-State Runs: The purpose of this run is to help bridge the gap between the tempo run and your easy runs by giving you experience running a little faster than your easy run pace but not as fast as your tempo run pace.

Recovery Runs: This run usually follows the day after a hard speed workout or long run. A recovery run is usually very slow (slower than easy run pace) and usually a fairly short run in distance. The purpose of this run is to help loosen up the body after that hard workout from the prior day.

REST: Yes, you should consider a Rest Day as a running day. It's equally important. You need a couple rest days each week for your body to rebuild.

Running Nowhere Fast? Try These Tips for Increasing your Pace

Seems like if you want to get faster, you'd just pick up your pace. Sounds like a simple solution, but like many things in life, what seems simple often is not. Many runners have come to the studio saying, "I just can't seem to get past a certain pace. I try to pick it up, but nothing happens or worse, I begin to slow down."

To increase pace two things need to happen. 1. Increase VO2Max  2. Build endurance. VO2Max is your body's ability to utilize oxygen at the muscle layer at maximum exertion. Your muscles have a network of tiny blood vessels (capillaries) that carry oxygenated blood to the muscle. If your runs are pretty even and you don't vary your pace too much, your network will be more like sprawling country roads--few and far between. To increase your pace, you need a metropolitan network of highways. Good news is that you can build those new highways of capillaries. How? By doing various types of speed work on a regular basis.

Adding one speed workout to your regular weekly running routine will start the construction process. When you consistently add those workouts, your brain will realize that you're not going to stop this. It wants your body to work as efficiently as possible, so your body will actually begin to increase the network of capillaries in your leg muscles to help meet the new energy production demands. The more capillaries you have in your muscles, the more oxygenated blood will reach the muscle. The more oxygenated blood in the muscle, the more potential for energy production.

As the network of capillaries grows your body will also increase mitochondria (the energy-making power houses of the muscles.) Mitochondria use the oxygen to create energy. So, now with the increased network of capillaries and increased number of energy-making power-houses, your body will be able to meet the energy demands to get you going faster.

It takes commitment, consistency, and hard work to create that metropolitan highway network. It may be tough at first. Expect soreness and fatigue. Anytime you increase the intensity level of your workouts, your body will react. This is called the gain threshold. Your fitness level may even dip for a few weeks. That's when most people give up. They're not seeing results fast enough and they get discouraged. "I feel worse that before I started. Why am I doing this?" But, like I tell my runners, "Trust. Believe. Conquer!" It varies from person to person, but anywhere from 4-6 weeks you'll notice that you're stronger and faster than when you started.

The gain threshold is the reason why it's not a good idea to add new intensity just before a big race. You're body will not have time to acclimate and it may hurt your performance.

The Workouts:
I like having my runners do two types of speed workouts. One type is shorter, but more intense. Intervals are a great example of this. Don't worry, for many interval-based workouts, you don't need a track. The second type is a fast run but incorporated into a longer distance. Progression runs and Tempo runs are great examples.

Below is plan to help you ease into adding speed work into your running routine to help you run faster and longer. This is just a suggested plan. You'll need to increase or decrease running days based on your experience as well as your schedule. If you're having to rearrange the runs to better suit your schedule, remember to never pair two hard runs back-to-back. Always follow the Easy/Hard/Easy rule. The workouts listed on the schedules are described at the bottom of this post.

Easy Run with 3 Fartleks:  "Fartlek" is a Swedish term for "speed play." Take one of your regular weekly 3-6 mile runs and add in 3 bursts of speed. The first week keep the burst of speed at 2-minutes for each fartlek. Remember to space the fartleks out. Do one fartlek in the first third of your run, the one in the second third and then one in the last third. Between fartleks, be sure to slow the pace back down to your original easy pace. During your second week, try increasing the fartlek duration to 3-4 minutes.

Interval Workouts:
Mona Fartleks: Mona Fartleks are a great interval workout that you can do anywhere. You don't need a track. You'll need a stopwatch or sports watch with a timer. For the workout do a 1-mile warm-up run, then run...
15 seconds fast/15 seconds slow/15 seconds fast/15 seconds slow
30 seconds fast/30 seconds slow/30 seconds fast/30 seconds slow
60 seconds fast/60 seconds slow/60 seconds fast/60 seconds slow
90 seconds fast/90 seconds slow/90 seconds fast/90 seconds slow
That's 13 minutes of fast/slow intervals. Take a 2-3 minute walk or easy jog break, then repeat for a second 13-minutes of fast/slow intervals. Follow-up the workout with an easy 1-mile cooldown.
Timed Based Pyramids: This workout is similar to the Mona Fartlek, but for this workout you'll increase the time increments and then come back down. Before the workout, do an easy 1-mile warm-up run. Then for the Timed Pyramid workout run...
30 seconds at high intensity/1-min at low intensity
45 seconds at high intensity/1-min at low intensity
60 seconds at high intensity/1-min at low intensity
90 seconds at high intensity/1-min at low intensity
60 seconds at high intensity/1-min at low intensity
45 seconds at high intensity/1-min at low intensity
30 seconds at high intensity/1-min at low intensity
Walk or easy jog  for 2-3 mins and then repeat.
Follow-up the workout with an easy 1-mile cooldown run.

90s/60s: Do a 1-mile warm-up run. Then run hard 90 seconds /Run Easy 60 seconds. Repeat 5 times. Then walk or do and easy jog 2 mins then repeat the 90/60 workout again. Follow-up the workout with an easy 1-mile cooldown run.

Progression and Tempo Workouts:

Progression Run: "Thirds," involves doing the first third of the run very slow and working into an easy pace, the next third  at your regular "in-your-groove" pace, and the final third increases until you're  finish the last 3rd around your 10K race pace—roughly 80 to 90 percent of maximum heart rate. Increases in pace are not "step-wise" but gradual. Basically start really slow. Slower than you normally run and gradually increase pace until the end of the last 3rd, you're coming in pretty fast.
Tempo Run: Begin with a 1-mile warm-up run and end with a 1-mile cool-down. The miles in between are run at a pace about 30 secs slower than your 10K race pace.

Tempo Interval Run: Begin with a 1-mile warm-up run and end with a 1-mile cool-down. For the miles in between, alternate running 5 mins at a pace that's about 30-sec slower than your 5K race pace and 5-mins at an easy pace. Cycle through as many of these fast/slow intervals until you reach your cool-down mile.

Keep in mind that during the fast portion of the runs, you should be reaching a pace that's non-converstional. In other words, it should be hard to talk in more than one- or two-word sentences. Be careful not to go so fast that you can't catch your breath or that you can't maintain the interval pace. Initially start conservative with your increased paces and then as you begin to acclimate, start to up the pace. 

Following this plan for 5 weeks will help you see results in achieving a faster pace and pretty much get you through that gain threshold. Keep at it and you'll continue to see even more progress. This is a great primer for a 5K or 10K race. Start about 12 weeks in advance of the race. If you're not planning on racing any time soon, after the first 5 or six weeks, you can keep just one speed workout or tempo/progression run in your weekly routine until you're ready to kick it up a notch for a race.

Holiday Gifts and New Year Resolutions

There's no better gift than the gift of health. Whether you're treating yourself or treating at friend, family
member or loved one, providing a gift that promotes fitness can have so many wonderful benefits. Not only will you or your gift recipient embark on a new fitness journey, you'll also make new friends, discover things about yourself you never new you could do, and become that healthy person you've dreamed of being.

RunnerDude's Fitness offers personal and small-group fitness training services and a variety of running coaching services from beginning running to marathon training. We would love nothing better than to be a part of your fitness quest.

If you're in the Triad area of North Carolina and you're looking for a fitness program or running group that's focused on you and your fitness needs, then check out the various programs below.

Beginning Running 
The Beginning Running Group uses a run/walk format that will have you running 30 minutes (about the distance of a 5K) with no walking by the end of the 12-week program. The program's design helps you gradually build muscular and aerobic endurance as you ease into running.

The RunnerDude's Fitness Beginning Running Program is perfect for beginning runners of all ages! So far the oldest graduate is 73 and the youngest is 12. All you need is a desire to want to run.

While this is a group program, participants are not expected to run as a pack. Everyone follows the same incremental run/walk program each week, but each person is encouraged to run his/her own level. Building Endurance and Proper Running Form is the focus of the Beginning Running Group, not pace or distance. Participants will not feel left behind nor held back.

The next program begins Sunday January 5th and meets Sundays/Tuesdays/Thursdays at 5:30pm for 12 weeks.
Cost: $120
Includes:
      -GYMBOSS Interval Timer (a $20 value!)
      -Online access to the 12-week training plan and tips on nutrition, good running form & a lot more!
      - Instruction on Proper Running Form, Breathing, Stretching, Hydration, & Fueling
      - Up to 3-weekly group runs (see days/times below) along the new stretch of the A&Y Greenway
      - RunnerDude's Fitness Technical T-shirt (1 free T-shirt w/initial service or package)

Intermediate Running 
Running at least 3-5 miles and feel like you're ready for the next level, but not sure what the next level is?
Feel like your running's stagnated? Looking for ways to spice up your running?

Then the Intermediate Running Group is just for you! During this 12-week program, you'll explore different types of running workouts (fartleks, tempo runs, intervals, hill workouts, etc.), pre- and post-running stretching, and core and upper-body exercises (key for strong efficient running).

Most runners have the lower-body muscular endurance but aren't aware of the importance
of core and upper-body muscular endurance. Running is about 50% lower-body and 50%
upper-body. Each workout begins with a 10-12 exercise med-ball workout designed to
increase the muscular endurance of your core and upper body.

Each participant will need to bring a medicine ball (6-8lbs) and an exercise mat to each
workout. The exercises will vary over the 12 weeks, so in addition to the 12+-running
workouts you'll learn, you'll leave the program with a nice variety of core exercises to
continue doing on your own.

Price: $120
Includes:
      - 2 weekly group runs (Monday/Thursday @6:00PM)
      - Over 12 different running workouts
     - 10-exercise core workout before each run
      - A pre- and post-program 1.5-mile run test
      - Access to online running information and videos just for
     -  participants of the group with information on everything from
      - hydration, to proper fueling, to stretching, to injury prevention.
      - RunnerDude's Fitness Technical T-shirt

Year-Round Running with the RUNegades!

 The RUNegades program is for anyone who...
-wants to learn different running workouts to take his/her running to the next level
-wants a weekly full-body workout designed for runners
-wants a weekly routine of running with others of all levels to keep motivated
 -wants to become a more efficient runner
-wants have fun getting & staying fit!

What Does it Cost?
6-Month Commitment = $360 (Less than $15 a week for 3 sessions!)
Save 10% When You Commit to 12 Months! = $648!

When does The RUNegades group begin?
You can join The RUNegades program at any time during the year. Your 6-month or
12-month commitment begins the day you register.

Where does The RUNegades group meet?
       Monday's Full-Body Circuit Workout—RunnerDude's Fitness Studio @ 6:45pm
       Tuesday's Group Run—the Greenway by RunnerDude's Fitness @ 6:45pm
       Thursday's Group Speed Workout Run—Location varies week to week depending on the type of workout.

Race Training
Which Races Can I Train For?
It's easy, just pick your race (any race), back up 14 weeks (half marathon), or 18 weeks (full marathon) from the race date, and that's when your training begins. You'll get to train with runners doing lots of different races including your own.

What Does It Include? 
        -Custom Training Plan
        -Individual Support:
        -30-minute consultation: A time to discuss your           running/racing experience and racing goals
        -Training Support Info: Online access (for race training clients only) to a wealth of training materials
        -Group Runs: 2 Weekly Group Runs (Wednesdays 6:45PM and Saturdays 7:30AM)
        -Ongoing Group and Individual Communication:
        -RunnerDude's Fitness Technical T-shirt (with first RunnerDude's Fitness service or program)

What's Does Group Training Cost?
     (Half-Marathon) $120 plus two 24-bottle flats of water
     (Full Marathon) $145 plus two 24-bottle flats of water

Running Stride Video Analysis
Curious about your running stride?  RunnerDude's running stride video analysis will give you not only feedback on your running stride but actual video, still shots, and slow-motion footage of your running. Foot landing, foot-strike, cadence, upper-body posture, gait, and arm swing will be evaluated. The Analysis includes a session to collect the video footage, a video presentation with the feedback included on the video for you to view at home and an follow-up session where you'll be able to sit down with RunnerDude and discuss your analysis and any possible next steps or corrective measures, if needed.
Cost: $75

Fitness Assessment
Perfect for evaluating your current level of fitness before starting that New Year's resolution for a fitter you! During this 1.5 hour-long assessment, a complete a health questionnaire will be completed and then various fitness areas will be assessed such as vitals (blood pressure and resting heart rate), body composition (body fat %, circumference measurements, waist/hip ratio), flexibility and balance, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. The assessment also includes an aerobic fitness test to evaluate your VO2max (how well your body utilizes oxygen at maximum effort). If you're a runner the VO2max test will consist of a 1.5-mile run test. If you're not a runner and/or you're new to fitness, a 3-minute step test or 1-mile walk test well be used.
Cost: $75

Running Form Session with RunnerDude
A 1-hour one-on-one session focused on good running form to help prevent injury as well as to help make you a faster more efficient runner.
Cost: $55

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