A soggy afternoon but an enthusiastic group of new (and returning) students who were ready to get things under way. Their enthusiasm was matched only by that of our stalwart crew of volunteer coaches. Thanks!

Jason worked his way through a steady 25 minute run on the track with Shannon and seemed to be in a good level of effort zone. The rest of the group eased in to things by doing the prescribed workouts for week one - 45 second run followed by recovery as necessary for the runners, and 15 minutes mild effort for the walkers.

We still have space in the class. Send me an email (firststrides@edenathletics.com) and come join us next Wednesday at Eagle Lake - 5:30 P.M by the bridge.

I must agree with the President that it is "all good" in the woods!

We added four more class members and on what was one of the hottest days of the summer we were treated to a cool puff or two along East Eagle. Jason and Ms. D did a steady 28 minute run as part of his C25k plan. The rest of our runners and walkers explored a variety of workouts (a few opted for two minute run segments, with recovery as necessary) for a total of 17 minutes. We'll bump this up to 22 minutes this coming Wednesday. Join us!

Lots of good runs and walks reported by the group this week, and everyone seems to be healthy and basically following the grand plan. Amanda and Shannon gave wonderful presentations, and Monica aced Shannon's pop quiz on nutrition. Lots of class members are "all in." We'll help to try and keep them from overdoing things by having them gain some awareness of target heart rates, build in recovery days, etc.

For the second week in a row the Park's program on Beavers wound up sharing our outdoor classroom by Signpost Six. The Park group seemed fairly entertained by the "heel walks" and "toe walks" Vanessa had us perform at the end of the stretching session. Hopefully this whole space sharing thing will continue to go along peacefully. Beavers are highly territorial.

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow and hearing how they've done over the past week. Frank's comment about the territorial beavers makes me think of Caddyshack for some reason. Hope Acadia's beavers aren't as bad as those gophers :)

n/m

A good turnout and perfect running temp for class this evening. Dr. Dave shared his insights on injury prevention and assessment with the group, and then joined us for the run/powerwalk workout on East Eagle. Thank you, Dr. Dave!

Lots of folks were looking strong out there and many ran for the entire 25 minute workout segment. A number of class members will be running the Komen 5k in Bangor on Sunday. We look forward to hearing about their experiences there at our next class meeting.

This program is fortunate to have lots of volunteer support. I believe the ratio of volunteers to class members tonight was 1:1. (This ratio also applies to the dogs in attendance tonight.) Thanks to Don-Jean, Bob, Vanessa, Shannon, Diane, Judy, Kevin, Amanda, Jane Fenno-Vaux, and Dr. Dave.

Late afternoon September light at Eagle Lake is hard to beat..

http://www.itbs.info/html/body_stretches.html

Not a bad idea for any of us to incorporate a few of these into a stretching routine. Happy running!

Dr. Mary D. joined us today and strongly encouraged the group to maintain some form of exercise program year round. In addition to extolling the many health benefits of exercise, she also addressed the importance of vitamin D and calcium supplements. Mary’s message echoed what we have been telling the group from day one…that completing a 5k is simply a short term goal on a lifelong fitness plan. Thanks for sharing your expertise with us, Mary!

The lecture program was followed by a 28 minute run-walk effort out on East Eagle. I surveyed it all from my bike perch. (Bear Bryant had a tower…) Lots of folks looked very comfortable at the turnaround and appeared quite ready to continue on around the lake.

We met a little early today (9/29) and after discussing various methods of dealing with Plantar Fasciitis (and its frustrations) we eased out on to East Eagle for a run/walk workout. Great late afternoon light, and a wonderful temperature for running. After the workout Vanessa Boyd took us through an “all terrain” core routine. No mats required..although it helps to have some abs. Thanks Vanessa, and Britt, for putting this together.

I wasn't able to attend class this day (10/6) but I'm told that Robin Emery (Maine Running Hall of Fame) gave a wonderful presentation to the group that came out and braved the monsoon. Thanks, Robin! I hope you'll come join us some other day for a run.

A good group at the boat launch ramp this morning to hear Don Bell talk about his discovery of marathon running at the age of 50. Since then he’s completed 30 marathons (THIRTY) and collected some age group hardware at the Marine Corps Marathon (and other venues) along the way. Don also passed around a few medals from Big Sur, Boston 08, and the Corps. I think I detected a spark or two as the medals made their way around our small circle. Strong runs (35 minutes) and power walks with trekking poles followed Don’s presentation. We then went down to the gym at Conners- Emerson where Vanessa took the group through her advanced stretching/yoga routine. Thank you, Vanessa. And thanks to Amanda for arranging for us to use the gym and the mats

Beautiful color at Eagle Lake for our second Saturday morning class. Bob B. reviewed some helpful hints and strategy for a successful 5k walk/run, and then the group did a 38 minute workout among the falling leaves on East Eagle. Don borrowed Vanessa’s high tech camera, and acted as “finish line photographer” as everyone returned (all looking quite comfortable)to the boat launch area. I believe Don also got a few pictures of the lake and the silhouette effect formed by the sliver of Pemetic that flanks the Bubbles. Vanessa then took us through her core routine again. The folks who have been doing this routine at home the past few weeks (not me) seemed a step ahead of the rest of the class.

Don’t forget to come out and cheer on the First Strides class tomorrow at the Rolling Bones 5k. They have all done a great job the past eight weeks, and I am pretty confident we'll be seeing more of this group on the carriage roads, trusty neighborhood winter loops, and at races in the future.

Class of 2010

Annemarie Swanson
*Jason Ingalls
*Nichole Greaves
Rachel Pelletier
*Wendy McKim
*Debbie Lamson
*Trish Howard
*Sian Clements
*Beth Bradshaw
*Tammy Dow
*Bunky Dow
Peter Vaux
Rose Iuro-Damon
*Dottie Robins
*Kelly Swanson
*Helen Koch
*Monica Phippen

* new Eden member