Race Day is Here!

Race day is here. Best of luck to all the Abe's Army participants who have done the work and will run the race.

How to Prepare for Race Day - SJR Be Healthy Article

The most important thing to remember when approaching race day is to do "very little" the week before the race. Often, we feel that a few good runs the week prior to the race will give us the extra edge - in actual fact your fitness can't change in the last week. Even if you don't feel fully trained for your race, DOING NOTHING can achieve the most benefit. Relative rest prior to a race will leave you with fresh legs giving you the ability to dig deep on the day. If you have been training all week prior to the race - you will have nothing to give on race day.

The week before a race such as the Abe's Amble 10 k running race, 2-3 short and easy runs during the week are all that is needed. Often, runners go for a run the day before (and easy 2-3 miles) to keep their legs loose, but some people feel better resting the day before. Ultimately, you will need to decide what works best for you.

Getting a good night sleep is important the night before a race - so hit the sack early and try to rest. Many people will feel excited about the race the next day and may have difficulty getting to sleep the night before, this is why my motto is: Get a good night sleep two nights before the race!

The night before the race check what the weather is going to be in the morning and make adjustments to clothing selections. Lay out cloths, running shoes, socks, race number, and hat to be ready for the a.m.

Eat a moderate meal the night before the race. Make sure it is something you would normally eat with no stomach or intestinal upsets. It is very important not to eat anything unfamiliar or too heavy.

The morning of the race get up 2-3 hours prior to the race, eat a light breakfast consisting of some carbohydrates, similar to your usual regimen.

Finally, don't forget to make sure you hit the bathroom before you head out on the course.

Have a great race and enjoy the process.

Brigitte Cutler, DPT, is a physical therapist at PhysioTherapy Professionals LLC. She has a master's of health science from Washington University's program in physical therapy. She also completed her doctorate of physical therapy at Washington University in May of 2008. For more information go www.physiotherapyprofessionals.com.

Monday Night Run & Picnic

Walkers, speed walkers, race walkers, and run/walkers will start their last training run at 5:30 pm on Monday, August 16 from Lincoln Park, Shelter #7.

Runners will start their last training run at 6:15 pm on Monday, August 16 from Lincoln Park, Shelter #7.

Having the two start times brings us all in at approximately the same time so that we can enjoy the celebration as a group.

Food:  Catered by McCormick's Restaurant:  pulled pork and pulled chicken sandwiches; boca burgers (soy product); cheese tortellini pasta salad; red skin potato salad; chips; cookies and brownies

Soda and water will be provided.  Adult beverages are welcome.

We will have door prizes this year!

Abe's Cancelled tonight

Due to extreme heat Abe's Army is cancelled for tonight, August 9, 2010.

Maria and Melanie are headed for sunny and probably HOT Florida this Saturday. If any of you are interested in an early Saturday morning run (probably starting at the War Monuments) at 7 a.m., let me know. If no recruits are interested, I'll probably pass. Please let me know your thoughts about running 5 vs. 6.2 miles on Monday. In the past, our group has actually met at the Main Gate and left from there which shaves approximately 1 mile off the total. Another thought was to try and run the course the following weekend. Thanks. Susan

Saturday - July 24

Susan and Melanie will be competing in the Brian McMillan 5k on Saturday at LLCC. I will be working in the morning and not able to go.

Saturday - War Memorials

Saturday morning we will meet at the War Memorials at 7:00 a.m. We will run over to Lincoln Park, make a loop and return to the War Memorials. This should give us 4+ miles. We will have water at the Pavilion closest to the Nelson Center. Please drink plenty of water on Friday and eat light that evening. WE look forward to seeing everyone there.

Sorry folks

Sorry for not showing up tonight. Susan is on vacation, and Maria and I have had sick kids since Saturday, not to mention we both are recovering from lack of sleep and family time from the WDF. Hope you all had a good run with our combined group leaders.
Saturday we will post our location for you in the near future.
Upcoming races,
Sizzling Mile next week see SRRC website link to KT Mac website there are also 2 kids fun runs info on the above blog.
7-24-10 Brian McMillan 5 K at Lincoln Land- slighlty hilly course out and back register at get me registered. com
Parade Run 2 mile route along the parade route for the State Fair parade
Melanie

Monday

I hope everyone had a good run on Monday. Susan, Melanie and Maria are resting from a very busy weekend. WE promise to be back this weekend. It was great seeing everyone at the Women's Distance Festival. This weekend we will probably meet at the War Memorials at the Cemetary. This will allow you to see some of the course.

Saturday - July 2, 2010

We will meet at the Washington Park Picnic Shelter at 7am. We will make two loops for total of 4 miles. Hydrate and think about what you eat tonight. See you in the morning.

Monday Run from Lincoln Park

WE will meet at Lincoln Park on Monday night. WE will be merging with another group which should help out with our wide range of pace. There will be a total of 6 leaders. I hope to see everyone out there tonight. Remember to drink plenty of water today and plan your meals accordingly.

Saturday Run - June 26

We will be showing off the 2 mile course of the Women's Distance Festival. We will meet at the Washington Park Picnic Shelter at 7a.m. We are scheduled to run 3 miles, we will make the 2 mile loop and then add one more to the end. Hope to see a few more faces out there this weekend for the run.

Let Susan (susan.helm@comcast.net) or myself know if you are coming so we have a count.

Thanks/
Maria - mariaansley@comcast.net

5K - don't panic

First of all, watch the Abe's Army blog for weather postings today but ASSUME we run unless it's thundering and lightening. We're going to tackle a 5K course (that's 3.1 miles). Don't panic. My suggestion is dividing up into three ability levels - 13 minute mile, 14 minute mile and 15 minute mile and still use our 2 minutes running and 1 minute walking ratio. We'll assign a leader to each of the three pace groups. Drink.

Saturday Morning run

Washington Park is the Place. 6:30 a.m. at the picnic shelter close to the tennis courts. This will be your view of the Women's Distance Festival Course, plus one more mile. I hope to see as many of you out there as possible. We have the practice 5k on Monday night with the clock. It will be hard if you have not been working up to this. Drink plenty of water tonight and get some rest.

Feeling lonely

We miss our "Rewinders". I'll be out of town helping my daughter move apartments this weekend but please don't forget to run/walk, bike, swim at least 3 X's per week. Body Glide is a good investment during these hot times. Hydrate. See you Monday. If it's as warm and humid as expected, we might move to Lost Bridge Trail or meet at Lincoln Park where there's more shade. Hugs, Susan

Monday

Monday night the group was missing a few people. Let's give a big shout out to ANGIE for being the only one to show up and run with her leaders. We ran to the 1 mile mark and returned via gate 11. It was warm and we we did a 2:1 ratio. If you are trying to complete your miles inside on a treadmill that is great, however, when it comes to race day and you haven't been running in the heat your performance will be less than expected. Check back later this week to find out were we will be on Saturday morning.

Maria, Melanie and Susan

Monday June 14th

We will meet at the fairgrounds. We will cover 2 miles, and cover the start and finish area of the race route.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!!!

See you at the fairgrounds near the wine sign under the awning.
Melanie

Sat June 12th

We will be meeting at IDOT trail, we will cover about 2-2.5 miles at 7 am
Sorry for the late post, time flies!
See ya in the AM
Melanie and Susan
Maria will be there in spirit

Saturday - June 5th

Saturday, June 5th we will not be able to run with the group. Susan and Maria are working the MMC Burn 5K at Washington Park and Melanie is having a garage sale. Feel free to run at the trail without us. Let us know how you did.

Keep moving!
Maria, Melanie and Susan

Saturday Morning

The plan Saturday morning is meet at the Lost Bridge Trail in the IDOT parking lot at 7:30 am. We will be running some before 7:30 so if we are not there right at 7:30 just hang tight. We will be covering two miles and plan to do a 1:1 minute ratio of run/walk with you. If you can do more than that go right ahead. Hope everyone will join us on Saturday morning for your long run. It is hard to do it alone and company always makes it go by faster.

Welcome to Abe's Army

Susan, Melanie & Maria

Welcome to Abe's Army 2010!