First group training for the 2011 Napa to Sonoma half marathon group! About 62 of our 85 (yep, we got one more!) participants gathered at a park in town for our first practice. It was a gray morning, somewhat chilly but at least the winds weren’t roaring like they have been most of the week.

We started things off with a shoes & gear clinic. The owner of the local Fleet Feet store, Jim, came and described to the group about how different shoes can affect different aspects of a runner’s anatomy and form as well as cluing everyone in to the good ol’ adage of “cotton is rotten”.

After that my co-coach, Jimmy, lead the group through a short dynamic warm-up and explained how important core strength is, not only for endurance sports but for life in general.

The group then set-out on a short 2 mile loop. We have all different abilities in our group and it was really positive for all of them to just see that they can do it. One of our mentors is a sweet gal who started out the Vegas season walking at about a 20-minute mile and she is now running. She is such a great encourager to everyone.

Our honored hero, Jay (8-year-old diagnosed with Crohn’s) was on hand to give everyone high-fives as they finished. He really is a cute kid. He posed for pictures with participants after too so they could put the pictures on their personal fundraising pages if they wanted. Who can resist a cute kid?

Post run/walk we had a group breakfast while they had a fundraising clinic to learn some of the ways to tackle that aspect of the program. The biggest thing was to remember that you’re not asking for money for yourself, but for the cause. And you never know who may contribute, so be pretty open with what you are doing and trying to accomplish, you just never know who may contribute.

Our endurance manager also paid a special little tribute to us as the coaches and made the announcement that I am now the longest tenured coach in Team Vegas history… 3 out of the 4 seasons they’ve been in the area. I got a Team Challenge headband and t-shirt for that!

The energy was high and I’m looking forward to this season, a lot more than I even realized I was until we started today!

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I am coaching a group of runners for the organization Team Challenge. They are fundraising for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America while training to run the 2011 Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon in July.

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