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LA Times Writer Roy Wallack Promotes Metronome Usage for Runners and Coach Steve
Roy M. Wallack is the author of “Run for Life: The Anti-Aging, Anti-Injury, Super-Fitness Plan to Run to 100.” roywallack@aol.com
To learn about all the benefits a metronome can do to improve your running, attend a FREE Metronome Workshop at:
Road Runner Sports, Torrance, Tuesday, July 7, 6:30 PM
A Snail’s Pace Running Shop, Pasadena, Monday July 20, 6:30 PM
Beep Focused, Steve Mackel, ChiRunning® Instructor
The Email From Coach Ilg to His Tribe That Blew Me Away
SoCalRunners,
As soon as I read the Chi-mail below from Coach Steve Ilg, founder of WholisticFitness.com, I emailed him asking permission to post it on our site. Gary and I have been coached by Coach Ilg for years. His (W)holistic views have deeply influenced Gary, myself and our training programs.
For more chi-hits check out his blog Indirect Lines by Coach Steve Ilg and consider becoming a member of his tribe to get the whole story.
Train Focused, Steve Mackel – Wholistic Fitness Tribe Member
Always Happy Jason Race Report from the L.A. Marathon 2009
Always Happy Jason – Showing His Stuff Early in the LA Marathon
The night before the marathon is the time when I set up all my stuff for the morning. This is when I really know that I’m getting ready to run another marathon.
This is my 4th marathon and my first time writing about my experience at a marathon. I do wonder why it took me sometime to decide on doing a running blog. I guess I was not ready yet. I’m ready now. Here we go.
I woke up around 4:00 a.m. took a shower, and drank my Mega juice. I got all my gear and I was out the door. I was feeling pretty relaxed that morning. I was telling myself that this is going to be a great day for me to run another marathon. Boy…there were so many people up early, and at the starting line. I made sure to take a lot of pictures. I love taking pictures. It shows that you were there to experience this event and it feels good to smile. It was so cramped (that word is going to be important later) at the starting line. The horn went off and we where off on Figueroa. It was amazing the parade of people on the course, it was so awesome. While on the course I saw a gentlemen named Ed that I had seen running in my neighborhood. Before that I had seen him in San Pedro running so I introduced myself. It's a small world to see him in the L.A. Marathon with over 14,000 people. I was feeling pretty good. I was taking it slow not to go out to fast.
It was about after mile four that Coach Steve and another member of the Sole Runners saw me. It was so cool to see them. Steve ran with me for about mile and a half. We talked about how things were going and then he wanted to know my heart rate. It was around 162 bpm at the time. He told me to slow down. He suggested for me to keep my heart rate down around the 140-150 bpm range until 10:00 a.m., then see I how I felt. I took his advice and I’m grateful to have a great coach and a great friend to help me out. Thanks Coach Steve.
I continued to drink and check my Garmin to make sure I was in the target zone. So far so good. While I was on Venice Blvd. I saw some more Sole Runners that had come to cheer on the Marathoners. It was great to see them and kept my spirits up. Sole Runners…You guys are awesome!
I check my time and it was 10:30 a.m. My feeling at that time was so-so. The first half of the marathon was not too bad, but… (always a but) the second half was challenging. I believe at mile 15 or 16 I started feeling tight in my calf area. It was not feeling good at all. I was cramping up. This feeling has come up before but not this bad. I continued going on. One step at a time. Looking back now I should had stretched it out. I also believe that I should have drank more electrolytes. This was a learning experience for me. I worked on using my ChiWalking® for the rest of the Marathon. This helped a lot. The support at the water stations and on the course was amazing and greatly appreciated. That continued to help me to go on.
I was between mile 25 and 26 and I heard a runner tell me, ”Boy…you have a good walking pace.” Then we met in the final stretch of the race and his hands were on his knees. I came by him at told him, “You are almost there.” That helped him to continue. He told me that he signed up for this marathon on Saturday. He has done marathons before but this one he did not train at all for. I was amazed. His name was Carlos. I attempted to run the last .2 miles but my calves were still in pain.
I finished this L.A. Marathon (Yah) one minute faster than last year. The course was pretty good and the weather was great. I’m humble and thankful to have this time to share my experience on the marathon.
This marathon was dedicated to two people that I care about a lot. Pastor E.C. Carson and Ricardo Gordillo’s mom. Fight On. (LIVESTRONG).
AlwayshappyJason – Sole Runners and SoCalRunning.com member
Quick ChiRunning Posture Video from the Past
ChiRunning® is hot with all the marathons coming up and people getting started for their fall marathons, I thought I treat you to a quick lesson on finding the proper ChiRunning® posture.
ChiRunning® Workshop this Sunday in Long Beach. Spaces still available.
Train Focused, Steve Mackel – ChiRunning® Instructor
Finally got it – The Hug
No pictures allowed inside the hugging area.
We got there early and the lines were still short. We went straight to get our Darshan token. By 9:20 we were set with token in hand and Amma was arriving at 10:00 AM. It is cool to get there early because it is a big deal when she enters the room. It sounded like someone was blowing through a shell and maybe they were. We started with three OMs and a group meditation guided by one of her disciples. I thought it was great. What was interesting was the large amount of children. Even with the restless children noises in the background I was able to let go.
The kids loosened the atmosphere. In fact, Amma had two young children sit next to her during the opening meditation. Amma embodies motherhood, the love only a mother knows, the heartbreak and the joys. She embodies compassion, caring, nuturing, understanding and unconditional love.
It takes a while to get to your number and usually it takes longer. Within a hour and a half it was our turn. During the wait we walked around the main room filled with spiritual nick-nacks. Next thing I knew we were in the Darshan line. It took about 25 minutes to get our hug.
It can feel weird the way the make it happen. When it is your turn they may wipe your forehead with a cloth then gently push your head into her shoulder. Now my head is in the crux of her shoulder and her staff had to ask her a couple of questions. She held me as she talked to them. Her focus returned to me. I was consoled and affirmed, then it was done. She had to move on.
I walked to the back of the room and watched. Person after person, legions of followers and curious. How could this one lady change so many people in this world? Like Mother Teresa, “One person at a time.”
Train Focused, Steve Mackel – Amma’s Child
Amma is in Town this Week, Join Me Tuesday Morning!
So here’s my story, I have waited up to 15 hours to get my hug. Who’s Amma? Mata Amritanandannayi Devi or Amma is an Indian Saint. I think of her as the Indian Mother Teresa. She is known for her work with the needy in India. She is also know for her hugs and is also known as the “Hugging Saint.”
Coach Steve Ilg, my coach, asked me to see her in 2004. I had no idea of what I was getting into. The first time I waited 4 hours to get a hug. As Coach Ilg said, “That was a World Class Hug wasn’t it?” How could it not be, I had to wait 4 hours to get my first hug.
Amma found a place in my heart. Next, I read her biography. I love reading stories about inspiring people. I was moved and since then I have only missed her once, last year. She only comes to LA once a year. I will not make that mistake again
I’ve been planning this for weeks with Monday and Tuesday set aside to see which would work best so I could still coach as many people as possible. Now it is official, I am going Tuesday morning. My plan is to get there around 8:30 AM with tokens being passed out at 9 AM. You have to get a token to get a hug.
If you want to meet me there or ride with me Email Coach Steve It will take all morning into the afternoon. Who knows when we’ll get back yet I have to ride with Derek at 7 PM, so we will be back by then at the latest. And, you don’t need food, they serve a fantastic vegetarian meal for under $10. More details below.
Radisson Hotel at Los Angeles Airport 6225 West Century Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90045 starting at 10:00 AM for Darshan
Women, please dress conservatively, wear shoes you don’t mind putting on a rack since you are barefoot in the main room. I we perform a couple hours of “Seva” or service, washing pots and pans or whatever they need me to do. I will also get my malas blessed and may ask for a mantra.
I am getting pumped up for this. Join me, this is powerful spiritual stuff, even for this Catholic boy.
More on Amma from her web site,
“On the morning of the 27th of September 1953, in a small poor fishing village, Parayakadavu in the Quilon district of Kerala, a baby girl was born. Her parents gave her the name Sudhamani. She came into this world not in tears as babies usually do, but with a beaming smile on her face, as if prophesying the joy and bliss she was to bring to the world.
Sudhamani spent the years of her childhood and teens immersed in intense spiritual practices in order to present a living example for the world. Even as a small child, she could often be found absorbed in deep meditation, totally oblivious of her surroundings. By the age of five, she had already begun composing devotional songs laden with deep mystical insight.
Another quality that was clearly manifest in Sudhamani from this tender age was her love and compassion toward her fellow human beings. Though only a child, Sudhamani did whatever she could to ease the suffering of her elderly neighbors. She washed their clothes, bathed them and even brought them food and clothing from her own home. This habit of giving away things from her family’s house landed her in deep trouble. However, no amount physical abuse or punishment could stop the expression of her inborn compassion. She later said, ” An unbroken stream of Love flows from me towards all beings in the cosmos. That is my inborn nature.”
‘Amma’ as she is known all over the world today, has inspired and started innumerable humanitarian services. She has earned international recognition for her outstanding contributions to the world community. She is recognized as an extraordinary spiritual leader by the United Nations and by the people all over the world.
Though Amma makes no claims herself, those who watch her closely notice that she is the greatest example of her teaching. Her disciples and believers imbibe her teachings by just watching her.
For the past 35 years Amma has dedicated her life to the uplifting of suffering humanity through the simplest of gestures – an embrace. In this intimate manner Amma had blessed and consoled more than 25 million people throughout the world.
When someone asked Amma why she receives every person who comes to her in a loving embrace Amma replied, “ If you ask the river, why do you flow? what can it say?”
Amma spends most of her waking hours receiving the distressed and all who come to her for comfort, day after day without a break.
Once a press reporter asked Amma how was it possible for her to embrace each and every one in the same loving way, even if they were diseased or unpleasant. Amma replied, “ When a bee hovers over a garden of varied flowers, what it beholds is not the difference between the flowers but the honey within them. Similarly Amma sees the same Supreme Self in each and every one.” As Dr. Jane Goodall, while presenting Amma with the 2002 Gandhi-King Award for Non-violence said, ” She stands here in front of us. God’s love in a human body.”
Hug Focused, Steve Mackel – Humble Hugee
Our Holistic Nutritional Teleseminar for Runners is Tonight at 6 PM
Last week we talked about the specific foods you can include in your diet. This week is about cellular cleaning
Coach Gary and I will be hosting tonight's Holistic Nutrition for Runners with Luanne Pennesi RD MS and Gary Null PhD.
Tonight's workshop
topic is entitled “Performance Nutrition”
To Sign-up and Listen Click Here
Eat Focused, Steve Mackel – Sole Runners Head Coach
Wrigley River Run Tomorrow – Saturday, June 6 – Please support it!
Wrigley River Run Registration still available today and tomorrow morning
Race Day: Saturday June 6, 2009
Race Day Schedule:
6:00am – Registration opens
7:30am – 5K Run / Walk
8:15am – 10K Run / Walk
9:30am – Tadpole Trot 1K
10:00am – Awards Ceremony begins
Packet Pick-Up: is located at Holy Innocents Church (2500 Pacific Ave., Long Beach 90806) at the following times:
Friday June 5, 2009 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Saturday June 6, 2009 beginning at 6:00am
Awards: are given to the top three finishers in each of fourteen age divisions as well as special awards to the overall male and female winners for both the 5K and 10K. Ribbons will be given to all children participating in the Tadpole Trot 1K. Winners must be present to claim their award. Awards will not be mailed.
Age Group Divisions: 14 and under, 15 – 19, 20 – 24, 25 – 29, 30 – 34, 35 – 39, 40 – 44, 45 – 49, 50 – 54, 55 – 59, 60 – 64, 65 – 69, 70 – 74, 75 and above.
All registered runners will receive a high quality short sleeve 100% cotton race t-shirt. Some sizes are limited and exact sizes are not guaranteed.
Parking: Ample parking is available at Wrigley Marketplace at Willow and Long Beach Blvd., a short walk to the start line
Race Focused, Steve Mackel – Sole Runners Head Coach
National Running Day is Today, Wednesday, June 3 – Go For A Run
Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3, is a new concept that SoCalRunning.com loves, National Running Day
Next year SCR is going to jump all over this with a Midnight event. This year I am encouraging everyone to go out for a run, whether it is 10 “short strides” (you ChiRunners will know what I mean) or 10 miles. And as Coach Gary says. “Run With Joy”
The mission of National Running Day is to designate one national day to promote running as a healthy, easy, and accessible form of exercise.
This initiative aims to:
Visit www.RunningDay.org for more information.
Train Focused, Steve Mackel – ChiRunning® Instructor
Founder – Coach Steve
Running Shoe Store of the Month – Jan/Feb 2017
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