Last Speed workout before the Honolulu Marathon this Thursday. Let's take action and stay focused on the prize!

Champion Running Group! We will meet this Thursday at 5:30pm at Ala Moana Beach Park behind the tennis courts (mountainside, diamond side). We will start with a dynamic warm-up and then go into a 41 minute countinuos Farlek speed workout where you will Alternate between 2 minutes hard and 3 minutes hard for 41 minutes with a 1 minute jog rest between each hard iteration of running. Finish w/ a 9 minute cool-down jog. The Word for the day is the TAKE ACTION! In life, in training, and in racing; decide to not settle for comfortable compromise. Instead, take Critical Action and put the success of the mission ahead of personal comfort and convenience! Daniel Kolenda, in his book, "Live Before You Die," says: "Critical action almost always involves putting “boots on the ground,” taking risks and interacting with people in a way that makes one vulnerable. Critical action will almost always mean paying some price and sticking your neck out in some way. The comfortable compromise, on the other hand, always consists of more talking than walking. It allows us to stay safe, makes us feel good about ourselves, and keeps us busy, but it produces very few actual results. Simply put, the comfortable compromise is an action that serves as a substitute for the critical action. It is a cheap imitation, a second-rate alternative; an easy way out. I say that comfortable compromise is more problematic than procrastination because when we procrastinate, at least we know that something is still lacking. But the comfortable compromise allows us to pacify our conscience, feeling as though we have fulfilled our obligation though in reality we have accomplished only a fraction of our potential, or perhaps none at all." The scriptures remind us to take action: "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James 2:14-17 And again: "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:18 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:23-24 I hope this blog finds you healthy and inspired to take action in life and in your running goals. - Dr. Nate

Workout tomorrow night 5:30 at Ala Moana Park: 30 minute tempo run. Important info about the group in this blog! Please read!

The Champion Running Group will continue to meet...unfortunately I will no longer be able to make it to Ala Moana Beach Park for the group due to now living in Kailua and conflicting work and commuting schedules. I have been trying to make it work for the past 3 months but it is not working for me during the week. I will continue to post the entire workout every week. Please continue to meet at the same time and place. I am hopeful that at least one time per month we can all meet in Kailua as a group on a Thursday night so I can be there and coach and help everyone out! Plus, Thursday night Kailua has an awesome night farmer's market with lots of food vendors! This Thursday Night's workout 5:30pm at Ala Moana Beach Park (behind tennis courts, mountainside) is a dynamic warm-up consisting of walking high knee pulls, walking lunges, running butt-kicks, running high knees. Then perform 6 reps (50 meters) of progressive stride-out accelerations to get the leg turnover going. The main workout is a 30 minute hard sustained tempo run at half-marathon goal pace. Finish the workout w/ a slow 10 minute cool-down jog and 10 minutes of static stretching (hold each stretch 30 seconds). This workout is great to prep for the 20k or the Windward Half-Marathon next weekend! I will be on the course biking around to cheer people on during the Windward Half-Marathon. Hope to see a few of you there! Polina is running the Half. I am proud of everyone that comes out to the Champion Running Group every week and runs hard. Everyone has improved so much and I enjoy meeting new people too! It pains me to not be there to encourage and direct the workouts but this is for the better and hopefully we can start doing more in Kailua soon. Inspirational word for the day: Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, working for the Lord God and not for the approval of Men. Honor God with your talents and your running, He has blessed you with abilities and talents. You can live your whole life trying to please others but you never will please everybody. However, God is already pleased with you because He created you and accepts you for who you are no matter what you have or have not done. Take the pressure off yourself to gain approval from others and live for an audience of ONE (God). - Dr. Nate