Friday morning Quick Intervals

Friday, April 17, 2015 · Mike Davis

Good morning and TGIF! I am most grateful that today is Friday! We started the week by capping our NFLR Winter training group off with “Reds 5 miler” and then we moved into our “NFLR Spring/Summer” training groups here in Dover as well as up in York for “Stonewall Kitchen” and of course a couple of nights down in Portsmouth for the “Runners Alley 10K” training group. In the military they use the phrase “battle rhythm” and that refers to a change of posture such as deploying to a location and how we adjust to the pace, demands and focus. Similar though definitely not the same, we will feel challenged for the first few weeks with all that NFLR is involved in but we will find our “battle rhythm” and then we will sail along. Anyhow, today is Friday and I have my mug filled coffee and ready to push through some “quick intervals,” so let’s go! As I mentioned our Dover spring/summer group started up Wednesday night and I was really thrilled to see some new faces. Nothing like increasing the NFLR running community as well as getting to know some new folks. This group will be at the “NFLR Coaching & Endurance Resource Center” tomorrow morning for the second of our 16 weeks training so if you are looking for a great way to train for multiple distances, come on over to “the Center” at 8:30. On Wednesday’s we will be meeting at “7th Settlement Brewery” in Dover so we pretty much have a pub run every week! This group is unique in that we offer something for every runner and while that is a challenge for us, it will be great for any runner. This coming Monday many will turn their focus to arguably the most popular running event in the world in the “Boston Marathon.” Locally we will have lots of area runners down in Boston either running the race or enjoying the event as spectators and many across the country will tune into it on TV. This marathon has such a lure that while it was exciting to see an American win it last year, the overall results are not as significant as being part of it in some way. I have been a part of it as a coach but typically I enjoy just checking in on the TV as the race progresses and watching the drama play out. This event is also like the unofficial kickoff to the running season in some ways. Pretty cool! Met with a friend for coffee yesterday who is no doubt the best swimming coach on the seacoast. Of course the conversation turned to Pilates and he detailed how he despite being older than many he shares you University of New Hampshire pool with, he is much more fluid because of his devotion to Pilates. I cannot begin to translate the detail that my friend uses to explain the benefits that Pilates has on his swimming but he leaves no doubt about the value it has on activities such as swimming, running as well as just functioning. This is not just some guy that swims back and forth a pool, but his instead he can speak from the experience of swimming the “English Channel” as well as other major swimming events around the country. His understanding of the human body and how its movements require strength, stability and range of motion is amazing. While I am not super interested in swimming, I find the concepts no different for runners and so it is always educational for me when I listen to him. I really have to find a way to get in the amount of Pilates that he talks about. For now Wednesday mornings will have to work for me. Rob Levy is a columnist for the “Portsmouth Herald/Seacoast Online” covering the running community on the seacoast and lately he has been reaching out to NFLR coach Davis for short interviews for his running blog. Pretty cool to talk about things from favorite places to run in the area to how to prevent injuries. I also get a chance to converse quite a bit with Nancy Eckerson from “Fosters Daily Democrat” who covers running for them and she does a lot of great running for the seacoast community. Because the seacoast has exploded with runners it is great to have two people like Rob and Nancy that have a passion for running and are great writers as well. Tomorrow will be another busy one for us at NFLR with the Dover training group kicking the day off at 8:30 followed by a full day of running stuff at “the Center,” so should be a fun day! My goal has been to keep Sunday free for some downtime but with all the activities we are involved with, it is getting tougher to not use that day to schedule some individual stuff. Time to finish up and get off to my morning workout. Thanks for joining me this morning and I hope you have an awesome day! God Bless! Mike