Hi and welcome to another week,
First off – a great week of classes last week. I found the ‘one ring’ fence pulls a great challenge on Tuesday, and together with the isometric chin-ups in Body Work found myself with sore arms (right up near the elbow joint) for the first time in ages. I also loved the Friday class with all of the side bridges and again, actually found myself a bit tight through the core on Saturday morning…I think we have swung away from core exercises to ‘abs, abs, abs’ a bit too much lately – my fault of course and a problem I need to fix. Lastly, I don’t think any discussion of last weeks sessions can be conducted without at least mentioning the 8-minutes of squats that concluded the session on Wednesday. Brutal – just brutal.
Secondly, I would like to pay a special tribute to Rochelle Rodgers who was successful in winning the half-marathon in the City to Surf yesterday. The thing I admire so much about Rochelle’s result is not the time she ran, nor the amount of training she does – she has always trained hard and regularly finished high in the placings at the major events in Perth. It was that about 7 or 8 months back she decided that wasn’t enough for her and changed her coach.
Anytime you make a decision to ‘change’ something in your life it is a major stress and a major risk. In this case, Rochelle was already achieving great results – so there was no guarantee the change would be successful. It was possible that her previous coach knew her the best, knew what worked the best for her and she was ALREADY achieving the best results she was capable of. The change might have led to poorer results as well as creating all the stress in her life associated with changing training squads and coaches…and the relationship between an elite athlete and their coach is one that is very close and very personal. In effect, she made a decision to really lay it on the line – to risk everything she was already producing in the hope of taking it to a new level. But – she took a chance, she went absolutely ‘ALL IN’ with her training, and the result is now in the books for all time: 2012 Half Marathon WINNER – Rochelle Rodgers. I couldn’t be happier or prouder of her efforts.
Thirdly, I just wanted to pretty much say thanks to everyone at Round 1 who has provided their best wishes – either in person, by email, by text or on Facebook – to myself and all of the other runners yesterday. It is a really good feeling to know that you have the support of so many people on your side when things start to get tough. I see this in our classes all the time – there are a lot of selfless people at our gym who are prepared to give a quick work of encouragement to those around them in the sessions…to have that extended over the last couple of weeks and see people not competing actually travel up to the Mudd Rush/out to the City to Surf just to clap, cheer and support is pretty amazing.
How was my City to Surf? The run for me was a major challenge – my preparation was pretty poor in that I simply hadn’t done enough running to support the distance I was planning to run – and I knew it. I managed to get through 30km’s without incident – at which point my calves started to express some strong resentment towards the task. At 35kms, my groins joined the party and began cramping…the last 7kms or so was an absolute battle and I actually had to walk the best part of 3kms (from 37kms to 40kms) just to settle my legs down. Had it not been for the support of my new best friends (cheers to Tim and Jess who I ran with for 30kms or so) I actually doubt I would have finished. Happily for me though, I was able to resume a bit of a shuffle for the last couple of km’s and I was able to run across the line. Unfortunately I didn’t achieve my pre-race goal of finishing under 4hours, so it is with a heavy heart I will be saddling up again next year to have another try!
Last five (5) days of the August Special – if you want us to ‘buy back’ your Scoopon or are keen to take advantage of the 10 sessions/$99 offer, this is the last week and Friday is absolutely the last day. If you want the special, get into the gym and sort it out BEFORE the weekend – these specials will NOT be available when Saturday rolls around.
1/.Scoopon Buy-back
We will ‘buy-back’ your Scoopon with a membership bonus if you upgrade to a Round 1 Fitness membership:
– 3 month membership? We will buy back 50% of the cost of your Scoopon – This translates to a one-week extra membership at no cost.
– 6 month membership? We will buy back 100% of the cost of your Scoopon – this will translate to two extra weeks extra membership at no cost.
– 12-month membership? We will buy back 200% of the cost of your Scoopon – this will translate to an extra one month membership at no extra cost.
This offer is only valid until the end of August – an extra week on your membership for a 3-month contract, and extra two-weeks on your membership for a 6 month contract and an extra MONTH on your membership for a 12-month contract. A few people have asked me ‘what if I have already used my Scoopon?’ – well, great! That was the idea – and yes, we will still ‘buy’ it back!
2/.10-round pass just $99
Special for the month of August – a 10-round pass is just $99. This is a saving of more than 20% on the usual price ($120) and means you can train as a casual at Round 1 for less than $10 per session.
How are you travelling with the challenge? Me – I still have to do three (3) classes and one conditioning circuit – and given the way I feel right now that might be a little much! I am pretty determined to finish it though – I managed the last two ‘T-Shirt’ challenges and am pretty keen to get the trifecta…
That said, this has definitely been the hardest one – being forced to do Body Work and some of the TANKS-style WOD’s have pushed a lot of people out of their comfort zone. I have just been so excited to see people accomplishing things that they never dreamed were possible only a month ago – it is amazing what you can achieve when you set aside your existing perception of ‘self’ and simply ‘have a go’ – focussing purely on your effort from rep to rep rather than thinking solely about the outcome.
A new order of bag mitts has arrived – and new orders of towels and backpacks are on the way. Apologies for running short on towels in the gym everyone – please be extra diligent in packing your gym bag in the next couple of weeks as there are none in the gym to buy.
A reminder again about the Endura bars and Sport Gel’s now available in the gym. They are great tasting and – based on using the gels during the marathon yesterday – really do deliver on the promise that they are making.
Don’t forget to check out Endura at www.endura.com.au for more information on the products.
Another week – another failure to put in my tips. Sad. Melinda didn’t though – 8 right for her and a win for the week. At the top of the ladder, Dani has basically sealed victory for the season – she is sitting 2 clear of Lils and Dayle with just one week to play.
With the Dream Team, Booker has cruised into this weeks GF with a comfortable win over Roly, whilst Dale unfortunately went down to Dr Dream Team in the other Prelim. Booker is upholding the honour of the gym in this week’s competition so let’s all hope he does the right thing and brings it home.
A quieter week on Facebook this week – at least in terms of links and articles. I want the Facebook page to be a members page – and given the numbers of stories and photos being posted about the Mudd Rush there seemed to be more than enough content to keep everyone engaged and happy. That said, there were a couple of articles that got posted:
– Round 1 Stampede in the Valley: http://www.facebook.com/events/357878367624079/
– Couch potato to Iron Man in 12-months: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HA7kSqolbQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
– Glycogen depletion: http://thesportfactory.com/site/nutritionnews/glycogendepletion.shtml
– Australian Physical Activity Newsletter: http://email.ibox.com.au/t/ViewEmail/r/58FF262CEFA99968/6B9FE7406ADE0F6BA2432AF2E34A2A5F
All of that, plus loads of comments and banter about the classes – Please join us on the site (click HERE) and get involved with the daily conversations – it really does help keep you focused on your training and diet.
Thinking about a new ‘challenge’ for September? Have a look at this site and let me know BY FRIDAY (email to mpratt@round1fitness.com.au) if you are interested:
https://www.wholelifechallenge.com/
See you in the gym!
Michael.
We know this can be a daunting time. You’re probably wondering if we really are the right fit for each other. And it’s OK! Many people before you, have felt the same, and that’s why we want to offer you something special – our $29 Health Check.
Let’s work out together to see if we’re the right fit. Just hit the button below to let me know if you’re ready to see what’s included.