What’s on your list to accomplish in your lifetime? I believe it was called a “bucket list” in a recent popular movie. Maybe you have lofty goals like running a full (26.2 miles) or half (13.1 miles) marathon. Maybe your goals are simply to improve your health or to lose some of the winter pounds that sneak onto the scales. Five years ago my goal after walking out of the doctor’s office and being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes was that I didn’t want to be on meds for the rest of my life. To accomplish my goal I knew that exercise and diet would be the key. I started walking and then gave running a try. I also learned what a proper portion of food was. The pounds came off and the diabetes meds are history. I know that there are lots of ways of exercising but for me running was the answer. Maybe your goal is to run a 5K (3.1 miles) race before that “magical” birthday sneaks up on you. How do you get started? That’s easy! The Asheville Track Club in conjunction with Asheville Parks and Recreation offers a 12 week Beginners Running Program. It’s a great way to guide you to fulfilling your running and exercising goals. The program begins at 6:00pm on Tuesday, May 4th at Carrier Park. Carrier Park is located off Amboy Road in West Asheville. The group will meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:00pm and on Saturday morning at 8:00am. Maybe you haven’t run since grade school or maybe you are recovering from a running injury. It doesn’t matter! We start with one minute of running followed by two minutes of walking and repeat this six times. As the program progresses your running time increases and your walking time decreases. The culmination of this program is the running of the BeleChere 5K race on July 24th. This system works! Last year we had 80 people complete the program and the 5K race. This is the 14th year for the program. One bonus of the program is that each week there is a guest speaker. Subjects covered include: injury prevention, exercise motivation, proper footwear, trail running, hydration, stretching and cold weather running. Another bonus of the program are the coaches. They are runners who are there each week to answer your questions and help you complete the program. The cost of the program is $20.00 dollars. All monies collected go to the printing of a t-shirt that is designed by the group. The Asheville Track Club invites everyone to come out and participate in this program. Set your goals and make no excuses. We have had ages 12 to 70 complete the program. Can’t run on Saturday morning? Find one other day of the week to run. We will help you achieve your running goal, become healthier and run a 5K race. If you have questions about this training, please contact me, Tom Kingsbury burytom@charter.net or 665-7526. Hope to see you at Carrier Park on May 4th.

2008 Red Dress Run

• If you have not been active recently, be sure to check with your doctor prior to starting any fitness program.
• Begin each session with a 10-15 minute warm-up. Walking and/or light calisthenics followed by light stretching is recommended.
• Be sure to cool down after each session with a 5-10 minute walk followed by light stretching exercises.
• The key to this program is to run at a comfortable pace for the time allotted. Don't worry about speed or distance. You will naturally get faster as time goes by.