Just when you thought there wouldn't be another post...

Here is a little update about what's been happening at Orange Shoe Chicago in case you missed it.

The Winter Shoe Crew Challenge (SCC) is coming down to the last couple of weeks. Challengers have put forth amazing effort in the form of sweat, tears, and fatigue (mostly sweat and fatigue). Through early mornings and exhausting homework, bonds of friendship were formed and pounds were lost forever. Come March 31, our Winter Shoe Crew Challenge victor will be known and with victory will come eternal glory... as well as 3 months of free small group training sessions. Not a current participant of the Shoe Crew Challenge? Luckily, immediately following the Winter SCC we will begin the Spring Shoe Crew Challenge.  Talk to anyone at Orange Shoe to sign up.  Let the battle begin!

Engine Building 101 was a wild and crazy ride that ended in undoubted success. We can't wait to see how many podiums are created from the hard work carried out by each participant. Sundays at Orange Shoe were filled with  grunts and die hard physical competition of dedicated bike racers.  At this point, its not a question of whether the tough grind will pay off, its how much rump their going to kick during the season.

What better time to introduce the new running program than with the well enjoyed rise in temperature. That's right, the Orange Shoe Running Academy is currently getting a new look and offering new benefits.  Stay tuned for more details on how you can benefit from this exciting program no matter your current level of experience.

While that may not be everything that has happened over the past few months, it is a start and there will be more to come... We promise!

Happy Training!

LAST Tuesday Training Tip (at least for a while...)

Post Chicago Marathon

First of all, congrats to all the marathoners who ran on Sunday! While the weather might have been warmer than desired, it's all said and done now! Since the famed Hal Higdon marathon training program (which I too did for my first marathon) is 18 weeks long, I decided post 18 was a good time to give the Tuesday Training Tip weekly blog post a rest. Since the Chicago marathon has officially come and gone, what better timing than the present to take an off season breather? Therefore, the last post (for the time being) will briefly recap a couple of marathon highlights and address a couple other insanities of marathoning.  

The women's champ was Liliya Shobukhova from Russia stealing her THIRD Chicago marathon victory in a row! She amazingly finished in 2:18:20.

Week 17: Feats of Endurance

This week's blog isn't necessarily a training tip, but I think it certainly still qualifies as endurance related.

Here's the link.

Here's the short and sweet:

-71 year old woman held a plank for 36 minutes and 58 seconds to break a world record

-2 years ago she weighed 235 pounds, since then has lost 110 pounds and decreased from a size 22 to a 4/6

-She's been able to stop taking 11 medications!

The next time you turn on a television program, try to hold a plank from beginning to end...or at least try a minute or two today.

Plank it out, enough said.

And remember...cardio is still cool.