Alan’s Journal: Happy New Year! Let’s Do It Together!

By January 6, 2016Alan's Journal
TORONTO January 6th 2016.

Hey fellow runners!

I hope you had a great holiday period with family and friends. There are probably a few of us with food hangovers out there [speaking for myself]. For those who had more difficult times, I hope that family and friends were there with support for you, and with help to move forward.

Speaking of that, 2016 awaits us, pregnant with possibilities, goals, hopes and dreams! What are yours? I’ve SO enjoyed seeing so many of your social media posts over the last few days. Your first runs of the New Year; or your first club and crew runs of 2016, with the Running Room Resolution Runs from coast to coast; from the Paradise Run Club in St.John’s to Longboat Road Runners first run in High Park, to East Van Run Crews first “Monday-Nighter” from Red Truck Brewery in YVR. Please keep them coming; they are great INSPIRATION and MOTIVATION as we start to make our plans for 2016 at Canada Running Series.

Let’s get after 2016 TOGETHER, and make it a banner year!

For sure, it’s now time to set some goals. Maybe it’s your first marathon at STWM or a new 8k PB at the Race Roster Spring Run-Off or a 10k PB at the Toronto Waterfront 10k? If you’re Lanni or Eric, our CRS 2015 Champions, it could be the dream of a great performance at the Rio Olympics. Or it could be a shorter-term goal like Night Terrors’ #JanuaryBattle in TO & LA. Maybe it could be a running streak like Matt Galloway’s epic #365daysofrunning Challenge, which he just finished! If you haven’t read Matt’s interview on the life-changing impact running had for him in 2015, and how it helped him discover his neighbourhood, city and world, as well as himself, it’s really worth a read. And check out the photo of Matt with his #SpringRunOff 2015 finishers’ medal!

cherry blossoms

New Year’s Tips Du Jour: Training helps! 

  • Out on the West Coast, our Modo Spring Run-Off 8k #Modo8k “Learn To Run” training starts this week. Get the training plan here.
  •  Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal #Scotia21kMtl training with Boutique Endurance starts January 17. Details here.
  •  Race Roster Spring Run Off 8k #SpringRunOff “Learn To Run” with Tribe Fitness starts February 7th! Join the training crew here. 
  • Always give yourself three goals: an ACCEPTABLE goal; a CHALLENGING goal; and an ULTIMATE goal, to avoid “all or nothing” disappointment.
  • Plan REWARDS, treats along the way for your daily, weekly, monthly triumphs.
  • In training, VISUALIZE yourself at that Finish Line – the joy, achievement, hands up high!
  • And don’t forget to share these moments with us all on our CRS SOCIAL HUB. It’s a great place to connect as well as getting all the latest news.

At the office, we’re busy, busy, busy getting ready for the 2016 CRS season, and I’ve challenged all of our team to be able to tell each and every one of us:

  • What’s NEW and EXCITING for 2016, for each and every CRS event?
  • Why should I want to sign up for them?

So keep your eyes on our website, newsletters, and especially Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the new, exciting stuff they roll out for us, as it’s unveiled. I think today’s a great beginning for them! How do you like the Race Roster Spring Run-Off 2015 medal? I love it. Especially the robin! And what about #KillTheHill Challenge?

That’s a sign. The early bird gets the worm! Gotta run,

Alan

@alnbrookes on Twitter and Instagram

P.S. Keep an eye on the Houston Marathon next weekend too! A whole bunch of our CRS stars will be starting 2016 with a BANG and a BOOM, chasing dreams to represent us and our country – in Rio and at the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships in Cardiff, Wales. Rachel Hannah will be chasing that Olympic qualifying standard [2:29:50]; Dayna Pidhoresky makes her marathon debut; Krista DuChene, Rob Watson & Sami Jibril are racing the Half, aiming for Cardiff. See the preview, and follow me on Twitter. I’ll be there! [and hopefully in Cardiff and Rio, too]. Here’s a great race preview from Canadian Running as well as information to track your favourite runners throughout the race!