Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon

Happy Tuesday Training, followers! It is a rainy day in Canton but the last few days have been wonderful with sunshine, 50+ degree weather and with the clocks moving forward, we get more daytime to get an evening run in. Speaking of evening runs, this week’s tip for training is all about recovery, incorporating shake out runs and other tips to optimize your full potential. For most of you half marathoners/full marathoners, the upcoming weeks are the most demanding. Volume is pretty high and your body is adapting to the toughest weeks of training.  During a training cycle of frequent high intensity racing or training with a heavy proportion of anaerobic/aerobic work, your muscles are at higher risk of injury, breakdown and burnout. This means recovery runs are just as important as the hard days. I am here to tell you recovery isn’t only referring to your runs. As runners, we often dismiss the importance of recovery. I suppose you could say it is in our nature to

Happy March, everyone! We are finally down to the single digits when it comes to counting down the weeks until marathon weekend! We are officially less than 8 weeks out and we are incredibly excited about our finalized marathon course. A few weeks ago I discussed ways participants can properly fuel up and essentially have a fuel plan in mind come race day. Practicing proper fueling techniques is important to incorporate in your training regime leading up to the race.  Getting familiar with how your body reacts at certain miles and being aware of what it needs/can handle will be incredibly important. Speaking of awareness, this week I want to encourage racers to become more familiar with our racing course. Oftentimes when we think of “training” we initially think of the physical part. The runs, how much volume to do, and the amount of strength to incorporate. These are all important factors of the journey, no doubt! Though if we are considering optimizing our performanc

This week's "Feature Runner Friday"  goes to Ashley Dunbar; who will be competing in our half-marathon race this late April. Born and raised in East Canton, Ashley know resides in Cuyahoga and will be completing her first half-marathon. Check out how the East Canton native began her running journey. "I used to think runners were nuts," Dunbar said ,"In high school, I never would have dreamed of running more than a mile for "fun." Once I got into college, I started thinking a little more about trying to run a few 5k's for the heck of it since a lot of my friends were doing them... "At the time, I worked at a tanning salon and my boss was part of a running group that was training for the Akron Marathon," Dunbar said. "A few of the girls at the salon had decided to join her group to run a few times a week, just for the health aspect of it. One of the girls had asked if I would do it with her, and at first I thought she was c

This Friday we are featuring Louisville runner Jimi Brantingham. Brantingham will be competing in his first half marathon this April for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon weekend. “I work for a company that has ties to the marathon race timing industry, so I have seen many bibs during my time there,” Brantingham said.” After many years of applying timing tags to various bibs, I decided to run a 5k. My first race was the Steelers 5K Labor Day weekend 2018 at Heinz Field. Since then I  have been hooked. I have completed a total of 16 5ks since my first race and last year did the half marathon relay at the Rock HOF in Cleveland. My most recent runs included 2 5ks within 3 days of each other in Clearwater, FL. I am very excited to be doing the combo 5k and half marathon this April!” Brantingham contributes a lot of his success to trainers and fitness instructors who have helped guide his training along the way. “Without the help of all my trainers at myFitLife, I wouldn

10 weeks to go, HOF Marathon followers! It is Tuesday Training and I am excited to give out some tips regarding your training. Last week we discussed ways you could incorporate strength in your training regime. Hopefully some of you have found a great hill in your neighborhood and are going to work once a week on it! This week I want to take a different turn on training and discuss ways to fuel up for long runs. Runners will get to race weekend, attend the race expo and end up snatching a lot of samples of energy fuel supplements, GUs and other re-energized bars. Some also take samples THAT day and use those supplements for marathon day. I want to encourage you that this is a big no no. You never want to try something new the day before a marathon or the day of. Runners should know before race weekend what their bodies can handle, digest and essentially have it be on a fueling plan.  With 10 weeks to go now is a great time to start testing the waters and seeing what f

Happy Training Tuesday, Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon followers! We are 11 weeks away from race weekend and we couldn’t be more excited to give you some pointers on training. How’s training been so far? If you would like to share your training journey with us, feel free to email me at tina@hofmarathon.com . We would love to hear the details of your racing strategy, hear your goals and share your story with the community. Speaking of community, I have always found it easier to train when I have a supportive community around me.  If you are in a rut or are finding it hard to push yourself out the door, consider running with a group. Every Saturday we host a group training run welcoming all talents and abilities for those training for our events!  Next run will be held this Saturday, February 16th at 604 6th ST NW, Canton, OH. Running time starts at 7:30am. Check out our Facebook page Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon and click on events to join! We always enjoy a big r

For this week’s "Feature Runner Friday" we are featuring local road racer Wendy Ramsey! Wendy started running three years ago with daughter Katie Ramsey.  Her goals for this spring are to complete her second half marathon at our 7th annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon Series in April while bettering her time from last year. Check out her running journey! “3 years ago my daughter Katie, 27 years old, gave me a challenge to try to do a 5k with her. Neither of us have ever been runners. I accepted her challenge and we did a 5k. We walked/tried to run and completed it in 45 minutes. It was such an amazing feeling crossing that finish line and knowing we accomplished what we set out to do...   “That race got us hooked on running. We wanted to improve on our times every race we did. We basically did 5k’s and a few 4 milers. By the next fall I had signed up to do a 10K without my running partner, Katie. She was out of town on business and I honestly hadn’t trained

Happy February, everyone! Who ran outside yesterday and enjoyed the spring weather? What a treat it was during “winter” marathon training to have such sunny days! My athletes and I absolutely took advantage of the warmth and ran a progression long run yesterday. Spirits were high and it was encouraging seeing so many people outside. A little pointer-- Utilize warm days when we are given them in the winter for quality runs! We usually have our long run days on Sunday but due to the weather forecast, we switched it to Monday. Motivation is usually higher and people can get some great, quality work in.  So next time you are planning out your training week, take a look at the forecast! Moving forward to this week--- We are officially 12 weeks away from race weekend and if you haven’t been consistent in training, now is the time to be dedicated. Continue this month to build consistent mileage at a proper progression and really focus on those longer runs. Volume is t

For this week's "Feature Runner Friday", we are happy to introduce to you local runner Dustin Wilson. Dustin will be making his half-marathon debut this spring at our 7th annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon Series. A former collegiate football player, Wilson shared how he has always been an athlete but never a runner and looks forward to completing his first half-marathon with us this April. "I have always been an athlete but never a runner," Wilson said. "I have also been a big guy my entire life. After playing college football, I got larger. I decided in 2018 that enough was enough. Over a course of 10 months, I lost 152lbs..." "What helped with the weight loss was getting into running," Wilson said. " After running the HOF 5k last year, I decided I was going to run the HOF half marathon in 2020. Here I am!" Wilson looks to hit some 5k and 10ks along his training plan for his first half marathon. Keep working h