News & Events

A couple of years ago I decided to challenge myself by running a 5K a month for an entire year.

Sounds easy? Well at the time, I had never run a race, let alone run for 3.1 miles … ever! The greatest thrill for me was proudly finishing the race and then sporting the awesome shirt I got for signing up.

I wasn’t fast and usually finished anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes and didn’t even mind getting passed by people twice my age near the end of many races. I ran a race in footed pajamas, I ran for charities and I even ran a race in Estes Park … in January.

When all was said and done, I simply felt better and had a brand new wardrobe to boot. No, running isn’t everybody’s favorite thing, but like every workout, it has its benefits — including these six listed on active.com:

— Improve your health

— Prevent disease

— Loose weight

— Boost your confidence

— Relieve stress

— Eliminate depression

For me, I knew it was 30 minutes that I could go at my own pace (I wasn’t going out there to win those things, even though in my dreams I would), listen to music and just escape.

Here at the RAC, trainer Ashley Foos is offering a five week course to runners that are either looking to get started or in search of improving on their personal bests.

“My training is geared more towards building a more efficient runner by strength training, building muscle endurance, stretching, correcting muscle imbalances and preventing injuries,” said Ashley, who currently is working with two runners whose goals are in longer races. “I do a running assessment before we start. Watching them walk on treadmill and perform overhead squats to look for hip imbalances, all things that go into the prevention of injuries.”

Ashley’s $400 training special is a five week program that allows for twice a week sessions and will undoubtedly get you to the results you want to see. For more information contact Ashley at [email protected].

Here is a list of races in Fort Collins to consider for the remainder of the calendar year: http://fortcollinsrunningclub.org/calendar/