Mothers Day Classic

Well the clock is definitely chugging along at a great pace towards this year’s MDC, numbers are up up up so get ready for a huge morning, whether you are down at Southbank in Brisbane with me, or at the many other MDC venues around Australia.  This week should see your training starting to increase from the past couple of weeks as you approach the top of your pyramid of training intensity. 

I wrote last week about naturally increasing your distance and heart-rate, well for the next two weeks you should be jogging/walking your longest time and distances with the most consistent heart-rate under 155 beats per minute.

In another aspect of your preparations, how is your sponsorship going? You can help a good cause raise those extra funds – and be in the running for some great prizes – by getting your friends, neighbours and work colleagues to sponsor you in the MDC.

Finally, have you thought about printing t-shirts or dressing your ‘crew’ in all the same outfits to make a statement of support for breast cancer patients, survivors and their families?  Every year the MDC sees spectacular outfits worn by teams of people supporting someone they know or breast cancer in general.  So what are you going to wear?  Don’t get left out by not preparing how you’re going to look on Mothers Day.  Get your family and friends together and make a group statement with colourful outfits and matching clothing.  Inspiration is everywhere, as people wear printed photos of their loved ones on their clothing in remembrance.  You won’t be alone believe me, you will see some very strange sights at the start the line as many participants go all out to win the ‘over-the-top’ outfit award!

The outfit can sometimes be more important than the training!

Good luck with both this week.

Hi everyone,

Well it’s now five weeks away from the big day so I thought I might encourage you with your training and preparation for the MDC with a bit of a program.  Thanks Andrea for posting your request for training tips – we’ve received several requests for information about preparing for the 4K run event so here you go.

If you aren’t a regular runner, it’s important firstly to stay realistic about the goal of running all the way in the 4K.  It’s a great goal to have and now you have to put in place a strategy for training to make the goal a reality in 5 weeks time.  If you have never run 4K before you have to gradually build-up your stamina over the 5 weeks to ensure you make the distance on race day. 

I believe in controlling your training through your heart rate.  What does this mean?  Simply check your heart rate through a monitor and keep your HR between 125 at 155 beats per minute during exercise.  So if you start out walking four days a week for 4K each time, around 45 minutes of work, keeping your HR between 125 to 155, by the end of the second week you will be able to start light jogging.  When you start to lightly jog, again keep HR between 125-155, and see how far you jog before your HR gets too high and you return to walking again.  Keep repeating this jog/walk according to your HR for the 4k session.  The aim is to let your fitness build naturally by staying in the right HR zone.  By week four you will be jogging more than walking and staying in a healthy HR zone.

The danger in starting any walking/jogging/running program is too much too soon, which makes us sore and sorry.  5 weeks is plenty of time to enjoy increasing your workload without too much stress on the body.  Good luck.

ps – that’s great to hear from Cate who posted that AIS swimmers will be supporting Mothers Day Classic in Canberra. Well done guys!

Hi everyone, I hope you’re tuning in to the Aussie swimming trials happening in Sydney at the moment as our stars try to place themselves on the team for the Beijing Olympics. I’m poolside with Foxsports seeing all the swimmers up close and all their efforts are inspiring me and my running routine as I look towards the 8k event of the Mothers Day Classic.

Take time to let yourself be inspired by the efforts of our top athletes. No matter what your sporting passion whether it’s Rugby, Netball, Soccer, Swimming, Softball or Hockey take advantage of the inspiration provided by the feats of our heroes to enhance your own training for the MDC. Then get out there and train!! If you are not up to an 8k run, there’s always the 4k event and if you aren’t a runner, no excuses, it’s a very pleasant Sunday morning walk by the beautiful Brisbane River doing the 4k walk!

Good Luck

Hello and welcome dear readers to the Mothers Day Classic Ambassador Blog for 2008.

I’ve now been involved in the MDC for the past three years and they’ve been very exciting years for the event in terms of growth in numbers, publicity and most importantly fundraising for research into breast cancer.

The MDC every year marks an opportunity for my family and I to join with so many cancer survivors and their families, families of cancer victims and supporters around Australia. My family is based in sunny Queensland, so for us it is a run/walk around the beautiful Brisbane River. It’s a humbling morning though, with many participants wearing t-shirts with images of loved ones who have been claimed, making you feel lucky and determined to help wherever possible. I have a daughter named Ava who will participate for the first time this year at 20 months, and my wife Becky and I look forward to Ava realising this is an Armstrong Family Tradition on Mother’s Day every year!

If you’re thinking about making your way down to any of the MDC events all around Australia this Mothers Day, then don’t hesitate for a moment, JUMP IN! You won’t regret it.

The MDC is a spectacular event with so much to take part in and enjoy, and then there’s the running or walking part. The 50,000 participants enjoy a carnival type atmosphere. There’s a sea of pink and many people turn out in the weirdest fashions ever seen in run/walk events!

People make the Mothers Day Classic pilgrimage because they want to do their part in joining the fight against breast cancer. In the coming weeks I’ll inform you about the latest research, breast cancer statistics, stories of hope and survival, how to enjoy the MDC and what training you can undertake to be fit and ready for your best effort in either the run or walk.

Thank you for registering if you already have and again if you’re reading this and want to make a difference then sign up and get ready for a life changing day on Mothers Day at the Mother’s Day Classic.

Bye for now!
Duncan