First Strides® - North Myrtle Beach Workshop

It’s already Week 9 and your week-to-week progress is evident. Give yourself a high five!

GRADUATION SHIRTS EARNED:  A BIG week!!!  Congratulations to the 28 Striders who earned their Graduation shirt on Wednesday by attending their 8th workshop! That makes a total of 52 graduates thus far with 33 more on deck for next week!

PANTHER:  Lynn Clinton, Barbara DiMartini, Diane Kirk, Pamela Millan, Lynn Moratz, Linda Savard, Sherri Sell, Emily Smith, Tricia Van Ripen.  On deck next week= 5

LYNX: Sheila Clause, Hannah DiMartini, Joanna Muller, Stephanie Poranski, Liz Rogers, Deborah Swanerbury.  On deck next week= 12 

GAZELLE:   Deborah Boyd, Lesa Langlais.  Pat Robinson earned her shirt Week 8!  (My apology for not listing you, Pat.)  On deck next week= 4

FOX:  Claire Carrol, Dana Corley, Pam Eversole, Frankie Jones, Ellen Turner, Joanie Van Dyken, Cindy Vidal, Barbara Windish.  On deck next week= 9

CHEETAH:  Collette DeThomas, Cathy Harris, Marleen Hession.  On deck next week = 3

First Strides NMB graduation shirts will be handed out Weeks 11 & 12 to all who complete at least 8 of 12 workshops.

WEEK 9 HOMEWORK:

Start with warm up stretching
5 minute warm up
Then 6 repetitions of the EASY/HARD Interval Minutes1 minute easy, 5 minutes harder
1 minute easy, 5 minutes harder
1 minute easy, 5 minutes harder
1 minute easy, 5 minutes harder
1 minute easy, 5 minutes harder
1 minute easy, 5 minutes harder
5 minute cool down
End with cool down stretching

     ---  How often?  4 days again this week!  Add this optional, extra easy workout in during your 2-day rest break - either the day before or after an intervals workout - it doesn't matter.

TOPIC: Benefits/Barriers to Exercise - Our own Kelly Chandley, Head Mentor, spoke about the benefits of and barriers to exercise. The benefits include stress relief, improved cardiovascular fitness, and improved muscle tone. Walking/running is very user friendly. No special skill is needed and you can do it almost anywhere. It's relatively inexpensive...you really only need a good pair of shoes. So why not? Responsibilities to family and work can prevent us from walking/running. Health issues can cause us to avoid walking/running. We sometimes worry about what other people think...but we shouldn't. The benefits of exercise are so positive and that's why we're here at First Strides NMB. Check out the flyer on our website.

Keep up the great work ... only 3 more workshops to go!

Jane and your mentors

P.S. MARK YOUR CALENDAR:  

               *** May 10 - First Strides NMB Graduation Celebration - This night will run longer timewise than most nights so please plan to ahead.  We will distribute graduation shirts to those of you that have attended "at least" 8 of our 12 workshops.  Most of you are well on your way to "earning" your 8 night attendance already and we still have 5 weeks left. GREAT JOB!

               *** May 17 - First Strides NMB 5K Stride (Walk & Run). This is our 12-week goal, to be able to do an official 5K event (3.1 miles). 5K distance will probably take between <30 minutes to about 1 hour.  Median time last year was about 45 minutes.  Please plan for a longer evening to help cheer fellow Striders past the Finish Line!  Again this session, our sister First Strides Brunsco Workshop (Brunswick County) participants are going to join us for our final accomplishment! 

P.P.S. Cheetah mentor, Denise Hyland, is on the third leg of her TRAiLBLAZE CHALLENGE in support of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of South Carolina. If you'd like to know more, go to: https://secure2.wish.org/site/TR?px=7058320&pg=personal&fr_id=4512&s_src=boundlessfundraising&s_subsrc=BF_emailbadge