Accent Fitness

Marlene is officially a National Academy of Sports Medicine(NASM) Certified Personal Trainer

FINALLY!!!

After signing up for this certification program in between computer jobs last May, I had the best intentions of studying and taking the exam within the 120 day period. But somehow, the books remained mostly closed and the weeks and months flew by.  I even took the books on three separate vacations with the thought that I would study in my 'free' time.  Ha, like that was going to happen! 

I purchased an extension which would cover up to December.  But that window came and went with no studying even attempted!  So then it was onto the last extension.  I figured the only option was to suck it up, buckle down and study 3 months of materials in 2 weeks during my almost non-existent free time.  So I grabbed the books out, registered myself for the test and started cramming.  I spent almost every 'spare' minute after Madison's bedtime and during naps on the weekends cramming on the study material.  And I am happy to report that it all paid off with a passing grade on the 2 hour exam!

Check on the certification here: National Academy of Sports Medicine(NASM) Certified Personal Trainer

I also received the AFAA and ACE Personal Trainer certifications back in the early 2000s.  NASM seems to be the latest most popular and highly accredited one so it will be good to have this under my belt.

PR on Golden Gate Park 10K Race! 49:20 finish

RUN RACE: 10K (6.2 miles). 42:20 minutes (unofficial time).

Yippee!  I finally feel satisfied with my performance in a run-only event.  I was pretty disappointed with the last 10K(Turkey Trot) in November since my time was worse than some of my triathlon 10K run times..with you would think makes no sense. But I knew that I blew that race because I ran out too hard at a pace I could not keep up.  Here was the formula for good results for this race:

Good warmup: I was waiting for the doors to open at PAC at 7am today.
    •    2 miles total
    ◦    5 minutes walk
    ◦    Easy jog @ 6.0 mph
    ◦    Last mile, 5 x :30 pickups at race pace

Good nutrition:
    •    Instead of only having cytomax like I usually do prior to an early AM run, I had enough time to eat real breakfast (egg,cheese, english muffin) and digest it fully before the 9AM start time.
    •    On the drive up to the city, I drank 16 oz of cytomax
    •    Around mile 3.5, I consumed one Gu energy gel

Good Pacing:

• I knew that I would have to hold back and not fly out of the start gate at a pace which I could not hold for 10K.
• So I resisted the urge to go faster and kept the pace around 8:00 min/mile (7.5 miles per hour).
• On the downhills, I would allow myself to go a little faster.. up to 8 mph but no more than that
• On the uphills, I tried to focus on the incline instead of worrying about the speed
• It was an uphill finish and I was able to hold it pretty well towards the end.

All in all, it was definitely a great race. I knew that 8:00min/mile pace was the best I could do for a 10K and I achieved that!

Marlene's Golden Gate Park 10K Race