For the third year, business students at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City are planning for the BIG Little Hero Race, held on campus on Saturday, April 15. This superhero-themed race raises funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Michigan. Heather welcomes to the show several of the students part of this effort, along with their instructor Kristy McDonald and marathoner/Big Brothers Big Sisters advocate Tony Anderson. The students—Abby Gudith, Sam Javed and Drew Geralds—talk about this year's event, which includes a kids fun run in addition to the 10K and 5K, costume awards and post-race festivities like face painting, music, snacks, silent raffle and more. Heather talks about her family's involvement in last year's race (this race is dog-friendly, so they brought their two Labs, dressed up as "Batman" canines, too). The races start on campus and the courses take runners out Old Mission Peninsula. Each child who participates receives a free cape, thanks to NMC's College for Kids. A fun run just for kids is held on campus. Last year's race raised about $26,000, and the students have a goal of exceeding that amount this year. This year's race also honors the late Sonja Olshove, a beloved social sciences teacher at NMC. "Sonja believed that everyone should have a hero and was involved with the Hero Imagination Project ... Sonja was a NMC superhero and we wanted to celebrate and remember her," Abby Gudith says. 

 

 

Link: biglittleherorace.com 

For those of us training for spring marathons and half marathons, our mileage is increasing and we may be experiencing some typical training "aches and pains." Sometimes it's nothing more than our body acclimating to the miles we're logging. Other times, however, we may be on the brink of injury (or, worse, dealing with a definite injury). Heather welcomes Brandon Lorenz of Probility Therapy Services in Ann Arbor to the show to talk about staying healthy and injury-free during our training cycles. Both Heather and Brandon are in the midst of training for big goal races -- Heather is in week 6 of training for her 8th marathon, the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City this spring, while Brandon is gearing up for his first Ironman in California later this year -- so staying injury-free is definitely on their minds. Brandon is a physical therapist with more than 15 years of clinical experience. He also teaches continuing education courses across the country to other physical therapists. He's also been running for about 20 years. This show covers common issues that may arise during our training and how best to handle them. Heather and Brandon talk about the importance of rest days, how cross-training can help (but also how it may not be what you should focus on during race training), fueling well, treating minor aches and pains (and how to know if you've got an injury), the power of massage and ice baths, and lots more. Whether you're training for your first half marathon or marathon, or you're preparing for your 20th race, you're sure to take away some helpful information and be inspired listening to Brandon and Heather.

 

Link: probilitypt.com