By PAM GARDINER, Wellbuddies Coaching
Run Wild Missoula is bringing Jeff Galloway to town. This event is an exciting celebration of the new year for aspiring runners, beginning runners, slower runners, older runners, and all runners who want to pursue their sport for a lifetime, without injury. His theme? YOU CAN DO IT!
Put this free talk on your calendar: Wednesday January 18, 7:00 pm, at the Doubletree. If you are inspired by Jeff’s free talk, you can attend his 3-hour Running School the following evening from 5-8 pm for $99. You can also sign up for the Galloway marathon and half-marathon training program, offered by Run Wild Missoula beginning Sunday, January 22.
Jeff Galloway is a special hero at the Back of the Pack. He has expanded the sport of running to embrace a far wider range of age and ability than he experienced as an Olympian in 1972. His column in Runners’ World, more than a dozen books, and countless speeches, workshops, and training programs have inspired thousands of people to start—and continue—running.
Maybe you are thinking about starting to run. Your friends have been falling under the spell of the sport, one by one. They talk about higher spirits, leaner bodies, lower stress, and a bunch of new friends. Maybe it’s worth a try.
Maybe you used to run but gave it up as you aged, gained some weight, got busier, got slower. Now you are seeing people out there who look a lot like you. They look happy. Maybe you quit too soon.
Maybe you have been running and are wondering if you should stop. First a knee, then a hip, then the other knee. Achilles tendon. Patellar fascia. Sacroiliac. You are tired of starting a training program only to be sidelined by injury. Maybe there is a better way.
I found Galloway’s marathon training book a decade ago on a library shelf in Holladay, Utah. That book took me, in a single read, across the gulf from “Are you kidding?” to “Why not?” Within the year, I had run three marathons at the age of 55. Jeff’s recent book, Running Until You’re 100, is my new best friend.
What a great way to kick-start 2012 and to prepare for the 6th annual Missoula Marathon and Half-Marathon on July 8.
Will we see you there?
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Do you want to join the Back of the Pack? You might like more of Pam’s posts: Galloway Training for the Back of the Pack, Back of the Pack Welcomes New Runners, and My First Last Best Place Finish.
Visit the Run It / Walk It Archive.
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Pam Gardiner retired from the US Forest Service in 2008, and trained as a wellness coach (doing business as Wellbuddies Coaching). She also volunteers for Run Wild Missoula, co-directing the Galloway marathon training program and developing programs that encourage slower runners and walkers at the Back of the Pack.
Pam started running in her early 50’s, and ran three marathons the year she turned 55. A decade later, she has settled on the half-marathon as her preferred distance. Pam is grateful for the diverse and inclusive community of runners and walkers in Missoula.