No holiday off for Biggest Winner bunch

We told the new Biggest Winner CHKMarathon team that the weekend of Thanksgiving there was not going to be a Health Shoppe KTC training event. But.... these guys wouldn't take no for an answer!  Lee Ann Bowman (live at five at four producer) piped up after the first training run and said "who wants to meet back here Thanksgiving weekend on SAturday ?"  And all who were in town showed up! Even family showed up with Darla Dunn bringing her pretty big pooch Zombie, I brought my sis Tina along and Jackson Carr came with his dad Randy. Our  manager Tonya Stoutt Brown also met us for our 3.5 mile walk/jog.   Sharon Spezia (member of 2009 team) also came out and hung back with us for a mile or so before taking off for her run. As their coach I'm trying to hold my gang back and not let many jog too much too soon.  Walking is just fine and dandy for the majority of us who either A. have bad joints, or B. are overweight and prone to injury.
After our workout we chatted up at Barnes and Noble and a few went next door to get their fitting done for New Balance shoes.  Next week we'll be back with the KTC Gang and this week it is at the Runners Market west @ new location in farragut on Kingston Pike next to Blue Ridge Mountain Sports  or go to www.knoxvillemarathon.com to see training run schedule

 to see the schedule.

Health Shoppe Sat Training Begins for CHKM & Biggest Winner Team

Week One Saturday Training begins @ Health Shoppe
These are weekly free training runs/walks that the KTC puts on for The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon (half , full, relay and 5k)  over 50 people there today with 8 former CHKM team folks there and 8 Biggest Winner 2012 on hand.  We headed down to Jean Teague Greenway and then headed out towards 10 mile greenway and did a big loop at the church of Christ  there close to Sams.  Then we came back to Gazebo and walked over to West Hills school then did loop up behind Y and up THE HILL back to The Health Shoppe.  Most did 3-4 miles and the bunch did great.   At the Health Shoppe they showed us some of the equipment like a little vibrating pad some stood on to help relax some tight legs. Then Edee and Randy tried out the ALTER G trainer which is a NASA like treadmill that takes off up to 80% of your weight.   Especially for Edee who is limited with her walking due to spinal cord condition, this really allowed her to walk pain free in a more up right position and all found it very cool. Then we headed to Barnes and Noble for little talk time, stretching (yes we stretched in our chairs) and had a few coffee/teas.   Next week Thanksgiving and few meeting up same spot (sat)  to walk the trails and also ktc has their big autumnfest 8k on Turkey day www.ktc.org   You can go to www.knoxvillemarathon.com to see the training schedule and also our team blogs are on www.covenanthealth.com/biggestwinner

Biggest Winner and former Cov Health Marathon Team members @ Fort Dickerson

Biggest Winner Team explored a quarry trail plus 10 mile greenway this week

Knoxville City Parks asked me to come out for a photo shoot, as I help lead hikes for Legacy Parks in the summer.  Thompson Cancer Survival and Mornings with Fox 43 sponsored these and it is fun exploring new trails.  So I asked some current and former Covenant Health Marathon Biggest Winner team members to come along.  I brought my youngest Gracie and my Godson Ethan to also join in the fun.  You park off blount ave and then turn onto Augusta Way a small road that leads to gravel lot new from Knox City parks.  A gravel road takes you down and around where you see a great view of Quarry then hike down where you are right next to the water.  Soon there will be more miles of trails where you can hike, and do a little mountain biking.

Biggest Winner Team Raring to Go

This years 2012 Covenant Health Biggest Winner Team is raring and fired up early on!

We had the kick off at Fort Sanders Fitness Center and Covenant Weight Management Center.  They were poked (blood work) weighed on CWM scales and body fat machine and put through a "jillion" media poses, tips from former team members and coaches.   Former 2011 team member Scott Bolin who completed the full marathon last year while losing 25+ pounds gave the crew a pep talk followed by very good training tips from Phil Bevins. He is at Covenant Therapy Center where the team will go thru a Runners/walkers eval test by a Physical Therapist soon. Manager Tonya Stoutt Brown and myself "Coach Kane" told them little more about training and what is expected of them. Stacey Smith (Cov Wt management) and Beth Lafontaine from Center for community health also helped with the first day testing and check in.    Professional  photog David Luttrell and camera man (wbir) Jerrry Owens then put the team thru 100 fun poses, runs, walks, lifts and more for the camera. Chris OHearn a trainer for Fort Sanders Health and Fitness will be their strength coach and he also met with the group.    Next Day we all met at the Buddy's Race Against Cancer for more photos and meeting and greeting old and new members of the Biggest Winner teams.  They seemed to bond quickly and encouraged each other along the 2 mile course.  Fast Phil Kaplan our media guy from The News Sentinel ran the 5k in a fast under 24 minute pace. But our 2 mile crew were happy to get their first race under their belt and happy to finish the 2 mile without any problems.  Stay tuned as they are blogging and ready to improve their health, fitness, and weight while training for an event in the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon.  ANd I bet they will inspire others along their journey too!  Stay tuned and also check them out on www.covenanthealth.com/biggestwinner page