Training Information
Training Locations
All are on the west side of Monroe County, NY. Most of the time it is at Greece Canal Park, 241 Elmgrove Rd., Rochester, NY 14626. Saturdays: Meet in parking lot of Millennium Lodge; Tuesdays & Thursdays: Meet in Towpath Shelter parking lot when not reserved or at small playground parking lot at the dog park road, before Rotary Lodge entrance.
Workouts are three days a week: Race trainees meet at Greece Canal Park (241 Elmgrove Rd., Rochester, NY 14626) on Saturdays at the Millennium Lodge parking lot at 8 a.m. and Tuesdays/Thursdays at or near Towpath Shelter's parking lot at 6 p.m. (nearby when it's too dark in the fall). There are some dates where group trainings will not occur.
June Jaunt Training (Race on 6/16): All three days, May 4 to June 13 (No coached workouts 5/25 or 6/8)
The Potato Run Training (Race on 9/1): All three days, July 9 to August 29 (No coached workouts 7/13, 7/20, or 8/13)
Barbecue Bash Quarters, 1 Quarter (Race on 11/3): All three days, September 3 to October 24 (No coached workouts 9/7*, 9/20, 9/28*, or 10/19**); schedule includes homework for final week's training
Barbecue Bash Quarters, 2-4 Quarters (Race on 11/3): All three days, July 27 to October 24 (No coached workouts 8/13, 8/31, 9/7*, 9/20, 9/28*, or 10/19**); schedule includes homework for final week's training
* In lieu of these Saturdays, Coach Vickey is offering to coach during her personal Sunday workout, also at GCP, but likely at 8:30 a.m.
** In lieu of this Saturday's morning workout, Coach Vickey is allowing trainees to do their prescribed mileage at Nocturnal 12 that night. Trainees are welcome to formally enter the race or volunteer, if they'd like to avail themselves of race amenities.
Registration for training sessions closes before or within the first two weeks of each session, excepting registrations for the series with training, which closes in June. However, if there is space, we are willing to reopen it with the understanding that if you sign up for a training session that is in progress, there is no reduction in price for missed workouts. Similarly, there is no rebate or deferral for missed workouts even if you started as scheduled. Walkers are welcome. No minimum pace requirement for training for any Obatron Fitness training session.
Bring a water bottle, sunscreen, bug spray, sweat towel, and a sports watch or phone app to track your distance, if you have one. When it's dark, you will need illumination and reflective gear (typically late September).
The training programs are designed and led by Vickey A. Beaver. She is certified by Athletics and Fitness Association of America for Group Exercise Instruction and by Road Runners Club of America as a Running Coach, so you are getting someone who is serious about helping others. Having been an avid walker for years, she got out of the habit of exercising altogether and didn't find her way back to it until mid-2010. Starting with just a couple of miles around a local mall by herself, a year later, she was meeting different friends there and elsewhere five days a week at varying speeds and distances, as they joined her on her training journey to walk the December 2011 Honolulu Marathon. One thing led to another, and she has embraced exercise again for very different reasons than when she was first active. Now she enjoys it for how it makes her feel, the community she's become part of, and the short- and long-term health benefits she sees in her health exams and assessments.
