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Learn How to Train for a Race

Duke Endurance Team prepares employees for race in Durham in October

Members of the last fall’s Duke Endurance Team pose for a photo before the Bull City Race Fest October 2014. A new session with the group starts this month and is free to Duke community members. Photo courtesy of LIVE FOR LIFE.
Members of the last fall’s Duke Endurance Team pose for a photo before the Bull City Race Fest October 2014. A new session with the group starts this month and is free to Duke community members. Photo courtesy of LIVE FOR LIFE.

The Duke Endurance Team will kick off July 13 to help Duke employees train for races up to 13.1 miles, including the third annual Bull City Race Fest in Durham on Oct. 18.

Training begins July 13 for employees interested in a half marathon distance of 13.1 miles; a separate program starts July 24 for employees running a five-mile course. The five-mile workout plan is eight weeks; the half marathon workout plan is 14 weeks. 

The Duke Endurance Team, a free training group open to faculty and staff through LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke’s employee wellness program, began in 2014. It’s open to runners of all skill levels and experience. Employees do not need to register for races in order to participate.

“A lot of the members have never done a race before so these training plans really help them organize a set schedule and help them complete their personal goal,” said Taylor Leach, fitness specialist with LIVE FOR LIFE. “Some other members use the Duke Endurance Team to help train and prepare for different race events in other cities.”

For the latest session of the Duke Endurance Team, LIVE FOR LIFE will send participants a virtual workout plan with race tips and updates every Monday. Beginning in August, the team will meet in person Mondays and Wednesdays when LIVE FOR LIFE’s Run/Walk Club gathers on East and West campuses.   

During group workouts, LIVE FOR LIFE will help with speed and strength training as well as offer opportunities for free yoga and circuit training classes.

Stephen Pomeroy, associate director of administration with the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources, joined the Duke Endurance Team to train for last year’s Bull City Race Fest half marathon.

Before joining the group, Pomeroy trained on his own for the Tar Heel 10 Miler.

“After the Tar Heel Marathon, I got connected with the Duke Endurance Team for the half marathon and their program was nicely set up to where you had a lot of different training techniques to choose from,” Pomeroy said. “It’s not just running. It’s stretching, cross training, and it’s everything else that I didn’t know a lot about that would make a difference in performance on the race course.”

In 2015, the Endurance Team has provided training for faculty and staff to prepare for the Rock ‘n’ Roll half and full marathons in Raleigh in April, and the Tar Heel 10 Miler and 4-Mile Run in Chapel Hill, also in April.

Deborah Semmel, a nurse practitioner for the Department of Vascular & Interventional Radiology, joined the group to prepare for 2014’s Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon and Utah’s Saint George Marathon.

Semmel plans to use the Duke Endurance Team to prepare for the Bull City Race Fest and a full marathon in Georgia in November.

“The Endurance Team provides a lot of great tips that will take your running to the next level and hit your personal record,” Semmel said. “We are lucky to have the opportunity of receiving virtual training that other people pay a lot of money for, and it’s a great opportunity anybody at Duke can take advantage of.”