The Workout Group

WOG Schedule
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 6 PM
Meet in the back parking lot at the Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club, 4001 N. Country Club Rd.
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 5:30 AM
Meet at the Rillito Sports Fields at Rillito Regional Park, 4633 N. 1st Ave.
Saturdays AM: Come Run group long runs, start times & locations vary
If you want some help getting out the door early for your weekend long run, ask to be added to the Come Run group email list or join the Come Run group page on Facebook. The Saturday runs are usually longer, ranging from 8-12+ miles, and start from different locations each week. Contact kamran2054 @yahoo.com for more information.
What you need to know:
Running should be safe and fun, especially running with a group! Just to be safe, carry emergency contact info. on you somewhere easily accessible, like written on your water bottle, on a bracelet, or inside your hat. We also recommend bringing along the following items:
- A hand held water bottle to carry during the workout, or a water bottle to leave in the car for hydrating before and after the workout (or both).
- A running watch to keep track of overall running time, time based intervals, and/or pace.
- A head lamp once the sun rises later in the morning and earlier at night .
- A towel to dry off with before driving home.
Coaching:
The team of Workout Group coaches this year include, Tia Accetta, Randy Accetta, Manny Ochoa, Ryan Seltzer, Amanda Shuflebarger, and Doreen Davis. Our coaches are experienced runners and certified RRCA coaches — you can see more about the RRCA Coaching Program here.
VP, Coaching: Tia Accetta, M.A.
As co-founder of Run Tucson, Tia helps produce events and directs Run Tucson’s in-person and online coaching programs.
She leads the twice-weekly Workout Group in person in Tucson, while also providing online coaching to a stable of 20 athletes around the country. She is an RRCA certified coach, an ACE Group Fitness Instructor, and has worked with Lorraine Moller and the folks at the Arthur Lydiard Foundation.
Holding a Master’s degree in Education from the University of Arizona, Tia uses her teaching expertise to help athletes qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials, the Boston Marathon, or simply find their running joy.
Originally from Walla Walla, WA, she ran for the University of Idaho, and has over 30 years of competitive running experience. She says that she didn’t start appreciating the marathon distance until her kids started preschool. She has run nine marathons: 3:10, 3:08, 2:58, 2:53, 2:50, 2:49, 2:48:54, 2:54 (2nd place at Go! St.Louis), and 2:48:05. She has competed as an “elite” athlete in the Chicago, Twin Cities, Cal International and Go! St. Louis marathon.
A 2017 stroke survivor, in 2018 she set the course record of 2:55:49 at the Jack and Jill Marathon in Washington State.
Other PR’s include:
5k= 17:40
8k= 29:34
10k= 36:18
Half Marathon: 1:18:16
Marathon: 2:48:05
Head Coach: Randy Accetta
Randy is the long-time Director of Coaching Education for the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA), directing the nation’s premier run coaching certification program. In this role, he has certified over 10,000 running coaches around the world.
Randy is well-suited to be a head coach for The Workout Group. He founded the training group with Greg Wenneborg in 1997 and has been helping manage the day-to-day operations for the past 25 years. Randy has developed training plans for thousands of athletes, including for first-time 5k walkers, first-time marathoners, and Olympic Trials athletes. Randy spent a decade as Program Director at famed Craftsbury Running Camps, was the Arizona Head Coach for Team in Training, and co-head Coach for Joints in Motion.
As a running coach, Randy is a Level One RRCA Coach and a Level Two RRCA Coach. As a certified Group Fitness Instructor, Randy has training in group fitness, helping people enhance their fitness and modify risk factors for chronic disease to improve health.
Personal Bests:
5k= 14:34
8k= 24:20
10k= 30:30
Half Marathon: 1:6:52
Marathon: 2:19:25
Got questions???
Contact tia@runtucson.net
Why might you join WOG: The Workout Group provides athletes with a safe and fun environment for running. Each workout is planned with the runners’ goals and abilities in mind. Our workouts are periodized so they build on each other, increasing fitness levels consistently over time.
Who might join WOG: All types of runners with some prior running experience are welcome to join WOG. We have runners training for 5k’s and 50 milers (and everything in between). Most of our athletes come for the workouts but stay because of the incredible group support and the pure joy of running hard with friends.
How might you join WOG: If you would like to give WOG a try, come on out! We like new folks to visit a few times before deciding if WOG is a good fit. Once you have made the commitment, we ask our runners to pay $125 per semester (August-Dec. & January-May) or $225 for the year. Summer sessions are free! We also offer individual coaching packages and personalized training plans (see individual coaching for more details).
What type of workouts might you do if you join WOG: Our workouts include hill circuits, tempo runs and cruise intervals, longer speedier intervals and shorter repeats. If you are training for a specific event, we will do our best to accommodate your needs and help you build to a peak performance. If you are just starting to get to know your running self, we will encourage you to take your time and build gradually. Running is a fantastic journey and we don’t want you to rush through any part of it.