I saw it coming but there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I tried to stop buying diet coke and had to muffle the nut grinder to sneak ground flax into Charlie’s oatmeal (…he was not impressed).
None of it really worked. I thought I was being clever. I thought I was going to heal him. (That was only 6 weeks ago.)
On Feb 19th and 20th, 1988, at a university in my home town, I met Charlie Francis for the second or third time.
Little did I know this man would transform my world into what I now refer to it as, “My entire adult life.”
It all sounds the same, I know. Girl meets boy… They marry… They plan… They have kids…
This was not exactly how our beginnings began.
Did I know he would stop coaching and want nothing to do with a sport that changed both our lives?
What I know for sure is whatever happened from that moment on was one of the very best things that ever happened to me.
——————-
I got the call at 7:15 am Wednesday May 12th from Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto where I had dropped Charlie off on Mother’s Day ( not sure if only North America celebrates this exact date) (Sunday May 9th, 2010) for “routine chemo” — en route to stem cell transplant in July. We were so hopeful and felt we had our miracle.
I wasn’t going to answer the phone Wednesday morning because I had a little dispute with him the night before. Okay… Honestly he was pissing me off so I hung up on him.
I rarely hung up on him but I was at my wits end and admittedly struggling for sometime before this. He was guilty of loving me too much and trying to advise my attempt to hold the fort down while he was away from his work for a bit. Sometimes I don’t take advice the way I should. Okay, I hated it when he told me what to do. Not so much for the first 20 years of our marriage, but when I gained control in the last year ( control is the ultimate illusion) , it became annoying.
But I answered the call anyway. The doctor who called sounded more concerned than I was so I made a protein shake (my favourite one with pineapple and coconut milk… Yummy! Even Charlie liked it I grabbed a sweater as well just in case the day dragged on. ( I was protecting myself at this point)
I was cool. I didn’t rush. Charlie didn’t like me rushing. Especially when driving his cars.
I got to the hospital but he wasn’t there. I started crying and then I knew something was not right.
I found him in the Intensive Care Unit, but first spoke with the harried doctor who was on the night shift. The doctors presented options for us but told me I had to decide almost in an instant. I already knew what Charlie would say and I already knew what we would do. The doctor said to me “ I have never seen anyone digest that amount of information so quickly and decide something so important” Clearly this doctor knew nothing of how Charlie and I discussed everything.
When I first saw Charlie I was crying small tears remembering my last moments on our call the night before. He comforted me in his usual way as even I knew it was silly but I had to bring it up. We hugged, we kissed, we spoke and I began to make some calls to get dear James, Charlie’s wonderful brother and a few very special people whom are both friends, family and clients.
One by one everyone I called came quickly. Charlie was in good spirits, lucid till almost the end and he was the only one not visibly shaken. The time had come too quickly and suddenly and most unexpectedly but he was ready to die in that moment.
We prayed at the hands of our very dear friends Sandra and Brendon who study spirituality and religion. After we all said ’so long’ his last remembered words were:
“I need to get some rest. I am going to have to go. Amen.”
This site will live on as our memory to Charlie and his love of what he wanted most: To share his knowledge, his wisdom and his experience.
Thank-you all so much from James and I from the bottom of our sorrow-filled hearts. I know I should not apologize but sometimes I like to say sorry and I never meant to keep any of you out of the loop.
I have lots of ideas and plans and hope you will all stick around to see and share and mind your manners. Please and thank-you.
In the past few months before Charlie died we spoke often of many things but especially to do with our son James.
I wanted to know what he wanted for him. Do you want him to go to “x” university, do you want him to do “x” sport , do you want him to ………..?
He replied….. “The only thing I really want for my son James is to be a good person.”
How is that for some good common sense to get you through this spot we call life?
Cheers to all of you. Train smarter not harder and see you all back soon.
Charlie and I were discussing the importance of tempo and why some don’t get it. He summarized it perfectly by saying,
“You must do tempo especially for sport. Females are especially vulnerable because they have trouble staying lean without it”
Secondly their nervous system can not tolerate higher volumes of more intense alternatives.
Charlie Francis of CharlieFrancis.com adds..
The longer your athletes spend on indoor hard surfaces the more likely shin splints, Achilles tendon issues and other lower limb problems can occur.
To prevent this you need an arsenal of alternative strategies.
The “No Excuse Series” in our store offers varied levels of workouts to suite almost anyone for fat loss, increasing lean body mass and tempo training. All you need is a small space, the right attitude and you are ready to go!
The “No Excuse Series” also contains a bike workout that steps it up a notch if you have a regular or exercise style bike. The primary advantage of this workout is you get the cardio done limiting the pounding.
Finally Project Jane a favorite product of ours which contains an excellent pool workout that works very well replacing tempo especially for those who can not run due to injury.
Let us know how it goes and we will see you on the forum.
The video addresses many of the complaints from Athletes and Coaches alike about problems resulting from lack of facilities and poor weather conditions. While most sprinters chase the sun, many have to contend with the harsh reality of bad weather and lack of facilities. Charlie’s former squad certainly fell into this category, yet achieved international success and perhaps this is why Charlie does not accept such complaints as a justifiable excuse for poor preparation. In this video series Charlie and wife Angela Coon, former Canadian National Team 100m Hurdler, present several general conditioning workouts for athletes of different levels that can be done almost anywhere. This is the advanced segment, which runs 1hr 41minutes and includes in depth commentary from both Charlie Francis, and Angela Coon.
CharlieFrancis.com is happy to release a new film titled “Peaking when it counts, Perfecting the 10 Day Taper”.
Overview
A new download presented by CharlieFrancis.com. Charlie Francis implements a real-time 10-day taper program with an athlete preparing for the 100m in a championship meet.
The 10-day taper schedule begins with a local meet as a last maximal stimulus, then progresses through meticulously to the championship heats and finals. This product is unlike any other video provided on the market today. While many other videos are scripted and planned for publication, this video was spontaneously created during an actual taper schedule for an athlete preparing for a championship competition.
In the process of creating the video, the authors had no idea how the athlete would perform on the day of championship competition. Not only does this scenario make it more exciting for the viewer, but also puts the Charlie Francis approach to a test.
Peaking When It Counts is a must have video for anyone working with high performance athletes and speed athletes. The DVD provides insight into programming for peaking, but also identifies key sprint mechanics issues throughout the process. Available for immediate download.
Structure of Training for Speed Review by XLR8 (Site Moderator)
I got a chance to do a detailed assessment of the first part of the latest e-book series called “Structure of Training for Speed.” First off, there is a lot of information packed into 70 pages. I have read it through one time and feel like I need to go back and read it again and spend some time thinking about it to make sure that I understand all of the implications of the ideas and concepts presented. There are two major sections. The first part is a clear description of the overall structure of a modern speed training system. The second part includes a “best of” the forum discussion on the structure of sprint training. This appears to be an edited and enhanced version of information exchange from the forums.
The book starts with a description of the training “problem.” That is, how and when we should train and why we should do it one way as opposed to another. There is a detailed examination of “classical periodization” covering the volume-intensity equation, strength training, and classical vertical integration. This is followed by a description of the shortcomings of this method of periodization, including problems with intensification, retention of training components, and injury risks.
Having a good understanding of the problems with classical periodization leads directly into designing a system that addresses these shortcomings and what follows is perhaps the most concise description of the Charlie Francis training protocols yet created. The book goes into the characteristics of different speed intensities (fast or slow = good, medium = bad) and what Charlie describes as the key to the program which is vertical integration of six different categories of training, all of which are “being performed simultaneously, at all times, and only the volumes vary, from week to week, from meoscycle to mesocycle.” The volume-intensity benefits and injury risk reductions for the CF model are described.
The next section goes into how one can formulate a weekly workout schedule. A couple of sample microcycles are shown and there is a discussion on how to choose the right schedule for the individual, including how to deal with the fact that ideal planning often runs into trouble when it hits the real world.
Following this, there is an introduction to short-to-long, long-to-short, and triple periodization. Again, flexibility of the training program and the idea of fitting the program to the athlete is emphasized. Short-to-long is not ideal for all athletes and neither is long-to-short. The idea is to provide the athlete with the program that will meet their needs the best. Triple periodization is explained in detail and there is a section on how a short-to-long program fits with triple periodization. Strength work in the context of GPP, SPP and short-to-long/long-to-short is also addressed. (more)
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I grabbed a sweater as well just in case the day dragged on. ( I was protecting myself at this point)