It has been 11 weeks and 1 day since Charlie passed away, but his legacy lives on.
I personally would like to thank all of our members for their continued support, especially during this difficult time for our family. I also want to use this opportunity to tell you all that the site is here to stay. We will keep on fueling spirited, worthwhile training and sports related discussions. We hope as well, the site continues to be a source of knowledge for those interested in the spirit of Charlie’s training, as many of his pupils and partners will continue to enlighten the site with their experiences.
As a token of our appreciation, we will be offering for a very limited time a 40% discount on all our products. Please take advantage of this unique opportunity and keep the discussion going.
Use the discount code ’summersale’ to save 40% off your orders for this week only.
The family of Charlie Francis announces with great sadness that Charlie passed away peacefully at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 in his 62nd year after a courageous five-year battle with cancer.
He was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his passing. He is survived by his wife Angela Coon, son James, brother Barry and his wife Fiona, sister-in-law Lori Coon and brothers-in-law Brad and Philip. Charlie will be greatly missed by his many friends around the world. The family wish to acknowledge the superb care provided by the medical staff at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The family will receive friends at the HUMPHREY FUNERAL HOME – A.W. MILES CHAPEL, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Davisville Avenue) from 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday, May 17. Funeral service will be held in ROSEDALE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 129 Mount Pleasant Road on Tuesday, May 18 at 11:00 a.m. Private interment. Donations in Charlie’s memory to the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Foundation, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto M4N 3M5 would be appreciated. Condolences and memories may be forwarded through www.humphreymiles.com or may be posted here at CharlieFrancis.com.
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.
As one of Sports most sought after premier Coaches, Al Vermeil knows the difference between what works and what simply does not when it comes to training at the Elite level. Watch the film above to see the clip.
Some Interesting facts on Al Vermeil
Al is the only strength coach who has worked in the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball and he is also the only strength coach to have a World Championship ring from the NFL and NBA
Recently inducted into the USA Strength and Conditioning Hall of Fame in recognition of his accomplishments
As the former strength and conditioning coach of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, his program made a major contribution to the team’s 1982 Super Bowl Championship
Al has been the featured speaker at many coaching clinics, including the National Strength and Conditioning Association and National Athletic Trainers Association, has been the subject of numerous television, radio and newspaper interviews over his 35-year career and he has written many articles for major publications like Golf Digest, the National Strength and Conditioning Association Journal, as well as several conditioning manuals
Al has consulted with the San Francisco Giants, University of Alabama, Texas A&M, Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago White Sox, The Academy of Golf at Lakeway, Nicklaus Academy of Golf, Golf Digest School and the Los Angeles Lakers
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.
Today, Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Anna Tibaijuka, UN-HABITAT Executive Director, met in Lausanne to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between their two organisations.
Fields of common action
In future, the IOC and UN-HABITAT will form synergies in using sport to mobilise and prepare young people for active participation in urban life and to promote poverty alleviation. Advocacy and field-level activities will be driven in close cooperation between the UN-HABITAT’s offices and the 205 National Olympic Committees. For a start, common projects will be implemented in the following three fields:
- youth empowerment through sport
- community-based sport activation in secondary towns, and
- slum dwellers’ activation through sport.
Sport for UN Millennium Development Goals
Encouraging young people to participate in sports activities will help meet UN targets set by the Millennium Development Goals. The new partnership builds on the important ongoing work of other specialised UN agencies that have already teamed up with the IOC to place sport on their development agendas.
“The IOC is working closely with a number of UN agencies. Through this collaboration, the IOC and UN Habitat will focus on the urban poor: millions of people, particularly children in the slums, for whom sport can bring escapism and hope”, said IOC President Jacques Rogge after the meeting.
Reaching out to young people in slums
“We must not forget that over 50 per cent of slum populations are made up of young people and there is no better way to give direction and motivation than encouraging them to participate in sports” added Mrs Anna Tibaijuka.
To guarantee the successful implementation of this new cooperation agreement, a follow-up committee will be established. It will meet annually to further define, develop, and maintain a programme of common interest.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that six National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have submitted applications to host the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014. They are, in alphabetical order: China, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Poland and Turkey.
A number of NOCs requested additional time to designate the city they wish to put forward as Candidate City. The IOC has extended the deadline for these NOCs to submit the name of their cities to 1 April 2009. As of today, Jakarta 2014 (Indonesia), Nanjing 2014 (China) and Poznan 2014 (Poland) have already been confirmed.
The updated timelines below outline the bid process. The date of the election by the IOC members and of the announcement of the host city remains unchanged.
Updated timelines - 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games 2014 bid process
Signature of Candidature Procedure and submission of names of Candidate Cities
1 April 2009
Submission of Candidature Files
4 September 2009
IOC Executive Board to draw up list of finalist cities
December 2009
Publication of Evaluation Commission report
January 2010
Election and announcement of the Host City of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games at the 122nd IOC Session in Vancouver
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I grabbed a sweater as well just in case the day dragged on. ( I was protecting myself at this point)
