Hills Preferred Over the Track

For the first time ever the hill workout beat out the speed workout.  The numbers at the hill workout didn't just have a couple more participants either, it had more then double!  This is an amazing turn around!  A good night at a hill workout last season would have been somewhere close to a dozen.  I can't say that I'm totally surprised with the track located all the way up in New Hope, but with the extreme heat factored in on Thursday I did find the impressive turnout odd.  Next week we'll be at what some may consider our home track, Council Rock South.  We will be at South for the remainder of the season.  Thanks for dealing with the track location changes during the past two months.  Once I make it big, I will purchase a piece of land and put up a Speedsters Track, maybe even two (one outdoors and one indoors).  Until then we will all have to deal with the location changes for the first two months of the season.

Coming out in the blazing heat to finish off the month of May:

Allyson, myself, Tim, Kevin, Harris, Dawn, Charlotte, Tom, Denise, Cece, Steve I, Samirah, Glenn, Alex, Eric S, Bharminder, Emily, Andrea, Melissa, Paul, and Tereza, and Neil.

Workout:

200 (200), 400 (400), 600 (600), 600 (600), 400 (400), 200 (200)

This weekend:

I just wanted to wish everyone racing this weekend a successful race!  I know Run the Gates 5 Miler is this weekend a race I absolutely enjoy participating in and hate that I will be missing it for the first time, due to racing with Allyson, Anthony, and the BCTC in Cape May at the Escape the Cape Triathlon.  I know some of you are also doing Tough Mudder this weekend.  Dig Deep everyone!

Hot Diggity Dog Labor Day 10k Trail Race Online Registration is now live!  https://www.buckscountyspeedsters.com/labor_day_race_2.html

Trails vs Treadmill (Allyson's Perspective)

If you know Allyson then your surely aware of her fear of the outdoors, ok maybe that's a tad extremem but is it...  See, she has this love affair with the treadmill at the gym and when winter settles in around here that's where you will find her.  When the temperatures warm up she returns to the outdoors, but never to the trails.  That was until Harris and I unknowingly sold her on the great course we picked out for the upcoming Hot Diggity Doy Labor Day 10k Trail Race.   The rest of this post is in her words, take a look:  

Chris decided early last week to take another trip to Mercer County Park and run the Hot Diggity Dog course on Memorial Day, (for anyone that isn’t familiar with Mercer County Park, it’s a beautiful huge park in Mercer County NJ, less than a half hour from Newtown).  Chris and Harris ran the course several weeks ago and told me that the trails are in great condition.  Knowing this, I said I would join, which shocked him because the course is 99% trails.  This surprised him because, as most of you that know me know that, I am clumsy, hate the cold and run a lot on the treadmill (or the dreadmill as many call it).  I don’t know if it’s from all the years staring at the black line at the bottom of the pool, but I can zone out on the treadmill and have been known to do up to 2hours. 

So back to our trip to Mercer County, I got up early to swim first and was told I better be home by 815 (I also tend to be late on occasions).  Meeting us at the park was Tim and Matt Hastings decided last minute to join.  I got home with plenty of time to spare and we were on our way.

We arrived at the park, which was already buzzing with people setting up for bbqs, and Chris said he hopes he remembers the course.  Our run started off nice and easy and I enjoyed running somewhere different and not on the treadmill.  We all said how clear the trails are, you can tell that they are frequently used, just some roots along the way.  The course is completely flat with one downhill thrown in, and there are many points you run along the lake.   

Chris surprised us by remembering the course very well and we ended up with about 6.5miles.  Matt and Tim both agreed how much they enjoyed the course, and then Chris turned to me and asked how I liked it.  Much to his surprise, I said how much I liked it too!  For anyone that is worried about registering for the Labor Day Hot Diggity Dog race because it’s a trail run, trust me, don’t be.  I am one of the clumsiest people and felt very comfortable on this course.  Race registration should be up soon, so I encourage everyone to do so.   

Balancing Act

“What is joy without sorrow? What is success without failure? What is a win without a loss? What is health without illness? You have to experience each if you are to appreciate the other. There is always going to be suffering. It’s how you look at your suffering, how you deal with it, that will define you.” ― Mark Twain

            Grades are in, and initially my feeling toward the 3.49 GPA was one of shame.  It’s not because it’s a poor grade point average, because clearly a three point anything is respectable.  I felt shame because I know that I could have done better.  This feeling is similar to when you set out with a finish time in mind and you end up running well, but not well enough to acquire your goal time.  I ultimately had to check myself, because the more I dwelled upon my GPA I started reminding myself of my negative, no good father, who had nothing positive to say towards me ever.

            I had to rewind back to the beginning of this semester, to get a clear reminder.  See this was my first semester at West Chester and I wasn’t handling the transition very well.  And no it wasn’t the commute!  I know many of you expressed concern about the hour drive from home to school, but I’ve been driving for FedEx for nine years now, so driving really doesn’t impact me like it does others.  The transition was tough because I felt like an outcast, or the way I put it I was the smelly kid in class.  The reason for this is because when I was at Bucks County Community College I was welcomed by my fellow students, but not at West Chester.

           

            West Chester was the “big leagues” and not only did my age factor in here, but I also had the dreaded “commuter” title.  The students in my classes initially didn’t want anything to do with me especially if it was a group project of some sort.  This made for an awfully tough transition.  This lasted up until midterms, when the students started to see past my age and my campus status.  The ole CT charm started to light up the rooms I was in…If you know me I’m not much of a charmer per se, but something changed their minds, because all of a sudden I was welcomed.

            Another factor (and I’m not making excuses, because I made the bed I lie in), that I considered was the fact that I have a lot going on in my life.  I thrive to be the best husband I can be, a great friend, and a helpful coach, not to mention I’m doing the best I can with being the President of the Bucks County Speedsters, while putting together races (the Looney Leprechaun was in full motion at the start of this semester), supporting my members in all that they require from me and the club, oh and did I mention I still have a job delivering First Overnight packages throughout North East Philadelphia and Bucks County. 

            I work hard, maybe too hard at times so there is no reason for me to be equally hard on myself.  I know I could have done better this semester, but come on this is reality and I’m not a twenty-year-old kid anymore.  I have to remind myself that I’m taking on a lot of stuff here and if the GPA slips a tad because of it, well so be it.  My education is extremely important don’t get it twisted, but I’m in a place in my life where everything is of importance.

Till we run into each other again…

The Walking Dead...

Tonight’s heat was a true test of our ability to push the tempo.  Everyone with the exception of Mike and Allyson looked like the heat was taking a toll on their bodies.  At one point, coming around the final turn there had to be six people walking eerily similar to zombies, and if you listened close enough some of the noises that these people were making didn’t sound human.  I normally wouldn’t allow walking this far in the season and I’m always preaching that you got to keep running even if it’s a shuffle, because essentially slowing too much could cause your blood flow to slow and also starting back up abruptly could cause you to pull something.  But, I also understand that our bodies are not acclimated to running in the heat yet, and if our body is telling us to slow our roll, we need to listen. 

Coming out tonight to run in the heat (Smallest group for a Speed Workout!):

Allyson, Mike, Tim, Joe, Lindsay, myself, Neil, Tom, Eric, Steve, Brian, Denise, Anthony, and Bharminder

Workout:

1 mile warm-up
12x300 (100)
1 mile cool down first two laps easy last two sprinting the straights and jogging the turns.
Worked on starts with some insight from Mike.

Next Up:

Thursday: Hill Workout meeting at Council Rock North at 6PM.

Saturday: Bread Run meeting at Great Harvest Bread in Newtown at 8AM.

Hill Workout and a NEW RACE!

Double Dipper Hill Workout:

Tonight after a dog delay, don’t ask…we had 17 total runners come out to tonight’s workout and they really had to Dig Deep for this one.  We did a double climb hill and it really wasn’t a crowd pleaser, which is why we will do it again.  The last time I had the Speedsters do this workout I was on the sidelines and I wanted to see for myself what all the whining was about.  I thought the workout was awesome; it was just the right amount of challenging. 

Coming out tonight to double dip:

Allyson, Cece, Steve, Rob, Melissa, Lindsay, Samirah, Denise, myself, Kevin, Matt, Mary, Bharminder, Tom, Paul, Alex, and Glenn who left Texas just for this workout.

Special Shout out to Melissa for generously giving back her winnings from the 50/50 from the Beef & Beer.  I told her we didn’t want it and that she needed to take it, and once I turned my back she snuck it back into my bag.  Thanks Melissa!

Workout:

1 mile warm-up over to the hill.

400 hard up one side of the hill, 200 Rest, 400 hard up the other side, 200 Rest (4 Sets)

1 mile cool down

We have exciting news!

The club officers and I have been working on putting together another race to raise money for the club and after todays meeting with personnel at Mercer County Park its official the Speedsters will be bringing back a Labor Day race to the area.  We will be putting aside the pancakes this time for hot dogs.  The Hot Diggity Dog Labor Day 10k Trail Run and 2 mile Fun Run will take place at Mercer County Park at 9:30 AM on Monday, September 2^nd.  After the race we will celebrate with a BBQ!  Please spread the word about this event.  The website will go live in June.  Again, members will be given a discount code.

I’ve attached a race brochure (email list only, if you would like a brochure to share just ask me and I will email you one), if your able to print some out and give them out that would be huge.

Till we run into each other again…

"I'm kicking my ass!"

It took me until the final set of tonight’s workout to settle in and find my form.  I felt as if my muscle memory was in a debate with my aches and pains, meaning I felt like I could go, but something was holding me back.  During the workout I kept asking myself why I was doing this to myself, and I kept reminding myself how nice it was just standing on the sidelines, barking commands.  At some point someone asked me how I felt and all I could think of was how my entire body hurt, which led me to think of the scene in Liar Liar where Jim Carrey’s character is literally kicking his own ass.

We had quite a few Speedsters out for their first workout of the season tonight.  It’s always nice to see familiar faces even if shortly after the warm up those faces are grimacing.  Coming out tonight:  Allyson, myself, Bharminder, Tim, Kevin, Lindsay, Tereza, Steve, Rob, Jimbo, Brian, Joe, Denise, Neil and making their first appearance’s this season were Anthony Accardo, Mike Gross, Eric Tobias, Renee Harnishfeger, and Tracy Jenkins for a total of 19.

Workout:

1 mile warm-up

600 (200)

400 (200)

300 (3 minute rest)

600 (200)

400 (200)

300 (3 minute rest)

600 (200)

400 (200)

300

1 mile cool down with the last two laps jogging the turns and sprinting the straights.

Next up: Hills on Thursday at 6PM meeting at Council Rock South.

Till we run into each other again…