Down & Dirty Or Just Down Right Dirty

Allyson and I have been volunteering for races for many years including directing a few.  From water stops at Marathons and 1/2 Marathons, to helping out at Run the Gates, and directing Jingle Bell races and the Looney Leprechaun. In addition to our experience most of the Speedsters that went down with us today have volunteered in some aspect, so I was confident our group was going to be able to help support the participating runners and make today an easier day on the race directors.  What I didn't know was that we would be treated like garbage and taken advantage of.

The race is so large that they have a force of paid employees that are expected to put the obstacles together and tear down.  But, for some reason our group had to help tear down huge obstacles and load them onto a flat bed truck.  This wouldn't have been horrible if this was the end of our day.  Once we got the truck loaded we had to climb up and ride back with the unsupported parts of the once up and over obstacle that we manned earlier.  I was okay with this for myself, but I was concerned for the Lady Speedsters and the One Arm Wonder (Harris).  Once we got back to the start location we were ordered, not asked to help out in other areas.

At this point some of our group had it and slipped out, but for those of us with more patience we went on to help out at gear check.  This was fun for the first hour, but once we realized that the other volunteers (non-speedsters) in that area slipped out the back and left us running everything without a single break (This reminded me of those situations you hear about in restaurants, where once the dinner bill comes the guest each take turns excusing themselves to restrooms, but don't return to pay the bill). We did eventually have warm waters brought to us and offered our hundredth PB & J sandwich.  We then were asked to again break down so the paid employees didn't have to stay late (seriously I heard the one race director say this to his employee).  At this point we all had had enough, so we cleaned up our area and called it a day.

I have always enjoyed volunteering, as an avid runner its always good to take a break from racing and support others.  This volunteer situation was the first bad experience and one that I won't quickly forget.  We had to be up at 3:30 AM to be at the race site by 5:30 AM.  We worked till 12:30 and got home close to 2:00.  Now I'm hoping to sneak a nap in.

Till we run into each other again...

My Next 30 Years...

Tim McGraw released a song entitled “My Next Thirty Years” back in 2000.  The song as you can image is about what a guy did during his first thirty years of living and what he has planned for the next thirty going forward.  My first thirty had its ups and downs, good times and bad, some wins some losses, but I tend not to stare into the rearview of my past, occasionally I’ll check it to remind myself how I got to where I am today.  We can’t dwell on the past, but we can learn from it.  So, with my life back on the rails I’m looking forward to my next thirty years.

This isn’t one of those soul searching blog post, actually this is changing of the guard type stuff.  When I was at the impressionable age of eight I had Randall Cunningham posters on my bedroom walls along with pictures of Eric Allen.  I loved the game of football.  I played all the time and I watched just as much as I played.  I got to see Randall scramble like crazy and even punt for ninety yards.  I found him to be an incredibly talented athlete.  But, all that changed when I came out of a Flyers game.

My brother took me to my first Flyers game in 1989.  When we got back to his Jeep it had been vandalized by Eagles fans.  They keyed the side of the Jeep, tore off his Steelers license plate, and wrote, “Fly Eagles Fly” on the pavement.  I guess it could have been worse; they could have slashed the tires and spray painted Eagles onto the Jeep.  I had no clue that my fellow Eagles fans were so screwed up. 

I was only nine when this episode happened, but it was enough to outrage me and force me to find a new team to follow.  I loved watching a 5’10, 190 lb. running back for Florida play the game I loved.  I can remember being mesmerized by the twenty-two on his back flowing almost untouched with every carry of the football.  I’ve always respected and adored the running back position.  I told myself that my new team would be the team that Emmitt Smith went to, unknowing at the time that he would get drafted to the hated Dallas Cowboys, making me enemy number one.

I don’t think it would have been all that bad had the Cowboys not won those three Super Bowls in ’93,’94, and 1996.  Before that 1993 season the Cowboys were not that great, and I was still young and no one was paying me any mind.  But, as I got older living in the outskirts of Philadelphia, it was getting harder to be a Dallas Cowboys fan.  Not because of the Eagles team, because I wasn’t really a fan of the quarterback (Mcnabb) or the coach (Andy Reid), but because of the fans again giving me crap.  As a hardcore Phillies and Sixers fan I could understand the importance of loyalty toward the home teams.  You gotta live and die with your team. 

With the changing of the guard here at home with the Eagles team.  First, with the new more fan friendly Lincoln Financial Field being built.  Second, the hiring of the new coach Chip Kelly and hopefully the end of the Michael Vick era taking place at some point during this season.  Lastly, with me all grown up I am announcing my return to the Philadelphia Eagles Nest after twenty-five years.  Emmitt Smith will forever be my favorite running back and I still like both Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware.  So, I’m an Eagles fan again for the next thirty years that or I encounter another bad episode with personal property and an unhappy Eagles fan. 

Ice Cold Popsicles Here! Get Your Ice Cold Popsicles!

We came oh so close to one of my favorite numbers tonight, the number 30.  We had 27 runners come out for popsicles; I mean to work on their speed.  The popsicles were just an added bonus, or was it the other way around and the running was the bonus…Regardless, we had a decent turnout tonight and enjoyed ice cold popsicles afterwards.  The popsicles were leftover from the Rev Run, so I thought I could clean out the freezer by bringing a bunch to the workout.  I still have a ton.

The sun was blazing hot all day, so I thought I would have us do the “Haughey Ladder” of 3 sets of 600 (200), 400 (200), 300 (200), 200 (3 min).  This workout allows for a rare chance at a water break, which is perfect for those extremely hot days.  Today wasn’t necessarily one of those days, it was humid yes, but we had cloud coverage for the entire workout preventing the sun from teaming up with the Humidity.  Had the sun escaped the clouds like it did earlier the “Haughey Ladder” would have been more fitting.

Coming out tonight:

Allyson, Tim, myself, Kevin, Maria, Jay, Brian, Angela, Hilda, Carol, Jimbo, Tracy, Cory, Lindsay, Joe G, Matt, Glenn, Alex, Neil, Bharminder, Rob, Joe Haughey, Possum Pete, Denise, Greg, and two first timers, Lev Skorodinsky and Christina Yerkes (Welcome!).

Thursday:

We will be meeting back at Council Rock South at 6PM for the Hill Workout.

Till we run into each other again…

In & Out

The rains made a return (Does anyone else feel as if we moved to Seattle?), this time dumping on us at the start of our workout.  With the rain I skipped the after stretch announcements and we just went to work, plugging away at some 400 repeats.  Wish the rain would have continued to fall when we were working up a sweat, but the rain tapered during the workout.  The funny thing about my complaining of the rain is that in a few weeks the News will be telling us that we're in a drought and that we should limit our garden hose usage.  Keeping with the theme of tonight, I'm going to wrap this post up quickly.  I hope everyone enjoys their Fourth of July Holiday, stay safe and if you're not going to be at the Revolutionary Run I hope to see you next Tuesday at the track.

Coming out tonight:

Allyson (nice job tonight!), Lindsay(welcome back!), Dan, Pete, Tim, Maria, Tereza, Angela, Joe G, Joe H, Jay, Rob, Hilda (nice job tonight!), Matt, Eric, Mike, Anthony, Nick, Neil, Scott, Greg, myself, Brian, Glenn, Alex, and making her first appearance of the season fresh off the IR Kami Schaal!  (Welcome Back!).

Workout:

1 mile warm-up
4-6x400 (400)
1 mile cool down with the last two laps jogging the turns and sprinting the straights.

Revolutionary Run on Thursday:

We will have a tent set up allowing our members a secure spot to leave their running bags all the while promoting our Hot Diggity Dog Labor Day race.  Please stop by and say hello and maybe even help hand out some race brochures.

Till we run into each other again...

Daddy, Daughter Track Night?

"To a father growing old nothing is dearer than a daughter." 

                                                                                        - Euripides

We had 27 participants come out yesterday and two of our dads brought out their daughters.  This was a pleasant surprise and a good sign of things to come.  As much as I love all the wisdom that makes up our club, we could really use some more youth.  I’m not getting any younger (SHOCKER!), and someone is going to have to pick up where we all leave off.  It was looking like our twenty something group was about to sprout this season, but that was short lived, so I’m holding out hope that the Megan Schaal’s , Phoebe Iguchi’s , and the Alex Cohen’s continue to come out well into their, well, Rod Messenger type years. 

Joining our daddy, daughter duo’s of Dan & Megan and Steve & Phoebe were: Allyson, myself, Kevin, Tim, Tereza, Mike, Pete, Joe, Rob, Bharminder, Brian, Neil, Denise, Greg Z (first appearance of the season!), Glenn, Alex, Scott, Jimbo, Maria, Joe G, Eric, first timer Angela Walsh (we hope you come back), and our newest member Carol Albright (the Speedsters welcome you)!

Nice work by everyone last night, the temperatures were a tad warm tag teamed with longer intervals (thanks again Rob), making for a challenging workout.  I’m thrilled to announce we all survived including Eric.

Workout:

1 mile easy warm-up

1200 (600), 800 (400), 1200 (600)

1 mile cool down

Drills

Next up:

Thursday, we will be meeting at the Boat House (main lot) in Tyler State Park for a hill workout at 6PM. 

This will be your last opportunity to sign up for the Blue & Orange Track Meet and we’re still in desperate need of participants as of right now we have enough to put 13 on each team which would mean we would have to drop a good amount of the events, which I don’t want to do.  Please come out tomorrow and sign up for the track meet.  This event is free and a members only event!  This isn’t any different than running on the track on Tuesday’s with the exception of being on a Saturday and its all for fun.   Three of our newest members are signed up and so is our youngest member.  If these members are not intimidated you shouldn’t be either. 

Saturday, August 24^th from 9:00-12:00 with a party afterwards (win or lose).

Bread Run on Saturday is canceled!  Sorry for the short notice, but I forgot that Allyson and I would be away in Connecticut this weekend and that the BCRR Equinox event is also on the same day.  Feel free to still stop by Great Harvest Bread in Newtown for some of their great baked goods.  We will return at the end of July.

Hot Diggity Dog Labor Day 10k:

We had a handful of members sign up this week, which has taken us up to 10 participants!  The last day to register and be guaranteed a Brooks tech tee, is August 5^th so don’t wait too long.  Please get the word our about our race.  We’re also in need of sponsors for the race.  If anyone knows of a company that might be interested direct them to our website.  At the very bottom of the race page is a link to a paper form for sponsorship and also proof of our 501-3c non-profit status.

Till we run into each other again…

Hot Diggity Dog Labor Day 10k Course

Allyson, Tim, and I ran over the Hot Diggity Dog Labor Day 10k Course this morning, and I'm happy to say that I'm getting better with running the course without having to back track.  I think I only messed up once.  In any case I took a handful of pictures of the course and put together a small slide show in hopes that this will entice runners to sign-up for the race.  Currently there are only 6 runners signed up.  We need to push this race for it to be a success.  I'm starting to think I know why the original Labor Day 10k race died...

 Online and Paper Registrations can be found on our website:https://www.buckscountyspeedsters.com/labor_day_race_2.html

See you at the track on Tuesday.

On your mark, get wet...

A close friend of mine who will remain nameless once told me he hated working in the rain because he didn't like getting his underwear wet.  My response to him was don't wear underwear.

Tonight was one of those wet underwear type nights.  Its never easy to get motivated to run when the weather isn't cooperating, but when you know that there are people, perhaps crazy people is more fitting, meeting to run a structured workout in a group setting some how this eases the blow. We had twenty one runners come out tonight and run in the steady rain.  We completed our time trials tonight with a 400.  It wasn't the faster 400 for most of us, but still a good effort under the wet conditions.  

Not afraid of getting wet: 

Allyson, myself, Tim, Hilda, Joe, Eric T, Cory, Anthony, Denise, Kevin, Lindsay, Scott, Matt, Bharminder, Alex, Brian, Rob, Mike, Neil and coming out for their first workout of the season Nick Accardo and Pete Lederer welcome back!

Workout:

1 mile warm-up

Timed 400 (400)

12x300 (100)

1 mile cool down

Welcome newest members and close friends Greg and Christina Yerkes!  Get out soon so we can get you signed up for the Speedsters Blue & Orange Track Meet, which still is in need of 10 runners.  Only 4 workouts left to sign-up.

Good luck to those Speedsters running in the Princeton All Comers Meet tomorrow at the Hun School. 

Next Workout:

Hill workout on Thursday at 6PM meet at the Craft Center in Tyler State Park (Location of the Looney Leprechaun Start).

Still in need of volunteers for the Merrell Down & Dirty on July 13th.

Still need participants for our Blue and Orange Track Meet on August 24th. (ONLY 4 WORKOUTS LEFT TO SIGN-UP).

Still need racers and volunteers for the Hot Diggity Dog Labor Day 10k Race on September 2nd.  (REMINDER THAT ALL MEMBERS RECEIVE A DISCOUNT JUST ASK HARRIS OR ME ABOUT THE CODE). https://www.buckscountyspeedsters.com/labor_day_race_2.html 

If anyone is interested in joining me I will be running the Hot Diggity Dog Course on Sunday at Mercer County Park at 8AM.  Let me know and I will get you directions.

Till we run into each other again...