Clearspace Server Syndication Feed

My Goal - 100 Miles of T-Shirts

wandaba runner — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:46:05 GMT

I started running last September. My first 5K was the "Scream Scram" in Wash park in Denver. My goal was to run it in under 45 minutes, and I made it in 44 minutes.

My next run was the "Runnin' of the Green 7K." My goal was to finish in under an hour. I finished in 53 minutes and change.

My main motivation last September came from when I learned of the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis. Since I am a Hoosier, it thought it appropriate to start my half-marathon career there, not to mention, the opportunity to run on the famous Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway. I had two goals, to finish and to do it in 2 hours 45 minutes. I did finish. My final time was 2:53:30.

This last Sunday I did the Homerun for the Homeless 5K. My final time was 37 minutes, so I am making progress.

So right now, I have run 23.64 miles. My goal is to run another 76.36 miles in events this year. The Rocky Mountain Half and the Denver half will cover another 26.2, so that is a lot of 5K and 10K runs. I'll post my progress here.

Coaches Must Have Character!

CoachHouser — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:44:23 GMT

Coach Houser:
So many coaches have terrible tempers, use foul language, get up in players' faces, can't control their alcohol use, etc. Is it that hard for an adult these days to be a role model?

I have lots of faults........they're evident. All you have to do is know me for a little while, and you'll see 'em. But if I want the team to do well, I have to fix some of my faults, cover even more of them up, alter my ill moods, etc.

I have to work and work to become the person that my players can trust. How can I expect my kids to be good sports, when I'm not? How can I expect them to be prompt, when I'm not? How can I expect them to be focused and serious, when I'm not? This goes on and on......and on.

I won't expect any more in the area of character from my team than I'm willing to exhibit. If I can't show a certain behavior, why should I expect my kids to? But, no, good coaches don't use that as an excuse to act stupid. No, we will never say, "Well, since I can't stop cursing, I can't bust my kids when they curse." NO. JUST STOP CURSING!!!

If you can't fix many of your faults, if you can't cover them over, put some foundation on them as if they're zits.......then get away from kids. A few years ago, when something was said about a girl being a cancer on a certain coach's team, the coach said, "I really can't do anything about her attitude, b/c I have that same attitude when I play. She and I are just alike." I was stunned. I was like, "WHAT?!?!?!?"

I will try my best to be as good a person as I can be in all parts of coaching, teaching, and being a human being.......even though I will come up short every day. And I expect my players to do the same.......either by imitation, by habit, or by listening/learning/adjusting. If I can reign in my competitive foolishness, then why can't the kids? If I can stop cursing in public, then they can too. In fact, they can change much easier than I can.......at least that what I tell them! haha.

Coaches: Fix or cover up those character flaws. You can do it. Hold 'em in. Don't let them out. Your job will be much easier if you do!

What I've Learned from My Italian Active Bike Vacation

ninny83 — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:32:07 GMT

Here a quick summary of what I've learned touring Italy by bike.

Adventure Travelers have different needs and requests in respect to the other "mass tourists"

A - Apply for your passport at least 3 to 4 months prior to your travel date.

B - Look into picking up travelers insurance and question your medical insurance about coverage while traveling to Italy.

C - Check and Confirm your flight, accomodation and customs.

D - Pack light. Casual outfits for sightseeing and daytime, and pack a few dressier outfits for dinning in the evenings.

E - Be sure to contact your tour company and confirm your itinerary, baggage transfers and meals

Some things I've learned from this trip

If you have to transfer your bike with you by train be sure:
- To buy a ticket for your bike
- To know which trains actually allow bikes
- To know which car the bike will go in
- Trains don't wait in stations for very long
Breaking away from a group bike tour is the only way to see Italy!
Take care of equipment to take with you
Verify if there are bike services along the trip
Verify if there are super markets along the trip
Verify if you can put your bike in a garage
Make sure that you drink enough water

If you like you can read the complete trip report here

Progress

Sm000th — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:12:22 GMT

Elastic Snaps at Giro

Bruce Hildenbrand — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:39:58 GMT

Just when you didn't think it was going to happen, the elastic broke today at the Giro d'Italia. For the previous four days, when it looked like a breakaway might actually win the stage, the peloton came storming in to snatch the glory and cast the escapees back into obscurity. While everyone likes a field sprint and watching the likes of Cavendish and Bennati duking it out at 40+mph is thrilling, it is nice to see the boys who did the hard work all day long reap some rewards.

However, on Thursday's 140-mile stage the 'no-hopers' finally got their day in the sun(literally). Not only did 11 riders escape the pack, but in the end, their margin of over eleven minutes is a clear sign that the fight was not in the peloton. In some ways this is a bit surprising since this was supposed to be a 160-mile stage, but the riders mounted a protest and the organizers shortened the stage by 18 miles. It has been a tough Giro for the teams. The riders have been subject to over 300 miles of stage transfers, this occurs when the start for the following day's stage is in a different location from the previous days' stage finish.

In one very unfortunate incident, the day the teams transferred, by ferry, from the island of Sicily to mainland Italy, there was a four hour wait to catch the ferry. Usually, in these types of circumstances, the race organizers rent their own ferry so the transfer can be accomplished quickly. Inexplicably, this year,the teams had to wait their turn to take the public ferry and by the time most of the them reached their hotels it was almost midnight. Such a late hour of arrival makes it very difficult to get a meal and the critical post-stage massage and still get enough sleep for the next day.

So, the riders protested and fortunately, the organizers listened and agrees to make things a bit easier for the teams. After all, this is a three-week race and any extra effort now will have to be accounted for later on in the event. Personally, I want to see great racing and sometimes that means that the breakaway succeeds. However, the competition and the course should provide the difficulties, not the logistics of getting to and from the stage starts and finishes.

Bruce

The Sports Museum of America opens its doors

adam_sp — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:17:50 GMT

It's amazing to think that a comprehensive sports museum never existed in America before today. And when one conjures up thoughts of sports museums and hall of fame's, the images of Babe Ruth and Cooperstown, Michael
Jordan and Springfield and Joe Namath and Canton typically come to mind; These of course, all being individual museums representing just one particular sport.

But the trend changed on May 6, however, when the Sports Museum of America opened its doors in New York City. Now, for the first time in our nation's history, images, artifacts, videos and interactive features from over 50 professional sports leagues have been merged together to create one of the most unique and mesmorizing experiences a sports fan can have.

I had the distinct pleasure of attending the grand opening of the museum last Tuesday in lower Manhattan. The day began with an amazing pep rally at Bowling Green Park just steps away from the museum doors. As hundreds of tourists snapped photos beside a giant bull statue adorned with a SMU jersey, some of the nation's most recognizable mascots danced around with fans in the park as pep bands played lively sports tunes.

Meanwhile, some of the nation's most recognizable and accomplished athletes took to the stage to introduce the museum. Never in my life have I been in the presence of so many sports legends at once. It was quite inspiring and a moment I will never forget. U.S. hockey gold medalist Jim Craig served as the MC for the event, while NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning, tennis legend Billie Jean King and football great Tony Dorsett all provided additional commentary. Other sports greats in attendance on Tuesday included Mario Andretti, Bob Cousy, Walt Frazier, Martina Navratilova, Pat LaFontaine and many others.

After the pep rally, media members had the opportunity to take a tour of the museum and speak with the hall of famers. With every media organization there from the AP to Newsday to Sports Illustrated to ESPN, it was a media madhouse, but I did have the opportunity to talk with track and field great Carl Lewis, basketball legend Carl Lewis, and hockey hero Pat LaFontaine. All true gentleman and great ambassadors for their respective sports.

Meanwhile, the museum is truly amazing. From the artifacts and videos to the memorabilia and interactive features, there is nothing that can compare. This is the ultimate sports fan's dream! You can see how it feels to get behind the wheel of a race car or even see what it's like to have a 100 mph puck come flying at you. Or check out the new home of the women's sports hall of fame. Even visit the amazing football wing which is now the permanent home of the original heisman trophy.

This project truly is also the first step in the downtown New York revitalization project after the events of 9/11. I can't think of a better way to jumpstart the project than with an amazing place like this.

I'm telling you, the next time you are in New York, put SMA on your must-do list.

I guess I didn't tell everyone yet afterall

Joshua G — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:22:42 GMT

I realized that my email distribution list wasn't as inclusive as I thought when I was asked today about my experience from last weekend's Blackberry Curve Challenge event in Boston. It was hard, it was tiring, it was amazingly fun. And I am not just saying that because my team finished in the top 30, therefore winning a Blackberry Curve 8330 smartphone for my 3 1/2 hours of effort.

I am saying that because the scavenger hunt clues were difficult, the check point challenges were...um...challenging, and the need for speed and efficiency paramount to score highly and finish well; all things that matched well with my expectations of the event and my own competitive nature. Unfortunately, we probably made things harder on ourselves by not taking some time early on to make sure we fully understood all of the directions and all of the clues. But hey, looking back I just appreciate that I was still able to get my hill work in afterall from running up and down 4 times before we solved the previous clue and were allowed to enter the monument...and run up more than 250 stairs to reach the observation platform at the top of the narrow spiral staircase.

Then it was off to visit the planets in the Community Solar System, with a detour through Harvard Square, a tour of the Back Bay, and a trip to the oldest baseball park in America. Then we got to bob for apples in a lobster tank and complete a couple of obnoxiously difficult physical challenges.

But you know what? It was an absolute blast and I am really looking forward to doing it all again in San Francisco as the winners of the Boston competition. Yeah, I know, not the best photo.

A bit of a Landmark Moment

RJ A — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:21:47 GMT

Well folks I kind of hit a landmark on the group ride last night. The week worked out kind of funny, see I have it in the "marital contract" this summer that I get to do a group ride a week.......You all know what the marital contract is right? If not you need to contact me and I can fill you in on how to be a master negotiator. Anyway....

Back to the ride, I had been going on Tuesday nights but like I said we had a conflict on Tuesday and I was allowed to go to the Wednesday night ride at Wheel and Sprocket. I had heard that is was a bigger ride but I was a bit amazed when people kept coming. Fancy bikes, deep carbon rims, time trial bikes, fancy biking jerseys, chicks that looked like they could "chick" me. I was excited to see how the ride would go.

Well it started out easy with a warm up with the group of about 30 staying together. Hand signals abounded, shouts of "CAR BACK", "SLOWING", "CAR LEFT" and "STOPPING" rang out as we meandered our way out to the country roads at an easy pace.

Then we crossed a road and BOOM it was on, the top group shot off and I knew right away I was not in thier league. And when I found out later that they average about 23 mph I simply thought maybe some day. I settled into a group of about 7 riders that seemed to be clicking along at a pace I could keep. It was fun we chatted a little but mostly it was serious riding. We formed a line and took turns pulling dropping to the back when we got tired. I would drop in the aero bars when I was in front and ride on the hoods when drafting. There is definitely a sense of pushing it on these rides, there is a non verbal feeling out. A guy will get to the front and push the pace. Eventually we dropped a couple and picked up a couple of stragglers that were dropped by the lead dogs, but what was landmark moment you ask.

Well the landmark moment is I averaged over 20mph for the entire 30 mile course. This is the first time I have ever averaged over 20 miles per hour on a longish bike ride. Could I have done it without the aid of the group, no way, but I will take it. My HR was very much threshold the entire ride. I know I will get benefits from these rides. At the end of the ride I saw "Kona Guy" hitting the roads for a little run and I was inspired. So I threw on my running shoes and went for a 2.5 mile loop around the neighborhood, hopefully flushing some of the Lactic Acid out of my legs. What an awesome workout and confidence builder it was. Here is how Garmin saw the ride.

Back to School

John "the Penguin" Bingham — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:36:31 GMT

I spend a fair amount of my life on the road traveling to events all over the country. It's become a part of who I am and it's a very comfortable place for me to be. It doesn't matter to me whether it's a 6,000 plus people at a Team in Training pasta party or 10 people in a running specialty store. I like being out there and talking to, and with, other runners and walkers.

This week, though, I am going to Lima, Ohio to talk to a group of elementary students - and I am scared to death. OK, not to death, but I am much more nervous about speaking in front of a bunch of kids than adults. Kids, you know, won't let you get away with anything. If you're not "getting it done" they will let you know in a hurry.

It's an interesting group, though. The school has a "positive addiction" program in which the students train for a 5K. Guess that's why they think bringing in a running guy makes sense. So, at least I'll be able to relate to their experiences getting ready for the race.

I've been trying to find a way to package the "penguin" message into something that works for a 5th grader and it's not that easy! I don't think many of the kids at that age will have struggled with cigarettes and booze! At least I hope not.

But, I think, one of the essential elements of being a "penguin" is learning to define yourself FOR yourself. Many of us - and I suspect so many of them - have been defined by the people around us that we have no idea who or what we truly are. And if we start buying into other's expectations as children it's nearly impossible to break free of those expectations as adults.

So that's my plan; to help them learn to be strong in themselves and what they want to be. Wish me luck.

John

Running ...started

Justinfisher2 — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:47:39 GMT

started today