THE GREATER BOSTON TRACK CLUB NEWSLETTER! AUGUST 2012

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Table of Contents

The Omaha 19....2

Why I Am Not a Jogger...3

Steeple: What?...4

Boston to Big Sur...5

Struggling with Injuries...6

Joanna Friendly Shortbread..6

Running from Regret to Gratitude...7

Workout at BC Reservoir...8

The Sciene of Self-Delusion....10

Nike+Fuelband Review...11

Planning Recovery and Rest into Your Training...12

Blogs and Tweets...13

2012 XC Schedule...13

President’s NotePresident’s NoteHappy summer! GBTC athletes have been busy as always, training and competing on the roads and tracks.

The club had many successful performances during the spring and summer months. GBTC had a strong showing at the Boston Marathon despite the warm weather. The outdoor track season was filled with personal best and club record performances. The men’s and women’s teams defended their USATF-NE outdoor track and field team titles in June and sent 19 athletes to the national club competition in Omaha, NE. Both teams claimed third place and the club had 16 individual and relay top-three finishers!

GBTC-ers have been glued to the Olympics over the past fortnight. The club’s Fundraising Committee organized an Olympics viewing party with a raffle, auction, and prediction contest. The money raised at the event will be an important contribution toward the club’s fundraising goals. GBTC is a member-supported nonprofit organization, and the revenue from annual dues only covers a portion

of the club’s ongoing expenses, such as coach salaries and travel support to athletes attending club national events. Fundraising is a critical activity for the club and will continue to be an important focus throughout the year. A list of volunteer opportunities for club projects and events is highlighted below – please contact me or another member of the board to learn more about contributing your time and support. Looking forward to seeing many of you at the club’s annual meeting in early fall!

Volunteer Opportunities• Participate in Fundraising

Committee activities • Volunteer at the Tufts 10km (October

8)• Serve on the Board of Directors • Help maintain the club website and

develop new social media content • Organize race entries as a meet

manager• Coordinate social and recruiting

events• Help with GBTC invitational events

(indoor track meet, XC meet)• Manage merchandise orders and sales

Sara DonahueGBTC President

A SPECIAL THANK YOU!! ! TO JENNY THOMAS

The GBTC community would like to extend huge thanks to former Treasurer turned bookkeeper Jenny Thomas for her service to the club over the past 6 years. Jenny revolutionized the position of Treasurer for GBTC, incorporating her knowledge as a CPA and fantastic organizational skills to help bring our budgeting, accounting statements and processes, and other financial management into the 21st Century. Jenny was so dedicated to GBTC that

while she moved to Washington D.C. two years ago, she continued on as the bookkeeper. Jenny has offered great leadership and guidance to the current Treasurer and the remainder of the board. We thank Jenny for her dedicated service and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors, especially as mother to the adorable Connor. 

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THE OMAHA 19 SARA O’BRIEN RECAPS THE 2012 USATF OUTDOOR CLUB

Club Track and Field Nationals is an entirely different event when it is hosted in the Midwest. 105 degree temperatures with high humidity, generally switches focus from distance and time to keeping hydrated and scoring as many points before you pass out. There were many trips to the best Whole Foods Market any of us had ever seen and many playing and sing-alongs to the ultimate pump up song “Call Me, Maybe”. With a team of 19, 7 women and 12 men (and Coach Dave Callum) GBTC was able to take home 3rd place combined team, 3rd place women’s team and 3rd place men’s team. Here is how they got there:

Day 1:

Throwing Bonanza

Club Nationals kicked off with the Men’s Hammer throw in Freemont, Nebraska. Bryan Kolacz, who works nights and is usually sleeping during the event time, was able to wake himself up and huck the hammer out 60.3 m. His throw wrapped up 2nd place and set the pace for GBTC. Next up, our tag team of Lisa Wilson and Amanda Gricus hurled the hammer out 59.44 m, 51.9 m respectively and reeled in 2nd and 3rd place; good for 14 points. Amanda then learned how to throw the javelin on the spot, set pr’s with every throw and threw far enough for 5th place. Javelin thrower Daniel Colina then stepped into the shot put circle and was able to wrap up a 5th place in an event with which he wasn’t overly familiar. Perhaps it was his shot put warm up, or that javelin is his strongest event, but Daniel moved onto the javelin runway and threw the spear 56.3 m to became the first GBTC athlete crowned National Champion! Lisa Wilson then doubled up on her points for the day with a 2nd place in the shot put. She was joined in the circle by GBTC veteran thrower and leader of the sing-along’s Stacey Connor who threw just over 40ft to secure 5th place.

Fire on the Track

Track action started off with the air temperature hovering around 104°, but the red colored track made your spikes feel like they were melting. Newest GBTC sprinter Chris Chandler blasted out of the blocks, after 3 false starts in his heat, to move onto the 100 m final. 105 minutes later Chandler was able to get to the line in 6th place. The first points of the day came from Midwestern native (Iowa represent) Jess Klett. Jess wrapped up a fantastic debut year in the 800 m with a 6th place in one of the most competitive races seen in Nebraska. Devotia Moore, rallying from difficulty with the heat, was able to secure 5th in the 400 m.

The men’s 400 m squad which seemed to multiply as the season went on, showed its depth and speed with a 5th, 7th and 8th place showing by Alex Engel, David Kennedy, and Brian Freitas. The 400 m was one of the men’s most competitive events and featured two 400 m Olympians, it was as fast as the day was hot. Warren Lane and Christian Tirella just finished out of the points in 9th and 10th respectively.

Allison McCabe continued her triumphant return to form with an aggressive and fast 1500. McCabe, who does most of her mileage in a pool, stayed with the lead pack and finished 5th in 4:33.59. The final event of day 1 demonstrated the strength of Cape Verdean Olympian Ruben Sanca as he dominated the

10,000 m. Ruben led from the gun, and at one point was told to slow down by Coach Dave, he was a vision in red lapping others as he rounded the track. At the end of the first day, the men had crowed their second Club Nationals champion. Both squads were in good position, battling home team, Team Nebraska Brooks to hold onto the 3rd position.

Day 2:

Hooray for Discus

Our throwing squad, which had already tallied a combined 52 points, would add another 18 points in the discus. Picking up another implement, Daniel was able to add a 6th place finish to his National’s resume. Lisa decided it was time for a women’s National Champion and spun the disc out to 47.6 m to bring it home. Stacey improved upon her 2011 Club Nat’s finish and moved up to 4th.

The last of the field event points resulted in some of the best fist pumping this side of the Jersey shore. Christian Tirella cleared a lifetime best in the high jump of 6’6” and placed third overall in the event.

Track Events and Everybody Runs Relays

Back on the track Allison opened up the day by running away from rivals from Central Park for 5th in the 5k. Just over 12 hours after his victory in the 10,000 m, Ruben doubled back and battled through some hamstring tightness to cruise to 2nd place in the 5K.

Jess, being the classically trained musician that she is, channeled her inner metronome to run 64 seconds in the intermediate hurdles and successfully clear all 10 hurdles in the 100 m hurdles for 3rd and 5th place respectively. The male 400 IH club record holder, Brian Freitas, dug deep after extending his successful collegiate season and took 4th in the event.

On his Farwell tour (or so he claims) Hafiz Greigre advanced through the rounds and picked up a point in the 200 m. Greigre was in lane 1, which had a bit of an oddity on the Nebraska track. The first lane started with a straightaway, then went into a curve, then onto a short straightaway to the finish; highly unusual for the event.

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The final events for the day were relays. The woman’s relay squad of Sara O’Brien, Jess Keltt, Devotia Moore and Allison McCabe took second in the sprint medley and third in the 4x4 to wrap up the women’s competition. Up first for the men was the 4x800 where Christian and Brian joined relay specialists Ben Wheatley, who was in the middle of a cross country road trip, and Dave Cahill to take home 3rd. Next up the men battled Central Park Track Club in the 4x100, coming up just short (and minus a hamstring or two). The team consisted of Warren Lane, Alex Engel, Christian Tirella (showing exceptional range HJ, 800m and 4x1) and Hafiz. The men’s sprint medley had the most dramatic finish of the day; with solid legs from Warren, Alex and David Cahill the battled for second came down to the final leg. On the 800 m leg, Ben Wheatley battled Team Nebraska’s Matt Schnieder down the back stretch and when the bodies were pulled from the track Wheatley finished ahead. In the final event of the day the heralded men’s 400 m crew pulled together to break the 4x400 m relay record in 3:12.74. The foursome was Warren Lane, Alex Engel, David Kennedy, Brian Freitas and David Kennedy. After all the awards were handed out and the pictures taken , it was time for shenanigan. You’ll have to join us next time to see the fun that ensues.

Special thanks to Coach Dave Callum for organizing all the entries and talking 19 people into running/throwing/jumping multiple events in HOT Nebraska.

WHY I AM NOT A JOGGERby Caroline Occean Ca!um

Begrudgingly, I grab my Asics, lace up my shoes, and strap my wristwatch on my arm. Another day, another run; it is hard to explain to a non-runner the lure of the sport. Some argue it is a drug; for me, it is a mixture of fear of morphing into some sloth of a

washed-up runner merged with the quest to be fit in order to maintain some athletic prowess. The fear of losing muscle tone and struggling to regain it, and the faint goal of returning to at least sub-20 minute 5K-shape lingers in my semi-serious aspirations.

I have no idea where my run will take me—surprisingly, it always gets done. It may result in an injury, but it will be accomplished. My subconscious self eventually coaxes my body and pushes it forward to build the inertia. A body in motion will remain in motion. Hearing the door slam shut, I fidget with my watch, contemplating my journey – hills? Pond loop? Feeling a bit uninventive, my eyes migrate to the track. Circles will have to do. I am off.

Oftentimes my pace resembles more of a horse’s trot than a gazelle’s; the plodding and pounding of the rubber soles along the track drown out the cacophony of crickets chirping and birds tweeting an evening melody, while planes descend from the sky and faint barks of dogs and tires on the road trace by in the background. Before I know it, a half-mile has elapsed. Momentarily my body acquiesces with the inhalation of air, and the endorphins spread throughout my body, rejuvenating my runner’s spirit. It is at this second I know why I love the sport. It is also at this instant I question: Have you resorted to becoming a jo#er? Is this your new title? There are definitely levels of commitment when it comes to running. Nothing irks me more than to be considered a “jo#er” by fellow members of the running community who compete in the New England area. Typically, these individuals are young- recent college grads who continue their pursuits in the running circuit. I like to think of them as green. They have no idea that I used to race, that I once held titles and ran with the elites. Why should they care?

It is irrelevant now and irrelevant to them. Hence the term “jo#er.”

I am a recreational runner. A trot will not suffice for the entire run. I am not a “jo#er.” I have to pick up the pace if competition is the future. Switching gears, breathing becomes more acute to the ear, as heavy breaths expel carbon dioxide and the sucking of air is essential. The syncopation of the rhythmic breathing has become my bass. Zoning-out, my stride elongates. Exhaling, the humidity makes me feel like I am running through fluid, damp air as it wafts around my moving figure. Beads of sweat emerge like dew drops along my hairline as they slowly slide down to the crest of my brow. I ignore the sweat, just like I ignore the aches of plantar fasciitis and runner’s knee. These injuries are not going anywhere. Dwelling on them is pointless. I should weight lift-that would rectify my issues as my husband, the experienced track coach would say. I am too lazy to go to the gym. My gym membership is worthless. If gyms allowed people to pay on a month-to-month basis throughout the year, I could totally buy into that. Pick up the pace. Choosing to forget about the automatic payment that is deducted from my bank account each month helps me swallow my dissatisfaction with the whole fitness-marketing ploy. If only I was just more disciplined. Pick up the pace. I only need to find thirty more minutes twice a week to lift. The purchasing of a stability ball, Pilates mat, and dumbbells, which sit aimlessly covered with a layer of dust in the basement, also leave me without an excuse. The term “jo#er” is just unacceptable. One more lap. Running is my final link to fitness.

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With each stride the legs begin to feel like rubber, forcing the arms to pump a little harder. The plodding along the track slowly amplifies, competing with the sound of my breathing. Making one last effort to pick up the pace, I complete my run, satisfaction forming a smile on my face. The steady sounds of the crickets, birds, dogs, and planes resume in the distance, as my cushioned footsteps become almost inaudible –one more day down.

STEEPLE-WHAT? HURDLE MOBILITY CAN BENEFIT ALL DISTANCE RUNNERSBy Jason Hewitt

With the Olympic steeplechases behind us now, it seems only fitting to take a look at what these athletes are doing to produce such great results in a 3k race that includes 28 barriers, and 7 water pits. At the high school and collegiate levels, we often view steeplechase as a niche event; to place the athlete that can’t quite score in the Mile or the 5k. On an international stage, however, Steeplers are in a class of their own. Steeplechasers display the speed and power characteristics of a mid-distance runner, the work capacity more comparable with a 5k or 10k athlete, and a level of coordination that is unparalleled in the endurance world. Distance runners often come into the steeplechase event for a brief time, but then go on to have success in other events (Jenny Simpson: American Record in the steeplechase since 2009; 2011 World Champion 1500m; at the time of this article, competing at 1500m distance in the 2012 Olympics; Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova: STP - 9:09 in 2007 {Osaka}; Silver Medalist 2012 Olympic Marathon). Training like a steeplechaser can give you excellent benefits as a distance runner, even if

you never plan to compete in the event.

Before you strap on your track spikes and head out to start clearing hurdles, or dismiss this article completely as “That’s not for me”, consider doing some basic hurdle drills without ever leaving the ground. I know that the Steeplechase is not for everyone and I don’t recommend it for most of my runners. I think the part most runners miss is that much of the training promotes good, strong, injury free running, even if you never plan on racing the event. Specifically, the Hurdle Mobility drills that Steeplechasers (and all hurdlers) do to stay limber for the event can help produce strong muscles and better flexibility around the hip joint as well as improving balance in single-leg support positions. Imagine a strength program that promotes flexibility; certainly a great benefit to any runner, 800m to Marathon. Here are a couple of basic hurdle mobility drills that can be beneficial to all runners. Even if you’re ever not sure what you’re doing, stop by the track and hang out with the hurdlers every once in a while. They tend to be a great group of athletes that’s always willing to initiate a new member to the “hurdle club”.

Getting Started:

When you’re starting with any new element to your training program, take it easy. Work your way into the training easy. Once you really understand how to do the drills, then start adding difficulty. For hurdles, start doing drills on Banana Hurdles or just tip the hurdles over so that you have about an 18” clearance to work with. Set up about 6 hurdles (you can work up to 10 or more) about a meter apart and just walk through them. Here’s a couple basic drills to start with. These drills are done walking, not running or jumping:

Front Walkover: Walk straight over the hurdles. Your front leg (lead) should go from “butt kick” to “high knee” and then extend relatively straight over the hurdle. As the lead leg comes down on the other side of the hurdle, rotate the back leg (trail) out and drive the knee high over the hurdle (like you see hurdlers do in a race). Your trail leg should come back to a high knee position in front of you before you bring it to the ground. Repeat over the next hurdle. Note: each foot lands once in between each hurdle.

Back Walkover: Think Front Walkover in rewind. Start with your back to the hurdles. Rotate the trail leg and reach back over the hurdle, step down and then drive the lead leg up to high knee. Bring the lead leg down under you and then repeat.

Double Trail Leg: Move the hurdles close together (less than a meter apart) and then start as if you’re doing a front walkover. As your trail leg comes over the hurdle, continue to move it forward and reach over the next hurdle without bringing your foot to the ground. Then your original lead leg becomes your next trail leg. Note: only one foot lands in between each hurdle.

Of course, these are only basic descriptions, so they may be hard to visualize. You can do a quick YouTube search to get a better idea of what each should look like. When you first start, you’ll find that one leg is easier than the other (either using a left lead leg, or a right lead leg). This is fine while you’re learning, but I would encourage you to move to doing drills both ways fairly quickly to avoid any imbalances). If you’re still not sure what you’re doing, find a hurdler to help you out. We’ve all done the basics before, so most hurdlers will know these drills.

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When to Train:

The best part of about hurdle mobility, is that once you’ve learned what you’re doing, it can fit into just about any training day. I use it as part of my warm-ups before workouts and races, if I’m feeling particularly tight in the hips. I use it with my athletes on recovery days because these drills are non-impact. When I’m training for Steeple, I do a long set after my workouts as a strength training session (you will be sore if you do long sets after a workout). Basically you can tailor a Hurdle mobility session to fit into your schedule wherever you want.

Limitations and Injuries:

As a final note, I’d just caution athletes that have issues with Hip Flexors, Groin, or Lower Back. Hurdle mobility may still be beneficial for you, but I’d recommend consulting with a Physical Therapist before attempting these drills. I know that a lot of my issues get better as I train hurdles, but that may not be the case for everyone. Be smart about your training and evaluate whether it’s right for you!

BOSTON TO BIG SURby Joy Wi!

Everyone knows how the Boston marathon of 2012 went. This is the story on my sequel to the Boston Marathon, the Big Sur International marathon just 13 days later. With the Boston to Big Sur challenge, the registration is limited to 400 people, those registered run the Boston marathon and then 13 days later run the Big Sur International marathon in California. "Two marathons on two coasts in 13 days". Big Sur is listed in Forbes "Top 10 marathons worth traveling for". It transforms California’s most beautiful

drive on Highway One to a foot race from Big Sur down to Carmel. Like the Boston Marathon, Big Sur is a point to point race. But if you think getting to the common for 6am is early, our bus to leave Monteray was at 3:30am.  At 3:30 the air was chilly (low 40's) and Monteray was dark and quiet. The bus ride had its own eerie presence as you could feel the bus climb up the hilly course and hear the waves crashing off the cliffs next to us. When we got off the bus the athletes village was surrounded by woods, giving us the feeling that we were in the middle of no where. Soon it was time to line up for the start. The air was a perfect 51 degrees and with the start at 6:45am the sun was just starting to appear behind the mountains.

Very similar to Boston the beginning of this course was deceivingly downhill (about a 250ft drop). We ran through several miles of redwood trees. After exiting the trees you soon enter a 2 mile straight stretch through green hillsides and past some cows. After leaving the shelter of the redwoods a significant wind presented itself. Along with the 20+ mph headwind there was a very thick fog.  The combination of these elements prevented the first "spectacular view of the marathon" that of Point Sur lighthouse. When asked later about the lighthouse, I said "what light house?"  Finally from miles 8-10 a little sun came out and I realize that I am indeed running on the edge of the Pacific and it's beautiful! With that being said I became fully aware of the elevation climb I would need to make

to get to "hurricane point".  From miles 10-12 you head uphill for a net gain of about 700 feet. Hurricane point rests at mile 12 and is the peak point of elevation in the marathon. Apparently the view can be amazing, for me I remember fog and a wind that was now 30+mph. So I took off downhill towards Bixby bridge.  Bixby bridge is the classic landmark of this marathon, and also marks the halfway point. At the end of the

bridge there is a pianist at a grand piano. Really cool site until I noticed that when the pianist would pose for pictures with runners, the piano would still be playing!!??

The sun returns at mile 15 and the rolling elevation continues on.   Finally after mile 20

you enter the Carmel highlands. It continues to have constant climbs and descends in elevation, but for the first time there are spectators and cheers of encouragement! At mile 24 there were tables of fresh strawberries!

Finally the finish was upon me, well, right after completing the hill at mile 25. Finished and exhausted I realized I really under estimated how challenging the course would be, but also I would never run two marathons back to back again. Later at the post race party one of the board members said to us and I quote "mother nature just was against us this year, I've run the race every year since it's started and the wind has never been that bad".   Well between Boston 2012 and Big Sur 2012 mother nature has had it out for me, so I'm fully expecting snow for the 2012 NYC marathon.

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STRUGGLING WITH INJURIESby A!ison McCabeIt was Tuesday evening June 1, 2010. After finishing the 3 mile team warm up we returned to the track. I slipped into my training shoes and did a few strides. I was in the best shape of my life and I was ready for a fast workout. It was a few days before the NB Twilight meet where I was attempting a 1500m personal best. However, at the start of the workout, I felt a sudden severe pain in my left foot. I limped through the interval and then tried to walk a bit. The pain did not go away. I took the next few days off from running in hopes that my foot would feel better before the race. The pain was still there but I decided to toe the line anyways. I completed the race, but I was in a lot of pain afterwards. I knew that this was a serious injury that wouldn’t just go away with a few days off.

I paid the doctor a visit, the first of many. Sure enough, I had a stress fracture in two places. I was shocked. I kept thinking, “But I never get injured. How could this happen? I haven’t changed my training. I get enough calcium. Maybe the doctor is wrong.” I was in denial.

Once I was able to accept the fact that I was going to be sidelined, I got into a cross training routine consisting mostly of pool running along with some biking. The next year and half I continued to get fractures, heal, run and get re-injured. I was feeling discouraged and doubtful that I’d ever stay healthy long enough to race well.

I took a closer look at the facts. If I continued with the same type of training I was going to get injured. Of course, all the non-runners in my life thought I was crazy. I often heard, “Choose another sport,” or “Just be a recreational runner,” and “There are other things besides running.” But I didn’t want to give it up. Running has been a part of my life for so long. I like being on a team with others who share my passion. The

thought of throwing in the towel and not being a competitive runner was too upsetting. If I wanted to keep running I would have to drastically change my training. I still had some hope and was going to find a way to make it work.

I came up with a new plan and discussed it with the coaches. I planned to significantly lower my volume while keeping the intensity high. I decided to focus only on quality running, like workouts. I replaced all runs with cross training, since I figured my heart rate in the pool is similar to what it would be on a steady run. My plan for the track season was to run Tuesday and Thursday workouts with the 800m group and either a race or tempo run on the weekend. Only three days of running, this would amount to 17-18 miles a week. The rest of the days are spent in the pool or bike. I follow a pool running routine from Peter Pfitzinger’s website. I hoped that the considerably less time on my feet would lessen the likelihood of getting injured.At first it worried me to be doing such low mileage. I used to run 60-70 miles a week. I would do extra-long cool downs just to hit a certain weekly mileage. I hated taking days off during the racing season. Now I’m the opposite. I think about what running I can cut out. I do minimal running to stay healthy. Recently I rejoined the distance group in preparation for the cross country season. The Tuesday workouts are much more volume compared to what I was doing during the track season. I do a short warm up and cool down in order to keep my mileage less than 20 miles per week. I now believe that “less is more” has its benefits.

I’ve been doing this run/cross train cycle for about 7 months now. So far things have been going okay. I’m not quite as speedy as I used to be, but it sure beats being in a boot. I’m looking forward to the upcoming months and the start of a new season. I haven’t run cross county in a while and it’ll be fun to take a break from the track.

Pre-heat oven to 350 deg. Fahrenhite. For those of you who use Celsius, shame on you, look up the conversion online. This totally sucks, by the way, not only because the conversion always comes out to something ridiculous like 107.67, but also because Celsius ovens heat completely differently. I know this because I tried baking when I lived in Germany and totally failed at it. If you happen to have a Celsius oven I would suggest giving up baking until you join the real world.

Mix dry ingredients together: I use a fork and generally I don’t measure things, but the approximate measurements are below:

½ c. Cornmeal

½ c. Quinoa Flour

½ c. Coconut Flour

½ tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

Add in wet ingredients:

Honey (or more unhealthy sugar of choice) – 2-6 tbsp depending on how sweet you want it – I usually drizzle for about 10 sec…I guess that’s about 2 tbsp.

1 egg

Coconut oil (melted) – 3 large spoonfuls – you could measure this to be about 3 tbsp if you’re lame and measure things.

3 drops Vanilla extract (or more if you accidentally get aggressive with the shaking of the vanilla bottle)

Full Fat Coconut Milk (or almond milk also works) I use about half a can. Coconut milk is a little thick, so you may need to add a bit of water so mixture becomes ALMOST (not quite) runny. This is easier with Almond Milk, but coconut milk has better flavor. Plus, I love coconut.

Instructions Mix ingredients thoroughly. If you weren’t already doing this, then you totally suck at cooking.

Pour well-mixed ingredients (if they’re not well mixed, go back to step 4) into a greased (with coconut oil) pan.

Put pan in oven. Again, if you weren’t going to do this you should give up on cooking entirely and eat take-out forever.

Bake for 30-35 min…this is a total estimate – bake till it’s golden brown on top and cooked all the way through (you test this by putting a fork in and making sure nothing sticks to the fork on the way out – I hope you learned this as a 9-year-old).

Cut up some fruit (you can add sugar to it if you want to be unhealthy) to put on top along with some coconut ice cream – Luna and Larry’s is my favorite.

Note: This recipe also works as a pancake recipe – just add a little more coconut/almond milk to the mixture so it’s a little runny and pour into circles on a griddle (I really hope you knew pancakes were in circles). This also requires using a spatula to flip them over after they get all bubbly on top, too.

This recipe was submitted by Joanna who eats a soy, diary and gluten free diet.

JOANNA-FRIENDLY SHORTCAKE

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RUNNING FROM REGRET TO GRATITUDEby Amelia LandbergI could almost hover above myself as I ran, a robot slowly running out of juice. It was a sliding sense of normalcy, as usual. Around mile 14, when Dan Hall and I split up, I wondered at my ability to maintain the pace. On heartbreak I nurtured the illusion, telling myself that I was just running smart, backing off (way off) on the hills as Tom instructed, while women I'd passed miles before swiftly strode by me. On the back side of heartbreak, where 1976 Boston Marathon champion Kim Merritt felt the "thigh smash" (Derderian, 1994) on the hottest marathon to date, I started to lose not only the juice in my limbs, but also in my mind. Memories are sparse from that point on. I missed a lot (thanks for the bottle of water, Dan), and substituted delusion for reality (mom, I really thought you managed to find me there supine on the pavement!). "NO WALKING" – I berated myself at the mile 25 water stop. After Kenmore, I poured all remaining energy into a search for the dip under Mass Ave. Time was so slow, and I couldn't see it. Somewhere around Charlesgate, I stumbled (allowed myself to stumble?) and fell.

The relief I felt after receiving three liters of fluid through an IV quickly subsided and morphed into a mix of sadness and anger. I'd gleefully foregone travel opportunities enjoyed by my peers in business school to rest and train throughout the winter. I'd focused more on running than ever, facing my decade-long fear of the mile during indoor track and putting more miles on my legs than I had ever before dared. My mantra throughout this process was simply to see what I could do with the tools I had. I wouldn't give up cake (although it

might have helped!), but I would give what I could and not look back.

That winter I'd conquered a little beef I have with this whole sports thing – fear of giving it all, and it all being not good enough. Fear of racing, generally. I cringe recalling times in high school when I would self-handicap (often mentally, making excuses for myself) in order to justify weaker performances or celebrate stronger ones. I waited until the last possible second to enter the classic ski race in the state championship, so close to the start time that I didn't have time to wax my skies properly. My third place finish felt cheap, and this weakness is one I am ashamed of. In college I grew to love Nordic ski racing but ultimately let pressure consume me, and, tired of racing, I turned down the opportunity to travel to NCAAs and compete for my team. It is the only thing I regret.

Yet in these past few years, with this team, the fear dissipated. I watched my teammates come back from injuries, babies, demanding jobs – and just get out there. Inspired by them all, I started to take risks with my training and racing. Once I started, I became addicted not only to what felt like a new level of fitness, but also a

new level of psychological freedom. I could race and give it all and it could all not be enough (for whatever standard I had set) – and that would be okay. There is always another race.

When I didn't finish Boston, I was shocked. I had given it my all and learned to make peace with mediocre performances, but this was new, this not-finishing thing. It just didn't feel right to have this, of all seasons, end that way. As the realization of what had happened set in, the thought of running Providence whispered at me. Soon it was insistent, resolute, interrupting me at every opportunity. Over the next few weeks I allowed myself to recover and marinate with what could and could not happen if I tried again in three weeks. After three hard mile repeats the Tuesday before Providence, it was clear to me that I'd have to try. Not trying wouldn't do justice to the physiological and psychological progress of the season. I knew it might end poorly, but at least I would know. No more regrets.

I took it as a good sign when I saw Emily (Raymond) on my 2-mile jog the day before Providence with Bruce and Phoebe at the playground. I embraced her somewhat covered in mud, having fallen in my oh-so-short trot along the Esplanade. I hadn't told many people that I would attempt the run, and those I had told were, quite understandably, a bit worried for me. Emily never was. I'll always remember her face when I told her I was thinking about running – "do it!!" she proclaimed with wide eyes. Crazy loves company.

The first mile was quick, 5:50. I felt my BAA-buddy-for-the-day, Sarah Bourne, right behind me. I didn't look at my watch much, and I didn't have to. The day just felt right. I felt light and happy. Somewhere around mile 8, I noticed the posters…there must have been 20 of them.

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Sarah and I glided by the lot and my smile grew; "run smart, run fast", "GO AMELIA," "GO GBTC," and, at the end of the strand, the biggest and most beautiful surprise I've ever had – Emily, Anna Novick, Phoebe, and Bruce, cheering their brains out. I couldn't believe it; they'd gotten up at 5 a.m., driven down for the 7:30 start, and would have to scoot back for afternoon commitments. I've never felt so honored in my life. Memories of the rest of the race are scattered – Sarah was holding back and bolted at the half. I knew I didn't have it to keep up with her right then, and spent the rest of the race trying to chase her down. I ended up finishing about 45 seconds behind her. I felt great the whole way, dancing on the line between pushing and preserving, not knowing what was really in my legs.

Seeing Joy Will cheering wildly later on the course, and then Emily and Anna and my husband Michael again later on (Emily and Anna with a feed at 21—bless you!)– it overwhelmed me with energy and gratitude. My opinion of the course is undeniably inflated because of this. I recommend Providence to everyone.

It felt great to finish with a best time – 2:54. What I carry with me from that day, though, is an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this team and for those training partners and friends that have helped shape me. Finding out at the finish that Katie Fobert bested her time, too, was another terrific boost. Winning is good, Tom says. Going for it, and finding inspiration beyond little you? That's just great.

WORKOUT AT BC RESERVIORby Joanna MurphyI had planned on getting a ‘rust buster’ steeple in at the Brown meet,

but the text message that woke me up from my coach, Dan, indicated otherwise. “You’re the only one registered for the Steeple, probably not worth the drive. Call me when you get this” it read. My phone call with Dan resulted in a last minute decision to do a tempo workout instead. “Erin is running the workout this morning. Call her and find out when…I think she’s heading out soon.” He instructed. Upon calling Erin, I learned that she was planning to do the workout at the BC reservoir, and she was leaving in 5 minutes. She agreed to hold off for 15 more minutes, so I quickly changed, grabbed a banana and shoved a peanut butter cup in my mouth as I chugged some Gatorade on my way out the door. This morning was off to a great start.

Just for the record: I hate mornings. The fogginess in my head and the achiness in my muscles that occurs before 10am is akin to a hangover…except I don’t get the benefit of the booze (I swear there’s a benefit). I generally don’t feel normal until I’ve had at least 2 cups of coffee and a proper breakfast (2 eggs, bowl of fruit and ideally a potato). Plus, I hate being hungry. So should you encounter me first thing in the morning before proper caffeination and calorication (yes, I made that word up…possibly both of them), you should avoid me like the plague. But at 8:15am on this Saturday morning I was already out of bed, and Erin is an awesome workout partner, so I sucked it up

and hurried to get to the BC res by 8:30 for her. And random sidenote: where I come from ‘res’ means (Indian) reservation. It is a place you go to purchase fireworks and gamble (yes, I know this is politically incorrect). How do people get away with calling a reservoir “the res” around here? Seriously, Boston, straighten out your stereotypes.

It was a beautiful morning out, which helped bolster my energy a bit. Erin was waiting for me at the top of the stairs as I took the steps two at a time. “I’ve got to get this done quick – I have to be back by 9:15 to get ready to get to the school,” she explained as I got there. Erin is a coach at a local high school and had a track meet later that day. I could tell she was a little stressed and ready to get this workout out of the way, so we warmed up quickly and got started. Luckily, it was tempo intervals, so I didn’t need as much time to warm up.

We had 3miles at tempo pace (~6:05 pace), 2 miles at 5:55ish pace and 1 mile at 5:50 pace all with 3 minutes in between. One lap around the reservoir is exactly ½ of a 5K, or so I’ve been told, so my quick upstairs tally noted 2 laps for the first interval. I pretty much refused to math after that point.

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The clock on the first interval showed we were a little slow, so we began picking it up as we started on the 2 mile interval. We had developed a good rhythm by about 300m in. The sun was brighter than I was used to and I kept my head down as we headed into its glare. After a few minutes I looked up to see three large dogs bounding happily towards us, their owner jogging off to our left a bit in front of them. The owner appeared not to notice the fact that his dogs were taking up the entire path in an on-leash-only area. The dogs were coming for us rather quickly, weaving back and forth in the path. I saw this as redemption for the missed steeplechase and decided to hurdle each dog.

The first one approached and I got my steps right, sailing over easily. A few stutter steps made a not so graceful hurdle on the second dog, but still a good steeple. I’m joking. That never happened. I chose the far right edge and took a quick hop off the path to skirt the entire pack. Erin, however, was not so lucky, being in the middle of the path. “Oh god, oh god..shit…shit!” she began cursing as she bounded to the left, only to be mimicked by the big Golden Retriever who was convinced Erin had a secret stash of treats located in her left hand. The other two dogs followed suit. Erin tried to dodge again, this time to the right, but again the dogs, now finding this game extremely fun ran into her, causing Erin to have to screech to a halt. She quickly cut to the side, scrambled a bit to get back on pace, and continued on. The owner was completely oblivious that his dogs thought of themselves as canine cannon balls leaving a long trail of destruction in their wake. Upon hearing Erin’s cursing he turns slightly, but simply whistles casually for the dogs to come up with him. Erin, now seething, turns around mid-run and yells, “Put your goddamn dogs on a fucking

leash!” This comment apparently strikes a nerve and the owner stops jogging, turns around and yells back, “Why don’t you mind your own goddamn business, you bitch!” Erin, still mid tempo retorts, “On leash area - read the sign,” and we continue on out of ear shot. She is clearly irritated and increases her cadence angrily. The pace drops. I find it highly amusing that a 40 year old man who is clearly in the wrong (we weren’t the only runners his dogs were taking out) gets all bent out of shape at a couple girls who’d probably still not weight more than him if you put both of us together. We went through the mile about 15-20 seconds fast – big surprise.

The second interval starts to get hard about a half mile out and at this point I’m really feeling that fast first mile. My breathing is starting to get a bit labored right about the time we pass the owner of the dogs. This time his dogs are on a leash. As he jogs by he sneers, “Dogs are on their leash - you fucking happy now?” Erin looks up, a little winded, nods, and says “Thank you”. The owner pulls over to our side of the path, and leans in towards us a bit. “Happy now?” He sneers, his nose all puckered up as he seethes through his clenched teeth. “Mind your own damn business next time,” he says condescendingly as he passes, and continues mumbling indiscernible phrases out of earshot (I can only assume they were compliments). I can’t help finding this hilarious and begin laughing hysterically while trying to run 5:55 pace. This results in extreme side cramps (most likely karma) which then turn to wheezing. I want to call it quits when we finish the lap at 1.5 miles, but Erin makes me feel like the worst workout partner known to man for considering this, so I suck it up and finish the 2 miles.

Call me judgmental, but if the man would actually be able to keep up with Erin and I during that workout I may

be more inclined not to think so lowly of him. He was most likely an ex-football player, liked to focus on his biceps and chest with the weights, and probably jogged on the weekends so he could go drink beer with his buddies while he watched the Red Sox game. He obviously had never surrounded himself with any amount of female intelligence for too long or his ego would’ve been able to handle two little distance runner girls calling him out mid workout. I don’t say this because Erin and I are were calling him out. I say this because he’s clearly a dumbass.

The 3 minute rest was a nice relief and the cramp settled down a bit. About 45 seconds to the start of our last interval the dog owner passes us yet again, this time without dogs. He slows down as he jogs by, “all you gotta do is get out of the way….not a big deal, just move out of the way next time,” He explains condescendingly, over-annunciating each syllable as if we had never heard of this magical language known as English. The fact that we were practically lateral bounding at 6 minute/mile pace to get out of his dogs’ way obviously never occurred to him. “It’s an on-leash park,” Erin retorts. “That means your dogs have to be on a leash.” She’s great at getting that “teacher-authority” tone. This sets him off again. He turns around and yells, “All you have to do is get out of the fucking way next time.” He’s jogging backwards while waving his arms gesturing in the middle of the path.

It’s very clear that he is not defensive at all. I start laughing again, hoping the side cramp doesn’t come back. “We did get out of the way,” Erin shrugs, turns her back to him and starts skipping. “Why are you still talking to us?” I ask, mostly to myself, but the dumbfounded look is still

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on my face, evidencing my confusion that this man actually cares that we think he’s a dumbass. He ‘sprints’ off (I’ll call it sprinting for effort sake, but it was about 7 min mile pace) and continues grumbling about the fact that we didn’t move out of the way of his (clearly exceptionally aware) dogs. I roll my eyes. “Why is he still talking to us?” I ask Erin. “I can’t believe his ego is that fragile. It’s frightening.”

We start the last interval: One mile at 5:50 pace. I hate the fact that this feels hard. “God, I hope we don’t catch him,” Erin says in the first 400m. I look up and see him about 600m in front of us. We would definitely catch him before the mile mark at this pace. Thankfully, he cuts off the path, taking the stairs down to the parking lot. We both exhale a sigh of relief and pick up the pace slightly. Erin pulls away from me with a half mile to go. I have a nasty habit of letting people slip away halfway through intervals. My coach thinks it’s because I’m not aggressive enough, but I blame it on my difficulty with depth perception…I can’t help it if I have bad vision. With 400m-ish to go I close the gap and push the pace for the last minute.

“I knew you’d have the last minute,” Erin says out of breath. “That’s why I pushed a bit halfway through.”

“Yeah, I know…I hate it when you do that.” I replied, knowing she was right. Like a great workout partner, she’s good at pushing the pace precisely when I don’t want to.

On the drive home I passed a happy duo out for a run along the river. The woman was clearly enjoying the sunny morning with her partner, a golden retriever, happily trotting along next to her on his leash. It was a beautiful scene. My college coach often quoted the saying, “Good neighbors are fenced neighbors”. I’m beginning to think dogs are a lot like neighbors.

Joanna is a runner for New Balance Boston and &iend of many GBTC members. Joanna has worked in Running Product Development for Adidas and PUMA.

THE SCIENCE OF SELF-DELUSIONBy Bi! KoleBOOYAH! Nothing like popping off a 5K in a smoking fast 15:31. Care for my autograph while I’m waiting for the ink to dry on my shoe contract?

So this is what it’s like to be a national class runner.

Except I’m not, because I never actually ran that time. And that’s the problem with age-graded performance tables – those intoxicating, deceptive little widgets that older athletes love to hate.

Full confession: As a master’s competitor, running race times through an age-adjusting calculator is one of life’s guilty pleasures. But is it legit, or is it a lie? You decide.

There are several versions floating around out there. Runner’s World has a popular one -- http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/agegradingcalculator/0,7977,s6-238-277-415-0,00.html

My personal favorite is on MastersAthletics.Net -- http://www.mastersathletics.net/Age-Graded-Calculator.2595.0.html

These tools are intended to put all runners, throwers and jumpers – regardless of age or gender – on a level playing field. “They allow runners' performances, no matter what their age, to be corrected to what they would have been achieving in their prime years, and permit valid comparisons to be made between

people of different ages,” MastersAthletics.Net says.

That seems reasonable enough, at least to 51-year-old me. So after finishing a road 5K in 17:53 – a lifetime PR for that distance – I got curious and plugged that time into the table. My age-graded result – supposedly how I’d have finished as a younger, stronger, faster Bill competing in the open division – was 15:31.

Peering at the fine print (I had to put on my reading glasses to do that), it said my age performance percentile was 83.14. Anything over 80 percent is considered national class, which might explain my shoe contract fantasy.

At this point, I was getting a little tipsy from drinking my own spiked Kool-Aid. And that’s the point.

Age adjusters can be fun, and maybe even motivating in small doses. But the clock, unlike the calculator, doesn’t lie. You either ran that fast or you didn’t.

(Incredibly, some oldsters are speedsters for real. In 2003, 50-year-old David Martin Rees of Great Britain clocked 14:53 over 5K on the track. The women’s world record belongs to Denmark’s Gitte Karlshoj, who ran 16:51 three years ago, also aged 50.)

For most of us, it’s pointless comparing ourselves to the elites. Reading too much into a calculator is no better. It boils down to meaningless mythology – like trying to figure out how fast we’d run as a Centaur chasing a unicorn.

I’ll never forget Tom’s admonition the first day I showed up for practice. “Look,” he said, “you’re going to get older, and you’re going to get slower, and eventually, you’re going to die.”

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Sage, if not cheerful, advice.

As we age, and personal bests slip forever out of reach, there are practical ways to stay hungry and competitive. You can always pursue a “modern-day PR,” your fastest time this decade. You can steel yourself to run any given race faster than you did last year. You can always gun to win your age division, though that’s satisfying only in larger races with real competition.

For me, there’s no substitute for regular clashes with my longtime rival. I’ll pulverize him one weekend; he’ll humble me the next.

I’ll end this with a final confession: I take perverse pleasure in picking off as many significantly younger competitors as possible, “Hunger Games” style. If I’ve left a goodly number of high schoolers and collegians stumbling and gasping in my middle-aged wake, it’s been a good race.

May the odds be ever in my favor. And yours, too

NIKE+FUELBAND: A PRODUCT REVIEWBy Victoria BarnabyIt seems these days all that Nike touches is gold.  Last month I slapped on their latest fit tech innovation, the Nike+Fuelband and gave the gadget a try. 

Initial set up of is device was straightforward- a series of automatic prompts guide you through customization of the product and dashboard.

As for the device itself, aesthetically, it’s an attractive enough design- a black bracelet with a small rubber

button at the top and a silver connection point. A size small for ladies will fit most wrists and there is an adjustment piece that adds on 8 or 16mm. Small LED lights illuminate the band when you press the button to read your achieved Fuel.  As you approach your Fuel goal, a personal setting that you configure upon initial installation, the LED lights light up from red (far from goal) to orange to green (close to goal). 

Fuel, Nike’s branded energy metric, is what the device tracks to indicate your achieved level of activity.  The Fuel unit is based on their accelerometer technology. Each 24-hour cycle is captured by the band and served up in line graphs accessible by computer or mobile devices. I found the bands ability to track activity over time impressive; I was able to see down to the half hour when I was active, and it was accurate (i.e. Tuesday night track practice at 7pm= big spike up). I enjoyed being able to flip through my archived days to see what days or times I was most active. I also appreciated the ability to customize the information displayed on my band such as Time, Steps and Calories. 

One thing is for sure, its’ addictive.  I found myself checking my Fuel status numerous times. I wanted to see how much Fuel I could achieve by; standing at the bar, dancing, doing a spin class, walking to work, sitting at my desk, etc. 

At the end of the day the Nike+Fuelband is an effective tool that subtly reminds and motivates you to be more active. 

However I do have two recommendations for the tool, if:1.You are serious about losing weight I would not recommend relying on the accuracy of the bands estimation for calories burned.  This calculation relies on a number of factors and while the FuelBand does account for height and weight, I’d still recommend calorie counting and exercise tracking.  The standard equation remains the same: energy expenditure > energy consumption.  I’m not convinced that the Fuelband is an accurate tool to use when measuring output in calories.2.You have a tendency towards an addictive personality I would not recommend this tool out of concern that it might acerbate unhealthy tendencies.

The Fuelband is a solid product and could be for you if:1.You respond to using a tangible tool as motivation22..You enjoy reviewing your activity in digital format3.You enjoy being a part of a fitness community. You can easily share your accomplishments tracked by the FuelBand via your preferred social media and can tap into the Nike network to utilize the support of a group for inspiration and motivation.

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PLANNING RECOVERY AND REST INTO YOUR TRAININGby John RaquinLike many distance runners in the club, I have been running for many years…too many to count at this point. For many of those years, I didn’t really think or plan around recovery or rest. Basically, I ran faster when I felt good and slower when I felt tired. I would often only have a rest day because life interruptions such as travel or family events that made it hard to get out on certain days. Those rest days were haphazard based on when those interruptions happened.

Now maybe that strategy works for people who aren’t trying to optimize performance and are just running to stay fit /maintain their weight. I have learned that in order to perform your best, you need to carefully plan recovery & rest into your schedule. That is what this article will talk about. I won’t prescribe each since different bodies recover differently. I will however give some examples of what I do or some other athletes do. I am mainly advocating that each of you should have a plan of how to approach recovery and rest during the year.

There are at least five categories of recovery/rest you need to plan. I will classify them as:

• Mileage accumulation recovery

• Post-workout recovery• Pre-race rest

• Post-race recovery• Post-season rest

Mileage accumulation recovery

I start with this category because I believe it is ignored by most running coaches. I stole this category from

endurance cycling and have found it very effective. Many cycling experts, including Joe Friel (who is the equivalent of Daniels but for cycling), advocate that your time on a bike should drop by ½ every 4th week in order to let your body recovery from accumulated stress of training. Friel even advocates that for masters cyclists, that rest week should be every 3rd week. During those rest weeks, your intensity remains about the same, but the duration of training drops.

From a running perspective, during your base phase on 60-70 miles a week training, you should drop your mileage to 35 miles for a week every 4th week. You would still do your workouts that week, but you might focus on stretching/yoga or something else instead of a run on a couple of the days. In addition, your long run would likely not exist or be half the distance that you normally run.

Post-workout recovery

This recovery category ensures that your muscles recover appropriately from a workout. This is especially important since some of us alter our schedules to run the team workout in the evening, when we typically run in the morning. An example of this is running the morning after running the GBTC team track workout at 7 PM the night before. My tendency is to pace too hard the morning after when it really should be an easy pace. Experts like Weldon Johnson (of Letsrun.com fame) who ran 28 min for 10K (4:30 min/mi pace!) would often run 7:00 min/mi on his average run days, and “much slower” on recovery days. In order to force myself to run slower on these day-after-workout days, I started using a heart rate monitor to ensure that I am running easy on that day (for me, I try to keep my average HR around 135 and forcefully keep HR <145 bpm even on hills).

Pre-race rest

I call this category “rest” because you may not be recovering from anything in particular. The “marathon taper” is what most people talk about when they think of rest. Most experts would not advocate this for a 5K race, and most races you do won’t have any taper. This is just a small rest in the final couple of days before a race. In college, we always ran the day before and bragged about how slowly we would be going. I have found that for my body, I personally like to take a day off two days before the race or do a very short easy run. Then the day before, I run a shorter distance than my typical weekly run and do some pick-ups & strides to keep my legs feeling fresh and fast.

Post-race recovery

The “recovery” moniker really fits this category. The significance of this category depends on the length of the race, the surface the race is on, your age, and what happened in the race. The length of the race obviously matters greatly as we all know that a marathon requires very different recovery than a 5K. I would argue the surface varies greatly. For example, some cross-country races you will not be as sore because of the softness of the terrain, while a road race with steep ups and downs you may be very sore because of the pounding. As you age, this recovery is even more important. I know of at least one masters runner in the club that feels he can no longer run well in road races on consecutive weekends. So he plans this into his season to ensure that when he runs, he is getting the most out of his performance. Finally on how the race was executed, if you sprinted the last 400m neck-and-neck with someone in a 5K, you may need more recovery than if you ran it more evenly.

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CROSS COUNTRY AND ROAD RACE SCHEDULE 2012

PRESEASONAug 22 Wednesday 6pmLynn Woods relayLynn, MA http://www.lwrun.org/Aug 25th Saturday 9amThomas Chamberas 6km XCCarlisle, MAhttp://www.thomasxc.org/ **

REGULAR SEASONSept 23 Sunday, GBTC XC meettime/location TBDSept 30 Sunday Jack Kerouac 5K Lowell MAhttp://www.jackkerouac5k.com ** Oct 7 Sunday, 11amWayland XC challenge 5kmWayland, MA http://www.waylandxc.com/ **Oct 8 Monday, noonTufts 10km (women only)Boston, MA,http://www.tuftshealthplan.com/tufts10k/index.phpOct 20 SaturdayWestern Mass Distance Project XC Invitational 8km/5kmStanley Park, Westfield MA ** Oct 28 Sunday,  11:30 amMayor's Cup XC 5km/8kmBoston, MAhttp://www.baa.org/Races/Mayors-Cup.aspxNov 18 Sunday 11amUSATF-NE XC Championship, Stanley Park, Westfield MA **Dec 8 SaturdayUSATF Club XC Nationals 10km/6km/6kmLexington, KY, http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/USATFClubXCChampionships/

Post-season rest

This is an important category that many books and coaches advocate but few people seem to do in practice. I remember reading that Bernard Lagat takes 2 weeks off a year where he doesn’t run a step. I don’t know many people that do that, and we probably should! It is hard in New England, because it seems that the indoor season overlaps with the road race/outdoor season which overlaps with cross-country. Jack Ransone prescribes that between cross-country and track there be a “the transition period… which should last at least three weeks. The first week involves no running with the incorporation of cross training to maintain cardiovascular endurance. The second week involves a progression of the normal training volume and the third week continues the progression to full training volume with the introduction of speedwork.”

Summary

Five different kinds of recovery/rest are listed above. I am sure that many people in the club could identify more, and some would advocate combining some of the above. My point is that planning recovery/rest activities ahead of time will improve your performance. I sometimes personally struggle with good planning for my seasons, but it is something I endeavor to do in this coming season because as I get older, planned recovery and rest is even more important.

BLOGS AND TWEETS

We have a number of talented writers, bloggers and tweeters on our team. Keep in touch with them digitally by visiting their blogs for new material and following them on twitter.

Bruce Daviehttp://cantabloggia.blogspot.com/

Emily Raymondhttp://www.bostonraymondfamily.blogspot.com

Jenny Gardynski@JennyGardynskihttp://dustingoffmymedals.blogspot.com/ 

Jennifer Dagan

http://trainingdagan.blogspot.com/ 

Gary Cattarin

http://thesecondlap.blogspot.com

Medena Knepsl@SBRNewEnglandhttp://www.swimbikerunnewengland.com/

Victoria Barnaby@victoriabarnabyhttp://www.victoriabarnaby.com