THE TURKEY TROT 2009 IS COMING!
Just to be part of a 1500+ runner event is always an amazing experience.
To be on the other side of the event, serving as a volunteer, .is even more amazing!
This is our biggest Club fund raising event of the year. It’s what helps us do all the quality things that help make it worthwhile to be a PPTC member: discount at the Annual Awards dinner, subsidizing race training, the picnic, refreshments at our general memberships meetings, etc.
You can volunteer at pre or post registration and still RUN the race! Or you can be a course marshal, be a greeter, help direct traffic, give out water, hot chocolate, bagels, medals, etc.
Registration starts at 7:30, the race starts at 9, and we have cleaned up everything and gotten out of the park by 11! I am early in meeting with my family in Dutchess County 80 miles away with little or no traffic!
It’s a great way to start Thanksgiving Day no matter what; you start the day off feeling great for either having worked the race and giving back to the sport that has given you so much or having run the race!
We all look forward to being with each other out there.
BE PART OF THE HOOT!
Tom Meany
Thursday, October 8, 2009
THE TURKEY TROT 2009 IS COMING!
On Saturday, September 12th, I joined up with the Prospect Park Track Club / Slope Sports people for a group run. When we met, there was the usual chatter. A big chunk of us are running the Reach the Beach Relay in New Hampshire next week. Most of the rest of us are running the Queens Half Marathon. Someone commented that the logistics for a 12 person, point-to=point, 200-mile relay are only slightly more complicated than getting to College Point, Queens, at 7 a.m. on a Sunday by mass transit.
Anyway, it took a moment to come up with a consensus as to where to run. Only a moment until someone said "Let's do the usual thing, ya know - the regular run." Every one knew what that meant.
Let me describe it. Simple. We are starting at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, run down Union Street to Court St. Make a right and head towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Over the Bridge and across Chambers St to the Hudson and around the Battery and back to the Bridge and back the same way. It is about an 11 mile round trip.
Simple, yea. But let me describe my run on Sept 12. Nothing "regular" about it. First, I did a loop of Prospect Park before I met the group. Along the way, I saw that there was gonna be an event later in the Park to raise money (and awareness) to fight cancer. I hoped it would not rain on them. I remember not caring if it would rain on me. Then I ran into some of my team mates running with some of my daughter’s friend’s parents. I ran a mile with them. I remember thinking that if I lived near Central Park, I would never have seen them; they would have been lost in the crowd.
Then I met the regular group. Not so regular. Many of the regular people were there. Some people who show up irregularly were there and, as usual, there were some new people there. That is what it is regularly like. I was able to keep up with most of the group till 4th Avenue and lost everyone when we got to Atlantic Avenue. That's OK.
When I went past Cadman Plaza, I noticed that there was preparation for some sort of giant event. I figured I would see it on the way back. I did.
When, I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, I had to maneuver my way past about 20 guys pushing and pulling some sort of contraption. They gave me some literature. It turned out it was parts of a rowboat that will attempt to cross the Atlantic. They were actually attempting to break the record for the most names written on a rowboat. Really.
Also on the Brooklyn Bridge I notice a huge amount of police boats in the East River. I sadly assumed that they were there because it was "Sept 11th weekend." I was wrong. Get to that later.
When I got to Manhattan I heard my name being called. I saw one of my team mates in a MTA vest coming out of the subway. He is repairing the trench under Broadway from Chambers Street to Canal Street. That is why the R train takes the Bridge on weekends.
The Hudson River was very busy. There was a giant modern war ship with a Dutch flag on it as well as lots of old sail boats. This weekend we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam. Would made a nice photo
Then, as I turned the corner at the southern end of Manhattan, I saw the stacks of the cruise ship Caribbean Princess over the trees on Governors Island. I was really missing my camera there.
Then in Battery Park I watched them set up for another event. The Diamond Dash.
On my return to the Brooklyn Bridge I found out why there were so many police in the water. There were also many kayaks. People were swimming in it. They were swimming from the little patch of sand under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side to the little beach on the Brooklyn side that my kids played in just a few weeks ago. I asked a women who was queued up to jump into the East River how far it is to the other side. She said it was a kilometer. I told her "That's beautiful," and went on with my run.
But then my run had to take a detour. I saw that the pedestrian path on the Brooklyn Bridge was packed - packed with people marching to the event I had seen being set up in Cadman Plaza. I decided to add some miles and cut through Chinatown and take the Manhattan Bridge. (The pedestrian path on the Manhattan Bridge makes for much better running than the one on the Brooklyn Bridge. It is separated from bicycles and only the hearty tourists are up there. But, alas, it is not the Brooklyn Bridge.) From the Manhattan Bridge I got a great view of the swimmers. They looked so tiny. Again, I missed my camera. Sadly, one of the swimmers did not make it to Brooklyn.
As a train was roaring past me on the Manhattan Bridge one of my teammates said “Hi” to me. I had no idea she was running along side of me and she startled me. I told her she scarred the poop out of me. That is kinda funny. She is one of the smallest adults I know and probably does not frighten many people.
Then I got back to Cadman Plaza and saw what was going on. It was the A&E Recover Project. I was not sure if "recover" referred to the economy, the fact that it was September 12 or something else. It turns out it was something else. It was about National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Smoky Robinson was there. If you click on the link you will see how crowded the Brooklyn Bridge was. Good thing I took the Manhattan Bridge.
I did not go back the same way. I went over to The Promenade so I could check out the progress on the Brooklyn Bridge Park. It is coming along nicely.
Then I ran back via Carroll Street and the Carroll St Bridge.
So, the regular run is not so plain or so simple.
You might also like:
Post Industrial Brooklyn, The Future is lookin good
I ran to The Bronx
Anyway, it took a moment to come up with a consensus as to where to run. Only a moment until someone said "Let's do the usual thing, ya know - the regular run." Every one knew what that meant.
Let me describe it. Simple. We are starting at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, run down Union Street to Court St. Make a right and head towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Over the Bridge and across Chambers St to the Hudson and around the Battery and back to the Bridge and back the same way. It is about an 11 mile round trip.
Simple, yea. But let me describe my run on Sept 12. Nothing "regular" about it. First, I did a loop of Prospect Park before I met the group. Along the way, I saw that there was gonna be an event later in the Park to raise money (and awareness) to fight cancer. I hoped it would not rain on them. I remember not caring if it would rain on me. Then I ran into some of my team mates running with some of my daughter’s friend’s parents. I ran a mile with them. I remember thinking that if I lived near Central Park, I would never have seen them; they would have been lost in the crowd.
Then I met the regular group. Not so regular. Many of the regular people were there. Some people who show up irregularly were there and, as usual, there were some new people there. That is what it is regularly like. I was able to keep up with most of the group till 4th Avenue and lost everyone when we got to Atlantic Avenue. That's OK.
When I went past Cadman Plaza, I noticed that there was preparation for some sort of giant event. I figured I would see it on the way back. I did.
When, I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, I had to maneuver my way past about 20 guys pushing and pulling some sort of contraption. They gave me some literature. It turned out it was parts of a rowboat that will attempt to cross the Atlantic. They were actually attempting to break the record for the most names written on a rowboat. Really.
Also on the Brooklyn Bridge I notice a huge amount of police boats in the East River. I sadly assumed that they were there because it was "Sept 11th weekend." I was wrong. Get to that later.
When I got to Manhattan I heard my name being called. I saw one of my team mates in a MTA vest coming out of the subway. He is repairing the trench under Broadway from Chambers Street to Canal Street. That is why the R train takes the Bridge on weekends.
The Hudson River was very busy. There was a giant modern war ship with a Dutch flag on it as well as lots of old sail boats. This weekend we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam. Would made a nice photo
Then, as I turned the corner at the southern end of Manhattan, I saw the stacks of the cruise ship Caribbean Princess over the trees on Governors Island. I was really missing my camera there.
Then in Battery Park I watched them set up for another event. The Diamond Dash.
On my return to the Brooklyn Bridge I found out why there were so many police in the water. There were also many kayaks. People were swimming in it. They were swimming from the little patch of sand under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side to the little beach on the Brooklyn side that my kids played in just a few weeks ago. I asked a women who was queued up to jump into the East River how far it is to the other side. She said it was a kilometer. I told her "That's beautiful," and went on with my run.
But then my run had to take a detour. I saw that the pedestrian path on the Brooklyn Bridge was packed - packed with people marching to the event I had seen being set up in Cadman Plaza. I decided to add some miles and cut through Chinatown and take the Manhattan Bridge. (The pedestrian path on the Manhattan Bridge makes for much better running than the one on the Brooklyn Bridge. It is separated from bicycles and only the hearty tourists are up there. But, alas, it is not the Brooklyn Bridge.) From the Manhattan Bridge I got a great view of the swimmers. They looked so tiny. Again, I missed my camera. Sadly, one of the swimmers did not make it to Brooklyn.
As a train was roaring past me on the Manhattan Bridge one of my teammates said “Hi” to me. I had no idea she was running along side of me and she startled me. I told her she scarred the poop out of me. That is kinda funny. She is one of the smallest adults I know and probably does not frighten many people.
Then I got back to Cadman Plaza and saw what was going on. It was the A&E Recover Project. I was not sure if "recover" referred to the economy, the fact that it was September 12 or something else. It turns out it was something else. It was about National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Smoky Robinson was there. If you click on the link you will see how crowded the Brooklyn Bridge was. Good thing I took the Manhattan Bridge.
I did not go back the same way. I went over to The Promenade so I could check out the progress on the Brooklyn Bridge Park. It is coming along nicely.
Then I ran back via Carroll Street and the Carroll St Bridge.
So, the regular run is not so plain or so simple.
You might also like:
Post Industrial Brooklyn, The Future is lookin good
I ran to The Bronx
New Beginners Workshop!
This Fall, our Beginners Workshop will be extended to 6 weeks, starting on Saturday October 24th thru December 5th. (No session on 11/28) The group will meet at 8 AM, on the sidewalk at Grand Army Plaza. It will again be conducted by Gil Torres in collaboration with Slope Sports, and we’ll be featuring guest coaching from some of our top runners. Content will focus on gradual development, stressing good form, planning, adapting effort to terrain, and giving you the tools to start a good running program. The sessions are free and open to adult PPTC members and non-members. No reply necessary.
THE INSIDE LOOP TOM BYRNES and FRIENDS
THE INSIDE LOOP
TOM BYRNES and FRIENDS
PPTC extends our deepest sympathies to Al Goldstein and family on the death of Norma Rodriguez. Please keep Norma and her children and family in your thoughts and prayers.
At September’s general meeting there were questions from members about hooking up for rides to races, finding out about local races, and even the ‘’last ten miles of the marathon’‘ PPTC run the week before. Seems to many of us that if we use the PPTC open forum group and post what we want more info about, there’s someone sitting at their desk (who probably should be working instead) who will make the sacrifice and respond. Although not originally part of Obama’s economic recovery plan, the PPTC Open Forum Group site does provide PPTCers with the inspiration and motivation to make it through the rest of the work day and abandon plans to take this job and shove it . This is as interactive as PPTC gets these days, so hey, "" read ‘em and weep !" ( if you missed out because you don’t use PPTC Open Forum )
Tom Byrnes, Bobby Fisher, and Joanne and Mark Guralnick were off and biking at September’s NYC Century on Sunday September 13th. with Bobby completing the full century and Tom, Joanne, and Mark logging less. Joann and Mark actually volunteered and stayed at the Triborough Bridge area . Some PPTCers who regularly bike as part of their cross-training passed claiming that the ride was too close to Thanksgiving and would affect their energy levels for preparing the Thanksgiving dinner or doing some early Christmas shopping or some other invalid excuse.......
The PPTC betting pool for when the YMCA’s facilities at 15th street Armory will actually see the light of day continues to fill up as friends and members alike continue to wonder, hope, and pray that someday, somehow, this indoor track in our own hood will open ! Next up, after wondering just when it will open, is just how much the Y will charge members alike to use the place. Down the road will be another wagering opportunity for the completion date of the new pool facility behind the YMCA building on the 8th street side. The construction start date for that project was supposed to be this past September 1st but so far, as of mid-September, not a shovel of sand has been moved.
Congrats to ‘’No Sleep Till Brooklyn’‘, one of the PPTC-sponsored teams at the Reach the Beach 207 mile team relay race the third weekend in September .- they won the women's open division, averaging 8 minutes a mile for the 207-mile relay race!! The other PPTC-sponsored team, Better on the Way Down, broke 30 hours and had a blast. Conditions were great for the race - little bit of rain in the early going , but clear skies at night and not too cold.
The race started on Friday, September 18th at Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and finished on Saturday, September 19th at Hampton Beach on the Atlantic Ocean.Along the way our runners passed by NH's tallest mountain and largest lake and encountered many, many miles of scenic, rolling hills! Krishna even got to get some NH rain on his head!Look for Amy D's full article, complete with pics, about this adventure in the centerfold !
Thanks to PPTC’s Natacha Ferrari and twin sister Sandy volunteered with USADA for drug testing athletes at the Fifth Avenue Mile races Saturday September 26th. Check the race results section of this newsletter to see how PPTC runners performed on the Fifth Avenue strip , PPTC makes it happen!
Sorry to learn of Jessica Kavoulakis’ achilles injury putting her out of this year’s NYC. Jessica did the great job of co-directing Turkey Trot ‘08. Evelyn Deliz's knee problems have been keeping her walking instead of running but she still loves getting out on the roads.
Bobby Fisher completed the 75 mile Twin Lights ride in Monmouth New Jersey on Saturday the 26th of September. Not a ride for those who get seasick since believe it or not since getting to the start involved a ferry ride from the South Street Seaport to Monmouth New Jersey which could’ve made the weak of stomach inclined to recycle whatever hadn’t been digested from the night before’s dinner.
The weekend of September 26th found PPTCers all over, the Fifth Ave Mile, Music That Heals, The Tunnel to Tower 5k, The Twin Lights Bike Tour ! PPTC race results has ‘em!
PPTC’s NYC marathon venue is up and running! Check the emails for all the details about who’s running and who’s not, the ‘Last Ten’ run the week before, the pasta party at Buckley’s midweek, the PPTC busses to the start, the post race get together at ‘’the school’, and the moaning and groaning session at PPTC’s monthly general meeting the next day .
And speaking of what’s coming up soon, the TT 09 , ( Turkey Trot) , is almost here . Pay attention to the PPTC News so as not to miss a gobble gobble about it!
See you on the roads!
PPTC Marathon Activities
On Sunday, October 25, PPTC is sponsoring a group run of the last 10 miles of the NYC Marathon course. We will meet under the
The importance of this run cannot be stressed enough. Seven days later you will be running this same route after covering 16 miles. You will have the memory of how easy and fun it was with fresh feet and how close the finish line is. This is also a great run for someone who is not running the NYC Marathon: It is a way to “have a taste” of the
On Marathon Sunday, we are also renting our own buses to transport
After the race, we have our own
Go to www.pptc.org for more information regarding our NYC Marathon activities. You can also pay for your reserved seat on the marathon bus at www.pptc.org. To RSVP for the Last 10 Miles group run or the post-race
PPTC CLUB NIGHT A JACKRABBIT BROOKLYN!
PPTC CLUB NIGHT A JACKRABBIT BROOKLYN!
On October 22end from 7-8, any PPTC member can come to JackRabbit Brooklyn and get 15% off their purchases. This includes anything and everything in the store. This includes shoes, apparel and accessories.
JackRabbit it located at 151 7th Ave, in Park Slope, between Garfield and Carroll. The store is equidistant from the 7th Ave B/Q train and the 7th Ave F/G Train. Come early if you have never bought shoes with us before, so you have time for our video-analysis shoe fit process.
If you have any questions, please contact Ben at ben@jackrabbitsports.com Thank you!
Running Through New Hampshire By: Amy Duquette
Running Through New Hampshire By: Amy Duquette
The little state of New Hampshire is filled with rolling green hills and miles of beautiful countryside. General Stores still sell penny candy, ski resorts are plentiful, and the natives are welcoming. On Friday, September 18th, this picturesque New England state was invaded by hundreds of cargo vans filled with over four hundred teams of runners all set on completing the longest distance running relay race in the US: The 200 Mile Reach The Beach adventure relay.
Our team, No Sleep ‘til Brooklyn, packed up our vans with headlamps, reflective vests, homemade goodies, water, goo, ibuprofen, massage sticks, several changes of running clothes, sleeping bags and pillows along with plenty of adrenaline and headed into the fray. We left Brooklyn on Thursday evening as prepared as humanly possible. Corre Kombol organized our all-women team, which included seven PPTC’ers- Rebecca Rosenberg-Beran, Katie Muladore, Ami Hassler, Sarah Scott, Marianne Herbst, myself and four special non-PPTC’ers, Jesi Crosier from Seattle, Chris Varley from Albany and Katy May and Alex Laurits from New York. Our 12th runner, Megan Kinninger was unfortunately derailed with a softball injury the week prior. The rules stated we could not change our established line-up, leaving the first three runners covering four legs each instead of the originally planned three. The other eight runners would each have three legs to run. After all was said and done though, this last minute change in mileage did not appear to affect Ami, Chris or Rebecca in the slightest. Actually, they looked as strong on their last leg as they did on the first. The legs varied in distance from 1.9 to 9.3 miles. Some were flat and some with steep inclines. Some were run in pitch-black cold night and some in the hot sun. There were plenty of empty backcountry road and highways to be conquered. On the (very long) van ride up we looked over the binder that Corre put together. It included everything we needed to know about the adventure before us, including the staggered start times for all four hundred teams. The first team would head out at 7:30 am and the final team would not be sent out until around 4 pm. The times were based on each team’s overall projected pace per mile. We were the last all-female team to start, which meant we were seeded as the fastest team in that category. It added pressure, but also excitement and, honestly, it felt a bit unreal to me that we could actually ‘win’ this.
Ami, first in our line-up, crossed the start line at 1:40 pm on Friday into a chilly downpour of rain. Thirty five hand-offs later, after passing over two hundred miles of trees, lakes, homes, highway, and woods, we reached the beach in a time of 26:38:57. We were the first all-women’s team to finish! The ladies from one of our vans escorted Chris, our last runner, triumphantly to the finish line while Van Two was still looking for parking and missed the big finish. Each of us was awarded a coupon to pick out our choice of New Balance sneakers. Our pace per mile was 7:42 for all 207 miles. Each runner gave her full effort throughout the race, no matter how little sleep she had gotten. Most of us felt as if we had one awesome leg and one less-than awesome leg. But, considering the running talent that surrounded me on this team “less-than” is a relative term. Some of our runners had impressive negative splits, running their second and third faster than their first. All of our transitions were smooth and well planned out, which was crucial. Lots of time went into planning the logistics of handing-off between eleven runners in two separate vans over this great distance. There were many runners from other teams waiting to hand-off to a teammate who had not yet made it to that point. It turned out that I did not need to worry about the pressure of our seeding at all. The excitement itself provided enough intensity to fuel the running. It was an incredible experience and personally, the best run in my entire running career was the one I did for my first leg of this relay. Those 7.5 miles started for me after 9 pm and I felt like I was flying through the night for the hour; it almost seemed effortless. Yes, there was risk of taking a wrong turn at night and getting lost, even though the whole course was very well marked. Running in the pitch-black night with only a headlamp leading your way could lead to confusion, but it also added to the exhilaration.
Throughout the race there was a lot of running and a lot of waiting. In the twenty six and a half hours the team members not running tried to eat, nap, and freshen up, sans running water, all in the vans. It felt a bit like summer camp and bit like the twilight zone. At one point, our team was in a middle school at midnight somewhere in the middle of New Hampshire. The kids and parents stayed up through the night to give us pasta. At another point it was 3 am and we were in a college that left its doors (but not bathrooms) open. The dark halls were filled with hundreds and hundreds of runners lined up next to each other on the floor in sleeping bags. I think it was in North Conway, NH when Marianne bought a sandwich at a deli and the lady wrote “thank you!” on the bag and closed it with a sticker when I thought, “I should move here.”
After celebrating with the other teams, we all piled in the vans and made our way back to the Best Western in Seabrook, NH where we all crashed pretty hard. We all think it was a blast, a truly memorable experience, made all the more special by all of the physical work and preparation that all went to the good of the team. And there is already talk of returning next year to defend our title.
WHAT'S FOR LUNCH? Christine Boutross
WHAT'S FOR LUNCH?
Christine Boutross
The question pops up every day! Whether it's for you or your loved ones, we just have to figure this one out, don't we? Those mornings when we are trying to get out the door on time and finding our papers and books and planners and matching shoes and socks, food sometimes gets left to the last minute! A key to creating new habits is to set yourself up for success. Here are some tips to help you on your way.
Plan. . .Plan. . . Plan
Your food and nutrition are too important to let them be an afterthought. Take some time on a day off and think about all of your meals for the week and make yourself a menu.
Then, do your grocery shopping so you know you have everything you need for the week. Every evening, prepare as much of tomorrow’s lunch as you can in advance, so that in the morning you have as little work as possible.
Invest in a thermos. A thermos is the right hand to a good lunch packer. Boil some water in the morning and pour it into the thermos to pre-heat it for around 10 minutes. While that is warming up, pick out some leftovers from dinner earlier in the week that will fit in your thermos, and warm them up. Then dump out the water out of your thermos and put in last night’s soup or stew, and ta-dah! - hot lunch!
On a hot day, pack your thermos with ice for 10 minutes and then fill it with yogurt and fresh fruit, and there you have it, summer paradise!
Make things like big salads in advance, and keep them fresh in a salad spinner in your fridge. You’re going to be much more likely to eat salad with lunch if it’s already made and sitting there smiling and waving at you in the morning while you figure out your lunch!
Keeping a supply of cooked whole grains, beans, and greens can make for quick and easy assembly of a lunch. Splash on a little olive oil and vinegar, or liquid amino acids such as Bragg's and you have a simple, fast, protein packed lunch. You can get a stackable bento box and make a pretty assembly of food that will have everyone at the office wishing you would pack their lunch for them in the morning, too.
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