Coffee talk 3/9/09

Pour your coffee and settle in, coffee talk is about to begin...

Okay so this is my 3rd attempt today at getting the coffee talk up and running. I will dispense with the formality and get right to it.

For those of who were able to enjoy the weather this weekend I say "Congratulations." It was fab from Friday to Sunday. I would like to thank Courtnee Munson, Laurel McLaughlin and Cheryl Medeiros (newcomer to the group and a great running buddy)for talking me into leaving my jacket. Just me and the fuel belt and of course, the company of some terrific ladies. Always makes the 12 mile run go by that much quicker. Alright, it was 11.7 but close enough.

The New Bedford 1/2 is this week and a taper schedule is in place due to the race. We will be starting with a new training schedule for the Providence/Cox race (to be held May 3) next week. Although this coincides with our March 21 race, we will be fine to race on Saturday.

Speaking of which, if you have not registered for the St. Pats, March 21 race you can still do so, online, by March 13. Use the link along the side of the blog. Register as a team. Team name is Team Newman and the passcode is 111500. If you have any problems, please let me know.

The Providence/Cox race will be held May 3. In order for us to be a team, we need at least 3 people in each category to qualify. This race was very special to a lot of us last year and I would really like to see a good turnout. It was a struggle to find someone to run a marathon in my place and Dennis was such a good sport and stepped in to do it after having run the Boston marathon two weeks prior. Cherylynn Brownback is registered to run the marathon so we need at least 2 more people, if not more. The more people we have the stronger our team. It looks like we will have a good turnout for the 1/2 marathon. We still need 5k runners so if you know of someone who is looking to become a newbie, now is the time to join in. They will be race ready for May 3. In order to sign up, click on the link to the side of the blog. Click "Register." Team name is "sole sisters -" (don't forget the dash) password is 111500. Let me know if you have any problems with signing up.

I spoke to Luca this evening about the swimming program for triathlons. He is going to give Sole Sisters a special rate of $10 as opposed to $20. This program will be held on Thursday nights from 6:30 to 7:30. This is a great opportunity to get in the water and learn the technique you need to swim in open water. I also have a dvd that is a great introduction to swimming that I can loan out if someone is looking for tips. Just so you know, I was pushing for Sole Sisters to not pay anything at all. However, if someone found out that we weren't paying anything, it could cause a problem, so we agreed to this. I hope some of you can take advantage of the program. Its a great chance to get in the pool and add a different workout to your routine.

Speaking of triathlons, we are looking to do some local races. Bayside YMCA and Wild Dog triathlon are two tri's that are held back to back in August. I would say that Wild Dog is the easiest of the two because the swim is a little shorter. I picked these two because they are easy to get to and they are small in terms of number of participants. However, we are not limited to them and can certainly look at competing in others. For the newer participants, though, they are great races for distance and transition areas. Please let me know if you are interested in competing. Remember to just look at a triathlon as a workout. You'll be done in 2 hours and then you can eat anything you want.

I'm looking forward to getting back out there with everyone. There isn't much in the way of coffee talk because we are all running (literally and figuratively) in different directions. Once New Bedford is over, though, I anticipate that we will be able to run together again and make our time out of the road fun and full of laughs.

Destination marathon and 1/2 marathon will be: Philadelphia, PA. Its flat, its easy to get to, and its November 22, 2009. Please let me know if you are interested so I can work on rooms. I want to reserve them now and I need a rough estimate. Yes, you can change your mind if you decide not to go.

That's all for now.

Keep on keepin' on...

Joyce