*Hello Gators,* Between last weekend’s Love Run and this weekend’s events, including our first triathlon of the season, we truly do have liftoff on the 2016 year! >From this point forward, it just keeps building. Have you decided where you will be going? If not, there are many, many events in which Gators are participating… running events, duathlons, cycling events, Spartan races, and, of course, a huge number of triathlon of all sorts of distances. If you have not yet mapped out your season, take a look at our “Who’s Next?” event calendar to see what’s in store. Each event has a link to the event website so you can easily learn more about it (and perhaps register). And if you cannot make up your mind, we encourage you to contact a member of our coaching staff as they’d love to offer you some input that might help you to map out your year. So be sure to join in on the fun… It’s going to be a blast! This week's news topics include... - *Accomplishments… *GLove Run and LancastBRRR!!! - *Who’s Next?... *We’re going BIG in the Big Easy, the Big Apple, and Bean town!!! - *About A Gator… *Marathon Michelle goes for 50!!! - *Recommended… *Itchy?? Then Skratch!!! - *Workouts Update… *Let me out!!! - *Mark Your Calendars… *Wanna’ improve your running (and perhaps win a free pair of Adidas shoes)??? Then don’t miss next week’s “All About Running” seminar with club sponsor Chester County Running Store’s Don Morrison!!! Also, a mighty thanks for an outstanding “Nutrition for Triathletes” seminar conducted by our club sponsor, BodyMetrix this past Tuesday! *Happy Birthday**! *Best wishes to the following Gators who are celebrating birthdays this week! - *Monday, April 11: Kristin Kozera* - *Thursday, April 14: Erin Gallagher* - *Saturday, April 16: Maureen Pinkerton* *Accomplishments**: *Outstanding performances by all of the Gators who took on the frigid temperatures (and, in one case, snowy/icy conditions) to successfully complete their events last weekend!! - *Saturday, April 9:* - *Garden Spot Village Half Marathon (Lancaster, PA): Ellen Friend* battled ice, sleet, wind, and snow to successfully complete this event… Awesome performance, Ellen! - *Sunday, April 10:* - *Love Run Half Marathon (Philadelphia, PA):* - *Individual: Steph Babiec, Tina Belles, Mike Connelly, Sonny Dayrit, Susan Flavin, Gregg Heimer, Michelle Leonard, Diane Lynch, Susan Ryan, and Logan Washburn… *Special congrats to Tina, Sonny, Susan F, Susan R, and Logan for competing in their first Gator club event! - *Relay: Kristin Kozera/Allison Wesler… *Following is a note I received from Allison following an especially amazing performance by Kristin… “Wanted to give you an update on our relay from yesterday's love run. Suzanne was unable to run but boy did Kristin pick up the slack! Kristin started off the run (3.9 m) and picked me up at T1. We decided she was going to run the 2nd leg (5.6m) with me because she needed to get in her long run for the week and I would run the last leg (3.6m) solo. As it turned out the walk back to the bus was a long and cold walk so she decided "why not do the last 3.6miles!! She would get back to the finish faster if she just kept going and that's what she did....just kept running! She signed up for a relay leg of about 4 miles, then was going to do 9m and ended up with another 13.1 under her belt!! Way to go Kristin! Plus, it was the eve of her birthday! Happy Birthday Kristin and way to kick it up a notch!!”… Way to go, Allison and Kristin!! *Who’s Next**?: *Best wishes for safe and successful results to the following Gators who will all be racing this weekend! - *Saturday, April 16:* - *Spartan Citi Field Sprint (New York, NY): Jay Sherman* - *Sunday, April 17:* - *Ironman New Orleans 70.3 (New Orleans, LA): Suzanne Angelaccio, Brian Kozera, Allison Wesler, and Jon Wesle* - *MORE Half Marathon (Central Park, New York, NY): Michelle Sipe* - *Monday, April 18:* - *Boston Marathon (Boston, MA): Don Mack, Tiff Pfluger, Tim Pfluger* *About A Gator**: *This weeks’ profile follows one of our most prolific runners… Not only has she run marathons in 31 states, but some of them have been 50K, 50 miles, and even one at 100 miles! Mighty impressive for a grand mom (or for anyone for that matter)! Learn all about *Michelle Sipe* in this edition of “About A Gator”. *Recommended**: *This week’s recommendations is an interview with Skratch Labs founder, Allen Lim, who discusses lots of nutritional aspects of our sports. Warning that there are lots of four letter words used during the interview (but knowing you guys, that statement will likely only get more of you to listen… http://www.endurancehour.com/2016/04/endurance-hour-159-allen-lim-from-skratch-labs/ *Workouts Update**: *Yahoo!! It’s finally getting nice enough to get outside! We will be hosting some official club workouts outside for our Tuesday evening and Saturday morning rides/runs. Following are a couple of reminders relative to outdoor workouts… - *Emergency Contact Info:* Please send yours to gatorstri@gmail.com if you have not already done so. The start of our workouts will be delayed to collect this info from anyone that has not already provided it, so please be proactive and provide it in advance. - *Bike Lights:* It is mandatory for you to have a front and/or rear light on your bike for all club rides regardless of time of day of the ride. Most of our rides take place during bright daylight hours, but the light still helps to make us more visible and increase the overall safety. *Mark Your Calendars**: *Upcoming events include… - *April Seminar:* - *Wednesday, April 20, 7pm, YMCA Corporate Conference Room: Running Clinic *conducted by our club sponsor, Chester County Running Store. Topics covered will include… Considerations when selecting a shoe for training and racing, proper shoe fit, injury prevention, training and recovery. Stay tuned for more details coming soon! - *April Club Event:* - *Saturday, April 23: Schuylkill River Trail 50K Relay… *We have two full 6 runner teams in this 31 mile relay running event that includes an out and back between Phoenixville and the Conshohocken Brewery (you guys know where that is!). Each runner will complete a 5-6 mile leg. If there is additional interest, we can still field additional teams or just come out to cheer us on, drink some Sly Fox “SRT Ale”, and enjoy some food trucks and music at the finish line festival. For more info… http://www.schuylkillriverrelay.com/ - *May Club Events:* - *Sunday May 1: Devilman Triathlon (Cumerland County, NJ)… *14 Gators are participating in our annual kickoff triathlon that includes sprint and “half-lite” options as well as duathlons… It’s not too late to join… http://www.piranha-sports.com/Race344.aspx - *Saturday, May 7: Million Dollar Ride (Philadelphia, PA)... *Registration fee is $25 if you plan to fundraise and $60 if you do not fundraise. The $60 fee is only good until April 1… After that it increases to $80… Here’s a link to more info and the registration site (note that as of now some club members are doing the Medium/33 mi ride and others are doing the Long/73 mile ride; the fee is independent of distance and you can change your distance after registration)… http://www.milliondollarbikeride.org/mdbr-2015/ - *Tuesday, May 17: Tuesdays In the Park 5K (Pottstown, PA)… *Our sponsor, Chester County Running Store, race director for the “Tuesdays In the Park 5K” series, has graciously offered FREE registration to this event. See the Facebook event for more details including the discount code!... https://www.runccrs.com/event/pottstowns-tuesday-in-the-park-5k-series-and-kids-fun-run/ - *Saturday, May 21: ToughKids Philly Youth Triathlon (French Creek Park, Elverson, PA):* This event is part of the ToughKids event series and is being directed by club sponsor John Kenny Tri. More details including discount code coming soon!... http://johnkennytri.com/events/toughkidsphilly/ - *Sunday, May 22: French Creek Triathlon (French Creek Park, Elverson, PA): *Make it a full weekend by having the kids race on Saturday and you can race in a sprint or Olympic distance event on Sunday! Stay tuned for club discount code coming soon… http://johnkennytri.com/events/frenchcreek/ Go Gators! *Don M*