Hello Gators, Hopefully you had a chance to review the e-mail earlier this week about Gatorthon and give it a bit of thought. At this point we are looking for commitments… runners and donations. If you are interested in either or, better yet, both, please reply back so that we can get our plans in place. See “Gatorthon” below for additional details! This week's news topics include...Accomplishments... A successful kick-off for our spring running season!!!Gatorthon… Support a good cause while getting fit!!A-TENT-ion!: Stop by and say hello at one of next week’s Tri Club’s “Open Tents”!!!About a Gator... A(ndy) Rose(brook) just in time for Valentine’s Day!!!Recommended… Need an entertaining podcast for your boring trainer ride?!?!Mark Your Calendars… Open House, Endurance Sports Expo, Yoga Workshop, Gatorthon, Indoor Triathlon, and more!!! Welcome!: Please join me in welcoming new member Jay Nyman to the club! Jay… We look forward to meeting you at a Tri Club workout or event in the near future! Happy Birthday!: Best wishes for an awesome birthday to the following members that are celebrating this week!Tuesday, February 10: Dean MilliganThursday, February 12: Jeannine KellySaturday, February 14: Allison Wesler Accomplishments: Congrats to Vince and Trevor Bellino for their role in completing the almost 200 mile Ragnar Florida Keys relay running event that started in Miami and ended in Key West! The event took place last weekend (Feb 6-7) and included several hundred teams (300 in Vince and Trevor’s division alone) that are accompanied by vans to coordinate the transitions from runner to runner. Vince and Trevor each completed three legs totaling 24 miles per person… the longest for any of the runners on the team. Vince and Trevor were accompanied by three additional members of the Bellino family… Lucy (15 miles), Vince’s brother Gabe, and Vince’s sister Adrienne. The balance of the team included a group of friends from California. Sounds like it was a great time and a Ragnar Relay is definitely in the future for the Gators! Great job Vince and Trevor! Gatorthon: As announced earlier this week, “Gatorthon”, a combo team relay event and fundraiser (100% of proceeds will go to the Y’s Annual Campaign), is taking place on the morning of Sunday, March 1. I will be running a full treadmill marathon and we’re looking for two teams to complete relays. So far the following have indicated that they will participate… Brent, Suzanne, Byron, Tim P, Vince, and Doug. Let me know if you are interested in joining. Where are the ladies?? You have been dominating our tri club workouts lately, so I know you have the fitness to run a few miles. Also, if you do not want to run, but would like to participate in some other way (e.g. aid station volunteer), let me know that as well. The impetus for this event is raising funds for the Y’s Annual Campaign… If you are in a position to do so, please donate to this very worthwhile cause. You can donate in three ways…Click on the following link to complete an online donation. This can be a recurring or one-time donation. If you go this route, please select “In Honor Of” and enter “Tri Club” so we can track our progress… Click here to “Donate Now”If you’d prefer to offer some incentive to the runners, you can do a “per mile” donation (based on 26.2 miles). To do this, just send an e-mail to nflsteeler8@msn.com with your desired per mile amount and we’ll follow-up with you after the event.We will also take flat cash or check donations anytime! No donation or running distance is too small, so please participate if you can. A-TENT-ion!: Next week (Monday, 2/16, 5pm-8pm and Saturday, 2/21, 9am-Noon) we have an excellent opportunity to promote our club to the Y’s members… The Y will be hosting “open houses” and we have a spot in the lobby to show off the Gators. Our presence will include our brand new tent and banners along with some of our gear and perhaps a bike on a trainer. We have a full staff of members volunteering during those times, but if you are at the Y (right in the lobby), stop by to say hello and take a look at the tent and banners that we were able to purchase partially with the grant from the USAT that we received last year and also from some contributions from the Y and your membership fees. About A Gator: This week’s profile is on Andy Rosebrook, one of our most experienced triathletes. Many of us strive to one day race in Kona, Hawaii… Well, Andy’s been there! Learn about this and more in this week’s “About a Gator”!! Recommended: This week’s recommendations include a handful of podcasts…Quintuple Ironman and Spartan Death Race Winner interview (plus a variety of interesting tips for triathletes)… At just over 2 hr, 18 min, the latest “Zen and the Art of Triathlon podcast is perfect for your next long boring trainer ride or treadmill run. It includes an interview with Olaf Dallner who recently completed and won a QUINTUPLE Ironman race… Yikes, that’s 12 miles of swimming followed by 500+ miles of cycling, and then, just for good measure, a 131 mile run (that last mile is always the toughest)… http://www.zentriathlon.com/“Fast After 50” author Joe Friel interview… This is another interview with the author of this new book who also is very instrumental in the heart rate zone training that we use (the previous interview from Triathlete Training was a recommendation a few weeks ago), but it had some different questions. This particular podcast from IM Talk in general wasn’t great, but if you skip to the 20 or so minute interview (about 50 minutes into the podcast), I think you will enjoy it… http://www.imtalk.me/home/2015/2/9/imtalk-episode-450-joe-friel.htmlTriathlon Research Interviews with Mirinda Carfrae, Craig Alexander, and Siri Lindley: Over the past two weeks, Triathlon Research has posted interviews (one hour to 1:20 in length) with current Ironman World Champ Mirinda Carfrae (also the consensus favorite pro triathlete of our club), past three time Ironman World Champ Craig Alexander, and Mirinda Carfrae’s coach (and former Olympic distance world champ), Siri Lindley. I’ve listened to the Mirinda Carfrae interview and I’m in the middle of the Siri Lindley one and I like them because each begins with about 5-10 minutes of background on the athletes… How did they get started in triathlon, where did they grow up, etc… http://triathlonresearch.org/category/podcast/ Mark Your Calendars: Upcoming Events:Monday, February 16 (5pm-8pm) and Saturday, February 21 (9am-Noon): YMCA Open HouseWeekend of February 21-22: Endurance Sports Expo (Oaks, PA)… http://www.endurancesportsexpo.com/ (discount codes: try ese1off, ese2off, and ese3off for a discount on online ticket orders)Sunday, February 22, 10am-Noon: Yoga Workshop with Maribeth (YMCA Studio Room)… This is your chance to get in a yoga workout as well as learn about some techniques you can use at home! If you have not already done so, please reply to Maribeth’s Facebook invite (space is limited)Sunday, March 1, starting at 8am… Gatorthon!Coming in April: Indoor Triathlon… We are starting to plan for this event… Details coming soon! Weekly Workouts: Remaining workouts for this week include...Friday, 2/13 and Sunday, 2/15: We do not have planned group/coached workouts on these dates, but just a reminder that run workouts are now being posted on Training Peaks in the Friday (shorter run with intensity) and Sunday (longer run with a small amount of intensity) slotsSaturday, 2/14, 7:15am-9:45am: We’d love to have you join our Valentine’s Day Tri Club with Don M and Danny7:15am-9:15am: Bike Trainers on the pool deck… Note that the full workout is set for longer distance athletes (i.e. half or full Ironman distance). Athletes training for shorter distance events (sprint or Olympic) should consider only participating for a portion of the ride.9:15am-9:45am (or immediately after the completion of your bike ride): Brick Run (30 minutes) and Stretch (5-10 minutes) Go Gators! Don M