Hello Gators, Happy New Year!!! The start of 2015 triggers lots of good things for us including a brand new Gator Fitness Challenge (GFC), a jam packed weekly workout schedule that includes a new bike trainer workout location, and the opportunity to set some goals for the coming season with the help of new coaches and friends that we didn’t have as recently as this time last year! We will also have more seminars than ever before including one this Saturday, January 10, 7:15am-8:30am in the conference room off of the Y’s main lobby. The topic of the seminar, which will be conducted by our Head Coach Danny Friend, is “Effective Use of Training Peaks and GarminConnect”, two of the powerful training tools to which we all have access, but whose capabilities we may not be taking full advantage. We were completely full for our last seminar, so if you are planning to attend and have not already done so, please reply back to confirm that space is available… First come, first serve! This week's topics include... Join the Club… Get your 2015 Gator membership here!!! Once there click “Program Search”, enter “Gators”, and select “Triathlon Training”. GFC Update… Are you up for the challenge of GFC #2?!? This time you can get by with a little help from a friend!!!Accomplishments... RefrigaGators and lots of 100s!!!About a Gator... Perfect time of year for a Canadian blast, eh?!?!Recommended Podcasts… Better running and “What aren’t you going to do this year?”Mark Your Calendars... So what workouts can I still attend this week if I with to become fitter by Sunday?? Happy Birthday: Best wishes to the following Gators that have recently celebrated birthdays! Nabil Radouane (December 21)Ken Beauchamp (December 23)Maddie Matarazzo (December 28)… Happy 18th!Michelle Leonard (January 1) Join the Club: There are times in life for a new start… or perhaps the continuation of a good thing… you might also look at it as a chance to achieve all of your dreams and aspirations as well as hang out with a really cool group of type A personalities… and also the chance to use your credit card… In “Gator World” that time is now… If you have not already had the chance to renew your club membership, please do so before the end of January. At that time we will update our e-mail list and our Facebook group, so if you’d like to continue receiving great reading such as this and all of the other wonderful benefits of being a Gator for another full year (including full access to ALL training opportunities and seminars), please register today! Memberships can be renewed/started at the Y front desk or by clicking here (once there click “Program Search”, enter “Gators”, and select “Triathlon Training”). GFC Update: GFC #1 ended this past Sunday, January 4; this challenge required participants to complete at least 15 minutes/ea of running, biking/spinning , and swimming with a minimum cumulative total of one hour for it to be considered a successful week. Over the 14 week duration of GFC #1, 34 Gators successfully completed at least one week and more than a dozen completed the challenge EVERY week. As an extra incentive, we also added a couple of prizes (one month Y membership and autographed Bill Rodgers poster) during that time and winners will be selected at tonight’s Tri Club workout (winner does not have to be present). GFC#2 began this past Monday, January 5 and runs until Easter Sunday, April 5. Since we’ve moved into the Base Building phase of our year, we’ve doubled the requirements to a minimum of 30 minutes/ea of running, biking/spinning, and swimming with a minimum cumulative total of two hours/week. And we’ve added a new twist this time by giving you the ability to partner up with someone to earn extra entries into our fabulous prize drawings (more coming on the prizes in the near future). We’ve had a tremendous response so far and are eager for more registrants… Please reply back if you are interested in participating and have not yet registered. As was the case for GFC #1, the tracking sheet will be posted on the Y pool bulletin board as well as on our Facebook site. Accomplishments: A group that often responds “Why not?”… 100!Masters Annual 100x100 Distance Swim: A couple of Multisport Gators successfully completed the annual Gators Masters Swim Team event that includes swimming a total of 100 “hundreds”, which totals 10,000 yards, which also comes out to 5.68 miles!... All at one time!! Our finishers included Nabil Radouane and Andy Rosebrook. Additionally, new Multisport Gators (who are also Gators Masters Swimmers) Steph Bieloski and Dave Marine, as well as Gator relay team member, Joe Boris, also completed the event… Congrats to all, including the other Masters Swimmers that completed the event!!!Mary Kain was inspired by the Masters swim and decided to do her own challenge by getting out of bed during the holidays for a 6am long distance swim… Mary completed 53 hundreds, which equates to just over three miles… Way to go, Mary!RefrigaGators: Five Gators shook off the cobwebs on New Year’s Day morning for a brief dip in the Schuylkill River during Pottstown’s annual Polar Bear Swim. This was the 2nd annual “RefrigaGator” event and there were double the number of participants (6 vs. 3) from 2014… We’re looking forward to even more next year. Those that participated and lived to tell about it… Nabil Radouane (100 hundreds AND a RefrigaGator… what an accomplishment!), Tim Pfluger, Vince Bellino, Doug Schmidt, and Don Mack… nICE!!! About A Gator: As we are visited by our latest Arctic blast from Canada, it seems to be an appropriate time to learn a bit about our resident Canadian Gator. This edition is about Byron Solvason, currently in training for IRONMAN Lake Placid. Recommended Podcasts: Two recommendations this week…(Almost) Happy New Year – A New Tip for Type A Triathletes from Endurance Nation. This is the shortest recommended podcast to date… less than three minutes in duration… but I think it contains a great tip as we are all considering New Year’s resolutions… Instead of considering what else you CAN do this year, think of something that you can do without (and gain some time by stopping doing it).Running with Olympian Pete Pfitzinger from Triathlete Training. Pete Pfitzinger was a great runner in the 80’s (participated in two Olympic marathons; beat Alberto Salazar by 1 second in the US Olympic trials marathon). He’s moved on to create some great books including a brand new one about 5K to half marathon training. I’ve used one of Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathon training programs for six of my ten marathons and had great success with it. This podcast includes a lot of good insight about running and I think that you will enjoy it. Mark Your Calendars: Weekly Workouts: Remaining workouts for this week include... Thursday, 1/8, 7:30pm-9:00pm: Bike Trainers on the pool deck with DannySaturday, 1/107:15am-8:30am: Training Peaks and GarminConnect seminar with Danny (front conference room)8:45am-10:45am: Tri Club with Don M8:45am-10:15am: Bike Trainers on the pool deck (if you are attending the seminar, set up your bike before it starts)10:20am-10:45am: Run/Stretch Go Gators! Don M