Hello Gators, We had a close call last weekend! Fortunately the right people were in the right place at the right time and Dave is now recuperating at home. Thanks to Kelly Beauchamp for getting the word out shortly before her race was about to start, thanks to Kathleen and Don Schlichtmann for all that they did that morning, and thanks to Tree for keeping us in the loop in the following days! While age didn’t have anything to do with Dave, I think it’s a good time for us to consider member safety, especially because many of us decided to take up endurance sports when we hit our mid/late 30s or 40s. As we get older and continue to train and race hard, it’s probably a good time to start visiting your doctor more regularly just to make sure everything is okay. We had a coaches meeting earlier this week and added “Club Safety” as a topic to our agenda. We discussed being more proactive in communicating good safety practices before our workouts, particularly outdoor bike rides and open water swims. We also discussed putting together some recommendations for our members relative to general health. You can (and should) expect safety to be a bigger topic for the club moving forward and our coaching staff will lead the way in making sure that it is. That way we can all continue to train and race into our 60s, 70s, and beyond. This week's news topics include...Accomplishments… Beast mode, Beach mode, and Marshing on!!Who’s Next?… Ragnarly, Shaking and Quaking, Triple Dip, and Chattanooga Choo Choo!!Do You Got Game?… Spring Valley YMCA “Game Day 5K” rates go up after TODAY!! We are the defending champs, so let’s get out and defend our home turf!!Movin’ On In… So what do our coaches have planned for October through December?!?!Itttt’s Back: Gator Fitness Challenge III… The Gator Fitness Challenge makes its return on Monday, October 5th… It’s bigger and better than ever… Who’s in?!?!Mark Your Calendars… If you plant to eat, drink, and be merry, you need to “accept” the Facebook event invite TODAY (see current list of attendees in Facebook post under the event)!! Plus… Club Party in November and two club events coming in October and November!! Welcome to the Club!: A warm welcome to the following club members that have recently become Gators…Irene and Eric AfreDorian O’ConnellPatty TrainerLogan Washburn Happy Birthday!: Best wishes to Bill Cooney who celebrated his birthday this past Tuesday, October 22! Bill likes to do a bit more for his birthday than have a nice dinner and a cake… Instead of his usual 150-200 mile birthday bike ride, Bill will be celebrating by taking on Ironman Chattanooga this Sunday. Accomplishments: We had Gators taking on events in Vermont, Delaware, and Pennsylvania…Saturday, September 19:Spartan Beast Vermont (Killington Ski Resort, VT): Jay Sherman continued his amazing injury comeback by completing this grueling almost 15 mile with almost 9,000 feet of elevation gain course (oh yeah… and if that’s not difficult enough, there were lots of obstacles along the way). Awesome accomplishment, Jay!Sunday, September 20:Marshman Sprint Triathlon (Downingtown, PA): Ken Beauchamp finished #10 overall (out of almost 500 race finishers) and #1 in his age group… PODIUM!!... Ken is currently #2 in Piranha’s 2015 individual male standings. Ken’s other race accomplishments included #1 T1, #3 bike and T2, top 10% run 2, and top 20% run 1. Another excellent performance, Ken!First Responders Duathlon (Bethany Beach, DE): Kelly Beauchamp won her age group and was the #2 female… PODIUM!!... Kelly’s other accomplishments included #9 overall, #2 T2, #4 T1, #1 female and #8 overall bike, and top 25 finishes on both runs. Great job, Kelly! Who’s Next?: Best wishes for safe and successful events for the eight Gators that are in action in Pennsylvania, New York, and Tennessee this weekend…Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26:Ragnar Adirondacks (Saratoga Springs, NY to Lake Placid, NY): For the second consecutive year, a Gator is participating (Dean Milligan participated in last year’s event). This year Ruth Subach will be a part of a relay team taking on this 200+ mile running relay race that starts in Saratoga Springs and ends in Lake Placid.Saturday, September 26:Quakerman Olympic Plus Triathlon: The following Gators will take on this unique distance race (0.6 mi swim, 39 mi bike, and 10k/6.2 mi run)… Brian Kozera, Kristin Kozera, Don Mack, Chris Reiter, and Patty Trainer. For Kristin and Patty, this will be their longest triathlon to date.Triple Dip OWS (Brooklyn, NY): Nabil Radouane returns to his favorite place, the open water, where he will be completing a 10K of his own.Sunday, September 27:Ironman Chattanooga (Chattanooga, TN): One of our most experienced Ironman Athletes (this will be his 5th), Bill Cooney heads south for this late season event! Do You Got Game?: We are still seeking both runners and volunteers for the Sunday, October 11 Spring-Valley YMCA “Game Day 5K”…Volunteer opportunities: We are looking for help and the following link has all duties assigned for sign up. All volunteers receive a special shirt!... https://www.runtheday.com/registration/volunteer_signup/31500Race Registration Discount: Any Gator that registers can receive $5 off with the promotional code “gators”. Race registration link… https://www.runtheday.com/registration/select_race_type/31500 Movin’ On In: That fateful time of year is upon us… The days have grown short enough that we’ll be moving indoors for our Tuesday and Thursday evening workouts starting next week (Tuesday, 9/29 and Thursday, 10/1). We will continue to ride outside on Saturdays as long as the weather permits. Note that there will be some construction taking place at the Y over the next three months so we may have some short notice schedule changes; stay tuned to Facebook and e-mail for updates. Here’s a brief overview of the weekly workout schedule through December…Mondays:10am-11am: Tri Swim Workout (led by Don Schlichtmann)8:30pm-9:30pm: Tri Swim Workout (led alternately by Steve Durante and new coach Brian Kozera)Tuesdays:7:15pm-8:30pm: Spinning/Running. Will typically include 45-60 minute spin followed by 15-30 minute track run (led by Michelle Leonard or Maribeth Baker). Spinning will take place in the existing spin room until the new much larger spin room is completed in the December/January timeframe.8:30pm-9:30pm: Rotation of Yoga, Strength, Core, and Pilates workouts… Maybe even more variety. Michelle and Maribeth are collaborating on the workouts for this hour and you can be sure that you will get a great workout and have a fantastic time! This will take place in Studio A, which is the room in the middle of the upstairs track. We may relocate the class to the new spinning room once it is completed.Wednesdays:10am-11am: Tri Swim Workout (led by Don Schlichtmann)8:30pm-9:30pm: Tri Swim Workout (led by Maribeth Baker)Thursdays, 7:30pm start: Bike trainers in Room 2 (first floor down the hall to the left off of the lobby; led alternately by Danny Friend and Byron Solvason). This workout will be short (typically 60-75 minutes) but powerful as we work on strength and technique. Danny is working up some great workouts.Saturdays, 7:30am start: We’ll continue with outdoor 2 hour rides followed by a short brick run (weekly details to be posted to club Facebook group) as long as weather permits… Hopefully through most of October. Once we move indoors, the workout will shift to Room 2 at the Y with bike trainers (typical ride length will be 1:15-1:30) followed by an optional brick run.Additional Run Workouts: Based on some of the member survey replies, we’re also considering options for more run-based training… If we can find a place to fit it in, we’ll let you know (and in the meantime, keep posting your runs via Facebook if you are interested in company).Additional Daytime Workouts: There was also an interest from a few members in having additional weekday “during the day” workouts. Maribeth is leading a Tuesday morning run group. At this point we are not planning to have any additional formal workouts added, but we encourage our membership to continue to post on Facebook when they are doing a ride, run, or swim during the week and are open to some company. Note that we are working on a group calendar option where all of these types of events (and the formal workouts) can be consolidated… More details coming soon!!! It’s Back: Gator Fitness ChallengeIII: We are going to be restarting the Gator Fitness Challenge for the fall/winter months. This edition will include 13 weeks starting the week of Monday, October 5 with weeks running Monday-Sunday. This year’s challenge includes…Weekly workout minimums: 1½ hours of total swim/bike/run workouts with at least 20 minutes on each discipline. 1 point awarded for each week successfully completed.NEW: Plank Challenge: Week 1 will include a 20 second plank. We’ll add 20 seconds each week for the first 12 weeks, which will bring us to 4 minutes and then we’ll wrap things up with a 5 minute plank the final week, which happens to be between Christmas and New Year’s Day (and no, it does not count if you overindulge during the holidays and balance on your tummy while doing the plank). 1 point awarded for each week successfully completed.NEW: Overall totals: Each time you exceed one of the following grand totals, you will receive 2 points…Swimming: 10,000 yardsBiking: 5 hoursRunning: 50 miles And… Oh, yes… There will absolutely be fabulous prizes for the victors! Stay tuned for more details including your chance to sign up on Facebook next week! Mark Your Calendars: Upcoming events include…Sunday, October 11: CLUB EVENT – Spring-Valley YMCA Game Day 5KFriday, October 16, 6pm-10pm: Gator Night at the Philadelphia Food & Wine Festival (Valley Forge Casino). Tickets are a greatly reduced $20/person (normal price is $45). Contact Don Mack or Dave Marine for additional details. Commitment is needed by no later than TODAY, 9/25 and money is due by Wednesday, 9/30.Saturday, November 7, “The Barn” in Royersford: End of Year Club Party. More details will be coming soon, but if you can attend, please accept Mellissa’s Facebook invite!Sunday, November 22: CLUB EVENT – Philadelphia Marathon and Half MarathonDecember (date TBD): Annual Member Meeting Go Gators (and be safe)! Don M