HOP Fit Club

Mark your calendars now for next year’s Pine City Freedom Fest Triathlon! When? Um… Well I guess I don’t know when next year’s is, since this year’s was just this past Saturday. But mark your mental calendars for sometime late next June.

What’s that? Why are you marking your mental calendars? Sorry, I guess I should’ve led with that. Here goes (better late than never):

I just discovered the coolest little beginner triathlon. And if you’ve ever toyed with the idea of doing one, but have some lingering fears, I really think this would be a gentle one to help you over those humps.

If a multi-sport event could ever be described as “cute”, this one would.

It’s a 300-yard swim in a clear, small, warm, weedless “lake”. But, even better, that 300 yards is mostly just a suggestion. Out to the paddle boat and back is 300 yards. But if you don’t want to go that far, you can just go out to the swim raft and back. It’s okay.

(Did I mention that this race is untimed?)

The swim is short and simple. The bike is flat and along mostly decent roads. The run is short, and the third quarter of it is a nice, long, gentle downhill bringing you right back into town.

Oh, did I mention? It’s wicked cheap. Early-bird registration would have been $15. I missed that and had to pay $20. Including long-sleeve t-shirt.

Granted, there are some concerns with a race this small and informal. They need lots more volunteers and some law enforcement presence for traffic control on the bike and run course. (Although they were comfortingly well-staffed for the swim part. Lots of lifeguard-looking folks on the shore and in paddle boats and kayaks.)

All in all though, I think it makes a great event for a first triathlon. My mom ran it this weekend as her first and I wrote a big, long post about it with all kinds of race details here.

Just a suggestion!

Skoog

I had two race goals this year – both stretch goals. I wanted to do the 20-mile distance at Earth Day. And I wanted to do a half-ironman triathlon.

First goal; achieved. Went great.

But when it came time to register for the second goal…I couldn’t pull the trigger. It’s not that I’m afraid of that distance or that I don’t think I’ve trained properly. (Those things are both TOTALLY true.) It was more the deep, abiding sense of cheapness that grips me at my core. With current circumstances being what they are (which I shan’t go into in this forum), I couldn’t bring myself to spring for $100 for the registration fee.

So what am I gonna do? Quit? Hell no. I still want to test myself at this distance this summer. I mean, think about it. Did that one Greek guy who ran the first marathon stop off for gyros and ouzo and blow off the rest of his run? Not a chance. Did Teddy Roosevelt get tired and puss out halfway up San Juan Hill? You bet your big stick he didn’t.

I’m doin’ this thing, dammit. Just the way our forefathers would have. I’m building my half-iron from scratch.

Who’s with me?

Here’s the way it’s going to go down. On Saturday, July 10, at 7 a.m., I’m going to start out at Gold’s Gym in Sartell. I’m going to jump in and do my 44 laps to make up 1.2 miles.

After that, I’m going to head out to the parking lot, climb aboard my trusty Stealth Bomber, ride out to St. Joe, pick up the Woebegon trail and ride until my computer says 56 miles.

At that point (somewhere just after Osakis) I’ll hop off my bike, switch shoes, put on my oh-so-techy iPod with its handy Nike Fit chip, and continue on down the trail until the little voice in my ear tells me I’ve run 13.1 miles.

That’s going to leave me somewhere on the outskirts of Alexandria; the city where my parents spend their summers. So I plan on meeting up with them to rehydrate with lots of water…and probably a couple of beers.

Here’s where you come in:

I’m not implying that you might be crazy enough to want to join me for the whole thing (though that would be awesome – I’d love the company). But maybe you’re interested in joining me for an event or two. Know what I mean?

Do you like swimming? (What the f is wrong with you?) Let’s make plans to meet at 7 and crank out a whole bunch of laps.

Looking for a nice, flat bike ride? Let’s hit it! In fact, if your summertime stretch goal was to do a century ride, I’ll bet if you met me at the St. Joe trailhead as I rolled by, my transition point would just about be your turnaround point. Just a thought.

If you’re a runner (with an apparent lack of anything better to do on a Saturday afternoon), get in touch with me and we’ll arrange to meet just past Osakis. We’ll go for a nice, long run and then get something to eat and have a beer. Heck, I could probably even arrange to drop you off at your car in Osakis on my drive home!

I don’t know. I don’t have all the logistics worked out. I’m making this thing up as I go. I’m working on talking my fantastic wife (and potentially a couple of kids) into taking a long, scenic drive up to Alexandria that day, making frequent stops to find the trail and catch me with water bottles as I roll by. If you’re helpful like that, let me know. I’ve got a feeling that’s an area where we could use some helpers.

In the end, don’t feel guilty if you decide this isn’t something you want to do. I was planning on doing this all by myself when I came up with the idea. But it was suggested that I post about this and see if I can get any takers.

So what do you say? You crazy enough to come along and supplement my half-iron experience?

Let me know,

Skoog

gskoog@creativememories.com

The Campus Recreation 5k and 2 mile run/walk series begins Tuesday May 11.  All ages and all levels of fitness are invited to join.

When: Tuesdays May 11-June 29.
Time: Run/walk begins at 5:30pm sharp
Where: Start and Finish by the SCSU Husky Hub
Cost: Only $2.00 per person each week

Refreshments and door prizes each week

Chris Haukos
Fitness Coordinator
www.stcloudstate.ed/campusrec

For something like 10 years now Charlie and Jeni Schad have opened their home up for the Apple Post Race party.

If there is one thing you should do to start the 2010 summer, it’s go to this Post Race party.

It’s not overly crazy and it’s not a wild drunken affair. It’s good times talking to people with similar interests from the Hop-Fit club and the St Cloud area Cycling/Tri/Running community.

It’s a great place to make friends and start matching faces with names. Charlie is always crazy good on the grill and there is always plenty of fun to be had.

I know my team-mate Jodi and I have been training extra hard just to get ready for the party.

Here is the breakdown and info.

With spring/summer time comes the occasional rain. And if you are as hard core as Charlie then you know that you won’t get fit sitting on the couch while it raining outside. So if you decide to go for a ride in the rain, but are worried about how you’ll dry your shoes in time for the next days ride, here is the simple yet effective trick to drying out your wet shoes.

First step, take shoes off your feet.

Remove foot bed/liners etc. You can usually dry liners in the clothes drier if their not specially made orthotics, if they are I’d place these by a warm air register.

Grab some old news paper (or if you read your news online) junk mail or old bills, just any type of paper that doesn’t have a coating on it. (I like to use old Velonews magazines if I’m short on the Sunday St Cloud Times)

Now stuff as much as that paper into each shoe and wait 4 to 6 hours.

After the allotted time, remove the now wet paper you’ll find your cycling or running or any other kind of shoe dry to the touch.

You are now ready to go meet Charlie for one of his double secret training rides and show him what you’ve got.

Cheers

Eric

(Newman not pictured)

We’ve been having some great runs on Tuesday evenings.  They’re pretty relaxed runs.  We’re averaging about 9:15 minute miles and have been going about 4 miles as a group. Some people are running more after the first loop.

We hope more members can start coming with the nice weather.  Anyone is welcome to join us even if you’re not a member.

We meet at Williams Integracare at 5:30pm on Tuesdays.
Hope to see you soon!

There are now 25 more days until the Earth Day Run. Time to beef up the training.  We are going to start running on Tuesday evenings at 5:30 meeting at Williams Integracare Clinic. Last year we had a group of about 6 runners meet every Tuesday, I am hoping to grow that group this year.  Please make an effort to join this run.  There are some great loops shorter and longer to choose from that the group will decide on that night.  We can always run together for a while and split up which we did last summer as well.

Starting Tuesday March 23rd at Williams Integracare Clinic through the summer. Be there.

There has already been feedback on the Group Road Ride posting.  Members who aren’t riders would like to run that same time and day. So Saturdays at 9:30am meeting at Liquid Assets is now going to be a for both runners and road riders.  Distances will be determined that day.

On a different note, if you would like to leave feedback on a post please leave it in the comments. If you’re reading this in your email, please click on the title. This will take you to the blog post on the site, this is where you should leave feedback on any posts.

Hope to see lots of riders and runners on Saturdays.