Week of 11/26/07. Workout change for Tues; results, upcoming races(see info on upcoming XMAS RELAYS for 12/16/07);
> Note that the 9am group will do Railroad Grade on 12/4/07: take off at 9am from MV Police/Fire station on Corte Madera Ave as usual. BE ready with rain gear and change of shirt: change in weather predicted! No wimps allowed...

> FLASH! Results from NORTH FACE CHALLENGE on 12-1-07:
Got a call from Michelle about today's race in Marin Headlands:
The NORTH FACE CHALLENGE, with spokesman, Dean Karnazes - mister ultra-man.
There is the 10K, Half Marathon, 50K, or 50M

Here are the results of some of our gang who did the half Marathon:
Our group did well; means those hill repeats, track and tempo are paying off!
This was a very "scenic" course which is another way of saying it was a very hilly course! ( Our runners also thought it was longer than 13M)
RESULTS
Andre's girlfriend, ROSY CASTANIDA, placed 1st woman and 8th overall in 2:01:08. That a way to go Rosy!
ANDRE TUINZING (my boy) was 9th overall and 3rd in his division with a 2:02:22 (I'm surprised because he's not been doing longer runs due to his knee suffering from Osgood Schlatter's pain). Andre, in an attempt to be in sight of Rosy ended up 1' behind her and got 3rd in his div! (that's my boy who did this)
LIZ SHORTINO, was 16th place and won her 40+ division in 2:09:00!
SEAN PHILLIPS, Andre's buddy, was 17th with 2:09:28.
KATHLEEN HELMER was 25th in 2:16:52 and placed 3rd in 30-39 div. Way to go team!
I haven't checked yet if some of our workout group members did the other distances; I'll update you later.
NEXT, The XMAS RELAYS.
Kees

> This is the Season when we all "get so busy" and over-eat (well , some of us do), so it's all the more reason to keep the workouts going. Just modify the workouts when feeling sluggish and a bit tired-but get them in and you will feel better. It's getting going that's always the most difficult; once you are going it's fine.

11/27/07. TUE. 6:30am (Brrr..)TEMPO at China Camp.

11/27/07. TUE. 9am. HILL REPEATS. Tenn Valley.
Meet at the Tenn Valley hiking area parking lot (Weather looks clear). We will do dirt hill repeats.

NOTE: the usual TUE. Ross Common group is suspended for now, due to fewer people attending, one injured, and Holiday Season..

11/29/07. 7am & 9am TRACK at COM...prepare for cold morning session; I will modify workout makeup if quite cold so it works for you...

12/2/07 Sunday. Can't do RRGrade after all on that Sunday: I have conflict and my van is still tied up!We'll do another weekend date in future.


UPCOMING Races and Xmas Party:

1) TAMALPA XMAS PARTY, 12/8/07. Don't miss this event!
We throw a good party with food, dancing (our own club band) and more. Quite animated. I'm counting on throwing some of you around the dance floor!
5:30 p.m. with Dinner at 7:00 p.m. The Outdoor Art Club, One Blythdale, Mill Valley. Music by the ‘Kings’. Potluck Dinner with individuals with last names A-O bringing a side dish and P-Z bringing a dessert (or bring both). Dave Pinto @ 415/531-4049 or dpinto@sonic.net

2)12/7/07. Friday. 3pm-7pm; Saturday, 12/8/07 Noon-5pm
Its time for our 2nd Annual Holiday Open House at Rob King's Road and Tri Sports with Patty Sanders Tri Sports Jewelry and Accessories.

Enter the drawing for FREE Raffle prizes : win a bike fitting by Rob (up to $200 value), a custom made recycled bike part wind chime made by Patty ($39 value) and more.

Specials on 2007 bikes, clothes and accessories. From Tri Sports Jewelry - see the new Totally Tube bags, purses and ride pockets made from recycled tires and tubes from only $9. New accessories include bike chain bottle openers, key chains, metal bicycle ornaments(so cute you'll leave it out all year) and bike and sprocket refrigerator magnets all priced $5 to$16. Many more unique and fun gifts. Plus lots of jewelry for her and him. Newest are the anklets with tri, bike or runner charms $29 to $35.

All Sheila Moon 2007 prints in jerseys, mesh tops, arm warmers and ear warmers 25% off.
Plus selected manufacture closeout items including men and women's tri suits, riding skirts, jerseys, running tops and shorts and more one of a kinds 20% to 40% off. Big box of cycling socks $6 each.

Come and bring your friends. Please pass this message to all your cycling buddies and clubs.

Refreshments will be served: wine, soda, cheese, Rob's guacamole and more.

Looking forward to seeing you on Friday or Sat Dec, 7th or 8th at Road and Tri Sports 366 Bel Marin Keys Blvd. Novato. Just take the Bel Marin Keys exit off Hwy 101, go East, its on the right side just past the Taquiera. Tel 415-786-9181 Rob or 415-515-6127 Patty

Patty and Rob

3) XMAS RELAYS info for 12/26/07:
(I copied in Frank Ruona's notes on the event and have added the Team Captain name/contacts for you). These relays give us an opportunity to get together, compete with friends and urge them on in a relay championships, time to socialize, and finish off the 2007 running season with a strong finish.

"Traditionally the Tamalpa Runners field several teams in each age group for the Christmas Relays. The Christmas Relays are made up of 4 person teams with each person running one 4.5 mile leg. Each 4 person team runs a total of 18 miles. The Relays start at 9:00 AM. The Club will pay $8.50 or ½ of your entry fee and you pay $8.50, the other ½ of the entry fee. If you are interested in running the Relays, please e-mail or call your racing team captain or me before 12/7/07.

This year the Christmas Relays are part of the Pacific Association Road Racing Grand Prix Series. The Relays count as a scoring race on the Grand Prix Series for teams only. Since the race is a Grand Prix Race and we want to have as many scoring teams as possible, one other requirement for the Club to pay for 50% of your entry fee, is that each individual have a current USATF Card. If you have a 2007 USATF Card you are eligible. If you do not have a 2007 USATF Card, you can obtain a 2008 USATF Card which will make you eligible for the 2007 Christmas Relays and all USATF Races (Road, Cross Country and Ultra Races) in the year 2008. If you need a 2008 USATF card contact Frank Ruona and Frank can issue you a 2008 Card upon the receipt of $30.00 or you can obtain a USATF card online at www.pausatf.org. If you do not have a card by race day, be prepared to get a card from Frank on race day.

Once we have organized the teams, it will be the responsibility of the individual team members to decide who will run which of the 4 legs of the relay. Certain individuals have advised me that they would prefer to run the first or second legs of the relay because they have time commitments to be somewhere later in the day. Please cooperate with these individuals and allow them to run early legs in the race.

For those Tamalpans who want to car pool to the race, we will be meeting in front of the Brew Pub at Larkspur Landing at 7:15 AM on Sunday, 12/16/07. If you drive directly to the start of the race, we will gather at the Lake Merced Parking Lot where Sunset Boulevard meets Lake Merced Drive. Try to be there no later than 8:30 AM so that we can organize the individual teams.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me by phone-(415) 898-9340 or by e-mail-fdruona@msn.com.

In 2006 the Tamalpa Senior Men and Women, Super Senior Men and Veteran Men won their divisions. Let’s see if we can win a few more divisions in 2007! "

Some contacts:
Open Women (under 40); Amy Sonstein. 415/441-1416; asonstein@hotmail.com
Women Masters (WM). Tricia Wallace. 415/891-8006.triciawallace@hotmail.com;
Women Seniors/Super seniors: Janet Bowman 415/924-5976. janebox@attbi.com
Men Open (MO)Seth Davis. 510/234-1745. setgdavis@yahoo.com
Master Men (MM): Tom O'Reilly. o_reilly@sbcglobal.net. 415/945-8921.

I'm not sure if I have the updated contacts, but you can always check the www.tamalparunners.org site for info...

> 11/18/07. Sunday REGIONAL XC PAUSATF CHAMPIONSHIPS.
in GG PArk. Quite a day for team competition over a multi-loop course which made it fun for spectators and runners alike. Deb Rushman, though sidelined by an injury, was there to cheer on the women's and men's teams. We hope to see you back in action soon Deb! Her husband Jon did very well for the MM team.

Senior Men placed #1
Master Men 11th
Super Senior Men #1
Veterans #1
Open Women 10th (Kathleen Helmer from our group)
MW 3rd (Tamira Gonzalez, Liz Shortino, Michelle Wilcox) - that sealed the win for Tamalpa MW for the Series! Also from our group who came to run and contribute to team scoring: Ann Charlton, Christina Lachman, (I'm forgetting some I know: the notes I had handwritten are not to be found)

> QUAD DIPSEA results most everyone has seen by now. Congrats to FLORENCIA GASCON-AMYX (5:22:05) and DAVE CHAMPAGNE (7:14:20) on their special efforts on a clear day for the run. SUNNY BLENDE told me she saw the young man who won the race. He ran an amazing sub 4-hour race and hadn't really practiced on the course!  ¶ 8:34 AM

  Week of 11/19/07. Some key workouts during Thanksgiving week..a bit short on time so this will be incomplete
We'll see how our group members fared at XC race in GG Park.

11/20/07. TUE. TEMPO run. 6:30am from YMCA.
Run the new dirt course (Brian should have good idea of route)...

11/20/07. TUE. HILL REPEAT. 9am gp at ROSS COMMON.
Run to Phoenix parking lot, base of dam road:
6 X 30" (B/B) -we're building the reps on this;
jog to top, then from water fountainto Log Cabin do tempo (strong pick-up pace); recover to Fish Gulch and do:
4 X 15" (B/B); jog to Log Cabin, then do:
Tempo to top of dam; recover down to parking lot to entrance to Phoenix. Then do pickup to top of rise past tennis courts.
Recovery run to Ross Common.

11/20/07. TUE. TEMPO. 9am group. Tenn Valley
meet by church lot. Do warmup run to north end of bike path, then 3.5m or 4M tempo at 10M race pace. I may or may not be there, depends on my Dad and having to meet him.

11/25/07. I will be working the WILD RUN in GG Park this Sunday (formerly the Run To The Far Side); hope to see some of you there...

I will put the XC results with Monday blog, as I will be up early for WILD RUN to set up the Panhandle. But to let you know our teams did well. Now put XMAS RELAYS (12/16/07) on your calendar. Teams of 4 in many divisions; each person runs 4.5M around Lake Merced...We'll have a new Open Women's member, ROSY CASTANEDA, who just placed 3rd woman overall and 1st in her age group at Treasure Island Triathlon..
more to come..  ¶ 11:32 PM

  Week of 11/12/07. Results, workouts-including Jason Jacobson's weekend runs;
PA/USATF XC Champs coming up on 11/18: we'll get a whole group to go so we can score a good number of people onto teams, carpool (see below);
Steps to Deadlift..(see below)
TURKEY TROT at IVC on 11/22-Thanksgiving morning: races for entire family (see below).

RESULTS:
> 11/10/07: Treasure Island TRI was modified to a bike-run event due to the oil spill last week. The day was very cold with foggy wind, so I imagine not many triathletes missed the swim portion. We just made the best of it and did manage to avoid the rain as it started to sprinkle after we had finished.
My son, ANDRE and Kevin's daughter, JESSICA PORTER, teamed up on a RELAY team and would have placed higher than 7th place if Andre hadn't biked an extra loop! (It's very easy to lose count on this multi-loop course (6 loops for the 40K distance), so it happens.)
ROSIE CASTANEDA placed 39th overall with a 1:58:29, to give her the age-group win and 3rd woman overall!
KEVIN, did injure his hamstring and was unable to finish: nobody ask him to go biking or running for the next two weeks so he can rehab and rest. TOM GUERIN got a flat, so that blew his race out, but after much hassle he did finish anyway.

11/13/07. 9am. HILL REPEATS. Ross Common.
(Kevin is injured with hamstring pull and cannot run, so it will be a simpler workout format).
Warmup run to Phoenix parking lot.
> Dam road: 5 X 30" (B/B);
> Mt. Baldy: 4 X 1:30(B/B); easy run to Log Cabin;
then Tempo back to Mt. Baldy: 1 X 2'(B/B) easy run to parking lot;
> Tempo from parking lot to tennis courts;
> Easy run to Ross Common.

11/13/07. TUES. TEMPO 6:30am group. CHINA CAMP
Note, that we have new dirt course for the YMCA tempo site. I just measured it out to be a 10 miler. We all agreed that having the dirt course on the levees is more appealing: less traffic, less pavement, quieter out on the wetlands.

11/13/07. TUE. 9am. HILL REPEATS. Tenn. Valley. Meet at Tenn Valley parking lot (not church lot).

11/15/07. THURSDAY. 7am & 9am. TRACK at COM.

11/17/07. SATURDAY. Jason's workouts Sat (and Sunday):
6:00 am @ China Camp Kees' Launching Point by Buck's Landing.
We will run the classic Kees 10 mile loop.
2 miles easy group warm up; 5 x 1 mile tempo / 1/2 mile group recovery; 1 mile easy group cool down.
(yeah, early, NCS XC this weekend, family stuff for others, www.wake123.com it, show up, get it in, be done by 7:20 am, get a nap later, enjoy the awesome early morning,
and run with the crew).
Kees' note: Tempo is a crucial half /full marathon builder, so if you can get it in, do so.

11/18/07. SUNDAY. Jason's Workout RAILROAD GRADE RUN.
6:30 am @ Mill Valley Market.
8M up and 8M down:16.5 mile total run up and down Mt. Tam.
It has been awhile since we sought spiritual enlightenment at the top and time to make the journey

11/18/07. 22nd Annual PA Cross Country Championships, 18-Nov-2007 (Sunday)- PA/USATF Cross Country Grand Prix Series. LAST RACE of the season! So come out in force so we can score as many teams as possible.
Women's Race-9:00am / 4 miles; Master Men's Race-9:45am/6 miles; and Open Men's Race-11:00am / 6 miles. Contact: Tim Wason: tim@sfrunning.com. Golden Gate Park, SF.
(We can car pool from Arch Rival, Bon Air; we leave at 7:45am BUT I cannot take van because Sandy will be taking for hauling stuff for Thanksgiving break, but I'll have a car).
I'll head back after Women's Race to be back at work by 11am. Pre-reg if you can before TH to save you time; also get your PA/USATF card so your run counts towards Tamalpa team scoring (the card is good for 2008 as well.)
Start/Finish in GG Park's Lindley Meadow at 30th Avenue and JFK Drive, north of Polo Fields. Take Fulton Avenue, which runs along the north edge of the park, to 30th Ave. (stoplight). Turn south into the park. Road dead ends at JFK 100 yds from S/F. Park on either side of JFK Dr. SF Running & Walking. Tim Wason, tim@sfrunning.com 415.348.6254
Rest or short run on Sat. 11/17 so you're ready for a fast 4 miles on Sunday. Can add a good 2M cool down run together after the race and before going home.

Note that week of Thanksgiving I will not be at Tuesday workouts and Thursday there will be no track.(But we may do a workout on Wed morning starting out at Bolinas area.
But check the Turkey Trot that morning hosted by the club:

7th Annual Tamalpa Turkey Trot, Thanksgiving Morning, Thursday, November 22, 2007-7th Annual TAMALPPA TURKEY TROT!
A Thanksgiving Day Tradition!
Cross Country style races for the entire Family!
* Thanksgiving Morning *
* Thursday, November 22, 2007 *
* Indian Valley College, Novato, CA *
--7:30 am: Registration
--8:30 am: 1.0 Mile run for K-5th Grade
--9:15 am: 2.8 Miles Race (any age)
Race day registration ONLY. Cost is $10.00. (Max cost of $25 per family)
Special awards to all participants and division winners.
For more information, contact Jason Jacobson (415-246-1390 or jjaco@qar.com)
Note: Slightly revised course due to IVC grass fields being closed.
** Gobble Wobble **

> Learn to DEADLIFT for quick total body strength:
My project is to give you some key strength/balance-the -body exercises for your running and triathlon training. Do twice per week-should be plenty.( I gave sets of 6 exercises you can put on cards in past postings)
DL hits back/hams/quads/traps in one go. It's one of the few that hit so many muscle groups and builds strength. Described in Men's Health and I think they provide a good progression so you acclimate to this movement.
Learn it ins stages:
Start with
"Potato-Sack Squat" to get you going on getting the flexibility of the lift before doing the BB Deadlift.
Hold dumbbell (DB) about 20 or 30#, with both hands under top of the weight and your arms hanging straight down in front of your body. Keep chin and chest up, shoulders back. Lower your body until weight touches floor, pause , then come back up smoothly.

2) Next stage after you get the hang of that:
Put two 10-lb plates under your toes, so balls of feet are on the plates and heels on the floor. Do the DL and it stretches hams and calves and keeps your body up straighter. Avoids tendency to let your weight go over toes: keep driving through the heels.
more to come...
3) more hams flexibility: on elevated surface.
Stand with each foot on box about 6" high (can be 45# plates, aerobic step)and do potato-sack DL. Touch DB to floor-makes it a bit deepr stretch.

Main leg builder: I suggest Hill Repeats over doing squats for runners and triathletes. Far more productive and running specific. The DL helps to compliment this development.  ¶ 9:22 PM

  Week of 11/5/07: Workouts, results, tips, sample workout for balancing your training (I'd say keep them on 3X5 cards);

> Looks like the Treasure Island Tri may in question after that oil spill.

Tues. 11/6/07. 6:30am TEMPO at YMCA.
May do first 5M of original course to St. Vincents and then in reverse.

Tues. 11/6/07. 9am. TEMPO/HILL REPEATS. Ross Common.
Warmup to Phoenix Lake to base of dam road. To give Kevin recovery on his hamstring, I'm modifying his workout to help the rest of the group.
4 X30" (B/B). Then from top of dam do TEMPO to Log Cabin and back until you meet Kevin who will be jogging easy towards you.
> Run together to base of Shaver Grade:
do 3' upgrade @ 5K effort pace; come back down until you meet Kevin; turn-around and do 1' repeat. Then
all return to base of Fish Gulch:
Do 4 X 15" (B/B);
Recovery to Log Cabin; then do pickup to top of Dam.
Easy jog down the hill to parking lot.
> Tempo to tennis courts, then recovery back to Ross.

> Tues. 11/6/07. 9am. TEMPO. Tenn. Valley group. Meet at church parking lot.

> Thursday, 11/8/07. TRACK at 7am & 9am.

> Sunday, 11/11/07. Jason Jacobson's workout: 6:30AM
Join us ... for a Sean Sealey Special, Scintillating, San Rafael-ish, Sunday Long Run (them some Ss).
Our lead scout will take us on a hilly Chilly China Camp (some Cs too) long run.
--China Camp Main Entrance


Weekend of 11/10-11 most of you will do mileage in preparation for the XC race on 11/18 in GG Park. Some of of the group will be doing Treasure Island Triathlon. Should be fun ( if not too wet).

RESULTS.
Not sure all who ran the USA Half marathon..
JENNIFER DECKER did an unexpected quick time of 1:53:47 when she was expecting to only break two hours! Way to go, Jennifer.
Other note on that event is from the feedback I received from some of the group who ran it is on the lack of portelets on race morning. Here the organizers know they have over 4000 runners (they market it well) yet, now for the 5th year they still have such a lack of facilities. Only about 20 portolets: way too few! They should be figuring 1 portelet/50 entrants.
It's not fair to the participants, nor those who give the permits, the workers who have to clean up the mess. This is irresponsible behavior on the part of the race director and lead to revoking their permit for the next year. This also leads to possible cancelling of this race and others who don't do a proper job of organizing the race.

WEIGHT TRAINING CORE:
- Pullups (free or with Gravitron)
-"Bicycles" for abs (found to be about the best core builder by electroymyography testing)
-Deadlift
- Bench Press with BB or DB
- Bulgarian Squats (that's balancing on one leg while trailing foot is on bench; one-legged squats
- DB Hammer Curls...more to come, must dash now.  ¶ 8:28 PM