Thursday, March 26, 2009

Thursday run, and the BIG LOSER contest.

First things first. Thursday night seemed to be a little rainy, but we had a good outing anyway. Turns out. just a little sprinkle here and there actually felt good, and we might have picked up the pace a little. That can't be too bad!

One of our runners, Dana, ran his first trail run this past weekend. Dana ran the Grasslands 1/2 marathon, and brought back the hardware to prove it. For someone who once said he had no desire to run on trails, he seemed to have enjoyed it! :=)

The bunny slipper is undercover, on a helping in a possible lead that might shed some light on the fate of the long missing bunny mate. Stay tuned for more details.

As the previous post had mentioned, Thursday night was the opening night for the BIG LOSER contest. 87 people came and signed up for the competition. A $25 entry fee will provide a very nice cash prize for the person losing the biggest percentage of weight. Also, there will be weekly prizes, and possibly a prize for the person losing the most actual weight.

Bobby is joining the ranks of TV superstars!! Not sure when this interview will air. Channel 2 did the spot, and as of midway through the news, it has not yet shown.

Brian, wearing a slimming dark colored shirt, goes through a very thorough explanation of the rules of the contest, leaving no detail undiscussed or under-discussed. We had three scales and the weigh in went fairly quick. Everyone's weight was kept private, although one of the scales had an audio option, where is actually SAID your weight. Brian quickly turned that option off after stepping on the scale and it said "ONE AT A TIME PLEASE!"

This seems like it will be a good contest, and should help people get off the couch and start a new healthy lifestyle.

We are expecting a TON of people tonight to sign up and weigh in for the BIG LOSER contest.

A TON, you say?
Well, from the looks of Brian, he might make up HALF of that weight himself!!






Summer is coming, and that beach body need some fine tuning. I can think of no better way to battle the bulge than running with friends, exchanging dieting tips, cross training with Coach Kathy. _________________________________________



So, if you have an extra spare tire you want to shed, or a stubborn muffin top pooching above your belt line, or as in the case below, a load of bread dough that is embarrassing, come join us on Thursdays to weigh in, and who knows, you might walk away with the grand prize!! Even if you don't win, you may end up with that sleek sexy body you always wanted!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Pull up a chair, refill your coffee cup. It's time to catch up on a few things.


The man on the right, my friend Tom, makes the most amazing home-made protein bars ever. Imaging a Power bar....yes the ones that have been out on the shelves for years, and were best used for teething Labrador Retrievers, and then imagine they tasted YUMMY, and were pleasant to the palate. Tom's bars are all that and more. These are heavenly, with all the nutrients to make you healthy, give you strong bones, and make you run faster and jump higher. I am sure the calorie count and fat content is modest, unless you eat several squares at a time, and then forget to run (which has in fact happened to me.) Plus, you will not dislodge your incisors trying to bite these as they are as soft as fresh fudge. You owe it to yourselves to once in your life to try them. The recipe is posted on the right of this page.

This picture of Tom and his brother Vinny (wasn't that a movie title?) was taken Monday at the Bobby's Bunch run around Zink lake. We have a great time on Mondays, running at a very leisurely pace for 3 or 4.4 miles. Starting next Monday, we will start meeting across the river near the amphitheater (actually where the rowing club barn is) due to parking being a problem on the east side. Please come out to run with us.Susan is raring to go, sporting her Six Hour Snake Run shirt from the upcoming TATUR trail race this Saturday. A shameless plug, I know, and while I would love to encourage you all to come out, the race is now full, all shirts are spoken for, but we could use spectaturs and/or volunteers. Come out and just hang out if you are bored with watching non-stop basketball on Saturday.

Next day, different run.......and on St Patrick's day, you would think GREEN would be the color of the day. Several RunnersWorld runners indeed DID get pinched!But I wouldn't pinch Boomer. He is just too cool!

Who let the MANIACS out? Carmie and Cindy are showing off their shirts from their latest marathon conquest. A very large contingent from RW Tulsa took over Little Rock last Sunday. Congratulations to all who ran! I will make an effort to name names after this post.

While hanging out after Tuesday's run, the Riverpark Patrol dropped by to see what the gathering of people was about. Seeing that we were not boozing it up, or snorting meth (is that how you take meth?) he let us off by merely warning us to not park in the grass. Parking seems to be a problem as our group gets bigger. So, on Tuesdays, we are advised to park along Riverside on the shoulder. It seems it is ok to actually park clear on the grass along the shoulder, but not ok to drive away from the road on the grass. I don't want anyone to get a ticket, or even worst....get cuffed and hauled off to the big house. Poor TZ lucked out since the weight limit on this patrol car would have been exceeded with both men on board.

So on to Thursday, another run, another day with issues about parking. Who'da thunk it? Maybe we should just all RUN to our group runs?These are three businesses around the RunnersWorld store. We have such a nice crowd on Thursday night that we fill the parking lot and leave no room for these business's customers. So, to be courteous, and we do want to be courteous, let's all try to leave these spaces open by parking north at the bank, across the street at Wal-Mart, or around the corner. Good neighbors are a good thing. Let's try to make life happy for them all.






A little back patting is in order for Rock Star Ed, for finishing his 2nd marathon in Little Rock.
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And also for Simone, who ran another half marathon there.

Simone has a full marathon in her sights, or at least that is the rumbling I have heard.
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Little Rock has always been known for having a BIG metal. I have heard this was the last year for the BIG one, which means maybe next year it will just be a little wimpy thing? I hope not! Yup, that is BIG! WTG Jason! Sorry I cut your head off!

Other sights seen on this Thursday evening....A group hangs out before the run. David is temporarily blinded by his bright tights.

A pretty good sale on mid-pack runners! Such a deal!

Brian gives details of our newish route for the evening run.

Christal is back from the DL, and gets to RUN!!!!

A newcomer, Ashley, joined us. Ashley wants to get back into running after a short absence. I bet we can help her with that! Awesome to have ya out to run with us!!!

In a rare turn of events, the bunny slipper was awarded to a runner who has not ran all that much in the past few weeks. Kim, who was awarded the slipper for her Saturday/Sunday--50K/50K feat passed the torch on to me, TZ. I am honored and elated!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

No great literary post here

Just a little catch-up. This past week, we have had a full menu of weather to run in. Last Tuesday, we had berry berry cold. So cold in fact, Roman never ventured out of his jeep.And Candice never woke up from her nap.

Tom brought his brother Vinny to run with us. Just 4 words....Where's my Power bar? Tom makes the most delicious home-made power bars ever. So yummy! HINT HINT!




A friend from the past!! Sonya joined us, and it is so awesome to see her again! I am sure she has a big bull's eye on an upcoming marathon.
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And it was freezing! Thursday was even worse. So cold, even T Z skipped the run, so no pictures. :(
Not sure about the bunny slipper saga, but I'll update that next week.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. While the marathon and half marathon faithful were executing their 18/9 miles on the river, around 2000 runners assembled just outside RunnersWorld.If you see 6 dudes wearing kilts and playing bagpipes, it must be the St Patrick's Day Run.

Welcome home Allen! Super Runner Girl Linda hangs out with the other Super Runner Girl's boyfriend.

While Trail Zombie hangs out with a cow.



Canille...
A. emulates the Statue of Liberty.

B. is getting her limit duck hunting.

C. bringing down the house doing karaoke.

(Actually, she is firing the starting gun for the 5k!)
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A trio of RunnersWorld sweethearts just seconds before the starting gun. Ruth went on to run a great race, running the entire way with no walking breaks. Sandra ran a huge PR. Nice job, ladies!

Billy beats a dude with green hair.

Major Congrats to John Sutrick for winning the race with a time of 15:41, bettering his younger brother Jimmy's time by 16 seconds. This was an awesome outing for the brothers, finishing 1st and 2nd. Nice job.

And another pat on the back for Hayley, who finished 1st in her age group and 6th overall. You're just so fast!!!!

Monday with Bobby's Bunch.... warm my camera melted down. In a matter of 2 days, we go from sleet and freezing rain to temps in the upper 70s. Go figure. I'll try to get some more pics up tomorrow.

Oh heck, maybe this was a great literary post.

Monday, March 9, 2009

A common thing lately....people show up with new new medals draped around their necks.Weird shirts....Shirts with great stories of accomplishment and survival.What does it all mean??
It's marathon fever! A certain disease is sweeping our group, as hordes of runners are knocking down marathons with ease. Even the slightly saner ones are halving the dose, notching half marathon finishes to their belts. Top pic, Cassie has that insane silly grin sporting her Cowtown bling. Second pic is Bobby who paid the price of 26.2, 31.1, and then 26.2 again to achieve the status of Maniac. Third pic is Stefanie, sshwing off her finishers shirt from Cowtown.Please, somebody help. Aiden is gonna catch the fever!

Temps have been so much nicer. T Z actually showed off his hairy zombie legs both Thursday and Saturday, and amazingly, no one was blinded by the glow-in-the-dark sheen from the severely untanned skin. We have had good crowds out to run. RunnersWorld was packed as usual on Thursday before the run.Here, a group of runners discuss the good sales on winter apparel.

The bunny slippers were awarded to Kim of course, for running her double 50Ks last weekend. She then announced that she wants to run a 100 miler. GULP!! ONE HUNDRED MILES??? Yes, and I want to be the 1st to toss out a bet that she will indeed finish!

Thursday we again ran through the older neighborhood of midtown Tulsa. Nice houses, nice rolling hills. Very enjoyable. Soon, we will be able to access the new trail on Riverside from 41st Street northward, but I hope we can occasionally keep the midtown course on the menu.

Cruising with DOG power.

Mukash is flying on the return trip.

Roman and Michael both had birthdays this week, and a few of us found our way to Dave and Busters for dinner and games.Birthday boy Michael, just before extinguishing his candle.

Roman pauses very briefly before plowing through his birthday cake.

Two guys with virtually no coordination waste a few credits.

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Our Saturday morning was a cutback day, with Marathoners going 9 miles, and the halfers going 7 miles. We took advantage of the strong south headwind and used it for resistance training. Worked great.

Up hill, and into a wind. And still smiling!

But coming back, some people were running sub 5 minute miles.Leaning hard into the turn!Of course, some people were slower than others.

Ed flashes some gang signs, while Ken stakes his claim to the trail with his flamboyant pants.

Always willing to support the running community, several of our runners wore TRC running gear in today's run.

Now, can you name the person in the next three pics?I know....this one might be easy....but as a bonus, care to guess the date and gender of the new arrival?

No problem guessing the loud tights....I already gave that away, but who does this knobby knee belong to?

Finally, who does the smiley face belong to? I will be impressed if anyone other than about 3 people get this!

Have a great week! 18 miles on the slate for next weekend!