Last Saturday the RW gang came out for the usual AM run dressed like they were on the way to a strip poker game. Layers layers, and more layers. and in fact, a poker game WAS on tap for the day--the bi-annual Poker Run. This is a fund raiser to fund all the snacks and Gatorade provided by RunnersWorld on our Saturday runs. The bad thing is, our string of warm days had expired, and Saturday was the coldest day of winter--so far!
Roman knows how to stay warm. Heater on full blast, double gloves, hand and foot warmers, and an Amish space heater to boot! He looks warm and toasty.
Huge thanks to the volunteers who stood out and froze while getting people signed in, helping with awarding the winnings after the run, and also those on the course dealing cards.
Ray is working on assembling his poker team, and also keeping his nose warm.
Brian brought his Star Trek hat out of the closet.
Coach Kathy explains the rules of poker. 5 card stud--not Go Fish!!!
One of the most inspirational shirts ever. I can think of no better reason to run. (Well, that's a good one at least!)
Have to admit, since I was absent from the run, I do not know the story of Sherry. Anyone?
Robert cruising to the finish--about mile three in his run.
A mob of poker players approach the pedestrian bridge. Cards in hand--wonder if there's an ace up their sleeves?
Mitch and Kathy--dealers? Better not deal from the bottom of the deck!!
Here's a shady dealer. Roman passes out the two of clubs.
Misty and Darcy talk about the odds of drawing into an inside straight.
Read her face--Venus has a good hand.
Susan and Laurie scheming. Which one has the winning hand??
Special thanks to
Susan Westmoreland, who took every one of these awesome pictures, and allowed me to snatch them from Facebook. Seems the usual photographer stayed at home
snuggling under the covers nursing a sore knee.
The idea behind these track sessions is to fine tune particular aspects of your running. This is a time to systematically whittle your pace down. An easy jog around the track to warm up is followed by a brief series of stretching. Then, with your target pace in mind, you run a lap (400 meters or 1/4 mile) at the prescribed pace, then a slow jog or walk, and repeating this 4 times. I am sure there will be different workouts as we progress. 
It is important to stay focused on the task at hand, following the methods, and not running lap after lap as fast as your legs will carry you. If you do not run the designed intervals, then it's just another evening jog at the river--not a bad thing, but you're not likely to get the results that others who follow the directions get. 
There were some tonight who ran 6 laps, and some who probably ran 16 or more. It will be interesting to see how much everyone progresses. We may start to see a lot of PRs shattered in the next few months. A good thing, yes?
and provided the tasty bagels that helped energize the runners throughout the night (baked by Bill himself!). The trail was a 15-mile out and back on the outskirts of Stillwater. About 20 runners enjoyed cool weather from the thunderstorms flanking them but nobody got wet. Everyone had a good run starting 8pm with the last coming in at 4am: 
