Many thanks to Heather for setting up yet another fabulously attended happy hour!
February is upon us and that means A LOT of activity aboard the Ship. Below, in order, are the things we customarily do over the next few weeks:
Saturday, February 8th (post long run) – we hang flyers on the doors of residences along the marathon route letting them know that the race will impact their Sunday. We need roughly 15 people to pull this off. With that number of folks we usually get it done in a little over an hour. We do the Saturday morning long run as scheduled, head to breakfast, someone from Conley Sports (usually Phil) meets us at around 10:30 at the breakfast spot, we review the map, break into small groups, and divide/conquer. Easy! Email me if you can help. Breakfast is FREE for volunteers and there is usually a t-shirt in it for you as well (so please send your shirt size when you email me).
Friday, February 14th – the annual Ship Marathon Party! It has become somewhat of a tradition to convene at my house on the Friday before the marathon to eat lasagna, bread, salad, dessert, and drink (water/gatorade/Shiner). The group has grown over the years but the party typically maxes out at about 50 (unless I’m extra nice to my wife for the next couple of weeks…in which case we can push it to 60…in which case we should plan on it being limited to 50). If you’re on the “runners@countyline.com” email list you will receive an invitation in the next couple of days. The invite will have a hard cap so RSVP early if you’d like to attend. A few questions come up frequently so let me try to address those here briefly. Kids? The short answer is “yes”, if you must, with the following caveat…your kiddo displaces a shipmate. If you’re ok with that then I don’t have a problem with it either. I may even like your child more than the shipmate they displaced so it could be a win/win. What can you bring? Nothing. My lovely bride will cook enough lasagna (both meatie and veggie) to feed a small army. Even with Eric (the reigning Juan-in-a-Million champ) Mata and Chris (side dish) Prairie in attendance I will be eating leftover lasagna for weeks. We will also have plenty of the aforementioned water/gatorade/Shiner. If you prefer wine or yellow beer you might want to bring your own. Otherwise we have you covered.
Friday, February 14th (part two) – at the annual marathon party we will recognize some folks (or maybe just one folk) who should be recognized for their efforts over the prior year in keeping the ship afloat or, perhaps, their body of work over a much longer period than an arbitrary year. In addition to much praise and adoration, we customarily bestow said group and/or individual with a gift or series of gifts that may appear wholly disproportionate to their contribution. Recent examples include, but are not limited to, kick ass rain jackets, first class airline tickets to Hawaii, heaping piles of cash, or all of the above. If you’d like to contribute to the pot please slide your cash/check/money order to either Coach Al or myself between now and the 14th. How much? Whatever you can comfortably part with. Colin insists that I let you all know that you should be fully funding your 401k (especially if your company has a generous match) prior to making this gift. Thank you for your consideration of this fine tradition!
The Workout – 8 x 800
News – there will be a hill workout on Thursday (5 mile tempo). There will be a long run departing the zero at 7:00:00 am on Saturday. On the trail this week for 12 or 13 miles. Breakfast at El Gallo (2910 S Congress) at 9:19:47 am.
Run every chance you get!
The Ship of Fools 