STR teams up with MAS

STR is proud to announce a partnership with Michigan Adaptive Sports (MAS) for the 2009 season. MAS is an educational organization established for the purpose of providing sports, recreation and physical fitness opportunities for persons with disabilities. STR hopes to provide MAS with volunteers for their events and clinics and help raise some funds so they can continue their efforts in providing their incredible programs to even more people with disabilities. This winter, MAS will be holding several learn to ski/snowboard clinics at Pine Knob and a learn to race weekend at Shanty Creek Resort. MAS also offers other programs throughout the year such as water skiing, kayaking, and hand biking. For more information about MAS go to www.michiganadaptivesports.org .

WAM - 300 success

The weekend of July 24-27th this cyclist-wanna-be actually completed her first century! (100 miles in one day, in bike-speak). A feat I have always wanted to do but always felt was way beyond my reach. I am here to tell you that if I did it, *ANYONE* can do it!

I am 30 pounds lighter and a LOT better in shape than I was at the beginning of this year. I did not complete all 300 mile of the ride, but I learned that indeed, it is easier to cycle in a group, a hydration pack really IS a good thing to bring on a ride, and you really can do more than you think. (I did 115 miles on day 2. :)

This ride is amazing because you are raising money for Make-A-Wish & they have terrific volunteers that support this ride amazingly well. The staff will sit with you while you are being treated for dehydration, even when the hospital is making you wait for hours and hours and hours and hours. (like I said, hydration pack is a good thing and I will bring mine next year)

This was a very fun ride, I am going to do this again next year. Any other STR's want to try it with me? :)

Detroit Marathon

Today was a great day in THE D!
The Z-machine, Freeman and Boondogglato completed their first Marathons early today. Meanwhile Vinnie, Steinert, Ann, KB and I (The Ice Dog) ran the half-marathon before joining the Ellis family to cheer everyone home. While we were able to see Anthony and the Z-machine to cheer them on; Freeman was possessed and too fast for our tired legs. Sorry no group pictures, we all woke up too early (4:45am) to think straight today!

Congratulations spare tire racers, you guys DOMINATED THE D!

The John Rogucki Memorial Kensington Challenge-Dominated

I had my second straight top ten finish on Saturday out at Kensington for the John Rogucki Memorial Kensington Challenge. After running a 10K race on 8/30 and finishing tenth in my age group, I completed my first 15K distance race and finished 10th (out of 13) in the Male Clydesdale Division 4. The course was tough, a lot of undulating hills and it really did take its toll on my pace towards the end of the run. My time was 1:29:19 (9:36/mile) and was easily the fastest I have every run that loop. Anyone that has run Kensington knows what I mean about the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) hills. This was a great tune up run for the half marathon in October. I had to plug out 10 miles anyway this weekend, it was a perfect test for me to see if I could hold my pace. I'm close - the target for Detroit is ~9:33/mile, still a lot of work left in the next two weeks. - Vinnie

Road Runners!

I’m happy to share some great news with the STR nation, KB and I successfully completed the Akron Marathon today.

Kim has been struggling with some serious Plantar Fasciitis in her right foot. But, thanks to Ralph’s excellent “Magic Tape,” she was able to gut out a great race and finally break the 4 hour mark. KB and I finished together in 3:57:36! And let me add, Akron is HILLY! VERY HILLY! Making it even more impressive that KB was able to complete this race on a bum wheel. Otherwise, this race is extremely well organized and a great marathon!

Also, Vinnie had a great 15k race at Kensington in 1:29:19 and Z completed a Run Fit Training Run of 20 miles (his longest ever) in 3:10:30– congratulations!

2008 Sylvania Sprint Triathlon

Boondogglato and The End
Less than one month before our 8th wedding anniversary, Michelle and I began the event prep with something we had yet to experience in our A.K. era (After Kids) at the house…a night with no children (This is not going where some of your thoughts are headed). With the kids at Aunt Stacy and "Uncle Fat Kid's", we enjoyed a peaceful and quiet evening of collecting all of our gear and getting to bed by 9PM so we could get up at O'dark hundred and head to Sylvania, OH.
The morning was chilly. Temp at 4:50 AM departure was only 51 degrees, and it was to remain relatively stagnant up until race time. Fortunately, the water temp was 77 degrees, so it was comfortable to the touch while in it. Unfortunately, with stage 2 of the event being a 13 mile bike ride in the ol' spandex suit; fingers, knuckles, legs, and assorted other body parts were a bit chilly while speeding down the road at 22 mph. By the time the run came around, temps settled out in the mid-60's with the sun shining to warm things up.
Michelle looked the part in her newly acquired Quintana Roo Kilo tri-bike (Vintage 1998 - Thanks eBay!), bib number tats on her arms and legs, and a caffeine/Cliff bar/Hammer Gel infusion that would make any Red Bull jealous. She backed-up the "look" with an impressive time of 1:24:33, and an 11th of 18 placing in her age group. She crushed her target time by nearly 6 minutes, and had a personal best bike and 5k. Not bad for only her 2nd triathlon. Look out once she gets the swimming down pat.
I entered the event with the target of shaving 5 minutes off of the previous year's event time of 1:17:31 (9 of 20), and improving my overall standings for the age group. Starting in the first wave of yellow-hatters, the swim went well, incurring only minor contusions with several kicks and elbows to the head. The bike seemed tougher this year than last, with a significant head wind on the way out that did not seem to be as helpful on the return (perhaps it was my fatigue). The run was improved by ~20 sec/mile YOY, but there is definitely room for improvement (verified the next day when I PB'd a 5k run). At the end of the day, the tally was a 4:03 improvement over 2007 (1:13:28), and a 7th of 27 showing. All-in-all, it was a satisfying race day.
Next up on the agenda is the Nation's Triathlon (Olympic Distance) on 9/14 in Washington, D.C., followed by the Detroit Free Press Marathon on 10/19. Thanks to all of you that have supported the SMBC's and pushed me along the way…it is definitely paying off.

STR Reaches New Heights

I am happy to report that the Z-machine and I returned from an awesome trip to the Cascades in Washington. Over the last 10 days Z and climbed in some of the most spectacular wilderness this country has to offer. During our trip we hiked into Boston Basin at the foot of Mount Forbidden only to be socked in by a complete white out for two days.

Boston Basin when we hiked in…

Boston Basin next day…To escape the split pea soup (Z’s apt description of the weather) we moved to the western side of the cascades to climb the South Arête on South Early Winter Spire. Multiple pitches of moderate rock with great exposure…pure alpine bliss!
From there we continued on to Levenworth, WA to climb a 3-pitch climb called Midway. The first pitch (5.6) tested Z’s composure. While the next two pitches were technically easier, there was plenty of exposure for the both of us!

Pitch 1...

Pitch 2...

After having our fill of rock climbing we moved on to Mount Rainier. Our schedule at Mount Rainier National Park was intense! Route shown below. On Sunday, we left Paradise at 7am in an absolute white out… arrived at Camp Muir at 12:30pm to beautiful skies…
melted water, brewed up drinks and ate; went to bed at 5pm, got up at 12:30am, and left camp at 1am. After climbing for about 6 ½ hours and crossing many large crevasses, one of which required a ladder to cross, we reached the summit around 8am!
It was a magnificent day to sit on the summit where we made sure our accomplishments were properly recorded in the summit register.
After descending to back to Camp Muir we took a 2 hour siesta, packed up our camp and returned to Paradise by 6pm Monday morning. In less than 36 hours we climbed up and down a total of ~10,000 feet.

PURE STR DOMINATION!