This weeks training

Hey STR this week's training will be on Saturday morning. We will meet at Nakin Mills in Hines Park (Near Farmington and Ann Arbor Trail). Early bike will be at 7am, Run at 8am and late bike will be at 9am. We can do a casual ride to plymouth for breakfast for the later bike if people would like. Let me know if you have any questions or are interested in joining. Everyone is welcome, friends and family all paces and ability levels.

Ralph

734.502.7925

Thursday Track Night

Come and join me for Track Night this Thursday, 5/27 at the Royal Oak Middle School Track. ROMS is located on Washington between 11 mile and Catalpa at 6pm or at STR headquarters at 1202 Lawndale Dr. in Royal Oak at 5:50pm. This weeks workout will be mixture of 400's and 800's (400, 800, 400, 800, 400).

Hope to see you there.

STR Early Season Race

Vinnie and I both PR'ed in our first ever DU. The skies opened up the morning of the Willow Du with pouring rain, hail, and 40+ mph winds, but the weather cleared up (some what) for the race. We started out too fast on the run and both PR'ed our 5k times. Vinnie had a strong bike on his new ride. We battled through the strong winds to get to the the second 5k where vinnie put the hammer down to have a 4th place in the big kids division finish and I held down for 6th place. The Duathlon is a great way to get an early season race to get ready for the tri season or a great way to try something new if you are not a swimmer.

STR kicks off the season at Corktown

The official start of the STR season will be this weekend at the Corktown St. Paddy's Day 5k and parade. The 5k begins at noon and the parade starts at 2 pm. The STR tent will be in the Firestone Station parking lot off of Michigan Ave across from the old tiger stadium. We will be firing up the grill and enjoying some post race refreshments. All are welcome to join the fun, whether you are running, cheering, or enjoying the St. Patrick's Day events. Let me know if you have any questions, send an email to ralphellispt@hotmail.com or call 734.502.7925.

Big House/Big Heart

It was a great day for a run at the morning of the Big House/Big Heart run.  Vinnie and I represented STR in the 10k and Annette and Carter dominated the 5k course.  There were over 10,000 runners who traveled the streets of Ann Arbor to make their way to the 50 yard line of Michigan Stadium.  Vinnie and I started off a little too fast but was able to hold the pace for our PR's in the 10k.  It was an all out sprint once we made our way through the tunnel on to the field to the finish.  Annette and Carter spent the first 2 miles weaving their way through the field to find their pace and finished STRong.  

Xterra Torn Shirt Tri-STR finishes 1st and second

Nordberg and I attempted to dominate the Xterra Torn Shirt Tri, but ended up finishing 1st and second from the bottom.  It was an impressive field of racers, and then there was us.  It was Jon's second time participating in this event, first time was about 7 years ago.  It was my first attempt racing off road on the fat tires.  Jon and I were close coming off the bike, but his ability to run helped him pull away on the trail.  I knew after hitting a root and rolling down a hill, the 6.6 mile run was going to be a little tougher than I thought.  About 3 miles into the run, the course official came up next to me on his mountain bike and I knew that I was the last one on the course.  Even though Jon and I were the last ones to finish the race, we still finished ahead of all the people who quit and did not finish or those who did not even attempt to race because they thought it may be too difficult.  It was a badge of honor to bring up the rear.  It really does not matter if you are first or last, as long as you do your best.

Motor City Tri

STR dominated the Motor City Tri.  This was Vinnie's first ever triathlon, and he flat out dominated the sprint distance, with the second fastest bike split and 6th place division finish.  Tony was the fastest tire in the olympic distance, with a solid time of 2:28, good enough for a top ten division finish.  I brought up the rear, but glad to be racing again after a few years off due to car accidents and knee surgeries.  It was a good day on the Isle.