Valley Stream Running Club News

Box #212 Valley Stream, New York 11582

Stanley Friedlander, President

Donna Hahl, Vice President

Lois Timpanaro, Treasurer

Joe Tito, Secretary

www.VSRunningClub.org

Vol. 25 No. 7                                                 July   2005

Ø      The July breakfast meeting will not be held, instead we will meet Sunday July 10th at Stan’s home for the summer barbeque – 2:00 pm, see newsletter for details.

Ø      Key date: Valley Stream Rotary Run - August 7

Aphorisms from various running thinkers:

·        ‘I feel the earth and wind and the trees. I feel its spirit. It puts me in the moment’ Jennings

·        ‘People begin running for any number of motes, but we stick to it for one basic reason – to find out who we really are’ – George Sheehan

·        ‘It’s the lioness that hunts’ – Slogan, British Women’s Running Club

July - The Morning Jog

I am a morning person; the morning run sets me up for the day’s challenges. To get going in the dark and chilly dawn I do the following: At night I lay out my running clothes, setup the Mr. Coffee pot and place my ‘Radio-Shack Extended Bass AM-FM Stereo Radio’ on the table. When the alarm screams, I automatically put my feet on the floor and head to the coffee and then to the changing area. Carol (the one who sleeps late in the morning) loves to hear the sound of the radio blasting out the news and weather while I answer nature call. I drink my coffee, dress, get wired for sound and shut off Mr. Coffee. I walk out the door with cup, look down the street, put my cup down, set the Timex Iron Man Watch to zero and I go on auto-pilot. 5 minutes into my run, I wonder if I locked the side door of the house.        … Joe Tito

 

Tip of the Month

Strengthen the quads: Many knee injuries are caused by weak quadriceps, the muscles in the front of your thigh. To strengthen the quads, do leg extensions or half-squats. Two sessions a week should do it.

What’s happening by Stan

BBQ:  We will meet at my place, at 2 p.m. on Sunday July 10 for the annual barbecue. There will not be a club run in the morning before the BBQ. Joe and Carol are doing their usual great job of handling the arrangements so please contact them. The details are given by Joe elsewhere in this newsletter. If it is raining strongly, we will postpone it to the following Sunday, July 17. The July meeting will be at the barbecue. The main order of business will be getting teams ready for the Ocean-to-Sound relay. I hope you can all be there.

Future Events: The Rotary 4-Mile Run will be on Sunday, August 7. Boris is busy working on it. The race begins at 8:30 so please be at least a half hour early so we can get you to your position on time. Please save the date as we need volunteers to work the course. The August meeting will be on the next Sunday, August 14, and it will be in the park.

Rotator Cuff: The rotator cuff muscles and their tendons are four in number and they keep the shoulder in its socket and also help move the arm. Many people get problems with them and usually it involves damage to the tendons. Since this is a common problem, I thought you might be interested in my experience.

 I got severe pain in my shoulder, neck, and back starting about a year ago. Much of my problem got better with physical therapy and cortisone shots. However, the pain in my shoulder did not improve and I spent the year in pain and with limited function of my left arm. I found that I could not run because of the severe pain I got whenever I moved my arm vigorously. I saw two orthopedic doctors who I see, with hindsight, gave me bad advice. Finally I came to Dr. Dines who is head of orthopedics at LIJ and a shoulder specialist who has repaired the shoulders of many pro athletes. He operated (arthroscopic) on my shoulder two weeks ago and I am very pleased with the result. The main good point for me going in was that I did not have a full tear of any tendon. This means that my recovery should be relatively rapid. He did find partial tears on two tendons. My good luck was that he only had to remove the torn fibers without any stitching and it should heal completely in far less time than if I needed stitches. Stitches would have lengthened the recovery period by one to two months. The usual recovery from this surgery with full tears is three months. He also filed down numerous spurs and rough patches caused by long years of use and arthritis. I have intermittent pain now and I tire easily, but I am very happy with the result.

The key to the good result was finding an excellent surgeon. I felt good about Dr. Dines at my first visit to see him because when he asked me immediately “What do you want?”. I said I want to be totally active again. He said that if I had wanted anything less, he wouldn’t have operated. So he cared about what I wanted. The other orthopedists assumed that at my age I should just be a couch potato so they said “I shouldn’t have surgery”. They didn’t believe I could be athletic since they just looked at my age. If I had followed their advice, I would spend the rest of my life as a couch potato on pain medication.

With being out for about half a year with my heart procedures which, thank the Lord, have been a success and with then being out almost a year with the shoulder, I am way out of shape and overweight. It has been a bitch watching other people run for so long while I couldn’t run also. I have been hiking long distances but it is not aerobic enough  - it didn’t raise my heart rate enough - to keep me in shape and to keep me from getting heavier. I hope to start doing some running soon and getting back in some sort of shape. That would be great. Thanks to all you nice people who showed me your support. It means a lot to me.

We should never forget those who are sick, injured, and in pain. Best of health and a speedy recovery to all. I hope to see you at the BBQ. Stan

 

‘You-all’ come to the annual club BBQ on Sunday July 10 at 2 p.m. at Stan’s home.  All members, family, friends and pets are welcome. We will work the party as we have done in the past. Each person will bring some food item, lawn chairs and snack tables. Carol Tito has volunteered to coordinate the items people will bring. Please notify her, or leave a message on her machine, or e-mail her assistant Joe Tito.

Help – I think we have enough food and drinks, but Stan does not have any table space for the food. Can someone bring a ‘light weight all purpose table’?

 

Feature – Long Island Races

Lake Ronkonkoma 4 Mile by Joe Tito. Living out in Suffolk country I have been trying out some of the local races (That is, local to me). This race starts a few blocks from the Islip Town Beach. The beach is located on the lake and is ½ mile north from the L.I.E off of exit 59. The lake is beautiful; you would think that you are in up state New York. The race does not go around the lake; it runs through the neighboring community which circles the lake. It is basically flat except for mile 3 which has a good hill. This hill is not as bad as Cow Harbor’s St Charles hill, but it will do. The race finishes at the beach. The day was hot and a few of the runners tried to jump into the lake. But, the park rangers prevented them from going so. It seems that the lake had a high bacteria count. The race has lots of goodie such as Brooklyn Beer, Strathmore Bagels, soda and water. Carol and I would rate this race a 9.

Kings Park 15k by Donna Hahl. This was the first time I participated in this race. It was very challenging and extremely hilly. The views were spectacular. I'm looking forward to doing it again next year. This race was originally scheduled for 3/12/05. When we got to Kings Park that morning, the police department cancelled it because of snow.  It wasn't snowing on the South Shore when I left home. As we headed east, the rain changed to slush and then to snow. By the time we arrived in Kings Park, it was like a blizzard.

 

By popular demand – the ‘Rabbit Sightings’ by the VSRC

We runners/walkers talk about various important issues as we observe the world about us, here are some comments on sighting of wild life.

> I saw (6) cottontail rabbits this morning – Jack H.

> Shall we call the cottontails "Jack" rabbits? – Stan F.
> Valerie and I have 2 rabbits that live in our backyard. Our cat Ally loves to watch them as well as 2 chipmunks! – Bob and Val

> We have rabbits in St. James – They do not eat our tomatoes – Joe T.

> OK, here's another. I've been seeing rabbits in my yard for the last two years, year round.  Yesterday morning, I was going to put on the sprinkler and I thought I saw a rock but it turned out to be a baby rabbit tucked into the grass.  It was the smallest one I've ever seen - about 3 inches long.  I was glad to see that it was gone when I got home from work because I was concerned that it might be sick. Mike Gillen

> Hi Sissy's I have Alligators in my back yard! – Joe C.

> Hi Everyone:  Not only do we have alligators, like Joe Cataldo, We have a GREEN MONSTER swimming in our pool who likes to eat the flowers from the hibiscus tree.  Can anyone top this? - Theresa and Gene

 

 

To Stan – A Rotator Artho Surgery Winner

Many of the members of the Valley Stream Running Club has sent Stan ‘Good Wishes’. These are just a few:

I'm glad everything went well and we wish you a speedy recovery! I guess your dreams of pitching for the Yankees will be put on hold! Valerie and I really love it down here! Rick is not too far away and we're going to get together soon. We used the money from the club to buy a hammock. Looks great and is really comfortable! If you ever want to get away for a day or two come on down! We'll see you and everybody on July 10th!    Bob and Valerie

            It will be 10 years in September since my rotator cuff surgery.  I did have a tear, plus a spur, I think.  I was supposed to have the other shoulder done, but it wasn't as bad, so I never did.  I was scheduled to be off 2 weeks, but I only missed 2 days.  I hurt when I had to move it right after the surgery (arthroscopic).  I can show you the scars of the holes at the barbecue.) It is not so bad.  I am having carpal tunnel surgery on 7/6. See ya, good luck. E. Zullo

 

Race Results

LIRRC Wednesday Night Summer Series

            6/8       Joe Tito 30:08 2nd

Circle of Friends 10K

            Dorothy Russo 55,    Rochelle Holden 1:05,

            Lois Timpanaro and Donna Hahl 1:46

Joe Tito - Lake Ronkonkoma Lake 4 M – 28:20

Kings Park 15k

            Rochelle Holden 1:50,          Donna Hahl 1:52

Summer Series - Sunken Meadow 10k

Lara Menig 53:53     Ed Pettinato  58:10,  Donna Hahl 1:11:25

Summer Series – Robert Moses 1 Mile

Donna Hahl 12:35
The Jump Start Triathlon, Sunday,
6/26/05, Hofstra University.
            Ed Pettinato  1:
06:21,          Donna Hahl 1:14:15

            Liz Farrell  1:11:45,               Rochelle Holden  1:14:54