Valley Stream Running Club News

Box #212 Valley Stream, New York 11581

Stanley Friedlander, President

www.VSRunningClub.org

 

Vol. 25  No. 6                                                June   2005

Ø      The June meeting will be held on June 19 (Pop’s Day) in Valley Stream Park with a 7:30 AM start.  

Ø      Schedule your calendar for the annual barbecue – July 12 at Stan’s details in next newsletter.

Ø      Did you know that August 7 is the Valley Stream Rotary 4 Miler – You all come.

 

Aphorisms from various running thinkers:

·        ‘When you’re young, deferring gratification is not a honed skill. As you get older, you get better at the marathon mentality’ – Jeff Bezos

·        ‘Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee and I’ll forgive Thy great big one on me’ – Robert Frost

·        ‘Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it’ – Oprah Winfrey

June - Running Form

It is said that the perfect form looks good, and you maintain an efficient running posture. The shoulders play an important role in keeping your upper body relaxed while running. I was told to keep my shoulders low and loose. I tend to run with my shoulders up near my ears. Even when I shake them out to release the tension, they come up again. I tend to run stiffly on my small fat legs. Who cares – I’m a legend in my own mind.

Over and Out Joe Tito

 

Tip of the Month

It’s perfectly natural to dread hills, especially during a race. But try seeing them as a positive thing, for example, by repeating silently to yourself “this hill is a welcome relief” – and you might get to the top faster and in better form.

 

What’s happening by Stan

Meeting Rescheduled:  Sometimes things happen and you got to change the plans. So the June meeting will be a week later than scheduled. I’ll repeat the description of the meeting from last month’s news column:

The June meeting on Sunday, June 19th, will be at Hendrickson park and not at the hospital. We will go to the hospital only if it rains and if it does rain, then we will have our usual meeting at 10 in the hospital. So if it is raining, and you don’t find us at the park, you can be sure we will be at the hospital.

Assuming that the weather is good, we will have a two mile run/race/walk starting at 7:30 from the Administration building. We did the one mile relays to death last year so this will be at a longer distance, no relay, and you can race it, run it, or walk it as you please. So everyone can participate. The food and the meeting will start an hour later at 8:30. We need an hour since some people are walking, some will want to run more, and the food takes time to set up.  This is the first time we are doing it this way so I am definitely open to suggestions on how to improve the plan.

Barbecue:  The annual barbecue will be at my place on July 12th.  We will have the details in future e-mails.

Long Beach 10 Miler: Somehow I missed seeing a lot of the club runners who were at the race. I say Jon before the race and Donna after. Actually I know well why I missed seeing them. It’s because I finished about an hour behind them. I walked the whole thing except for maybe a half mile of jogging at the end. I came in third from last in about 2:25 and beating out last place by about three minutes. Walking as fast as I could for that distance felt like a marathon to me. I have a lot of respect for walkers now.

Beat wishes: I hope everyone will have a great summer and that all the injured and sick will do well and that Stan will come through his shoulder surgery this month and any future operations in good shape.

Stan

 

Joe Tito’s Editorial

As a senior citizen runner, I’m very much interested in keeping all our benefits as spelled out in the AARP Bible. Newsday has been running editorials on the Medicaid Problem (Medicaid will be the largest cost item in the NY state budget and will bankrupt future generations). Newsday suggested we get Long-Term-Care Insurance to pay for our nursing care. It is said that staying in a nursing home with running track can cost upwards to $100,000 a year. If you are entering old age and require nursing care with heath club, do not buy costly Long-Term-Care Insurance (I hate parting with a dollar). Rather, rob a gas station, get caught, arrested and let the country take care of your old age and recreation needs. All NY country jails come with housing, medical care, and a 1/8 mile running track.

 

Running at the Mouth by Mike Gillen

Has anyone seen Little Tommy Treadmill?  It’s literally been months since I’ve seen Tom.  I keep running into Ellen walking in the park in Valley Stream and I always ask about my buddy, Tommy.  She always has some excuse for him:

-          He’s in Albany.

-          He was getting ready when I left the house

-          He’s in Buffalo.

-          It’s too cold for him.

I’m starting to worry about him.  What if Ellen’s covering something up?  What if something’s happened to Tommy?  What if Ellen has done something to Tommy (not that it wouldn’t be justified)?  So please, before I go to the Police, before his face goes on a milk carton, let me know if anyone has seen Tommy recently.  I miss him so much!

 

I Love Florida by a member of the VSRC South

Hi Everyone:  This is must reading.  Right now it is about 89 and our A/C is on the fritz; for real.  Called for service and was given a time frame for service between 3:00 and 5:00 P.M.  I am not staying in this %#@*%#@ house and waiting.  Put sign on door stating to have serviceman come to the pool and find me.  I may have to spend the day in the water.  Don't care if I do get shriveled up; I'll be cool!!!!  However, NO I am not moving back to New York.  Come visit.         Love, Gene O’Connor

 

Donna is in the Senior Games

On Tuesday I participated in the Senior Games. I did the Orienteering. I decided on the beginner level because I get lost if you turn me around.  The event was held in West Hills Park in Huntington. They provided the participants with 30 minutes of instruction, a map and a compass.  The beginner course was 1.6 miles through the woods. I've never done Orienteering before, it was interesting. I would do it again. There is an Orienteering event in Caumsett on 6/26.   Donna

 

A couple of additions – Mike Gillen

·        Rick Kyung  1:34:40  (Half - Good to see you Rick and congratulations on a good race).

·        Angela Maraia Mannino  4:22:27  (Full - After running Big Sur Marathon the prior week - She keeps going and going and going.  Kind of like the Duracell bunny - Right, Tony?).

Joe, I was all alone at the usual parking lot before the race - where was everyone?  The weather seemed to be OK that morning; but just before the start, the rain came.  It was the first time I did the new course but I don't know if I like it better because I was too busy watching for puddles ahead.  It was miserable the first half of the race but then the rain let up...unfortunately not for long.  At least the temperature was warm enough.  I spent a lot of the race running around or hurdling puddles; then, just before the finish, there was a muddy river that was too wide to hurdle so I went right through it.  At that point, it didn't matter if my shoes got any wetter.  

When I got to the food area, I saw that they must have had fewer sponsors than past years.  They had cups of Powerade and bottles of water first.  Then you came to the 'Goodie Bags' - they handed you a Dunkin Donuts bag with an apple, a pudding and a soggy donut inside.  That was it.  No beer, no Mike's Cheesecake ice cream, no bagel, no yogurt, no Pepsi!  They had no Viagra pens or pads or clocks.  What is this race coming to?   The post-race area was extremely muddy and I thought about what it would be like a couple of hours later when the marathoners would be finishing.  It might have been awful conditions and cheaper than usual food but I was glad I did it. Thanks, Mike

 

Editor’s rely – The reason that I was not there is because they had no beer, no Mike's Cheesecake ice cream, no bagel, no yogurt, no Pepsi!  They had no Viagra pens or pads or clocks. Next year when the shipment of Viagra comes in, I will be there. J.T.

 

LI Marathon Results – Rick Kyung

Coincidentally, few hours ago, I tried to email you for the race. Sorry, I had to go to the HQ to get some info during our talking...  Privately I like drizzling weather but it was like a long huddle race, everybody had to get a focus and follow the way that water is not flowing...

Andrew (2yr old) and Amanda (9 month) are doing fine.
I really hope I can see more members next year! Thanks and Love Rick

Well, I Finished – Arthur Foti

Hi, Joe, I did the half, probably my 20th half give or take. Not exactly world class time but what hey. My time was 3hrs 33 min. considering the weather conditions I was glad just to finish. Running down Hempstead Typq. into the wind and rain I considered heading back to Eisenhower Park. But I just broke the race down into doable sections and kept on going. I was spotted by an old VSRC member by the name of Bud Cortney. Well he spotted me as he ran towards the turn around at Hofstra. It was good to see someone remembered me. I sucked on a chocolate GU tube as I plodded along. I was getting a little cold from the wind
and rain. I was glad I wore an old marathon jacket, that was back then when they gave away goodies if you signed up to run. It was from the '92 Long Island marathon, green and white paper tvak jacket. It helped keep in my body heat. I tried avoiding stepping in puddles but that was almost impossible. Luckily I had an extra pair of dry socks back in my car. Of course I didn't drink enough water so that when I finished my legs cramped a little. The massage hurt but helped my tired legs. PS I miss the old course down Newbridge. I actually put in three 8 mile training runs before the race. I found this road in Blue Point called Middle Road and it goes through Blue Point, Bayport and Sayville. It's like an old country road with curves and lined with some beautiful homes along the way. A lot of cyclist uses it also. Early Sundays are good because it’s not heavy with cars. And there is a small bridge called Bryan's Bridge which is my turn around at approx 4 miles. So I set my goal to reach the bridge and pop a little tube of GU. I met a lady by the name of Pat from the BTC club and we
have done some training runs together. It’s great to have someone to share my runs with. We built up our miles together and Pat ran her first half under 3 hrs. @ 2:56 I believe. Well, here’s to the next Long Island marathon next year.

Reflections of my 2005 half marathon on long island: Between the weather conditions and being a slow runner I hung in there and finished in good spirits. I think one of the keys to my success was to break down the distance into smaller sections. So mentally and physically I gave myself a shorter piece of the race to run. Of course keeping a positive mental attitude definitely helped. At the start with the rain falling I had second thoughts about even doing the whole race, much less finishing. But once I got past a few miles, I felt better about completing the 13.1 miles that lie ahead. I carried two tubes of chocolate GU pinned to my shorts. It was cold going into the wind so the little blast of sugar helped build up my body heat. The old running jacket I wore helped also to keep my body heat in. My little white running gloves got soaked but they helped some what. The rain was so much that it dripped off the end of my marathon hat. As usual I carried a small water bottle and drank with my sips of GU. Unfortunately I did not drink enough water because of the cool weather.
I was really sore the next day. I was glad I put in those 3 8 milers training runs. It kept me mentally strong.  "May the wind be at your back" Peace and Love, Artie

 

Race Results

Joe Cataldo - Gecko 5k, Saturday, May 14th, 3rd place, 31:21.  Moe beat me!

Tom Zullo – Central Park 10K – 51:22 (Did not win $19,000)

Rochelle Holden – LI ½ Marathon – 2:24

Shelter Island 10K

            Dorothy Russo 55:00            Fred Pupke 55:00     Donna Hahl 1:05:00(2nd)

City of Long Beach – Salute for our Veterans, May 29, 10 Mile

Jon Falk 1:11,            Mike Gillen 1:23,       Rochelle Holden 1:46,

            Donna Hahl and Liz Farrell 1:47,                 Joe Tito 1:56

            Stan Friedlander 2:25

Denis Brazil - Senior Games Sunday May 29 won the 1500m, finished second in the 800m.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

 

Sciatica: Unnerving, to Be Sure

Unfortunately, no one knows exactly what causes problems with the sciatic nerve. This long nerve starts on each side of the lower back and, like a long rope, winds its way down the buttock and the back of the leg to the foot. Any pull or strain on this "rope" will precipitate sciatica.

   The initial pain of sciatica is subtle. You might begin to notice a dull ache in the lower back, buttock or thigh. The pain will subside over the course of several hours, only to return once running is resumed. The pain intensifies as the runner continues with training over a longer period; at some point, running must usually come to a halt because the pain becomes so severe. Here are some ways to treat the condition.

·        Rest. Sciatica problems can be quite disabling and often respond well to only one treatment. That's right—rest.

·        Avoid overstretching the hamstrings. This can irritate the sciatic nerve.

·        See a physical therapist for moist heat packs, electrical stimulation and ultrasound applied directly to the back of the hamstrings. This will increase blood flow to the area and hasten the healing process. Then apply moist heat packs at home for 20 minutes three or four times a day.

·        See an orthopedist or back specialist to determine whether you have any underlying back problems that could be contributing to your sciatic condition.

·        Return to running gradually. That means avoiding speedwork and hill training for your first three months back. Undue strain will only irritate the sciatica further.