Winter Training, Campaigns, Heart Rate Training and Garage Band (which of these things doesn't belong?) Actually they all do..

Hi All,

Well, way too long away from the blogosphere but lots of exciting things to catch you all up on.

First, in Teens Run Westchester land, we're on the cusp of starting our Winter Half-Marathon Training Program. We have a couple small things to nail down but bottom line it's going to happen. While we had hoped to launch early December, we may end up just waiting for the New Year - just depends on a few variables. Bottom line, super excited about doing a Pilot Program that will give 25 to 30 committed teens the chance to work with some great adult mentors and run in one of our New York area half marathons - the exact one is still a surprise. You'll know soon enough.

I've also been thrilled with the response to our first ever year end campaign - if you haven't seen (but I'm sure you have) my posts on it, surprise! here's another shot. Please go to this sight and make a donation and/or create your own fundraising page and post it to facebook, twitter and all that other good social media stuff. Just go here:

http://wwwteensrunwestchester.causevox.com

In another bit of somewhat old but worthwhile news, I am still so appreciative that Bethany Lee, a terrific blogger on health, exercise and generally healthy living, did a wonderful story on Teens Run Westchester. While I appreciate that there's some nice stuff about me (my mom really liked it), please check out the stuff on our organization. It's very cool. You can find it here:

http://projectwhitespace.com/interview-robert-grabel-and-teens-run-westchester/

In terms of me and my running, some great stuff to share and some stuff where I have to change my habits a bit. I've been doing lots of reading on running recently and came across a great book simply title "Running" by a guy named John Stanton. Info is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7735857-running

By the way, John is the owner and founder of the Running Room, a great running and accessory store in Canada. His methodology has some similarities with Jeff Galloway but he's more about a ten minute run/one minute walk as opposed to specific intervals like Jeff. Anyway, he has excellent section in his book about using heart rate to time and measure your abilities for your longer, easier runs as well as your tempo and speed work. I've been doing a lot of self-monitoring on that but have gotten a bit too comfortable doing it on the treadmill. So, as I look outside on this unseasonably beautiful day (it's 60 degrees here in Yonkers), I've committed myself to getting outside and taking my crazier dog- who needs to run off some energy - outside for a good run. We'll see if this heart rate stuff works as well on the road.

Finally, on an unrelated note, I am having such a blast jamming these days. I'm back to the old addictive state of playing that I used to have back when I was a teen with measurable hair. My next goal is to figure out garage band and get my songs on there finally! If anyone knows how to use that, happy to pay you for a good tutorial.

Enjoy the day wherever you may be!