The Inside Loop - October 2015

PPTC was on the roads at the Fifth Ave Mile September 13th and also behind the scenes volunteering with USADA....many thanks to Doug Olney, Janice Fuld, Wayne Bailey and PPTC friends Trey Heard, Diego Ferrerya, and Sid and Asteria Howard. On the same day, September 13th, not quite the same time, and definitely not the same part of the planet, PPTC was out in force at the inaugural Suffolk County Marathon and Half Marathon. Whether we fulled it or halved it, the hot and humid weather took its toll and gave the race clock permission to add minutes and seconds to finishing times. This race saw PPTC's Nick Guerrero's return to the road racing circuit after his rehab year recouping from his horrific injury on the job as a Suffolk County Police Officer. Recognizing our blessings to celebrate with Nick and the host of other PPTC that were there in support either on the roads or in the bleachers, PPTC rocked the house!!! A three car caravan drag raced out to Heckscher State Park but at the parking lot, the winning speedster was.....only kidding....

Congrats to PPTC Past President Jack Stetch and his family and friends who celebrated his 80th with him. Although definitely a new age cat for Jack, he still strives to be out there mid day with PPTC running buddies Dennis Sivak and Aaron Koffler. Work some, run some and enjoy life a whole lot is apparently the mantra which keeps him out there.

Great to have Bobby Fisher's sister Stephanie Fall and family at the Music That Heals 5K in the park the end of September doing the Bobby Fisher Bagel Stop. For all of us who knew Bobby, there’s one thing we’ll never forget about his dietary preferences and that was his love of anything bagel. Bobby Fisher, we’ll never forget!!!

Two athletes we know trek over to NYU every day for their daily dose of radiation treatment for their two distinct types types of cancer. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers, PPTC.

It’s certainly great to see the great strides Mike Ring is making in his recovery from Guillaume Barre. On the road each week motoring unassisted on Thursday nites with Achilles Brooklyn and then pictured breaking the tape at Music That Heals 5K! Yeah Michael!

''Chicago, Chicago'', the song begins, but lets hope that it’s a wonderful town with even better times for the PPTC marathoners who are venturing out there for their marathon. With PPTC inscripted singlets minted just for the occasion, PPTC will rock Chicago!

Judging just from the total volume of beer and ale consumed at the post workout get together in September coupled with the number of smiley PPTC faces in attendance both during and after the workout, PPTC's recent Wednesday nite group run endng at the Greenwood Park Beer Garden at 7th Ave. by 20th street was a huge success. The beers and ales were cold, our athletes hot and we even got a five mile workout in. Missed it? See ya next time......

Congratulations to Selina Rutovitz, Tifenn Python, Ernie Hershey and Rory O'Flaherty, PPTC's 2015 representatives at the Parade of Nations beffore the NYC Marathon. Thanking all who applied, PPTC had so many strong candidates that the team captains Missy, Linda, Justin, and Michael decided the fairest way to pick was at random. Names were literally put in a hat (a fedora, since this is Brooklyn, after all) and the names of two men and two women were drawn. PPTC will be ''in da' house'' at the Parade of Nations.

Chicago? New York? It's time to start figuring out come race day what to wear in any weather and in any temp, what to eat the nite before and for breakfast the morning of, what time to hit the sack the night before and what’s the best time to rise and shine on race day. To get to the PPTC bus to the start of the NYC marathon, you have to get up in the middle of the nite, eat, get dressed, hit the bathroom, and then get to where the bus departs from . If you haven’t seen 4am on your alarm clock recently, now is the time to set the clock for that hour and rehearse your race day routines. Members of the ''been there done that'' committee always remind that the race you’ve trained months for should not be marred by that new pair of shoes or those bright and shiny socks that have not been proved tried and true. Don’t slurp up the latest freebee at the expo that the product rep swears will clip hours off your finishing time or carry the latest bar to chew up at mile 18 if you haven’t chewed up lots of those exact bars during training. Getting the flu shot is smart but getting the shot just a few days before the race might not be the best of thinking.

Hey, see you on the roads PPTC !!!