Happy picnic season! Grab your blankets, baskets full of goodies and get out there to soak up that spring sunshine! I actually dared to wear shorts on a run a few days ago to try and get a little sun on my white legs. I ran at home so my thankfully my friends were spared from temporary blindness.
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to write up a run club newsletter and we have a few exciting updates. First, we have a new logo! I’m sure by now many of you have seen it on social media or on Strava. We loved our original, but it’s taken a few years as a club to find something unique to us. We’ve teased each other about chasing bunnies during races (usually the cute ones with the crop tops) and seen actual bunnies on our long runs. Then there are the really-long run conversations that come up wondering what the difference is between a bunny and a rabbit (hint: one is younger.) And when we talked about a team mascot, of course the bunny came up. So as such, our new logo has evolved.
Along with the new run club logo, of course we needed new swag! Our next bit of exciting news is that Templeton Run Club now has a Team Store! This is great for us in that we don’t have to worry about purchasing gear and keeping an inventory of mismatched sizes. It’s great for you in that you can order run club gear whenever you like! You can check it out HERE or look for the Team Store page on our website. I’ve ordered recently and it took just over a week to get my order from when I placed it to when it was received.
With that, we have also been working with Cloud 9 Sports and the folks at New Balance to order our first Templeton Run Club Team Singlet. Nicole and I went down to the Venture Half Marathon at the end of February and it was so fun to see all the runners repping their teams and clubs at the race. The singlets are separate from the team store and I plan on placing an order next week. (Colors are navy blue, orange and white and may look a little different from the picture.) They are $52 before tax and shipping. If you would like to buy one, please email me your size by March 20th. There is a 4 week turn around so hopefully we’ll get them by mid-April.
Not quite in time for our Barrelhouse 5k Pub Run/ Walk on March 23rd but that’s ok! We have some swag on the way. Join us for a fun run or walk around Tin City at 10am to be followed by Beermosas for purchase and a free raffle for our participants. All ages and fitness levels are welcome! Bring your friends, parents, kids, neighbors, and random strangers you meet in the grocery store. This is a free community event for all. You can sign up here on Eventbright or RSVP on Strava!
Last bit of news is that while last year we offered a scholarship to Templeton High School Cross Country and/ or Track and Field athletes, we had no takers. This year we’ve had a few submissions and will be providing a $500 scholarship to one Templeton High School Senior! As our club grows, we are hoping to offer this to all our North County Schools. If you know a Templeton High School Senior athlete that hasn’t applied yet, tell them to go to the THS Scholarship page for more information. We are asking for a one page essay on how track and field or cross country impacted you through high school and how it might affect your future in athletics. Submissions are due before May 1st.
THANK YOU to our Sponsors for supporting our club and making things like our fun runs and scholarships happen! This includes A List Properties, West Coast Auto and Towing, Movement for Life Physical Therapy, Fluid Sports Nutrition, K-Man Cyclery, Morro Bay POA, Simons Construction, San Miguel Lions Club, 805 Golf Carts, and Tenet Health Central Coast.
Happy Running Friends!
Rosalie Smith
rosaliesmith@templetonrunclub.com
Plantar fasciitis. Also known as that dumb achy pain on the bottom of your foot or heel people commonly feel first thing in the morning after getting up from bed. Caused by many different things from tight calves to wearing the wrong shoes, it’s a common overuse injury in runners and affects over 3 million people per year. As a nurse, I know a thing or two about medical conditions, so when I started feeling that achy heel and foot pain, I figured it was PF….aka pffft.
While we might have had just as many student coaches as we did campers, it was incredibly successful. Our THS athletes proved to be good mentors and excellent role models to some incredibly talented youth athletes. Thank you to our adult volunteers, student coaches and run club members that came out to make this camp run smoothly! And a shout out to our community partner 
She said it would be easy. She said I would love it. She said that I would have zero issues. Well, “She” lied. I’m talking about my long-time running pal Amy. Sometimes I get roped into things that are out of my comfort zone because I love a challenge. For instance, a group of friends were all doing a 3-day juice cleanse and anybody that knows me well, knows that I love to eat. I never go without a meal, but I decided that because 3 days wasn’t challenging enough, I would do a 5-day juice cleanse. It was terrible, and nobody wanted to be around me after the second day. So, when Amy asked if I wanted to do the Wild Cherry Canyon Marathon, I couldn’t resist the challenge.
Fast forward to the day of the race. I felt ready! Solid training, no injuries, proper sleep and hydration the week prior. Everything was lining up to be a great day. The sold-out race consisted of runners competing in a 50-mile ultra marathon, 26.2 mile marathon, half marathon and a 5 mile hike. The gun goes off and we all take off. I usually start a bit more conservatively because it takes me a few miles to get warmed up. Welp, I clocked my first mile at a 13:15, that sucked! This was tough and I mean walking with my hands on my knees gasping for air tough. The first loop was also the same route as the 5-mile hike which took us past the start line. I got to see some of my friends, smarter friends, that had opted for the lesser mileage events. They thought I was crazy for doing the full marathon and at this point, 5 miles in, it was becoming painfully obvious that they were right. I continued climbing hill after hill, with some running and a lot of walking. I typically don’t allow myself to ever walk in a race but there was no other choice for me. I watched people twice my size climb hills like mountain goats as I wallowed in my own misery and puttered along asking myself what the heck was wrong with me. I wanted to quit over and over again but didn’t. I found the aid station twice with the real food and had no shame in stopping for a Sprite and a PB&J, and when you’re that tired everything tastes amazing!
It was a cool and pleasant Thanksgiving morning when that changed. I had finished the prep work for our feast, and I had started the turkey in the oven, so what better time to go out for a run than while everything was cooking? And that is when everything changed.
As a group City to Sea 2021 was a smashing success. Twenty of us in Atomic Blue Shirts doing our warm-up together inspired random runners to join in with our pre-run/race ritual. Whether you were running or spectating, our shirts were easy to spot from a distance. We did TRC proud that day.
ow this bonk was in no way a fault of my TRC running buddies. They were the best. Now, imagine, if you will, a chipmunk drinking coffee, inhaling helium, and talking super fast. That would pretty much summarize my newly acquired little sister and running buddy, Susan. Susan had run Boston the last 9 years in a row and easily qualified for Boston yet again this year. I got a call from her, and she is saying that not only did she get accepted to Boston, but they used her adjusted M2B time! ( Remember, M2B messed up the course! ). I had submitted my M2B run just for fun, and son of a biscuit, they accepted me using an adjusted time!!! Considering my first marathon experience, I was not super excited about going to Boston, but my lovely wife Kellie said, “If you qualify, you are going!” So now I was Boston bound.
After a long drizzly ride, we disembark into a flood of people trying to figure out how to stay dry and where is the starting line. Remember 30,000 runners. You don’t just fire a pistol and say go! Several waves separate the elite from us, mere mortals. The elites start at 10 am. Next wave 10:25, then 10:50, and finally 11:15. My wave was 10:50. But within each wave were corrals! Based on your qualifying time, you are assigned a corral, so the faster qualifiers start before, the slower ones. Remember my TRC buddies? The ones I trained with mile after mile. Well, they were assigned corrals 3&4, whereas I was back in 7. I admit, I tried to sneak into their corral, but I got called out and had to do the walk of shame backward thousands of runners to my corral. 10:50 crept around, and we all got ready to start. Rain ponchos and throw-away gear was tossed aside as the minutes crept by, and finally, we started towards the start line! From where the bus lets you off to the actual start line was just under a mile! 
Remember my Bonk in M2B? Well, that was my biggest fear: that I’d run 18 miles and then cramp up. I decided early on that I would never catch my TRC buddies because they started 3 minutes before me. My strategy for Boston was to treat the first 21 miles like a training run. I soaked in the crowds, my fellow runners, the scenery, and the drizzle, constantly telling myself to slow down. After the first 16 miles starts a series of four hills that culminate with Heartbreak Hill. By itself, Heartbreak would be a nothing burger, but coming after a series of hills, it really takes its toll on some. As I started up Heartbreak, just after mile marker 20, I looked around and smiled because I knew I was feeling great and I had my secret weapon waiting at the top of the hill: Kellie! Sure enough, as I crested Heartbreak, I spotted Kellie, Joe, and Sandi. The hardest part was done, so now it was time to race! I found some kid weaving through the crowds at a pace I thought I could maintain, and we took off down the hills onward to Boston with my blocker making a path for me. It was a great theory that lasted for a while, but the crowds were still way too thick even so far into the run that I could only keep up with him for a few miles. I had studied the course beforehand and knew some landmark buildings that beckoned me toward the finish. It is at this point that the crowds are what really get you going. It was such an awesome feeling making the last few turns, looking way down the street, and seeing the finish line. In my mind, I was sprinting to the finish…reality might have disagreed. But, stepping over that finish line made everything worth it. Later reviewing the pictures, all you could see was me reaching to stop my Garmin as I crossed the line, whereas the seasoned runners like Susan put on more of a photo finish smile and flourish!
Speaking of Susan and Rosalie too, we never talked about how to find each other after the race… Remember, still 30,000 runners, and it never thinned out. After crossing the finish, you are suddenly on autopilot. Herd mentality. Stop running. Move forward. Keep going. More runners are coming in behind you. In a daze, I crept forward, but out of nowhere, I spotted my TRC buddies 100 yards ahead! Somehow despite the thousands of runners between us, we reconnected in time to receive our swag, all of us finishing within less than a minute difference!
Now I’m in my 50’s and my kids are all grown. My life is relatively stress free, so the NEED to run for my mental health has waned a bit. A few years ago I came to grips with the fact that I have slowed down. It was a hard reality. I guess it’s just one of the downsides of running for so many years. Every runner peaks, but since I’ve been running for nearly 45 years, I peaked long ago. Unfortunately, it’s taken a toll on my motivation. 
