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A runner rains in February in Montpelier. Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur.
Winter?s mean streets are often too much for some automobiles. But when you?re aiming for a spring marathon, you have to tough it out and hit the pavement?now.
Most marathon training plans are about 16 to 20 weeks long. April and May kick off each year?s marathon season, and many local runners have their sights set on two biggies. Boston, the granddaddy of marathons, is held on Patriots Day (April 16), while Burlington?s own Vermont City is held on May 27, during Memorial Day weekend. Those training for Boston have most likely already begun training. If the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon is your race, the time is now to don neck warmers and running tights, and get out there.
Now, you say? In the dead of winter? That?s right. Spring marathoners have to be motivated excuse-busters because February and March present plenty of excuses for why not to run. ?Weather, cold, snow, darkness, and life in general can all make it tough,? says endurance athlete, running coach, and Brooks I.D. (that?s ?Inspire Daily?) runner Kelly Wilson of Essex.
Wilson runs 12 months a year, and she trains runners. Her best advice for finding the inspiration to run during the cold and lonely winter months is that the motivation does not always need to come from within. ?Find a group,? she says. In particular, it?s nice to have companionship during the weekly long runs of a marathon-training program. Most running groups meet on weekends with the expressed purpose of helping fellow members get through their long runs. Groups also become great places to find buddies with whom to do short midweek runs.
When Wilson assesses one of her runners, the first question she asks is, where is that runner when he or she starts preparing for a race? Anyone can look up a marathon training calendar online. If a runner is already running 12 miles at a time, then Wilson wouldn?t start at the beginning of a schedule that calls for a 6-mile-long run in week one.
Training now means a better chance of being successful in springtime marathons. Photo by Lee Krohn.
Secondly, she looks at each individual?s situation. What work commitments, family commitments, and so forth, does a person have? Runners have to be realistic and customize their training calendar to their lifestyles. Are they doing all of their runs before or after work? Do they travel all winter? Do they have a treadmill at work? All of these will affect marathon training this winter, so Wilson customizes her training plans for the individual.
Many runners think they can beat the cold by running on a treadmill. Is it realistic to think that a treadmill runner will log the hours necessary for marathon training on a machine?
Wilson isn?t sure. ?I try to train outside for an event that will be held outside,? she says. She knows runners who use indoor tracks when the weather gets especially harsh. There aren?t that many indoor tracks in Vermont, though, outside of the University of Vermont, Indoor Recreation of Orleans County, and the Sports and Fitness Edge. ?Someone would probably make a million if they built one,? Wilson says.
One challenge that VCM?and other spring marathons in the Northeast?present is unpredictable race-day weather. Any VCM or Boston veteran will tell you that the weather has ranged from freezing to cold and rainy to sunny, hot, and humid. Wilson?s advice: take advantage of weather challenges during your training. ?In March and April, you may not want to run in the rain,? she says. Well, race day may very well be a rainy day, so it makes sense to take advantage of rainy training opportunities.
Likewise, it is difficult to prepare for a warm VCM. Memorial Day weekend could be summerlike?the opposite of VCM?s February, March, and April ramp-up. ?If there?s a warm snap, and you usually run early in the mornings,? says Wilson, ?maybe think about postponing your run one day until the heat of the day.? This way, she says, you get at least some preparation in warmer temperatures. Wilson knows a thing or two about trying to prepare for a warmer-weather event in a Vermont climate; , she was getting ready to run the Coastal Challenge Route of Fire in Costa Rica, a six-day event covering 250 kilometers.
While Wilson worries about a winter training program for a run in the tropics, most marathon runners here have concerns that are closer to home. Like what to wear while training. Wilson dresses in layers, so she can take off a layer once she?s underway. ?The first 10 minutes are always the worst,? she says. Many people wear traction devices like Yaktrax and Icespike, but Wilson does not; she is comfortable training in trail shoes. If you are training before or after work, you are definitely accustomed to running in the dark. Reflectors and lights?both in your front and back?are a must; drivers simply will not see you otherwise.
Running springtime marathons like Boston and VCM are great ways to usher in summer. But springtime marathons require wintertime preparations. Running a marathon requires dedication, toughness, and determination. And where do runners develop these traits? In the long, cold, and (sometimes) lonely months prior to race day. It?s in these months leading up to a marathon event when the real race is run.
Strength in Numbers
Run with these groups for camaraderie and support
Run With Jan
When: Sundays at 8:15 a.m.
Where: location changes weekly
runwithjan.com
The Sunday Run, sponsored by RunVermont and Green Mountain Athletic Association
When: Sundays at 8 a.m.
Where: The Sports and Fitness Edge on Farrell Street, South Burlington
vermontcitymarathon.org
Weekly Social Fun Run
When: Thursdays at 6 p.m.
Where: SkiRack on Main Street, Burlington
skirack.com
Editor?s note: Montpelier?s Mari Zagarins has signed up for the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon. She?s sharing her training progress on our blog, Get Out.
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Activists in embattled cities such as Homs say food is running out and doctors lack medicine to treat the wounded.
By msnbc.com news services
Updated 10 p.m. ET
GENEVA -- The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is negotiating with Syrian authorities and opposition fighters to broker a cease-fire in some of the most violence-torn areas.
Meantime, activists say Syrian forces opened fire with live ammunition on demonstrators in Damascus overnight, wounding at least four, Reuters reported.
"We are currently discussing several possibilities with all those concerned, and it includes a cessation of fighting in the most affected areas," Red Cross spokeswoman Carla Haddad told The Associated Press.
She said the talks weren't aimed at resolving entrenched political differences, but to allow the humanitarian agency enough time to deliver aid to civilians hardest hit by the conflict.
"The idea is to be able to facilitate swift access to people in need," Haddad said.
Activists in embattled cities such as Homs say food is running out and doctors lack medicine to treat the wounded.
Violence in capital
Demonstrations and clashes with security forces have hit Damascus in the past week, undermining President Bashar al-Assad's argument that an 11-month uprising has been the work of saboteurs and limited mainly to the provinces.
International diplomacy showed no sign of finding a solution, as Western powers and the Arab League prepared a meeting of "Friends of Syria" Friday to pressure Assad to step down, while Russia and China backed Assad's reform plans, derided by Syria's opposition.
"There were hundreds of demonstrators at the main square of Hajar al-Aswad (neighborhood), and suddenly buses of security police and shabbiha (pro-Assad militia) turned up and started firing into the crowd," activist Abu Abdallah told Reuters by telephone.
He said the four wounded were taken to be treated in homes.
Footage posted on YouTube, purportedly taken before the shooting, showed a crowd marching in Hajar al-Aswad carrying placards in support of the besieged city of Homs and singing "Eyes are shedding tears for the martyrs among Syria's youth."
Earlier, opposition youths unfurled a pre-Assad era national flag over a road bridge at the edge of the capital, YouTube footage showed. That followed a weekend that saw one of the biggest demonstrations yet in the capital as the uprising neared its first anniversary.
?Cut off from the outside world?
Opposition activists said five people had been killed in government shelling of Homs's Baba Amro district on Monday, adding to a reported death toll of several hundred since the operation began there on February 3.
Activists in the western city of Hama said troops, police and militias had set up dozens of roadblocks, cutting neighborhoods off from each other.
A flood of military reinforcements has been a prelude to previous offensives by Assad's regime, which has tried to use its overwhelming firepower to crush an opposition that has been bolstered by defecting soldiers and hardened by 11 months of street battles.
A Free Syrian Army fighter stands guard in Idlib in northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border, on Sunday.
"Hama is cut off from the outside world. There are no landlines, no mobile phone network and no Internet. House-to-house arrests take place daily and sometimes repeatedly in the same neighborhoods," an opposition statement said.
Rebel fighters have been attacking shabbiha militiamen while avoiding open confrontations with the armored forces that had massed around Hama, a city north of Homs on the Damascus-Aleppo highway.
The government restricts foreign media access in Syria, making it hard to verify the activists' reports independently.
Security forces have killed more than 5,000 people, according to human rights groups, in a campaign to crush the revolt while the Assad government says more than 2,000 soldiers and security agents have been killed.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
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If you?re contemplating starting a retail business, you may be on the fence about whether to make it a virtual store or a brick-and-mortar. Here are the pros and cons of each to help you in your decision.
Online Retail Benefits
The really wonderful thing about starting an online retail business is how easy and affordable it is. As long as you?ve got your inventory and an ecommerce website, ?you?re ready to go. You can operate from anywhere, and you don?t have to pay high-priced commercial rental rates.
Even if you don?t have a fancy ecommerce website, there are easy all-in-one options available for you, such as Amazon, Etsy and eBay. Each offers built in ecommerce solutions and credit card processing. All you have to do is plug in your product descriptions and upload a photo. The bonus is that these sites get a ton of traffic, so you?ll get more exposure than you would by starting from scratch with your own site.
Getting found online is also fairly easy, and definitely affordable, if you use social media and internet marketing.
Online Retail Drawbacks
Some items don?t sell as well online as they do in person. If you?ve got high end handmade crafts or art, you can post them to Etsy, but it might be months before anyone stumbles upon your glassblown vintage owl collection. If you sell in a category with a low search rate, you may find an online ecommerce business less successful than a physical storefront.
While marketing your website is easy, it does take effort (really that?s the case with any business, online or otherwise). If considering starting an ecommerce site, make sure you?ve got time and budget to dedicate to marketing it.
Brick-and-Mortar Benefits
Having the perfect store nestled in a row of eclectic shops and restaurants can help you connect with your community. Your shop can be a hangout spot for your customers, who are more likely to buy from you repeatedly if your store is homey enough to make them feel comfortable.
Being located near other high-traffic retail can give you a boost in sales that you wouldn?t see online. Consider this when shopping for real estate.
Brick-and-Mortar Drawbacks
There?s one thing that?s hard to really grasp before you?re knee-deep in debt for your retail store: it?s expensive. You?ve got your rent, inventory, salaries and other overhead, and you have to sell enough product to cover all of these expenses each month. Even more if you actually want to turn profit. You lock yourself in to years of expenses once you sign that lease, so it?s a commitment you have to be willing to accept long-term.
Sometimes there are quirks about the location you choose that you don?t see initially, like a difficult-to-maneuver parking lot, or proximity to a business that drives yours away (tattoo parlor next to your doll shop?). These can cause you stress and financial troubles that force you to come up with a better solution sooner rather than later.
Whichever option you choose, do your homework on what kind of investment you need, as well as what locations would be ideal for your company.
Photo credit: bjearwicke.
Source: http://blog.bizlaunch.ca/2012/02/20/online-retail-versus-brick-and-mortar/
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On February 4th the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association were at the bottom of the league?s standings having won just 8 of their first 23 games, a 35% winning percentage. The team has appeared in the NBA?s post-season playoff picture just once (2011) since 2004, and hasn?t won a game in the post-season since 2004.
Struggling on the court in this lockout shortened season and decimated by injuries Knicks coach Mike D?Antoni had no other option than to insert unknown, often overlooked and cast aside Jeremy Lin into the starting point guard position.
What has happened since is now known in New York and throughout the spor
You may be asking yourself, what does all this have to do with business leadership, employee engagement and motivation? Plenty!
There are employees in your organization with untapped skills, talents and interests chomping at the bit to have something that inspires them to contribute at a higher level. It?s your job as the organization or team?s leader to tap into that dormant potential contribution.
If there is one thing Lin didn?t lack it was self-confidence and he was sitting on the benches of three NBA team chomping at the bit to be able to contribute in a way that could make a difference. He was only given a chance as a last resort. He was probably the last option D?Antoni had to save his job as the coach of the one of the highest valued franchises in professional basketball in the world?s largest market.
Lin has saved his coach?s job for a few more months and potentially, even years.
Earlier in my professional baseball career serving as the leader of my final team, I hired an individual, whose name is Steve, that my boss, the owner of the franchise didn?t want me to hire. Fortunately, despite having significant experience working with this individual he didn?t make it entirely clear to me that that was his position, but he strongly intimated that desire. At the end of the day he left the decision up to me.
In going through my hiring process, the interview and background due diligence not only could I not see a reason not to hire this individual, I thought his background, his skills, talents and attitude was just what we needed.
Despite being originally defined as a ?C? student, my boss? code for not being a high-performer, this individual proved my hiring decision to be right. It took at least 3 years for Steve and I to turn around the attitude of our boss and to have him see Steve as a high-performer with future potential within the organization.
Today, Steve is now president and ceo of one of the companies in that organization.
What it took to make my hiring decision work was a simple conversation offering Steve the opportunity to join me in the challenge of changing the attitude and impression of the person holding the key to our professional success at the time. Steve was more than up to the challenge.
There are many Steves in your organization, here are the steps to pull them out
Follow those 5-steps and I believe you will be pleasantly pleased by the response. And along the way you will be raising the self-esteem and self-confidence of those on your teams while improving performance results for your organization, just like the NY Knicks are experiencing thanks to Jeremy Lin and Linsanity that has erupted this month!
If you?d like a model to follow that will support the five steps above, visit www.EmployeeMotivationEquation.com and download the free report and assessments there.
?til next week,
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Yani Tseng of Taiwan tees off the second hole during the final round of the LPGA Thailand golf championship in Pattaya, Chonburi province, southeastern Thailand Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Yani Tseng of Taiwan tees off the second hole during the final round of the LPGA Thailand golf championship in Pattaya, Chonburi province, southeastern Thailand Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Yani Tseng of Taiwan celebrates her eagle putt on the first hole during the final round of the LPGA Thailand golf championship in Pattaya, Chonburi province, southeastern Thailand Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Yani Tseng of Taiwan plays a shot on the first hole during the final round of the LPGA Thailand golf championship in Pattaya, Chonburi province, southeastern Thailand Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Ai Miyazato of Japan tees off the third hole during the final round of the LPGA Thailand golf championship in Pattaya, Chonburi province, southeastern Thailand Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
Ai Miyazato of Japan plays a shot on the fairway of the first hole during the final round of the LPGA Thailand golf championship in Pattaya, Chonburi province, southeastern Thailand Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
CHONBURI, Thailand (AP) ? Yani Tseng watched Ai Miyazato's approach on the 18th hole of the LPGA Thailand and knew she had to come up with an equally impressive shot to avoid a possible playoff.
Tseng met the challenge with a shot fitting her No. 1 ranking, controlling the spin perfectly to set up a tap-in putt.
"It was an incredible shot. I think it's the shot of the week," Tseng said Sunday. "Especially, I saw that Ai hit it so close and I knew she was going to make that putt. So, I tell myself, 'I need to get this close.'"
The 23-year-old Taiwanese star successfully defended her title for her 13th LPGA Tour victory, matching Miyazato with birdies on the final two holes to hold off her Japanese friend by a stroke.
"It was tough," Tseng said about her approach on the par-5 18th. "I had 104 to the pin and a little uphill. I know my ball is going to spin a lot, so I just tried to keep it low and not spin too much. ... I was very proud of myself for hitting that shot into 18 and making birdie to win."
Tseng closed with a 6-under 66 to finish at 19-under 269 on the Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club. She opened with a 73, then shot consecutive 65s to enter the final round a shot behind Miyazato.
"I had some luck out there," Tseng said, pointing to the lucky Thai statue where she made a wish. "I shot 1 over the first round, but I came back very soon and played 20 under the next three days. I felt like I could improve a lot and I feel like something gave me luck."
She also visited the statue last year.
"I just wish I could win this tournament," she said.
Last year, Tseng won the event for the first of her seven 2011 LPGA Tour victories, including major victories in the LPGA Championship and Women's British Open. The five-time major champion finished the year with 12 worldwide victories. She has 33 career worldwide professional victories.
"I feel much more pressure coming into this year," Tseng said. "Last year, when I started, I was nothing. I was just in the top five in the world, but I don't have 12 wins or world No. 1 title. After last year, I have world No. 1 and I had 12 wins and that pressure keep going on and on."
Miyazato finished with a 67.
"Of course, Yani is No. 1, so I knew it wouldn't be easy today," Miyazato said. "I kind of expected her to play that way."
South Korea's Jiyai Shin, tied for the lead with Tseng after a birdie of her own on the par-4 17th, had a 67 to finish two strokes back.
Tseng eagled the par-5 opening hole and Miyazato had a birdie, leaving them tied at 15 under. Tseng took the lead with a birdie on the par-4 third, and added birdies on the par-4 sixth and par-5 seventh. At the turn, she had a three-stroke lead over Shin and four-shot advantage over Miyazato.
"I played really well on the front nine, but it was tough on the back nine, especially when you see Jiyai and Ai keep making birdies," Tseng said. "It got tight down the stretch. It was tough. I feel like I had lots of emotions today."
Shin, playing a group ahead of Tseng and Miyazato, birdied the par-4 10th to pull within two and gained another stroke when Tseng bogeyed the hole. Tseng pushed her lead to two with a birdie on the par-3 12th, but bogeyed the par-4 13th.
Miyazato birdied the 10th and pulled within one of Tseng with a birdie on the par-4 15th, then matched Tseng with a par on 16 and the birdies on 17 and 18.
"Overall, I played really well and I'm very happy that I could finish strong today," Miyazato said. "I really enjoyed playing with Yani, but next time I want to win."
South Korea's Amy Yang shot a 69 to finish fourth at 14 under.
Sixteen-year-old Thai amateur Ariya Jutanugarn followed her third-round 65 with a 74 to tie for 12th to 7 under. She played the final five holes in 4 over, making a double-bogey 7 on No. 18. Last year, Jutanugarn won the U.S. Junior Girls' Championship and was the Rolex Junior Player of the Year.
DIVOTS: Seventeen-year-old American Lexi Thompson had five back-nine birdies in a 66 to tie for 14th at 6 under. "I'm really happy with the way I'm hitting it," Thompson said. ... Second-ranked Suzann Pettersen had a 78 to drop into a tie for 21st at 4 under. She began the round four strokes out of the lead. ... Michelle Wie shot a 73 to tie for 38th at 1 over. ... Morgan Pressel had a hole-in-one with an 8-iron on the 136-yard eighth hole. She finished with a 71 to tie for 49th at 4 over.
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