TAG Time Again

TAG is Triathlon and Give. The fees that the members pay for this program goes to charity, minus 20% which goes to the coach. Every year we designate a charity and this year, as it was last year, we designated Girls on the Run as our charity. TAG is our program specifically targeted for beginning triathletes. This Saturday was the first workout for the fall program.

Coach Neil with students and volunteers. Going through instruction and teaching the new crew how to ride in a group and use hand signals for communication. I'm a big fan of Neil. He knows how to motivate and empower the shy and timid.

I like being involved and this is my third stint of helping out with this program. It's a lot of fun. You get to meet really great people, you watch them grow and gel together and you get to help them achieve their goals. We get everyone, from former high school / college athletes to recent converts to the athletic lifestyle.

I help out by coming to the workouts and sharing what I know. Most of the help is needed on the bike rides where the group is out on Marin riding the usual routes. We need leads and sweepers. We need people who know the routes and is willing to help change a flat or two, things of this nature.

The program reminds me of my own roots with YMCA Triathlon. I was injured training for a couple of big ultra races, tried it out to keep myself in shape and ended up loving it. The camaraderie, the group dynamic was so different from all the lonely, solo training I was doing for ultra. I stuck with it and never looked back. I'm no longer involved with the YMCA but have continued my triathlon activities with my current tri-club - Golden Gate Triathlon.

After the TAG workout several of us headed out to Marin for a short easy ride. With us was D'Anza who finished Ironman Canada last week with a 12:29:10. She joked that she should have gone harder cause she felt great. The group ended up getting split up because of an accident involving two of our riders. There was a dislocated finger involved, not life threatening but she was taken by emergency personnel. It was bent in an awkward position and she preferred to have medical staff snap it back into place. I don't blame her. We sent the other riders out while some of us stayed to make sure she was okay. It was a good reminder to me that our bodies are fragile despite all the feats of athleticism. It only takes one fall, biking or running.

J.P., Tracy, D'Anza and Janet.

The rest of the day was all work, deadline on Tuesday, but it was a great time to be out. Looking forward to another successful TAG program.

Ran into Lem back in San Francisco, apparently the "active release" massage he got has done wonders for his IT Band. He's training for Firetrails 50, his first 50-mile.