Monday, July 29, 2013

A HAPPY 4th OF JULY FOR OUR ITA KIDS

Jessica sporting the jersey I used at the 2011 world championships in Korea.
A month before the 4th of July celebration, I came across an add advertising the 1st annual mile parade race in Alamosa. At this time I had already started the 2nd annual Run With US! program with our kids in the neighborhood. So, the very first thing that came to mind was "Kids can run their second mile run there, it will be a win/win. Kids will participate then they can stay to watch the parade" Next day, I met for a morning run with a Facebook friend/fan, David E Clemmer, who has been a loyal Facebook supporter since trials of 2008. He was in town so, me and his wife met for a nice morning run along the river. To my surprised the organizer, Jeff Owsley, for the parade mile race joined us that morning. After the run, we all got talking about my involvement with In The Arena. I shared many stories about my kids. Then spontaneously, I ended up sharing with them my idea of bringing kids to the parade.

Two weeks later, organizer of the race contacts me to ask me how many people I was bringing.I was not so sure about my idea anymore as the entry fee for kids race (400m sprint) was $5 dollars and mile race was $20.
See, the program is free of charge so I had a big money problem in hands. I explained to the director and we left it like that. A few days later, Jeff contacts me to tell me there was a potential sponsor so our kids could participate in the race. Surprise, surprise the sponsor ended up being the mayor of the parade Mr.Ralph Outcalt.

Make story short we had around 40 people (adults and kids) reperesenting ITA not only in the race, but the parade.

This was by far, one of the most wonderful experiences in my years with In The Arena. Parents and kids raced and in the process they all inspired an entire town. Enough said.. Click here and here to see the pictures of a Happy 4th of July.

 A week later, with the help of Jeff, we were able to thank Mr. Ralph in person for helping us participate in the event.
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Sunday, July 14, 2013

RUN, READ,BiKE, COUNCIL AND CIRCLE WITH US!

A summer full programs for our ITA kids in Alamosa.

The reading program along with crafting ($24 investment)  is been fantastic! Our kids are actually reading this summer and that makes all of us proud. Its fun to see them play and get fully concentrated on the task at hand.






Thousands of little beads are keeping our youngsters somewhat distracted and focus for a good amount of time.




Gecko and the penguin have  been getting all of the attention.



It's been five weeks since we started our 2nd annual Run With US! With slight changes in the curriculum the main concept remains intact;  to run, set a goal, and keep healty,
We have our daily, walk, jog or bike warm up and cool down to the elementary school and back. That alone is 2km per day. We meet three times a week for 1hour and 30 minutes. So far, kids have gone through drills, intervals, and speed. Every day there is something new we all add to it. Example: Last Thursday we all utilize our bikes to do  hurdle drills. A few kids were upset because they felt they were not able to do much and we ran out of time. In a way I liked seeing them express their anger as it shows running is growing on them.

I encourage you to follow me on Twitter and get the day to day action..







The immigrant resource center will sponsor another Boys Council for the rest of the summer. A representative will meet with kids every Monday from 3:00pm to 4:00p.m
We will have Angela Green from Tu Casa, Inc helping us implement a girls circle. This would take place every Tuesday from 1:00pm to 2:30p.m. We all Kids and adults are excited such anticipated program.



Finally, I have the unofficial ride the bike next to me.. The way it works, kids are encourage to join me during an easy run. A win win situation as I get to teach them about training and places you can run in town and In return I get some company and encouragement during an easy run. Yes, fortunately I have been able to run a bit more each week. Today, my long run was 10 easy miles.



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