Relay for Life Pancake Breakfast Tuesday, March 23

Let's continue learning to live well and support our Relay for Life team as we raise funds to fight cancer. This breakfast is a fundraiser with 100% of the donations collected going to the American Cancer Society. Feel free to drop in between the appointed times below and enjoy delicious food with friends and colleagues.

• Date: Tuesday, March 23 
• Time: 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
• Where: LIB-157

For a recommended donation, you can enjoy delicious pancakes and/or waffles. Juice and coffee will also be served. Don't miss out on this opportunity to see the Directors and Assistant Directors of the Center for Distributed Learning flip pancakes and make waffles!

The breakfast options and suggested donations are as follows:

• Pancakes and juice/coffee - $5 donation
• Waffles and juice/coffee - $5 donation
• Waffles, pancakes and juice/coffee - $8 donation

Please use the following form to RSVP for this event to help us get an idea of how much food to prepare: http://tiny.cc/XrfDm

Money will not be collected until March 23. Cash or checks made payable to the American Cancer Society will be accepted.

Thank you for supporting this very worthy cause!

Bike Clinic Tomorrow 3/17 at noon in LIB 157

In keeping with our theme, "Learning to Live Well," we're expanding this blog to include all wellness related events organized by UCF CDL staff.

March is Florida Bike month, and March 26th is bike to work day. Like last year, we are organizing a group to bike to work and will have free bagels for all who participate. In preparation for this event, Jason is hosting a lunch and learn tomorrow (March 17th) at noon in LIB-157. Bring your lunch and join us to learn about safety equipment, riding tips and tricks, and how to change a tire so you’re ready to go for Bike to Work Day.

If this is your first time riding your bike to work, Jason can help you find a safe biking route and riding buddy. Also, be sure to check out the newly released Google Maps Biking Directions.

More details:

• Bike Clinic Facebook Event - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=389700301419
• Bike to Work Day Info Page - http://bit.ly/cdlbike2work 
• Bike to Work Sign Up - http://bit.ly/cdlbike2worksignup (so we have enough bagels!)
  
• Bike to Work Day Facebook Event - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=348488641707

Congrats Jen, Kerlene, and Beth on 1st Race!

On Saturday, March 14, three members of our Corporate 5K team completed their first race! A huge congratulations to Jen, Kerlene, and Beth who did a great job at the Winter Park Road Race 2 miler. All their hard work training during the past 4 weeks really paid off. Below they are finishing their race with a smile! Great job ladies!

Another member of our team, Bob Reed, provided on course entertainment. You can hear him since the National Anthem at the Corporate 5K on April 15th!

Profile: Amy Sugar

The series of events that led me to start running: During the summer of 98, my brother and I backpacked through Europe. After the trip, I realized that I needed to get a second job to pay off travel expenses. There was a really nice parent (Betsy Hughes) at the school where I taught who mentioned they were hiring part time employees at her business - the Track Shack .

When I started working at Track Shack, I noticed that all of the employees lived a healthy lifestyle and were very dedicated to their running routines. I was a musician, not an athlete. I didn't understand how running could be a hobby!

The enthusiasm for running was contagious while working at Track Shack and race events. I decided to join one of the Track Shack training programs : the Walk/Run Accomplishment Program, which is similar to the Couch to 5k program. While in this program, I realized that I enjoyed running and preferred it to walking. So I started running (for fun!) and participated in a few local 5ks.

Next, I decided to join the Track Shack's Half Marathon Training Program and ran two half marathons. Then I joined the Marathon Training Program and completed two marathons.

I don't run as much nowadays (insert squeaky knee sound here). I spend more time cycling, swimming, and doing other low impact activities. I try to participate in a few 5ks each year because the running community is still my favorite group of people. I love the fact that as you run or walk a 5k, you see people of all shapes, sizes and ages. Strangers cheer you on to help you reach the finish line.

I look forward to participating in the Corporate 5k again this year, especially with our much larger team! I am more consistent with my training when I set goals, so I am glad to have this race as one of my training goals. This race will be a fun (and healthy) social event for all of us.

It is exciting to see my colleagues embark on their own personal running or walking journey. I am also happy to see so many people in our department set personal goals to be healthier and learn to live well! This is motivating me to stay on track and keep moving forward to reach my personal health goals.

Team Shirts

The first team shirt has been printed and it looks great! Thank you Victor and Matt for doing the design work for it.

If you would like a shirt, they are $10 each. Give your money to Kitzzy or Jason and let them know what size shirt you want. We'll have a sample available for viewing next week. The deadline for ordering shirts is March 31st.

Front

Back

Training Update - Week 4

Our little training group is still going strong, and it's hard to believe that we are already on week 4 of our training. The excitement is great and many are eager to continue training even after the race. We've even discussed doing other things, such as rock climbing and a fitdeck workout. If it rains on Thursday, that will be our Plan B, so bring your workout clothes and be prepared for a workout rain or shine!

It's great to see this diverse group of people come together for a common goal week after week. Today I ran with Kerlene and Jen doing week 4 of the Couch to 5K program while the boys ran a little over a 5K and some of the other ladies walked. The workout consisted of the following, after a warm up:

• run 3 minutes
• walk 90 seconds
• run 5 minutes
• walk 2-1/2 minutes
• run 3 minutes
• walk 90 seconds
• run 5 minutes

My group was amazed at how easily we ran for 5 minutes straight, TWICE, and how quickly that beep came to switch to a walk. We ran 16 out of the 22 minutes in the workout plus walked an additional 1/2 mile as a warm up and another mile to cool down for a total of 3.6 miles! It's amazing that in less than a week they'll be running over a mile non-stop! :)

I almost did not run today because I realized when I went to change into my workout clothes that I forgot my running shoes at home. Thankfully, I do not wear heels to work and had on sporty flats so I took a chance. They are fastened by a velcro strap that likes to come off, so I was worried that they'd come undone and fly off during one of the run intervals, but they held up ok.

I can't wait until this Saturday 3/13 when several will be participating in their first race, the Winter Park Road Race 2 miler. We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post all about the race next week, so tune in then or join us at the race Saturday or for breakfast after.

Team Shirt Winner!

We finally have a winner of the team shirt! (Sorry it took so long, but I was a bit preoccupied this weekend and then got sick.) So without further ado, watch this short clip for the results:

Congratulations Austin! You get the team shirt free. Everyone else who wants a shirt, it will be $10 and we'll be collecting orders soon. If you did not win, stay tuned. We still have plenty of other stuff to give away in the coming weeks.

Profile: David Paul Lyons

I have long maintained that I am not a runner. I used to hate it when I was a kid and when they made us do laps in P.E. I signed up to do the Corporate 5k for two reasons; 1) I am excited to get to know my coworkers a little better and this seems like a great bonding experience and 2) I've always wanted to run one.

I have friends who run 5ks, marathons, triathlons, and other competitions consistently and that goal oriented life style (always another race around the corner!) seems to be such a powerful motivation to keep training. It can be difficult to find the motivation to get moving when you just have an ethereal goal like 'being healthy' so it's nice to have a more tangible target to aim for.

I'm excited to prepare for the race and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone out there. Hopefully anyone in the department unable (or unwilling!) to run (or walk!) will come out and cheer us (me!) on.

Sidebar: as a point of interest to the more experienced runners I submit this additional reading for your consideration. Barefoot running has been hugely beneficial to all the runners I know who have embraced it, myself included.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/fashion/thursdaystyles/23Barefoot.html

http://barefootted.com/

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

Recruitment Update

Recruitment is going great! We now have 29 registered participants in our team and almost every CDL team is represented, plus several have join us from other departments or friends and family. Below is a list of who is registered, broken down by team.

• 3 iDev: Kitzzy, Beth, Patricia
• 2 Advanced Systems: Jason, Sammy
• 3 Exec Team: Tom, Bob, Kelvin
• 2 Admin: Jennifer, Olga
• 5 ID: Amy, Baiyun, Sue, Nancy, Daniel
• 1 Rite: Chuck
• 1 CMS: Kerlene
• 1 ITG: David
• 1 DM: Victor
• 2 TR: Sherry, Sheila
• 3 Other UCF: Matt, Patti, Lauren
• 5 Friends/Family: Wendy, Don, Austin, Regina, Allison

Thanks to everyone who has registered so far. Everyone listed here will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a free team shirt. I'll be announcing the winner very soon. Keep spreading the word and recruit your coworkers, friends, and family. Let's see how big of a team we can get!