Celebrating a Healthier Earth

Denise Woodin, Rye Y Director of Community Impact and Social Responsibility 

The Rye Y is a leading voice in our community for Safe Routes to School, so kids can walk and bike to schools; edible gardens so families can learn about healthy food choices, and Complete Streets, which make our roadways safe for all users: pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles and mass transit.  Our work fosters healthy living, stronger communities, and a sustainable planet. 

 And, if you can’t remember all that, just sing this Earth Day song to the tune of “My Favorite Things.” (You know, from “The Sound of Music”).

Thank you to our After School Adventures volunteers and Ellen Watermelon for singing the song with only a few moments notice!

The above video contains sound only.

Crosswalks and gardens and

Walking and biking

Safe Routes and sharrows and

Wide road diets

Stronger communities for one and all

These are a few of our favorite things!

Fitness and fresh air and

Vegetables growing

Nutritious eating and

No more car idling

Health for the planet and for ourselves

These are a few of our favorite things!

When the air’s foul!

When the cars speed!

When the kids complain

We simply remember the YMCA

And then we don’t feel so bad!

I’m Only Half Crazy

Ed Philipp, Rye YMCA Chief Operating Officer
You might have heard: I am running a half marathon on April 22^nd.  Up until six months ago, when I committed to running the race, I never would have thought I’d be running a half marathon.  Heck, I was still in denial until I started training 10 weeks ago.  Running just isn’t my thing.  It’s boring (especially on the treadmill) and it hurts.  I ran in the Rye Derby in 2007 and while that was only five miles, it might as well have been an ultra marathon.  I hadn’t run five miles at one time since junior high cross country and I don’t think that I’ve run further than 3.5 miles since that painful Derby day.  So why then am I jumping all the way up to 13.1 miles?  Easy, a friend double dog dared me.

OK, not really but close enough.  Last July I convinced one of my couch potato friends to participate in the Spartan Race with me later that summer.  A funny thing happened; he started training and fell in love with running.  So once he was done crawling through mud at the Spartan Race, he suggested that we run a half marathon.  How could I say no?  After all, I had talked him into the Spartan Race; it was the least I could do.  We rounded up a few more friends, including my wife, and now five of us will run the half marathon and another friend will run the 8K on the same day. 

The worst part of longer distance races is never the actual race; rather it’s the training and time commitment required before the race.  I have been following a 12-week program to get ready for race day and I am now convinced, after completing 10 weeks, that race day is going to be easy.  That’s only because of the time and effort that I have put in so far.  The plan calls for runs on three days a week and cross-training another two days.  In the beginning, even the short runs were painful.  But after the first few weeks, the three, four and five mile runs became “easy” and pain free.  I’ve increased my weekend runs by one mile each week starting with a three mile run in week one and reaching 12 miles by week 10.  I can’t believe that I now find myself saying things like “It’s an easy four- mile run today” or “this weekend is going to be easy; it’s only a five-mile run”.

I can honestly say this is not a challenge I would have taken on by myself.  Having my wife and friends train for the race at the same time has made all the difference.  It’s great having my wife support me and allowing me to spend close to two hours on a Saturday training.  In turn it feels good supporting her while she spends the same amount of time (maybe a little bit longer) training on Sunday.  It’s also a lot of fun to fire off a text message after completing a training run to my friends letting them know how I did.  Race weekend should be a bunch of laughs as well, starting with dinner the night before and continuing through the post race “party”.

So what’s next?  Well, now that running doesn’t hurt anymore, I think I am going to do a lot more of it.  I found a website where you can enter your miles and compete in challenges--just another way to motivate me and keep things interesting.  I just discovered a summer running series that consists of three, five, seven, nine, and 11-mile runs from June until mid-August that I think I am going to sign up for.  I still have two Spartan Races to compete in this summer, so I should be busy.
The same friend that caught the running bug last summer just told me today that next up is a full marathon to which I replied “I don’t think I will ever run a marathon because I’m not CRAZY, only half crazy…”

You can follow Ed on twitter @RyeYCOO

LIVING STRONG IN TEXAS

Ed Philipp, Rye YMCA Chief Operating Officer

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the LIVESTRONG Assembly in Austin, TX.  I was excited to attend as I had never been to Texas and I figured I would get to learn more about the LIVESTRONG Foundation and maybe even get to meet Lance Armstrong.  Up until this point, my only experience with the LIVESTRONG Foundation was through our LIVESTRONG at the YMCA 12-week physical activity program for cancer survivors. 

The three-day Assembly was broken into two parts.  During the first part, each LIVESTRONG partner, in my case the YMCA, held their own workshops; the second part brought all of the partners and attendees together.  I spent the first two days of the Assembly working with approximately 60 other YMCA professionals who lead LIVESTRONG at the YMCA at their Y’s.  Currently, there are 200 YMCA branches that offer the program and we have served 6,000 survivors collectively.  Sharing and learning alongside other YMCA professionals was a great experience and we will be able to implement a few improvements to our program as a result.

The last day of the Assembly brought together all 500 attendees to explore ways we can collaborate with each other.  It was here that I learned about Camp Kesem.  Camp Kesem is a one-week residential camp run by college students for children who have had a parent with cancer.  The camp is free and seems like a great place for kids to have fun and be around other kids who have had similar experiences. Camp Kesem was founded around ten years ago at Stanford University and now has 37 chapters located at universities and colleges across the country.

The moment everyone was waiting for occurred on the second day of the Assembly during the State of the Foundation Lunch.  Lance Armstrong came out on stage and participated in a Q&A with the LIVESTRONG CEO.  Everyone in attendance was extremely excited to see Lance and hear what he had to say.  A common theme I heard from the many volunteers I met throughout the Assembly was that they were cancer survivors and had read Lance’s book while in treatment.  They, along with Lance, believe in the “obligation of the cured” and by volunteering for the LIVESTRONG Foundation they could give back to others.

On the last day, we were all asked to wear the yellow LIVESTRONG t-shirt we were given at registration.  It was pretty impressive to see 500 people wearing yellow t-shirts in the ballroom of the hotel.  However, I thought it was even more impressive to see all of the yellow t-shirts at the airport once the Assembly was over and everyone was headed home.  My flight out of Austin to Atlanta Friday afternoon had 13 of us wearing our yellow t-shirts and it was quite a sight.

For more information on LIVESTRONG got to www.livestrong.org and for more information on Camp Kesem go to www.campkesem.org. To find out about  LIVESTRONG at the YMCA and to view our video, please visit www.ryeymca.org/livestrong.htm

If you're following me on Twitter or passing me in the hallway, ask me about the thumb-wrestling story.

You can follow Ed on twitter @RyeYCOO