Sunday 30 December 2007

2007 Resolutions


The day was overcast, but we brought our own sunshine to the Resolution 5K in the Distillery District!

It's a great way to end the year -- but, hey, you also have the chance to do it again by walking on New Year's Eve itself. Working off (in advance) a few canapes and cocktails.

So, how about it... who's going to be meeting at Loblaws on Monday. Let's put the utility of our blog to the test. Just sign yourself in with an aye or nay by leaving a comment.

As for Bob & I, we'll be ringing in the Nouvelle Année in Québec City. Peace, love and joy to you all -- see you in 2008.

Saturday 29 December 2007

Resolution 5K

The race is on! Hope you all had the chance to pick up your jackets and bibs -- a nice perk this year -- you have until today at 4 pm to do so.

The race starts at 9:30, and many of us are planning to arrive about 9 to be sure of a bathroom stop before the big 5K distance. Last year, the washrooms were at a premium. Girls, it might be a good idea to bring your own paper, just in case.

There's a parking lot at the south side of the Distillery. If you're coming from the north, you might find Cherry Street access to parking hard to get to, as Cherry is on the race route. Perhaps it would be best to take Parliament Street to get to the lot.

With only 500 entrants (albeit, plus family) it should be easy to meet up. Last year, we magically all ended up near the washrooms and hot drinks. If nothing else, let's keep to the back of the race pack and we're sure to find each other.

Bring your cameras!

P.S. Don't forget to set your subscription settings for the blog. Contact me directly if you have questions.

P.P.S. A get-well-quick message to our injured members, who now include Margy & Rainer as well as Barbara (an injury on top of an injury). Take care of yourselves, guys. We want you back soon.

Friday 28 December 2007

Using our blog (for fun and non-profit)

Hi, everyone,

This is to remind everyone that we can now use our blog -- and, as it turns out, our Google Group page -- to communicate, rather than using email "Reply-Tos".

At the moment, I am the only person who can post to the blog, other than the comments you leave. We can use the blog to post information that's useful to all of us but that can be safely viewed by the general public: weather, route maps, links to races, info about races and events, &c.

By contrast, because it requires a log-in, the Google Group site can be used as a *private* message board. This is contrary to what I first suggested (using the site solely as a mail manager). Any of us can post a discussion topic there, and then either receive the replies by email or return to the Google Group site to check on responses, as we prefer.

As a test, I have posted a discussion topic about the Quebec half on the Google Groups site. All replies to it will be gathered under that topic, to collect interest and information from the group under one heading for easy reference. Give it a try.

Don't forget to visit the Groups site to set your settings. I see that most of you currently have the "no email" setting, which is fine if that's what you really want. However, I'd recommend at least some form of email communication -- perhaps one of the digest options.

Hoping we can make this new way of communicating easy and fun for everyone. Please contact me directly if you need help.

H.

Thursday 27 December 2007

Blog Update: Maps and Settings

Greetings, Shore Things,

Google Groups has approved our group, so you should now be able to receive email messages straight from our blog. If you visit our Google Groups site, you will be able to create your own personal profile, indicating how frequently you prefer to receive blog updates by email -- if at all. (You might not get through to set your preferences right away as we're such a new group. Try again in a little while.) To create your profile and set your settings, visit:

http://groups.google.ca/group/shorethings?hl=en

It will likely prompt you to sign in by giving your email address and creating a password for yourself first.

Note that the address above is *not* our blog address, it's only the address for our mailing list group. Don't be confused when you see copies of the blog posts listed there.

Those who are RSS-savvy (you'll know what this next bit means if you are) have the option to subscribe to the blog as an RSS feed. Or, you can simply bookmark the blog site and check in periodically via web. So, lots of options.

The blog now also includes links to our Chilly Half training schedule, some powerwalking technique tips, and a MapMyRun 10K route for this week's Saturday walk. It looks like we'll have a quorum for a group at Tim's as well as our Resolution walk.

With promises that you won't be as bombarded by so many emails as we smooth out the bumps...

Cheers, everyone!

H.

Sunday 23 December 2007

Happy Everything! Be Resolution Ready...

May the close of 2007 be kind, and may the start of 2008 bring a year of happiness!

If you're doing the Resolution 5K on Sunday, don't forget to pick up your race kit:

Package Pickup

  • December 27: 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • December 28: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  • December 29: 10:00 PM - 4:00 PM


Commerce Court Running Room
- view map
(416)867-7575
Commerce Court
#30 Wellington Street West

The location for the event is:

The Distillery Historic District
55 Mill Street, Building #32

And if you cut and past this link, it should get you to a site plan for the Distillery:

http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/siteplan_popup.html

We might want to team up for transportation. Let us know what your plans are.

H.

Saturday 22 December 2007

Our Shore Things weblog (that's blog, to you)

The Shore Things now have a blog -- our new way to share information. It's like having our own website. We can make it open for view, as it is now (avoiding the extra step of log-in), keeping any private information on our private Google Groups site.

On the blog are links to the races people have expressed an interest in doing. There's a snapshot of today's weather. We'll be able to post route maps through Map My Run -- and then look them up in the archives if we want to use them again. We can include pictures. As I find them, I'll add other functions.

You can still be notified via email -- and you'll be able to choose how often you receive emails, from a daily digest to post-by-post updates to no email at all (web only). You can change your preferences at any time.

What do you think?

H.