[Professional Blog] You do the running, I'll do the writing

Believe it or not, Im quite excited about this weekends Tely 10. Not that Ill be huffing along the length of the city Sunday morning. No sir. Ill be waiting at the finish line with my legs and lungs still intact and a hot mug of tea in my hand. Once the runners hard work comes to an end, mine will just be beginning as Telegram Sports sets out to bring our readers possibly our most in depth coverage of the race to date. Mondays Sports section will be almost exclusively dedicated to all things Tely 10. And hey, if you see me at the finish line (Ill be the one juggling a notepad, camcorder, digital audio recorder and the aforementioned tea) whether youre a runner or a volunteer or a spectator, come over and tell me your Tely 10 story. With over 2,300 registrants, its often hard for us to ferret out the truly inspiring stories so many participants have. * * * * * In todays Tely 10 tips, from start to finish story, race veteran Joe Ryan offered up some helpful tips regarding Sundays race, but what we offered was just the tip of the iceberg. Ryan is a wealth of running knowledge having been around this race for close on 40 years. Here are a few more tips from Ryan: Pre-race prep If you stay off completely on Saturday, you tend to come in to the race a little bit stiff and it takes a little longer to warm up. I suggest people take Friday off from running and go out and jog a little on Saturday just to get the muscles loosened up a little bit. Race-day Dont over-dress. A lot of people go into the race and tend to wear too much clothing and along the way theyre trying to get rid of jackets and long-sleeve shirts. Once you get underway, your body heat tends to rise as you get further. So surplus clothing becomes more of an annoyance. In the race I suggest to runners that they play little games along the course. Try to catch the runners ahead by thinking of them being attached to a bungee cord and youre trying to pull them in. In your head Once you start to think in a negative way, it influences your pace, your strides tend to drop off, you tend to get a little more nervous and as a result you kind of slow down. Dont ever have negative thoughts. Dont doubt yourself and trust your training. * * * * * Reading about former NFL and recently conditionally reinstated quarterback Michael Vicks alleged trip to a Virginia Beach strip club on his first day after his house arrest ended. Vicks lawyer denied the claim. I think his business with the dogfighting conspiracy was pretty despicable. But as far as Im concerned, the fact he wants to go to a strip club after x-number of months in a federal prison is good news. Think about it, if he does get back with an NFL club, how awkward would post game showers be if his orientation werent confirmed? I just hope NFL commish Roger Goodell doesnt use this as fodder against Vick. Theres an unwritten code about that somewhere...