I could have posted this sooner.  But, I knew people would be more interested in Colts than cats — even with Max staring you in the face.  Max is the honorary fundraising chairman of the Exotic Feline Rescue Center.  I made a brief appearance at Saturday’s EFRC fundraiser to introduce a WISH-TV contribution to the auction.  It gave me a chance to see Max and learn about the center.

The founder of the EFRC created the place to give a home to abandoned, abused, or neglected animals.  It opened with three cats in 1991.  Now, it has 205.  Jean Herrberg, the Assistant Director, said they “don’t buy, don’t sell, don’t breed.  Once a cat comes to us, it is a home for life.”  But, it’s also an expensive home.  Herrberg says the cats eat a lot of meat.  “We go through 3000 pounds a day.  So you need to be in farm country — where there are cows and calves and horses that die because they’re old, ill or injured.  Then, our driver can pick them up and we can process it for the cats.”

The link above will give you a link to photos of the center’s residents and more information about what the center does.  It’s quite a place for central Indiana!

Here’s another sign of the difficult conditions in Haiti.  The Hoosiers joining a Salvation Army disaster team still haven’t reached Haiti.  This is part of a message from Mike Rowland at the Indianapolis office of the Salvation Army:

The group leader, Jerry Larsen of Indianapolis, will go out on the last flight. Rowland said Larsen “was able to send a group yesterday, a group today, and 1 doctor out on a cargo plane this morning.”  Larsen and the remaining team members are ”most likely” to leave tomorrow.

The Salvation Army of Indiana is preparing a team for duty in Haiti.  It’ll be a small group — four people — specially-trained for disaster conditions.  They’ll fly out of Indiana, next Friday.

The agency knows the quake in Haiti motivates people to offer help.  But, for something this big, the Salvation Army can’t accept anyone who hasn’t been through the “Disaster Service Training” program.  The next class is scheduled for next weekend.  To learn more, call the Volunteer Coordinator at 224-1010.  Ask for Elizabeth.

Taking the class does not guarantee that a volunteer will serve in Haiti.  But, it’s certainly good preparation to help your neighbors, if tragedy strikes Indiana.

This is a request for advice.  I received an e-mail from a woman in Ft. Wayne.  She and two friends missed the deadline to enter the Mini-Marathon.  Now, they’re trying to find three people who registered but don’t plan to participate now. 

The 500 Festival Committee says, so far, it hasn’t found people trying to get out of the Mini.  Just others trying to transfer in.  That’s verified by craigslist.org.  I found a list of people looking for registrations.  None being offered. 

So, what’s the best way to find someone with a registration to transfer?

The 500 Festival Committee knows some people who’ve entered the Mini won’t be able to participate.  It also knows a lot of people want to be in the race — but missed the deadline.  The “Transfer Program” aims to solve both problems.

The 500 Festival says the program will run from January 11 through April 7.  Here’s how it works:

1. A registered participant wanting to transfer his/her registration to someone else must find someone who would like to participate, a person who is not already registered for the Mini-Marathon.
2. The person transferring into the Mini-Marathon must complete a “transfer request” form at www.500festival.com. There will be a $20 processing fee associated with the transfer request. Transfer requests will only be processed online. Only the person transferring into the Mini-Marathon needs to fill out the transfer request form.
3. Once the transfer request is confirmed by the 500 Festival, the participant transferring out of the Mini-Marathon will be removed from race registration and the participant transferring into the race will be added to the field.

Sahm Park Christmas Tree Site

In the PM days, disposing of Christmas trees was more entertaining.  Those were the Pre-Mulch days — when Indianapolis turned Christmas trees into ashes rather than gardening material. 

In those days, many people gathered to enjoy community bonfires as a way to mark the end of the holiday season.

Environmental awareness eliminated that tradition.  So, while today’s tree disposal may be better for us in the long run, it’s an individual event now. 

The following Indianapolis parks are collecting Christmas trees from now through January 31st.

           Broad Ripple Park, 1550 Broad Ripple Ave., (main parking lot)

           Ellenberger Park, 5301 E. St. Clair St., (main parking lot)

           Garfield Park, 2450 S. Shelby St., (MacAllister Center parking lot)

           Gustafson Park, 3110 Moller Rd., (main parking lot)

           Krannert Park, 605 S. High School Rd., (northeast parking lot)

           Northwestway Park, 5253 W. 62nd St., (parking lot)

           Perry Park, 451 E. Stop 11 Rd., (soccer field parking lot)

           Riverside Park, 2420 N. Riverside Dr. (parking lot at 27^th St. and Riverside Dr. E.)

           Sahm Park, 6801 E. 91^st St., (soccer field parking lot)

It’s hard to believe that this reminder is necessary, but the Department of Parks and Recreation says: remove all ornaments, lights, and decorations.  It also says this is not for disposal of unwanted artificial trees.

IndyParks says, last year, it collected more than 25,000 trees — and turned them into much needed mulch for parks.

The recent cold weather reminded me of something I learned, years ago.  It helps me remain relatively comfortable on my winter runs.  It’s a variant of the advice to “dress in layers.”

I dress as if the outdoor air is 20 degrees warmer than the actual air temperature.  I might be a little chilly as I start my run.  But, the body warms up quickly — and, at running pace, the heat I generate keeps me comfortable.

Fitness resolutions are part of the holiday tradition.  They are easily abandoned, if you don’t have a goal.  The Mini-Marathon offers the incentive to start a training program and then stick with it.

I don’t run because I love it.  I do like getting outside and challenging myself.  But, I run because I eat.  I allow myself a little more freedom to enjoy some treats because I plan to burn it off over the following days.  (Rationalizing is a wonderful thing!)

Knowing that every year brings new participants to the Mini, we’re resuming my Mini-Marathon training blog.  Entry #1 offers training resolutions from Heather Fink, a tremendous athlete, a registered dietitian, and the Assistant Director for Educational Services at NIFS.

Heather says:

1.) Start training in January – many people start their training for the Mini in March, once the weather begins to improve in central Indiana. However, if you wait until March, then you only have 6-8 weeks to train which is not enough time to train properly for a half marathon. I recommend at least 14 weeks of training to allow for a slow progression of long run/walks, as well as several recovery weeks throughout the training.

2.) Be consistent with your training – While individuals may have good intentions about starting their training early in January, if they are not consistent with their training on a weekly basis, then they will not be fully prepared for the race. By starting early, and being diligent with your training, you will perform better, feel better and stay safe during the Mini Marathon.

3.) Have FUN!! – Oftentimes, runners/walkers will feel like their training has become a part-time (for some, a second full-time!) job. Remember that exercise is meant to be part of your recreation time, thus it is supposed to be fun!  Enjoy the whole experience – the long walks/runs, determining your race day nutrition plan, selecting the best clothes for race day, battling the elements (weather), etc. Everyone will have ups and downs during their training, but overall, choose to make it a fantastic experience!

If you’re ready to start now, local race organizers have a couple of opportunities for you: the Race to the New Year and the Resolution Revolution.

I’ll present other training advice of my own — or suggestions from people such as Heather — between now and the day of the Mini.  If you don’t have access to an expert, feel free to send me questions and I’ll get some answers for you.

Here’s a prediction: distracted driving is going to get worse.  I’m not going out on a limb here, I know.  But, for a change, the concern does not come from cell phones.  This time, it’s from TVs.

Multichannel Newssays the number of TVs in cars is likely to double by 2015.  The report says “about 17.6 million television systems for automobiles [worldwide] will ship in 2015, up from 8.2 million this year.”  The article is based on a study attributed to iSuppli, a market research firm.

Today, I asked the head of the Indy Auto Show about the report.  He said TVs can be used by only passengers in the back seat.  He says the law forbids the use of TVs in the front seat.  What concerns me is the report’s prediction that some of the new TVs will be “included in portable navigation devices.”  To me, that’s certain to mean TVs in the front seat, watched by drivers — not just passengers. 

The article acknowledges “numerous financial and technical challenges” will influence the market for in-car TVs in the next few years.  “For example”, the article says, “the uninterrupted delivery of picture and audio is imperative in moving vehicles…”

A British web site notes how entertainment systems have become standard equipment in some cars.   The site says “it’s important to remember that as technology improves, the driver of the car still has the most important job to do – and that means that they must not give into temptation and start to get distracted by watching a TV screen.”

When you think of the most devoted players of video games, what comes to mind?  It’s probably the image of a nerdy guy, spending hours on-line — maybe in the basement of his parents’ home.  Stash that stereotype!

Scientific American reports on a new study that indicates ”women are actually more hardcore than men.”  The researchers found playing time increased with age and ”female gamers logged more time online: an average of 29 hours a week, versus 25 for the males.”

The researchers also concluded: the women in the study were more likely to lie about the time they spent playing the games.  They played more than they admitted.

After reading that report, I found this which acknowledges and supports women gamers.