There is no "I" in "TEAM"

... of course there's an "EA" in both Team and Leah, so that's something....


Monday I had a FANTABULOUS mail day.  I received, along with the general junk mail, a package from my dad with some CD's and a book, my current issue of Cooks Illustrated (think Consumer Reports meets Joy of Cooking), a part of a preset for someone, a super Valentine from Shorty (send you a pic of the tat when I use it :-)  ), and a large package from Running Banana delivered at work.

TEAM ROBERT SHIRTS!!!!

This year My Runner and I went back and forth about "expanding" Team Robert.  TR was formed long before I was in the picture and included My Runner's Pops, who was his inspiration for Ultra Running, his half-siblings, and Puma.  I was happy when the team expanded to include me, and even happier when it expanded to include people we run/hike/snowshoe/spend time with.  A night with My Runner, Puma, and I resulted in the following message going out to those we thought might be interested:

Team Robert started as a family team.  In Josh's (and so many of our) words, "Friends are the family that you choose."  When you spend hours on the trail with someone, they know you on a deep level.  When you train with people weekend after weekend, they see the good and bad.  We've been through a lot together, on and off the trail, and we're all family: a team.  We're planning on many outdoor events together, and it would be great to have support of a team even when we're not close to each other.

I'd been a part of Team Robert.  I'd supported and taken part in Team Sherpa.  I'd been on the Patriot Team with my Dad and his buddy in the VT50.  We'd even started Hillsboro Trail Runners to have a group of like-minded folks be outside with us.  We had lofty ideas of posting events in the paper and in town... but the reality is that it's important to me to recognize the people with whom I spend mile after mile, hour after hour, trudging, trotting, jogging, running, hiking, snow shoeing, drinking, eating with.  The people that inspire me to get out there, and that I hope I can inspire back.  The people that hear me bitching but love me anyways, even if it is with an eye roll.  The people who understand that outside, with all it's "discomforts," is the place to be.

So, Team Robert initiated it's 2nd Generation t-shirts.  That's not to say if there's no shirt one isn't on the team, oh no... the Team is truely MORE than the sum of it's parts.  But this is the first step, I think, into what is important to us all.  "Friends are the family that you choose."  I love my family and have been blessed to be related to people that I would choose to hang out with.  I've ALSO been blessed with the understanding that friends ARE family, and we've always treated them as such.  My own mother often asks when we can get together with Smarty and Face, some of my closest friends and only two of many that my mother considers family.  Team Robert is a continuation of that sentiment, and one I'm more than happy to perpetuate.

One of the fun things we could incorporate with the Gen II shirts is personalized logos.

Believe it or not, it was not I who thought of the Ferret for my logo.  But as My Runner writes, it fits:

Common characteristics of the ferret are; curious, persistent, and fearless. All makes perfect sense to me. Leah's fearless hockey playing is what attracted me to her in the first place. Her curiosity is what got her into running with me, and if you read her blog she's very persistent in her research amongst other things. A once non-runner "unless being chased" is really coming into her own finishing a half marathon on the roads and in the woods in 2010.

So, that's me, on the Team.  I'm already excited with what other folks are doing with this idea: Taps is looking into utilizing the team to fundraise for Autism, a cause close to his girlfriend Wick's heart.  I'm hoping to get the team to run at this year's ARL 5K (organized by Face this year!!!).  I'm looking forward to showing up to events as a group and having folks ask us about our shirts- maybe even inspire others to form their own teams.  I like that we make plans to be outdoors together, encourage each other to train, and support each other when we need it.