Day 3,125: Joined a running team. Team BEEF.

Team BEEF: The technical T-shirt.

It's been two weeks since I last posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't had anything to write about. I was in a three-day running funk last week, during which I re-read Christopher McDougal's Born to Run (made me want to run an ultra) and Scott Jurek's Eat & Run (made me focus on loving running).

My workouts have been ok although this season I've tended to default on cutting runs/intervals short when I've felt tired by the heat. It's something I think is ok and probably prudent given the conditions we run in.

Today I received my Team BEEF T-shirt and other goodies for joining the team. It's something I really considered doing last year after getting an email about it from the Marine Corps Marathon. But so many people wanted to join (and run in the marathon for free) that I missed out. I think the Team Beef efforts for that race focused around the Washington, D.C. and Virginia region.

Anyway, Georgia's Team BEEF had a booth at the Peachtree Road Race expo. I was beyond excited since I missed my original chance.

So how it works is you register (you can still sign up via their web site, here). You have a conference call with the Georgia Beef Board spokeswoman and review a Powerpoint document about the board's efforts and beef nutrition. They send you a Team BEEF shirt like above.

Then you race! You run in the team shirt and send a picture of yourself at a particular race (which must be in Georgia of course) and your race registration and they reimburse the fee ... typically up to $100 total for each fiscal year. It sounds like they love it if you race in cities around the state and larger races to get the most exposure they can.

As someone whose relatives still farm (in Maui), I think it's great to support local agricultural efforts. I am by no means shy about eating beef, as a beef brisket is one of my favorite things to put in my smoker and I crave burgers after a long run.

In one of my fastest running years ever, I'm looking forward to donning the shirt, having fun and perhaps setting a PR or two along the way!