Celebration Week

We had another TRYer complete a half marathon this weekend. So, add Sue to the list of September half marathoners. Good job, Sue!

The run this week will be whatever you want it to be. I’m injured, so it will be slow and steady for me.

Reasons to celebrate this week:

1) All of the successful half marathon finishes in the last two weeks.

2) All of the TRY birthdays last week.

3) Since this is a bit of a transitional period…the summer runners might be calling it quits soon and the fall marathoners are starting to crank up their mileage.

4) We’re losing another TRYer – Annette is leaving the Syracuse area soon to move near New York City. She got engaged in August and is following her heart to be with her fiancé. At her going away outing for her work gang she told me that the Relay For Life event/run was her favorite/most memorable run of the year. Awww. (Thanks Annette! I’m still hoping you make it back for next years Relay weekend…we may need Bella and your legs to shine on camera again!)

5) There is more than one engagement going on in TRY. Amy (and Ben) just got engaged over the weekend! So, congratulations to those little love birds. :-) (You are NOT allowed to leave the area like Annette and Aubrey have! I’m starting to notice a bad trend with these women whose names start with “A”. Ally, any news for us?)

How to celebrate:

I know not everyone involved in the above 5 items can make it, but we’ll celebrate without them as necessary. The plan is to go to the Retreat after running and have dinner/drinks with a little special surprise for the birthday people. I am going to make a reservation tomorrow for 6:45 for “x” number of people since I’m hoping it will be more than a table full. So, please let me know if you will be attending so I can plan for the approximate turnout. If you can’t run but can still make it, that is fine – shoot for 6:45 at the Retreat on the dining room side. (Non-TRY guests are welcome.)

I know a couple (or more) of you bowl on Tuesdays, so I was thinking that for anyone that wants to keep the celebration going, we can invade your bowling alley to say hello. Flamingo Bowling has “1 dollar mania” going on tomorrow night starting at 8:30. And I need to practice. So, I am planning on saying hi to the TRYers at the bowling alley and then bowling a couple games for $1 each (plus $1 shoe rental if you need it). Hard to beat that price.

So, people can just join in for that too, if the earlier stuff doesn’t fit in.

Recapping today’s agenda:

TRY run at 5:30

Retreat dinner/drinks/dessert at 6:45 (Please give me a headcount for this.)

Flamingo bowling at 8:30 – 10? (Not as important, but if you plan on doing this it would be nice to know ahead of time.)

After hours – track down Amy’s dart team at whatever bar and make faces at them while they are trying to concentrate during darts.

So You Say Its Your Birthday?!!!

What is up with all the mid-September TRY birthdays? (I hesitate to do this, since I don't call out everyone's birthdays...but there are way too many to ignore this week.)

The birthdays that I know of:
Sunday - Kim (Hey, she showed up a time or two last year! She still counts as a TRYer.)
Monday - Brian and Malinda
Today - Lori (and my nephew Cory)
Tomorrow - Jen

Happy Birthday everybody! (And to the non-birthday people -- give your favorite birthday TRYer a birthday hug.)

So, I was thinking about the odds of 5 birthdays from a small group (20-something) falling within four calendar days. Seemed small until I thought about what happens "9 months" before mid-September. So a little research found that the human gestation period is 266 days from actual conception. And September 15th is 258 days from New Years and 265 days from Christmas.

I think we have our answer! Your parents were all feeling "romantic" around the holidays and as a result you came into the world in mid-September. Awwwww....holiday romance...something about those Christmas lights! :-)

Congratulations for all the half-marathon finishers this weekend (in Syracuse and Rochester). Brian, Terry, Ally, Lindsay, Aaron, Kelly, Jen, and Jacque (her first!).

Tonight -- I don't know. 4-5 miles with 1/2 mile intervals I suppose? People will be hurting from their races/long runs...so do whatever suits your needs.

After -- rollerblading anyone? The women rollerblading afterward a couple weeks ago reminded me that I haven't used mine all year. So, I've dug them out and put them in the car...figure it can help me get a better workout in while taking it easy on my kickball ravaged leg. So, plan on rollerblading some on the nice days in the next few weeks.

Fantasy Versus Reality

In honor of back-to-school time, this is my once-a-year TRY skip day. (For a fantasy football draft. I know, lame. But I have to do it.)

So, please do your best to coordinate your runs with the other people. Not many people have been doing the intervals, but if you want to, we are due for full mile length ones. But, do what you need to do tonight.

This coming weekend a couple TRYers are attempting their first ever 1/2 marathons. So, best of luck to Jacque and Lindsay (and others?) as they set their sights on a new length! And good luck to the other 1/2 marathon repeaters as you toe the line in Syracuse and Rochester. Trust in your training and don't forget to enjoy yourselves along the way!

And speaking of Lindsay -- her boy-bringing-milkshake-making was not enough for her at the fair last week. She also won a grill master award for her steak grilling ability. Congratulations (again) Lindsay! Here is the link and here is a glamour shot:

Fair Enough. Some people just don't get it.

The big news of the week is that a fringe TRY member is a milkshake making champion! Congratulations Lindsay on your continued culinary excellency. I don't suppose you have a donut to go along with that milkshake, do you? :-)



(And for those of you wondering, Lindsay has said that if her schedule ever changes, that TRY would be "one of the running clubs that she would consider joining". Thanks for the consideration Lindsay! That's very kind of you. ;-)

Anyone interested in going to the fair tomorrow night? Rick Springfield of "Jessie's Girl" fame is the free concert and a couple TRY members are going to be there. If you are interested, let me know and I can work out some sort of informal coordination on when and where to meet up.

The run for tonight will be whatever the heck you want it to be. Gosh! (The suggested group run will be 4-5 miles with 1/2 mile intervals.) Regular time and place.

Lastly, I'd like to share a piece of inspiration from one of our own TRY members (thanks for sharing your poem!):

Some people just don't get it…

Some people just don't get it…
How can she run so far so fast?
Some people just don't get it…
What is she nuts, has she lost her mind?
Some people just don't get it….
How can she find that fun?
Some people just don't get it…
Why on earth would you run?

Only a runner truly understands…
That feeling you get when you run like you are on top of the world
It's a high like no other, a mind-chemical high,
a perfectly legal and addictive drug
Only a runner truly understands…
There is no better way to escape the pressures and stresses of life,
And to enter that world of your own
where your only form of transportation is your legs and mind alone
Only a runner truly understands…
That joy you get from a handshake just before a race
Or the shouts of encouragement that make you push that much harder
Or the feeling of self accomplishment and self satisfaction when you finish
Only a runner truly understands…
That if you're willing to go the distance, go the extra mile
with determination and effort, you can often achieve even more...

For those of you who don't get it….
we run because we want it,
it's satisfying and because we prove to ourselves
We are capable of much more than we sometimes realize.

With that in mind, runner or not,
If you want something bad enough,
Push yourself and never give up.
Don't let insecurities get in your way.
If you believe, you WILL achieve
And you too will notice,
Some people just don't get it…

-Malinda A Greene

Miles and Miles We Go

As indicated in the email yesterday, we are pushing off our field trip to Beaver Lake Nature Center until September. Tonight will be at the normal time and place (Liverpool park at 5:30).

Since we did 1/2 mile repeats last week, this week will be 1 mile repeats. So, plan on doing 3, 1 mile intervals embedded in a 5 mile run.

That's it. (See, I can be brief!)

Back At It

After a fun change-of-pace last week at Green Lakes State Park, we're back to our regular time and place this week. (5:30 at Onondaga Lake Park).

The suggested group run tonight is a 4 to 5 miler with 1/2 mile intervals interspersed. Depending on the heat and overall distance, plan on getting in 4+ "on" portions and plan your pacing accordingly. We'll discuss it briefly beforehand.

Since we are running out of summer Tuesday's and people voted for field trips, I would like a vote (poll on the right) on if you would rather go to Beaver Lake Nature Center for our run next week or if you'd rather stay at Onondaga Lake Park. So, please vote, popular vote will rule the day and I'll give people a final decision next Monday so that you can plan for it. (Note, there will be no picnic or anything...but we could plan on stopping somewhere in B'ville afterward if people were up for that.) For the people that receive this via email -- please respond to me directly if you have an opinion on the matter.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate some of our women for their efforts in the Willow Bay Run for Women this past weekend. Allyson, Christine, Katie, and Lori all braved the heat and supported a nice little local race. (We'll just ignored the fact that it is in-your-face sexist and discriminatory.) And I believe there were two, two legged and two, four legged TRYers there to support the racers as well. So, it was quite the group effort. Good job to everyone involved! Maybe one of these years when it is the Willow Bay Run for Women and Sexually Confused Men I'll have a chance to compete in it myself?

Welcome Back Katie

1) After 4-5 months of recovering from a serious injury. Katie is all set to join in for TRY tonight. So, please commend her on her patience during her long road back and welcome her back into the fold. (And then watch her take off and leave most of us in the dust! Katie! Slow down! :-)

2) There were some yes votes for doing field trips, so we are going to attempt a field trip for next Tuesday night. I'm picking Green Lakes State Park since it is dog friendly and the dog owners of TRY can bring along their 4 legged friends. The initial plan will be to shoot for 6 PM at Green Lakes park. We'll give people some time to make it -- then attempt a group run at 6:30. Then hopefully there can be some frisbee-ing, swimming, whatevering until 8, or 8:30 when we get kicked out of the park. Please let me know if you plan on attending and I'll work out more specifics with those people on if we are doing a picnic. (FYI -- this means that there will be no organized TRY run at the Liverpool park next Tuesday.)

3) Tonight. Planning on a tempo run. Either a 4 mile run (1/2 mile warmup, 3 miles at race pace (the "tempo" portion), and a 1/2 mile cooldown). Or a 5 mile run (1 mile warmup/cooldown with the 3 miles at race pace in the middle). We can decide for sure as we mingle waiting for the run to start. The important part is the 3 miles at race pace, so the stuff on both ends is highly irrelevant.

4) Thanks for the responses to the polls. Bella is a dominant presence! Her time on the news being dragged across the camera view by her leash has definitely connected with the population.