Geddes Area Happenings

Since I need an excuse to have a blog post for August...

Aaron is doing a great job of pushing speed differentiation and has said it is quarter miles intervals again this week. (I don't always run, but when I do, I listen to Aaron.) Also, thanks to MLB doing nicknames on their jerseys in a couple weekends for "players weekend", I now know what to order Aaron for Christmas!



The forecast is for high 70s and storms probably having passed through by TRY time, but keep an eye on the Doppler radar and choose wisely.

Assuming decent weather after TRY time you may want to consider a very unique outdoor movie venue. I went to the Amphitheater for movie night a couple weeks ago and it was very nice. Free parking (and you get rather close), free to get in and all they cared about was if you had glass containers. Bathrooms are open and there is a vendor or two selling ice cream and popcorn. But really it is a bring your own set up and you get to watch the movies on the auxiliary screens they use for concerts. They aren't huge, but there is always at least a couple in your sight line, and you can bring in whatever you need to make your night fun. (Drinks? A mistress? Your own children? Etc...) This is the third, and final, week for this summer "Moonlight Movie Series 2017". The 8 PM showing is "Sing" and the second feature is "This is Spinal Tap". (No word on whether Ron is willing to put it up to eleven for us for a night?)

Here are the simple details of these movie events from syracuse.com.

What else is about to happen in Geddes? Why the New York State Fair, of course! This year it opens with a preview day on Wednesday the 23rd (It will only $1 to get in on the preview Wednesday, so save your advance sale tickets for another day) and so will last one extra day. Unfortunately for me, my first wife is taking me out of town on a family vacation so I will have limited days where I can check it out. (I see that both Thursdays are only $3 to get in, so you don't need advance sale tickets for those days either.)

The highlights from what I can tell from a couple of the early articles (one and two):
There will be a chair lift down the middle of the fairway.
The west end (where the Chinese lantern festival was) will have things in it this year, including a floating tiki bar in the dragon lagoon. So that area should feel a lot less empty than it was last year.
The Indian village area got spruced up.
And several other minor upgrades...like moving the state police demonstration area and adding family recharge zones.

So, nothing as big as last year, but continuing to fancy up the place. I'll put a poll on the Facebook page for possible TRY nights at the Fair.

I Plead The Fourth

Is anyone around for TRY this week? Probably not, but mid 70s and sunny at TRY time. Next week there is no TRY due to the post Boilermaker hangover. See the separate invite for our fun alternative night. (Get a hold of me if you didn't get an invite.) So with the holiday and then the BM there is a two week sabbatical this summer.

I assume most people will be celebrating the holiday somewhere? So enjoy yourself some holiday-ing and be sure to seek out some noise and air pollution!

I know I enjoy them myself, but how much longer are we going to allow this stuff to continue? We are mostly all for the Paris Climate Accord and yet we gleefully gather in large numbers and cheer on ground, water, and air pollution. Does this even make sense anymore? (Hat tip to Disney for working on a partially better way! Score one for Berms!)

And just because I expect no one to show up for TRY does not mean that it is a wasted week - I've built up some links of interest for you on this "off" week. Here are a couple about running and exercising:

1) The biggest mistakes that all levels of runners make. (Including a couple about overuse!)

2) Common exercise myths. (OK, not really running, but ties in nicely and these myths are debunked by SCIENCE!)

Lastly, this is perfect on a day where very few should be working as this gets into NSFW links. As the non-running leader of a running group you can imagine that I get asked a lot of questions and by far the most common questions that I DON'T get asked are about sex...so here you go. (Lifehacker seems to have gotten on a sex kick lately?)

1) How much sex should you be having? (It's well reasoned and has links to more information.)

2) The nice persons guide to playing rough. (My safe word is "Versace"! If you don't have one, be sure to think of one for yourself and share it with your partner.)

Why does the fourth of July always land in the first week of July?! Seems like an odd coincidence to me.

So Into Annals

It has been awhile since I've done a post on the blog site plus I wanted to preserve Aaron's heartfelt shared story for the Annals of TRY. (In case 30 For 30 ever picks up our story!) Most of you know that I love annals. (That's with two N's, Meat Loaf!)

Forecast for tonight is for 50% chance of storms all through early afternoon, then downgrading to showers at a 25-30% clip in the TRY hours. (According to weather.com)

Aaron posted some running workout ideas for your run and is starting up another 30 day ab challenge. See his FB post for details.

I see that a few of you have already gone to the Chinese Lantern Festival at the state fairgrounds. If you have not and are interested, this is your final week as it's 2 1/2 month stay ends on the 24th. I recommend it for the uniqueness of it all. The lights look great, especially after dark and the 30 minute performance of culture is well worth the viewing...and bring cash as they give a "discount" at the gate for cash. Plus they have food trucks and merchandise if you are into such things. Of everyone in TRY, it would seem like Ron would be the most interested?!

(Because of his intense, hands on, interest in foreign cultures.)

As a group, we really downgraded our support of Paige's Butterfly Run this year. It happens! But it did make me curious if people would be more interested in supporting their summer clam bake? They did their first annual one last year and Berms, her male roommate, and I attended. It was plenty good food-wise and not crowded at all as it was their first attempt at it. In fact, I'm a bit surprised they are running it back, but obviously it is something they see as an event to grow and therefore a small crowd the first time did not scare them off.

They call it the "Clams 4 Cures Clambake" and is July 29th at the Spinning Wheel. Please let me know if you are interested and maybe we can get a bigger group together for it this year? (It looks like it is 50 "clams" -- that is dollars -- per ticket! Which I suppose is the going rate for an open clam bake? That would crush my allowance for the month but I still plan to go if we can get a group.)

It was Berms' first time and she seemed to like it. Would you go again Berms or was it enough to get the check-mark?





Finally, let's preserve Aaron's small world story in a blog entry. Obviously is a powerful reminder of the community in a long race and reminds me of how often a bond can be made among strangers as the miles add up. (And brings a twinkle to my eye as I remember two different connections made in my marathon-marathon story.) It also calls into question the people who always wear headphones in races? I know it is a personal choice and it "helps them" so who am I to judge? But, I just know I've had cases where I've cheered on someone I knew who I then noticed had headphones in and they didn't seem to flinch at all. If someone gets cheered for but does not hear it, does a tree still fall on them in the forest?!

Aaron, thanks again for sharing:

Tangentially running related story to share. I've had a note sitting in my Facebook Messenger queue for weeks now. I had assumed that was spam but when I opened it yesterday, I found this:

"Hi. We were in a photo together coming out of Thornden park at the Mountain Goat Sunday. I just wanted to tell you that your words of encouragement to everyone near you on the course were very uplifting. It was an emotional point in the race for me after losing a friend last week. I heard you talking to others and it reminded me of him and just what he would have been doing."

Most of us aren't going to win the races that we enter. Try to have fun out there. Cracking a joke or encouraging those runners around you might make all the difference to somebody in earshot.

Oh MG!

Mid 60s and some sun at TRY time. Ideal conditions to join Aaron in some interval training. See his Facebook post for his suggestions.

I'll be absent, of course, this time while marveling at the train wreck that is youth sports. If I don't convince the coach tonight that my son should be the first ever person to pitch during a teeball baseball game then clearly it is the coaches fault and he will never see my sons greatness like I do and I'll petition the league commissioner to get him fired.

Here is the colorful follow up to the Mountain Goat run from a couple weekends ago. Hopefully I found everyone (with exceptions like Doug and Janna who I don't feel are still TRYing). If Lisa thought she could obscure her bib to the point of not being found, then clearly she should not have attempted to sprint in Brett B from Geneva, NY. (The lesson is that I WILL FIND YOU, LISA!)























Lots of smiles, thumbs-ups, and waves. Well done, you crazy kids!

And So It Begins Anew

Welcome to the 11th year of TRY! Or as it can more easily be thought of...our 10th Anniversary year. Much has changed over the years and with the leader mailing it in the last couple years there is no regular contributor that remains from the first attempts at TRY in 2007. Some remaining people have been there from nearly the beginning and while some people have shown up one time and others have shown up one hundred times, there remains something at TRYs core that is a friendly running group.

This spring some of you have already done a half marathon while others are just shaking the winter ice off their legs. Some of you have marathons in your sights while others might not even race a 5K. I feel the groups experience and goals have never been more expansive or diverse. With that in mind, I don't really have any idea what to write about this season that would be applicable to even half of you, so feel free to let me know ideas.

For the weekly TRY meet-up, it'll be the "system" that has been in place for the past few years. Meet at 5:30 or a bit before, figure out who wants to run what, start the run at 5:35ish in like minded groups and then regroup afterwards. Do a cool down walk and then either say goodbye or follow the thirst group to a local establishment for drink and food. 

Aaron did a nice write-up of a trail run him, Katie and Bart all did over the weekend that your inner kid would have loved and your laundry servant would have loathed. Be sure to catch that and some of the photos on Facebook if you haven not already.

One idea I have for the 10th anniversary is to reach out to and "interview" 10 past participants of TRY. We have ex-TRYers spread throughout the country and the county so I thought it would be interesting to catch up to some of them and find out what they are up to, if they still run, and where they have found to run in their new areas. I'll probably call it "10 For 10" and spread that throughout the rest of the running season. Beyond that? I'm not sure if there is anything left to say. I do encourage people who do unique races to share their experiences with us.

I think that's it for the TRY season? It is a running group that basically runs itself at this point.

An extra item for anyone wondering what a winter hibernation is like. It's basically the scene from Anchorman except that it is cold enough that the milk doesn't curdle. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

The Syracuse Chiefs start this week but the forecast for Thursday is poor enough that I'm not sure it is worth even attempting to organize anything? But if anyone is looking for a baseball outing, you can let me know.

Finale

Today is the regular season finale. Another great forecast is in the works and has mid to high 50s for the final OLP TRY of the year.

The group is meeting at 5 with a 5:05 start time. That still means mostly dark to actually dark as you finish your running so please pair off or group up and make sure that everyone gets out of the park safely. Flashlights or headlamps would be nice for anyone running more than a two miles.

Stay tuned to the Facebook page for "off season" running meet-ups including continued running on Tuesday nights at various after-dark safe running locations. I am usually unable to attend which leaves you in more capable hands to orchestrate the runs.

As most of you know today is a very important day. So I wanted to take the time to remind you to be sure to take advantage of today and do something that many people around the world think we take for granted. Whether you did it this morning already and sneak it in tonight at the last minute it is VERY IMPORTANT for you to go out and ...

Think about TRY and the running accomplishments that you and the group have had this year. Whether you did another marathon, your first hymon, a unique trail run, a new group relay race, a relay "great" race, another group relay race, a trail marathon, another hymon, a 5k, a 3.5 mile "challenge", or any of the various other running "races" that group members have put themselves through...take a moment to think back.

There is plenty of time in the calendar year to add on more races - from jingly balls, to wonderful runs, to turkey trots, to frozen trail races, but with the end of regular TRY for 2016 think of your accomplishments and learn from them - both good and bad lessons - and consider what you will do the same or different in 2017.

That's it...nothing else of note to do today...

Frost on the Pumpkin

Despite the cold start to the day, the hourly forecast is saying high 50s at TRY time.

Counting tonight, we have TWO SESSIONS of regular TRY left. BUT, next week falls after the change back to standard time, so I recommend moving the TRY meetup time based on what was done last year - shifting 30 minutes earlier for next week. Hopefully I remember to bring that up tonight.

For those who care about lights on the lake, it opens for cars on Wednesday the 16th with a "Salute the Troops Night" (free with military ID). Monday the 14th is the stroll night and Tuesday the 15th is the dog walk night.

That's it...I'm all hallows eve'd out!