Last Week of the Year

Even though the weather is still cooperating for a while, this will be the last TRY weekly "yog" of the year. (Cars and Lights on the Lake will take over the park for the next month.) The plan for tonight is to meet at 5:30 at the Liverpool park to walk (or run if you want to) under the lights on the lake on the "Dog Walk" night. Refreshments for humans and dogs are available for sale. At least a couple TRYers will be bringing their dogs. Come join in for a festive finale and bring along a four legged friend. (Or if you don't have any four legged friends -- bring your dog instead!) We'll coordinate the walkers/runners once we see who makes it tonight. Call my cell phone if its hard to find people in the dark.

Don't forget about the Topricin Worst Race Photo Contest! Entries are submittable for another week. As of this weekend there were only 12 entries and a couple of the examples I posted last week, here, would be in the top five "worst". Also, there are still very few people registered to vote, so if one of us can find a really awful looking photo, there would be a decent chance of winning the prize. ($100 - $200? value for winning, so its worth digging for that lousy race photo that you hate of yourself.)

This past weekend was a great race weekend for TRY. Two first time marathon finishes, one first time half-marathon finish, one marathon PR, and one 5K PR! Good job everyone! (Well, everyone, except for me.) Congratulations on going farther and faster than you ever have before. :-) All your hard work this summer and fall paid off. I am very proud of all of you!

Enjoy the rest of the year everyone! Posting/emails will be sparse through the winter...see you all (with perhaps some new recruits) come spring time.

Christmas Lights and a Contest

Next week there are two chances to walk/run through the Liverpool Lights on the Lake before it is opened up to vehicles.

Monday, the 23rd, is the Verizon Lights on the Lake Stroll.
Tuesday, the 24th, is the Verizon Lights on the Lake Dog Walk.

Both nights are open from 5-9 and you can buy refreshments, meet "holiday characters", and walk the 2 miles of the lights on the lake.

I am planning on TRYing to get a group to jog/walk on Tuesday night, starting at 5:30. Please let me know if you plan to make it and we can coordinate a holiday ending to the TRY running season. For those of you with dogs, it seems like that would be a fun night out with the pooch.

A great opportunity for you all was sent to me last week by Malinda -- the Topricin Race Photo Contest. They are asking for your worst race photos. Entries will receive a free sample of Topricin and the winner will receive a free 6 month supply of Topricin and the entry fee to their next race of choice. (Up to $150!) It is not completely set up yet, but to vote, you need to become a fan of Topricin on facebook (or use twitter). I just checked out their facebook site and became a fan and they only have 9 fans right now! So, it seems to me like this contest is prime for the picking. If one of us can come up with a really lousy race photo, I think we could easily overwhelm the voting and get a great prize for one of our members! (For those that don't know, Topricin is a homeopathic pain reliever that has helped a few of us through some injuries the last couple years. Malinda's father is a distributor/marketer and he and Malinda have both been very generous at giving Topricin to TRY members. So, please support this contest and check out the product some time if you need some pain relief -- it's basically the official pain reliever of TRY! And trust me, its much better than the sports creams that you are used to.) It's available online or in Wegmans (and I assume other local stores).

Don't forget about the Jingle Bell Run this Sunday (weather forecast looks warmish but with chance of rain) or the opportunity to donate to the cause.

Tonight: The last official TRY meeting of the year. Liverpool park at 4:30. 5 mile run with a 4 mile tempo for those looking for a harder workout.

Some inspiration - here are a few of my favorite TRY related race photos from the last couple years. Some are "bad", some look good. I need to go back and dig up some of my bad ones for the contest (normally I only save off the ones that were halfway decent). Please join in...it'll be fun if a few of us are competing and I hope that one of us has one lousy enough to end up the winner.

November Races

For those of you that want to end your running year with a race or two:

1) On Sunday, the 22nd, the Jingle Bell Run/Walk is being held at Long Branch Park. It used to be a 5k/10k at Onondaga Lake Park but they changed it this year. So, it's not the same exact event that I'm familiar with, but I assume it won't change the atmosphere much. If you didn't get enough use out of your striped tights at Halloween, now is your chance! Or if you have a dog and want to run a race with it, this is your chance! Put antlers on the pooch and bring it along. This is the only local race that I've ever had to dodge a dog in! It's a fun little event that a lot of people dress up festively for and we had a large TRY contingency at it last year. (I even traveled over 2000 miles to participate myself.) At least 6 people from TRY that supported it will be out of town this year for the Philadelphia marathon/half marathon, so I'm hoping for some replacements. If anyone else feels guilty about bailing out on a fun, local race, join me in pledging one of our own. Malinda is taking up the torch (or would that be antlers?) and raising money this year. Please join her. Or support her if you can't end up running the race yourself. Donate to her here.

2) On Thanksgiving day, the Baldwinsville Turkey Trot takes place at Baker High School. I've never done this one and this year I'll be running in Watertown instead since I'll be home for the holiday. For anyone around Syracuse on Thanksgiving you may want to join in so that you can pig out guilt free the rest of the day. 5K and 10K options are available.

For tonight's group run -- we are meeting at 4:30 at the Liverpool park. The speed work will be full mile intervals.

Lastly --
My theory for why they don't have a Jingle Bell Run 10K anymore? I think Katie smoked the competition so badly last year that the competition committee canceled the event. (Now that is what I call bona-fide! Getting a whole race canceled! Nice work Katie.)

Not The Same Thing

We are running out of daylight! This whole earth-tilt-thing is really starting to be a problem.

So, we are moving the start time to 4:30 until Thanksgiving, at which time we go on hiatus for a while due to lights on the lake.

Same Thing

Same thing. 5:00 PM start. Nice fall afternoon to run if you are up for it.

Nothing Special

The baseball playoffs are killing me. I need some sleeeeeep!

Tonight, 5:00 PM. Normal place. Looks like some lovely fall weather so come out and enjoy it.

The Five Spot

Reminder. Starting tonight, the group run starts at 5:00. (Well, by 5:05) Same place.

We'll keep it at 5:00 for the next 3 or so weeks when it'll have to move again when daylight saving time switches.

The suggested group run will be 4 or 5 miles with 1 mile intervals, but we have been in a choose your own adventure mode for a while.

The only other thing I'll say today is a shout out to Maria. Our triathlete star did something she's never done before -- ran a half marathon this weekend. Congratulations Maria! You are our half-iron woman! :-)

Last Time For This Time

Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen. Cannonball! [At this point I would cannonball into a pool.]

Ok, not the news story I meant to pass along. The important news is that we are going to start moving the TRY time back in order to get the run in before darkness sets in.

This week: regular time. (5:30)
Next week and for the next few weeks: 5:00 (with a 5 minute courtesy window, so the runs will start at 5:05.
Eventually: even earlier (4:30)

I know this limits some of you from being able to make it, but there isn't much we can do. And lets be honest, not that many people are making it anyway. Hopefully some of you can still keep attending. (And for a couple of you, the earlier time may even help make it again?) For you newer people, TRY keeps running until Thanksgiving week, or later, so there is still plenty of time to run with the group.

Once the snow flies, you can still run at the Liverpool park, but daylight becomes an issue...so any semblance of group runs usually goes out the wintry window.

Speaking of wintry windows: I know there is some interest in people either learning how to ski/snowboard or skiing/snowboarding more. And also some interest in learning how to cross-country ski. So, please let me know if you have interest in either type of skiing and especially if you don't have people to ski with and want to learn and I may just attempt to put together a couple to a few winter outings that help people learn to ski/snowboard or get out cross country skiing. We'll time it so that Aubrey and Brian can join in during a weekend visit! Let me know if you have interest and I'll maintain a list to get a hold of when late December rolls around.

There is a half marathon that 2+ TRYers are running this weekend: Durkee's Bread Run

Tonights run: Is anyone even still reading? Even if they are, are they going to follow the group run? Unlikely. Run like Forrest -- run like the wind blows.

Run Smarter, Not Harder

Group run: tonight at 5:30 at OLP. (Within a couple weeks the time will have to move up to 5:00 for lack of light reasons.) The actual run? Whatever you are up for. I think I'm healthy enough to run intervals again, so I'll attempt to lead up a 4-5 miler with 1/2 mile intervals.

Some TRYers still have their fall laid out for them. Their ultimate test for this year is still to come and their training plan is in place. But for others, their big test is behind them. So what do they do now?

That's right Jacque*, I'm talking to you. You've had an awesome year, reaching new lengths in your running and keeping a great mood along the way. But now the pressure is off and I'm guessing that motivation might be lagging. So, what now?

Focus on some little things:
Think about your running form. Do you carry your hands higher than you need to? Do you come across your body with your arms more than necessary? Why not think about that when doing a short run? Make some minute improvements in your running efficiency that will aid your running for years to come.

Think about training smarter. Long, steady runs are perfect for training for long races. But they are not very good for cardio fitness or for weight maintenance/loss. So, start working on speed differentiation during your runs. Instead of doing a steady 8 miler. Go out and do a 5 mile tempo. Instead of a regular 4 miler. Mix in some 1/4 mile intervals. Get those legs moving, get that heart pumping and push yourself harder in your shorter runs. It'll pay dividends for any future running that you do of any length. Plus, its mentally rewarding. When you see those split times getting faster after just a couple weeks of pushing yourself, you know you are making strides. (Ummm, bad pun. :-)

Do some shorter races. There are 5ks and 10ks all the way through Thanksgiving (at a minimum). So, why not circle that local Turkey Trot held near wherever you will be on Thanksgiving morning and have that as a goal out there to keep you training until the snow flies. That speed work that you will be incorporating will help you maximize your performance in a "short" race. You'll gobble up the 5 kilometers in no time.

Enjoy your running. Not that you haven't been. But the pressure of building up to new lengths is over...so make sure that training is fun again. Enjoy having to run "only" 4 miles. Explore new places to run. Do some trail runs underneath fall foliage. Etc.

*Names have been changed. Any overlap with real TRYers is purely coincidental.

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.

Hot, hot, hot and 2 polls

Ok, so maybe it will not be all that hot (mid to high 80's) but for me, it will definitely be the warmest weather I've ran in this summer. I'm not exactly looking forward to it.

Since a few people are starting to ramp up their efforts for 1/2 marathons and marathons in the fall, our Tuesday intervals will start to incorporate longer speed workouts. (Mile repeats and tempo runs in lieu of 1/4 mile intervals.)

My initial thought was to do a 5 mile run with 3, 1 mile intervals interspersed. But since it might be stinky-hot out, it will probably be plenty to do a 4 mile run with 2, 1 mile intervals. We'll see who shows up and pick a plan that works for the most people, with the others doing whatever run suits their needs tonight.

A request has been made to do an interval session at a local track. Please respond to the poll at the right, to help me gauge the group interest. (May be done in place of a Tuesday at the park, or could be done on another night that interested people could make.)

Also a request has been made to do a field trip like we did a couple times last summer to get rid of some of the monotony of the Liverpool Park. So please respond to that poll at the right as well.

I Don't Have Much To Say

Nothing fun this week.

The group run will be the standard one. 4-5 miles with intervals. Probably 1/4 miles again as we restart the cycle.

Man, I Feel Like a Woman

When is Shania going to put out a new album? She's overdue. I miss her.

The Boilermaker was a good time as always. But a race like that can change a person. I started out as a man, but finished as a woman.


Which, being an innocent mistake (that I probably should blame my parents for) didn't hurt anyone. (My bib said Male and I didn't realize my chip was messed up when they scanned it at the race expo.)

But, then I checked the Corporate Cup results and was surprised to find out that I was a winner.


Even though they have me listed as Male there, I helped my company win the female division of the Corporate Cup! Wooohooooo!

The good news: the next, real, woman was close enough to me that the company will still win after my results are replaced.

The bad news: the Boilermaker committee reviewed the race pictures and has disqualified the entire team. The reason? They accused me of using a high-grade beaver tranquilizer!

The runner-up team, the women from Average Joe's Gymnasium are going to the finals in Las Vegas, instead! Good luck, with your losers, in Las Vegas, LaFleur!
(All that, just to set up a Dodgeball joke! Alliteration aside, I think we've all had enough of that.)

I've done the Boilermaker enough times that I start to take it for granted. So, I really like it when new(er) people run the race and let me know what they think about it. So, it was great to have the Cooper gang hang out at the post race party and to have enjoyed the event so much. For that reason, they win the "I TRY Harder" award -- to Jen, Sue and Tim (and Lindsay?) for improving their race times and their enjoyment of the event this year and to Jacque and Jon for loving their first time. And for all of them drinking, smiling and dancing it up at the post-race party. Well done Cooper-scoopers (and friends)! You win the "I TRY Harder" award for your great attitudes and camraderie!




If you haven't looked at your 5K splits from the Boilermaker, you should. They can be both entertaining and educational. And just for fun, you should check out the finish line cameras and watch yourself finish. Good clean family fun, right there! (They are broken down by gun time, so you'll have to know what your gun time was -- and the race started right at 8 AM...so the math is simple. You also need to remember which side of the road you finished on...if you finished on your left, that is the "right" camera. So, direction is as facing the runners.) Here is my glamour shot. (That's right, I'm a "Real Person". It's true.)


Change of subject:
A couple (and perhaps a few) TRYers are going to do the Philadelphia Marathon (or Half Marathon) this November 22nd. In fact, it is going to be the Official Marathon of TRY this fall. If you are interested in a Marathon or perhaps a big city Half Marathon, think about it and sign up. (You can get $10 off of the registration fee until the end of July by using this coupon code: Enter Coupon Code: PMJU2009) There are bound to be some group long runs on the weekends into the fall as people spin up for the event. If you are in need of a training plan (or have questions on what the runs are like in a marathon/half marathon training plan) look to the links on the right hand side of the blog. There are some training links there for Hal Higdon's site. FYI -- this coming weekend is 18 weeks from November 22nd -- or the exact number of weeks in Hal's novice marathon training plan. (The half marathon training plan is "only" 12 weeks.) So, this is the perfect time to start your training. If people have questions about training for their first marathon, we have some everyday runner expertise in the TRY group...just ask. A few of us have done our first marathon in recent years and will gladly share our thoughts. Several members have done half marathons in the last couple years as well. If you have always thought about doing a longer race...consider this fall the time to do it. You'll have plenty of support.

Tonight's run:
Who cares. My legs hurt from the BM (I ended up having a Sqwincher! :-(...I have a hamstring pull from kickball last week and Jen's softball team slayed the dragon (my softball team) last night. So running is irrelevant. We'll discuss a plan and split up accordingly at the start of the run.

Letdown Week

After the excitement of last weeks blog entry -- with the screen captures and the video links, I don't have anything that can compare. So I won't attempt to match that. There is still time to vote in the online poll for your favorite TRYer in the news moment. Bella is lapping the field, but there is a heated battle for second place between Annette's legs, Malinda's patty-caking, and Dewey Cox's walking hard.

Please let me know if you are running the boilermaker this weekend. I'll come up with a little map on where some of us will be hanging out at the post race party. (Same area as last year, for those that remember). Also, last year was the first year I followed my own directions for getting to the starting line and it saved at least 20 minutes in traffic (and a ton of stressful delays) on race day. So, if anyone wants a great way to get there on Sunday morning, let me know. (It would probably work for the finish line parking as well, since you won't be going with traffic on the mess getting off of the thruway.)

For tonight? We'll just make something up. Some people will be taking it easy, some people won't...so we'll talk before starting off and group up with like-minded runners. As usual this summer, there are going to be thunderstorms in the area (have I ever given myself the nickname "T-storm"? If not, that would be a good one), so the run may get rained out (again).

Thunderfully yours,
T-storm

TRY on the News

TRYers have been all over the local news lately! For those who have missed them, here they are.




Relay for life night. That is Bella in the first and Annette's now world famous legs in the second.


(Malinda's friend) Angela Harris fundraiser -


News 10 Now. That's right, the back of Terry's, Kristen's, and Catherine's heads!



Channel 9 News. Malinda playing with Draven.

And of course, the classic shot that caught me walking at the mountain goat. (I hadn't done a screen capture before and felt that it had to be done. I'm hoping my shame will inspire me.)



What is our run going to be? Who knows. It might storm, so remember the rules. We will run in the rain, but not during a storm. You can text my phone around 5 if you want to know an official judgement.

We'll do something like a 4 to 5 mile run. With some sort of intervals. We'll discuss it as a group right before the run.

Also -- don't forget to respond to the reader poll on the right. (The first new poll in months!)

June 16th

Is it really mid-June already? Time flies when you are not having fun, I guess!

One week until the Corporate Challenge, so for anyone who doesn't know, there is no TRY next week since the Corporate Challenge takes over our playground.

There has been some debate over our start time. As a reminder, we start at 5:30 since that is a time that worked for the most people when polled last year. (Then we do about a 5 minute courtesy delay for people that are slightly behind. So, our goal is to start running by 5:35.) Plan accordingly so that no one has to get ruffled by either waiting too long or not waiting long enough.

This week is a 4-5 mile run with 1/2 mile intervals. Similar to what Mark led up two weeks ago.

Whatever the Weather

A catchy little diddy I learned from a cartoon a few years back:

Whether the weather is cold,
or whether the weather is hot,
we'll weather the weather,
whatever the weather,
whether we like it or not.

Chance of storms today, so use your judgement. We'll do a group run in rain, but not in a thunderstorm. If you want to check because you aren't sure, you can text me after 5 at 315.440.0397.

Allow me to complain about San Diego weather while I'm at this today -- at no point in the last 3 weeks did the temperature in San Diego approach what we are having today. So, once again I'm going to whine about the weather in San Diego. You would think that in late May to early June you would get some beach weather out there. But I didn't. And you don't. It really isn't as nice there as I would picture it. So, it's nice to be back and get some summery weather in my life.

The run --
1/4 mile intervals? I have no idea how many people have been showing up the last 3 weeks and how many people have been doing the intervals, but I do know that 1/2 milers were scheduled for last week, so instead of going any longer, I'll revert back to 1/4 milers for this week. (I've been sick and not running lately, so I myself will probably just do a slow and steady 4-5 miler depending on who else makes it out today.)

Only 2 weeks until the corporate challenge! (I'm in trouble -- the travel killed my running and now I only have 2 weeks to attempt to salvage my running pace. Not a wise move on my part!)

-T

6/2

Quick post about the game plan for tonight. For those of you doing speed-work, we'll do 1/2 mi intervals as follows:

• 1/2 mi warm-up
• 4 - 1/2 mi intervals (1/2 fast, 1/2 recovery)
• 1/2 mi cool-down.

That adds up to a total of 5 miles. Sorry for the brevity of this post...busy day. Anyway, hope to see everybody there.

I Suck

Sorry to do this to you guys again, but I'm not going to be able to make it tonight either....good thing you picked me to help out Terry! I do apologize for being MIA, and I should be there next week. So, for those of you who are going to TRY tonight, I suggest keeping the rotation going, which means 1/4 mile intervals tonight:

• 1 mi warmup
• 5 - 1/4 mile intervals (1/4 mi on, 1/4 recovery, repeat for a total of 5 cycles)
• 1/2 mi cooldown

This ends up being 4 mi total. I hope the weather holds off for you guys, and I'll see you next week.

Abandoned

Contrary to Terry's last post, I am only filling in for him for a few weeks while he's in San Diego (and I know popular demand had nothing to do with this!). So, in order to show my superb leadership qualities, I will not be attending TRY tonight. Actually, I do feel badly about this, but this week is incredibly hectic, and it's just not going to happen.

Anyway, I will leave with with a workout plan for those of you plan on doing speed-work. Here goes:
4.5 mi run with 3 - 1/2 mi intervals as follows:

• 1 mi warmup
• 1/2 mi fast
• 1/2 mi recovery
• repeat fast recovery cycle 2 more times
• 1/2 mi cooldown

For those of you who haven't been doing speed-work, but do have a few weeks of "regular" running under your belts, I would recommend starting. In case some of you are a little reluctant or intimidated, interval work does not necessarily mean "all-out" running for a specific distance (especially as the distances get longer). All it means is to push yourself harder for those "on/fast" cycles. How hard you push depends on a whole mess of factors, ranging from the length of the interval, the weather, how you're feeling, etc. Doing these types of workout on a regular basis can have amazing effects on your running abilities.

If you still don't feel like doing speed-work, that's still fine. The important thing is just to get out there and TRY. I hope everybody has a good run today, and I'll see you next week.

Oh, and one last thing...for those of you who don't already know, Katie and I are having a Memorial Day Party/Cookout at our house on Sunday. I'm figuring it'll start early/mid afternoon, and continue until God only knows when. Anyway, you're all invited. Shoot me an email or just leave a comment to this post, and I'll get you my address.

Change in Management

Due to popular demand, Mark is taking over TRY and relieving Terry of his duties. Effective immediately.

Same time, same place.

Famous Titles

Not a big fan of the ladies, are you Trebek?

Sorry, that just came to me as I was struggling to come up with a title.

Where are we at? I think the most important thing for this week is the TRY Relay For Life email that I sent out on Monday night. I'm hoping many TRYers can join in and make it a successful and enjoyable evening!

I believe we're down to 6 weeks until the Corporate Challenge. And since I want new people to attempt intervals, I'm going to plan for sticking with 1/4 mile intervals again tonight. Come on. Be brave. Join in. Suck wind. It'll help. I may even find some proof and add it to this post later tonight on why intervals/speed work helps your running performance. It'll be some scientific garbage about VO2 max, lactate threshold and running economy. (The three pillars of running! And I thought the three pillars for runners were ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and crack.)

It looks like it will be a nice (but slightly cool) day. So, take advantage and come on out. And the added bonus for some of you is that I haven't been shipped out of town again yet. So, you'll be able to come run with the second most effective leader of TRY for at least one more week!

Five-o De Mayo - and a special drink contest

As always we meet at 5:30 at the rental location/Wegmans playground end of Onondaga Lake Park.

The main run will be a 4 miler (or so) with 1/4 mile intervals. And as I hinted last week, this is a great time to start working on increasing your speed as a lead in to the Corporate Challenge in 7 weeks. If you have questions on how exactly to attack a run like this, just ask me. (Or ask one of the other more experienced runners in the group.)

For any beginners out there that might get intimidated by people that have ran for a while. Here is an opportunity to see an experienced runner get humbled -- check out this news report. (0:52 is where it gets really ugly for a couple seconds). A special hat tip to Amy for being kind enough to pass this along. Thanks Amy! You're the best!

And since its Cinco de Mayo - I was hoping some people could go out for drinks/dinner after the run. Especially since there are so many new people in the group. It would be great to get some social time when we aren't huffing and puffing. So plan on Tully's (on 7th north street) unless someone convinces me of another close-by/cheap/convenient choice.

As a special incentive, we are having a "Caption Contest". Whoever wins, gets a free drink on me. So, please use comments option to submit your best caption for the following picture. (Emailers can email me instead.) You can easily post the comment as "anonymous" -- but please put your name in it so we know who to give credit to.

Here you go...have at it:




(The best part is, this wasn't even my idea.)

Remote Control

Some of you have heard this already -- I (Terry) got shipped out on business travel this week. So, while you are enjoying warm weather in Syracuse, I'm dealing with chilly weather in San Diego. (Seriously, you had me beat by 20+ degrees yesterday and will beat me by 15 degrees today!)

The plan for tonight is another 4 mile run or so. For those ready for speedwork, it is going to be a tempo run. (Warm up for 1 mile, run at your limit for 2.5 to 3 miles, then cool down for .5 miles.)

And since its about 8 weeks until the Corporate Challenge, I want some of you just running steady paced training runs to start considering doing speedwork. Next week, we'll be back to doing 1/4 mile intervals...so that will be the ideal week for people to do their first speed work training run of the year. Its not easy at first (or ever), but it will pay huge dividends by the time late June rolls around and will definitely help your performance in the Corporate Challenge.

I see from the online weather forecast that there are storms and rain in the Syracuse area today. Without me there, I can't offer much more than to use your judgement as to whether you run or not.

Mark has offered to be there and help out with any questions newer runners might have tonight -- but no guarantee of that if it is raining/storming. (So, unfortunately, you are on your own.) Hopefully the rain is minor in the afternoon and it is decent enough for most of you to get your run in. Good luck, and enjoy the warm (rainy) weather.

04/21

Don't forget that the Mountain Goat run registration gets more expensive after tomorrow night.

Today:
Chance of rain. So if you are a wicked witch, be careful out there! Maybe have your monkeys fly rain drop interference for you?

For those doing speedwork, we'll do a a 4 mile run with 3, 1/2 mile intervals interspersed throughout. For those not doing speedwork -- do what you are ready for. We'll chat a little before and or after. For any new people wondering what this speed work is all about or what its purpose is -- be sure to ask me (or Mark) about it.

He is Outta Here!

Before we begin, lets pause for a moment of silence in memory of the voice of the World [expletive deleted] Champion, Philadelphia Phillies. He was the voice of my childhood (of all my years of baseball, in fact), the voice of NFL films, and the voice of Chunky Soup Commercials. Harry Kalas died on Monday. I've probably heard more of his voice in my life than any other non-family member. It's kind of sad.

[Insert silent moment here.]

Moving on -- this is Terry here. I'm back and I'm better than ever. Ok, not really, but worse than ever is still noteworthy.

I've got a headache, so I'll be brief (for me).

1. A huge thank you to Mark for his excellent leadership while I was out surfing.



2. We are losing one of our spark plugs. Aubrey is following her heart and moving to Maryland soon. Last week was her last TRY. :-( Good luck Aubs! Keep up the hard work and maybe our running paths will cross again some day.



(Sorry for including the picture -- I couldn't help it. I'm going to miss your fresh attitude towards running. Thanks for your inspiration for the past year!)

3. You all know the routine. Show up at 5:20, run at 5:30. It's going to be nice weather so maybe you all can get your Easter candy-asses out there this week?!!



(Why is it the kid from California showed up last week and only one other person did?) No more excuses! The summer running season starts now. Two and half weeks til the Mountain Goat (register by the 22nd before the price goes up again). 10 (or 11?) weeks until the Corporate Challenge. Time for some speed work. 4 mile run with 1/4 mile intervals...


4. This has nothing to do with running, but this book has really changed my life. I used to think I was alone -- and it made me ashamed. Perhaps someone else in the group could benefit from the guidance contained in it as well?

Not TRYing

So...it's April, it's pretty windy outside, and oh yeah...it's snowing!!! Today I am going to be the antithesis of motivation...I'm already throwing in the towel. However, there is one ray of sunshine today: Terry says he will be at the park this afternoon. So, if you're up to the challenge, same time/place as usual...5:20ish, OLP. I won't lay out any speed-work this week, but by all means, go for it if you feel like. I'm sure Terry will be more than happy to give direction. For those of you that don't know Terry, he's most likely the only guy there with a tan. Hopefully I'll see you all next week.

The Need for Speed (I know...corny!)

It's been put off long enough; it's time to begin speed-work for those of us that are up for it, and as of right now, it doesn't look like we'll be able to cop out and blame it on the weather. That being said, I'm sure there will still be plenty of people just going out for easy runs. For those of you that are new to running, or just took the winter off and haven't been really putting in any regular miles, I don't recommend doing speed-work just yet; let your body get used to running at a fairly comfortable pace for a few miles at a time over the course of a few weeks first. So, I'll lay out two different options for tomorrow (of course, as you all should know, no one has to do a damn thing I tell them; if you don't like either of these options, do whatever you want!):

1) Intervals - 400m (1/4 mi)

• 1 mi warm-up
• 400m on (i.e., pretty much as fast as you can go for 1/4 mi without passing out/throwing up, keeping in mind that you'll have to do this again several times)
• 400m recovery
• repeat on/off cycle 3-4 times, depending on what you feel up to
• 1/2 - 1 mi cool-down

Doing the math, this will result in anywhere from 3.5 - 4.5 mi, depending on how many interval cycles you do, and how long you cool-down.

2) Easy run - 2-4 mi

• Just what it sounds like...run at a relatively comfortable pace for 2 - 4 mi

As usual, the run will start promptly at 5:30, at the playground end of Onondaga Lake Park, so plan on arriving at 5:15-5:20. Based on some emails I've seen, I believe we have some new people joining us tomorrow. So let's have a good turnout and make them feel welcome and comfortable.

One last thing to note: I believe our esteemed and fearless leader will have returned from San Diego by next Tuesday (someone correct if I'm wrong). So, this may be my last post. Thank you all for the opportunity to attempt to keep everyone running. We can now expect Terry to return to his musings, and I know at least Ally will be happy...the return of weekly polls.

See you all Tuesday!

Clearly not TeRrY

I apologize in adavance for the brevity of this post, but I'm in a hurry (and see title). So, here goes...

I was happy with the turnout last week, especially for how early in the season it is; I'm sure the weather helped. It was good to see some of the regulars, and a pleasure to meet those of you that joined us for the first time. I hope everyone that came had a good time. Unfortunately, I don't believe it's going to be as nice out this week, but all in all, I don't think it's supposed to be too bad. So, same game plan for tomorrow as last week: meet at OLP, run starts at 5:30 sharp, easy to moderate paced run for however long you want. I'm guessing there will be people doing all sorts of distances and a wide variety of paces, so there should be something for everyone. Just an FYI, I'm planning on starting speed work next week; probably some short (i.e., 400m) interval training. Anyway, hope to see you guys tomorrow.

If at first you don't succeed...

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't make it out last week. I'm officially boycotting crappy weather for the rest of the winter/early spring. However, tomorrow looks fantastic, so I'll have no excuse. Same game plan as last week: meet at 5:15/5:20 at the playground end of the OLP; run starts at 5:30; easy/moderate pace run for whatever distance you want (I'll probably be shooting for 4-5 miles, but I'm sure there will be people at a range of distances).

Susan suggested to me (and I think it's a great idea!) that since it's St. Patrick's Day (like we need a reason?), we should go out for a frothy Guinness (or whatever your poison of choice) after the run. So, I propose heading down Rt. 57 to Meghan MacMurphy's for a pint or six and replacing the calories that were just burnt.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Time to TRY Again?

Hey everybody,
Mark here again...Susan and I have decided to TRY to fill in for Terry and get things going again, now that (hopefully) winter is in its final days. So, the plan is to start meeting this Tuesday (3/10) at our usual spot - the Onondaga Lake Park, Wegman's Playground end, at around 5:20. We're planning on starting the run at 5:30 sharp (I'll put a weather permitting caveat here...more on that later). Since I've been slacking the last few months, I'm planning on just doing easy runs the first few weeks, i.e., 3-5 mile runs at an easy to moderate pace. In other words, no speed work yet. However, don't despair, I do plan on switching to speed work (e.g., intervals, tempo runs) in a couple of weeks. Like always with TRY, everyone is welcome to run at their own pace. The important thing is to get out there and log some miles, and hopefully have fun doing it.

Now that I've got everyone excited to TRY again, the weather looks like it's going to be about 40 degrees and raining tomorrow afternoon. Now in the fall, that probably wouldn't stop me from running. However, after this long/cold/snowy winter we've just had, I'm more likely to wimp out in this type of weather. So, back to my "weather permitting" caveat, I'm planning to be at OLP at about 5:15/5:20 this Tuesday, but if it's crappy out at this time, I'm probably going to say the hell with it and go home.

So, hopefully I'll see all of you tomorrow! If not, maybe next week?