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.)