Inspiration, Pass It On

Thanks for the record turnout at TRY last week.  Since I'm in my mid-summer coma it was a lot to handle, but that is never a bad thing.  The group has long ago outgrown my ability to handle on my own, so it was great to have all the people within the group helping each other out.  Grouping up or pairing up based on current running goals and working with each other to help make your run more fun and effective.  So, a big thank you from me to those in the group that invited and were so welcoming to the multiple new people.  :-)

For tonight, the people who did 1/4 mile intervals last week, should progress to 1/2 mile intervals.  But we have such diversity in our running needs right now, that I'll leave it at that and count on the pre-run discussion to make sure everyone has a plan in mind as we start.

Some of the following has been all over facebook, but since not everyone is friends with everyone and since this blog does get read by a couple non-facebookers, I feel it will be good to have this stuff here for safekeeping.  And honestly, this doesn't come together without TRY, so I hope each of you TRY members take some pride from this.  There is no TRY without U (or something like that), and this inspirational sToRY can't happen without T-R-Y (I got it right, that time!)...so without all you people coming out and yogging every Tuesday night over the past few years, this doesn't happen.  (And while I do believe that Escalade and her indomitable spirit would have ended up where she is now, eventually, it wouldn't be happening now and wouldn't be happening quite like this without TRY.  So, thank you all for your role in this.)

Erin/Escalade has been quite the glory hound lately and dragging Kelly along with her.  Here are the two "inspiring women" on Bridge Street TV from three weeks ago:

And in a story that should be in today's Syracuse paper, here is a video and online version of their training adventures leading up to the Iron Girl triathlon this Sunday:

http://blog.syracuse.com/cny/2012/07/blind_baldwinsville_athlete_to_compete_in_iron_girl_triathlon.html

I thought the article and pictures were great.  (And them attempting to fight off the giggles in the video was very cute.  I think video articles should be banned though...way too much pressure on ordinary people who aren't used to having a camera in their face.  I could see your pain, Kelly.  :-)

At least a couple of us will be out (very early) to cheer on the Iron Girl this Sunday morning.  Anyone else, feel free to join in.  Just know that you have to shuttle to the race, and that the race starts at 7 and that Erin will be given her award BEFORE the race.  So, it will be a very early start to the day...but worth it to support TRY's media sweethearts.  

Changing gears here:

Several TRYers were able to go to a Syracuse Chiefs "patio party" this weekend and I feel like pimping that a bit as a reminder that some very impressive baseball gets played in Syracuse.  And that very few people take advantage of that.  (The stadium looked sadly empty on Sunday.)  It seemed like everyone had a good time, in the great weather.  There were some first time attendees.  Here is one of them:

There were some people that perhaps go a little too often.  Or at least a guy that gets a little too excited to see the mascot.  (Hawkward moment for Scooch here):

These ladies don't even know me but couldn't keep their hands off of my beavers:

But this lady topped everyone else there that day when she mixed business with pleasure and got her yearly OB/GYN exam during the game!  (Thankfully the doctor declared that everything was "safe at home".)

For those that left before the end of the second game, we FINALLY got a foul ball with 2 innings remaining. A Lehigh Valley batter lofted one right into our deck, about 2/3 of the way back...I was paying just enough attention that I was already chasing it down, but thankfully it bounced so high that it hit the ceiling in the tunnel and came back towards me instead of it being a race to the railing which I probably would have lost.  The last remaining kid got the ball as a souvenir ...unfortunately I forgot to get a photo of her and her parents have not sent me one yet for this story. But rumor has it that she slept with the ball Sunday night, so it's safe to say that the baseball game left a big impression on her.  :-)

Finally, coming up this weekend:

Mad Cow 5k on Saturday morning.  (Small, friendly, country 5k in Nelson.  I'll be there selling cowbells and cow hats.  If anyone wants to come out and help or come out and run I would enjoy the company.)

As mentioned above - Iron Girl cheering section on Sunday morning.

Slacking and Lacking

Oops, I've slacked off to the point that there won't be anything fun in this weeks blog entry.  I've been distracted for one and incapacitated by allergies and sinus issues for two.

Tonight should be almost cool feeling temperature-wise and allow us to get back to our regular routine of intervals.  I'll recommend quarter-miles but people will overrule me and do what they want to anyway.  But let's naively say about a 4 mile run with 5+ 1/4 mile repeats in there.

There are some fun Boilermaker pictures to come one of these days...the problem this year is that Brightroom took so many pictures of some of us that it will be very hard to pick out just one.

That's it...sorry for my brevity.

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

A fun name from when I enjoyed watching professional wrestling.  So, I'll always think of it as WWF...not sure what went wrong once it became the WWE?  Other than perhaps I had grown up by then?

Why is this relevant?  We'll get to that in a minute.

First off, is this weeks workout.  It's going to be hot.  Stinky hot.  So hot that you might see robins having to use oven mitts when they pull worms out of the ground!  So hot, that you are almost guaranteed to see squirrels fanning their nuts!!

The weather channel is calling for a high of 99.  Weather bug has a much more reasonable high of 92.  There is also a chance of storms.  We will be smart with our decision about choice of running plan tonight and if its still in the 90s we almost definitely will do our contingency course which involves doing loops of Angela's TRYangle, plus extension.  That will give us a chance to run by Mr. Mister every time and keep as cool as possible in the conditions.  It also will provide easy access to the drinking fountain.  We'll pick the official plan tonight during the pre-game chat.

I am expecting as many as 4 new people tonight.  If they are brave and come out I hope you all help to make them welcome and lend a hand if they continue coming out to help them with any running related questions they may have.  TRY started as an idea to help people better appreciate and enjoy running, so I'm always anxious when new people join in.  Excited to have them.  But nervous about whether or not they'll feel welcome and whether or not they'll enjoy it enough to give it another...try.  :-)

Back to the title - why Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake?

Well, because the Team Beef luncheon involved a Beef Cake.


But, unfortunately (or fortunately?) it was not actually made of beef.  It was a regular white and chocolate cake.  And it was delicious.

I wanted to spend a paragraph talking about the Team Beef lunch.  It was great.  There was ample appetizers: veggies, tomato pie, and some deep fried somethings or other (that were good).  Then the main course had mac salad, utica greens, bbq beans, salad, fruit salad, hamburgers, some sort of steak, and a carving station.  Everything I had was very good.  There was waaaay too much food and I hope they found a way to not have it go to waste.  Seeing as how it was free, I can't recommend enough to consider going to that next year.  Adam, Escalade, and Jake can chime in here, but I was very impressed by how good it was and how generous most things were.  (They ran out of tomato pie...that was the only thing I can think of that they needed more of.)  They had the beef council, some beef producers, young beef ambassadors, and of course a couple dozen team Beef members.  They seemed genuinely appreciative for the people who ran for them.  Overall it earned my T-bone seal of approval.

(A final note on the jerseys.  The one woman I know the best said even her husband decided he couldn't wear the jersey.  He tried it on that morning and said "no way".  Same as a couple of us did.  Last year they had more of a t-shirt for the men and they ran too big.  This year the sleeveless style ran way too small.  They are hoping for something more accurate for next year.

Post-Boilermaker Fun

I hope everyone had a great time at the Boilermaker.  I know that I did :)  What did I learn this year?  A couple of gels go a long way in how you feel at mile 9.2.  The other one is that it doesn't always work to be conservative at the start...I left a lot out there!  Anyone else have anything to add?

Here are a couple of photos from post-race:

Well, the sign was really for Escalade.

Team beef plus one!

As usual, Aaron and I (Kelly) will be hosting an excursion to our house this Tuesday.  This is to celebrate all the hard work everyone has been doing and to take a break after a hard Sunday.  If the weather is good, we will have the kayaks in the water and will do an open water swim for anyone interested.  We can also point you to running routes if anyone is interested.

After the water fun, we will have a barbecue at our house.  Aaron and I will provide meat and veggie burgers on the grill.  We ask that you bring a dish to pass and whatever you want to drink.  All Tuesday TRY participants are welcome, but please let us know by Monday night if you will attend.

We will start the festivities at 5:30.  Please park in the driveway or on the road at our house (not on the grass).  If you need directions, please contact me through comments, e-mail or facebook instant message.  If we are not at the house when you arrive, walk down to the lake!

Independence Week

I'm not sure what the title has to do with anything that I'll actually write?  But we're going with it.

For the training run tonight, people prepping for the Boilermaker should be starting to ease up.  The Hal Higdon beginner plan has you doing a steady 3 miler.  His intermediate plan suggests a 4 mile tempo run.  For those not constrained by the Boilermaker, I'll suggest you keeping the tempo runners company.

I hope the BM runners are thinking beefy thoughts.  I'll email you guys directly to see if anyone needs help getting their race jersey ahead of time.

For everyone:
Here is a useful article about hydration for long runs.  And it emphasizes three phases - before, during, and after and goes into hydrating as a lifestyle.

I cheered on the Runapalooza run this past Saturday morning (hey Sue, how about a race report since its a new race for everyone?).  For proof I was there, look to the two sitting figures, in the shade, on the left hand side (you may need to squint a little, but the good looking one on the far left is me):


It reminded me to remind you all about running tangents and making the race course as short as possible.  As  the photo shows, I was sitting in the middle of an 's' curve.  The photo is capturing people being pretty good about taking the inside corner.  But I was witness to a lot people not doing that and hugging the wrong side and being sheepish and following those in front of them whether they were setting a good example or not.  Even the lead pack of three elite guys the first time through were in the wrong lane until one of them made an awkward maneuver to not trip the group, then cut to the inside corner at which point the other two followed suit.  It was a new course which took some getting used to and I did notice the better runners, especially, did a much better job the second time around.  But, the summary I took away was that it's time for people to re-read my tangent lesson from last year.

Next topic:
Just to add some color to this post, here are two perfect photos to sum up my trip to Lake Placid.

It was cold and wet, more mid-spring like than anything approaching summer Monday through Wednesday.  The snow here was from the zamboni and therefore was a little bit faked but the hood up and the hands in the pocket for warmth was not faked at all.


But, that didn't stop me from having fun and seeking out my kind.   Here is a very cute shot of a baby beaver from a wildlife refuge...and I just happened to have borrowed a baby to make the shot complete.  (Yes, that is one of my beaver hats that I'm wearing.)



And finally, Boilermaker stuff for the Boilermaker runners:

Long time TRYers will recognize all of this from past years, so you don't need to go through it again, but for first timers...here is all the information you need to know for avoiding traffic and meeting up before and after the Boilermaker on Sunday morning:

 Here is the yearly, BM driving, parking and meet-up information (same as last year) for the few TRYers that are participating:

Driving directions:
Do yourself a favor and do not follow the website directions. Go this way instead. (I just have it marked from the thruway exit to a parking lot in the general area where I usually end up parking.) Me and others have been using it the last couple years and it saves a ton of stress and 20+ minutes of sitting in traffic. You are parking near the start line so it is convenient for picking up your packet that morning and returning the stuff to your car and then the post race shuttles drop you off right near by after the post race party. So, trust me, on this one -- take the Dyke (road) to the race!

Pre Race Location:
I tend to hang out near point A, or just a little to the east of it -- that is towards the packet pick-up tent. (In general - it's a little ways down the road to your left as you are lined up for the start of the race.) Look for me there for some pre-race chit chat and to calm you nervous runners down! (That side of the start corrals is also conveniently located on the Dyke road direction side of the starting line...so if you follow my driving directions you'll be walking right by that spot at some point.)

Post Race Gathering:
Please look for me and others are the unofficial TRY meet-up spot. Located along the flow of traffic just after you grab your frozen pop and turn the corner. (Slightly different -- I have started to hang out just a little bit further down the road -- under some tree cover...but close enough that I'm not updating the map.)

Google map with location marked as 'B'. Also a post-race party map marked with X:

(Both the "x" and point B are just barely off...we meet up just a tad west of there.  On the google map, you can see the trees - we almost always seek out their shade to survive the heat of the day.)