Holy History

Not since the shepherd fell into a cave at the Qumran site and discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, have such historic documents been unearthed.  And while my findings have a slightly smaller impact on the world as a whole than those findings did, there is major historic significance in the TRY Email Scrolls that I will share below...

(I actually updated the calendar for next week!)
Tonight is the final night of regular TRY for the season.  We are meeting at 5 PM.  I know this means a lot of people won't be able to make it, due to the "early" start.  Sorry.  Blame Sue.  We'll pick a workout at that point to suit the needs of the people that are able to attend.

Next Tuesday is the TRY celebration group run under lights on the lake.  In an attempt to get as many people able to attend as possible, we will meet at 5:30 at the normal place and we'll do a warm-up as usual to give people a few more minutes to get there.  It can get quite crowded by then, so you can also text/call as I will have my phone with me.  Next Wednesday is then the TRY celebration walk under lights on the lake.  Meet at 5:30 to walk the course.  (Last year we did a group dinner after the Tuesday night run...plan on that again...but I realize that attendance and participation are very weather dependent so I'm not going to do much pre-planning.  We will just wing it with the people that make it.)

Upcoming races that tend to be popular:
The Jingle Bell Run at Longbranch Park on Sunday, November 18th.  Registration is currently $25.  The race portion is 10 AM and had an annoyingly large turnout last year.  (But was still fun and festive.)



Don't make ChristmasMouse (ChristMouse?) sad by not taking part this year!
(LM Runners/Walkers - there is a team with federated fund backing, so your participation means an extra $50 each to the cause.)

Various Turkey Trots on Thanksgiving morning.  I'm not linking to them, since it depends on what town you are in with your holiday travels.  But locally in Syracuse there are at least two now.  A 5k/10k in Baldwinsville and something (I assume a 5k) in Manlius/Fayetteville.  Be careful at whatever Turkey Trot you end up at...there is a slight chance you'll run into a real turkey.



No amount of tryptophan will allow you to sleep after seeing that...am I right?  Right?

A glimpse at next weeks emotional rollercoaster of a blog entry:
After attempts at stalking both her and the "Team Red, White, and Blue" (Typically just written as Team RWB) since late April, Escalade and I finally crossed paths with Shawn again this past Sunday morning.  It was not planned and completely unexpected and as I stood there and watched the two women exchange smiles and stories like old friends (even though they've only met once or twice) I couldn't help but get a little choked up.  I hope they could "hear" the smiles on each others faces, because it was a cute and heartwarming reunion for the witnesses in that corner of the room.  (It was cute until Escalade purposely beat the pants off from her in the race, that is.)



Lastly, I am providing the historical proof of the very origins of TRY.  These TRY Email Scrolls were discovered as I was looking for the marathon, marathon story a few weeks back.  I haven't got them carbon dated yet to figure out their approximate age, so for now, all we have to go by is the exact date of their origin contained in the email headers.  Unfortunately those exact dates will have to suffice until we can get a much less accurate approximate date through some other means.

The first one is the very origin of TRY itself, which was originally proposed to be called TERRY.  The second one, which was sent perhaps decades (or centuries?) later (or more likely 9 1/2 months later if you want to trust the exact dates available in the emails) was the start of modern TRY, which is the basis for the version that still survives to this very day.  You can clearly see the differences in the techniques used back then, but also see the seeds for what has become the most influential yogging group that is known to mankind, that meets on Tuesday nights, at Onondaga Lake Park, and is not that other group that meets there now too.

Enjoy!  (Note that I am so motivational that the two people CC'd and PPS'd on the first email, still have not completed their "life goal" of doing the Boilermaker.  #epicfail on my part!  Also note that Tim "cock-block" LaRocque is the only person on either email that is still a regular attendee on Tuesday nights.  Congrats Tim!  You are the sole survivor.)

Exhibit A:

_____________________________________________ 
From:   Widrick, Terry  
Sent:   Friday, June 29, 2007 1:32 PM
To:     Bastian, Brian; Dunn, Allyson G; Stjohn, Brad; Caspari, Krista S; Oberlander, Lance R; Holmes, Amy; Bodnar, Brian J

Cc:     Ackerman, Douglas J; Williams, Tarra M
Subject:        Who wants to do TERRY this summer?

Hello peeps,

The concept of a one night a week running club was brought up 3 or so summers ago by Kelly Murlick but I was being anti-social with my running at the time and her and I never brought it to fruition.  It has been on the edge of my thoughts and talked about informally since then and I think I'm ready to give it a shot.

So, this email is to see who would be interested in doing Tuesday Evening Road Runnings and Yoggings (TERRY) for the rest of the summer?  (Yogging is jogging with a soft "j" as in Anchorman).  Hmmm…perhaps the name could still use some work?  Then again, it does have a nice ring to it!  :-)

I'm not sure how well this will work out logistically, but I won't know until I try.  My thoughts are that we'd meet at the Liverpool park somewhere near the Wegman's Playground around 6ish and then proceed with some sort of long run type paced run.  Pacing will be an issue but if it truly is a long run mentality then running too slow is not a concern and perhaps more people could pace together.  In order to encourage a common theme/goal (and since a few of us will be doing the ARC 1/2 marathon anyway) I thought it would make sense to make the Tuesday night runs be the long runs for the week as people build up for the ARC 1/2 marathon which is on the second weekend in September.  This would be tailored to the beginning runners who are just starting to build up their long runs, since that is most of the point of this -- to help and encourage them.  Plus it would keep all of us accountable to run on other nights so that we are ready for the group runs on Tuesdays.  People could run more or less as they deem fit, but I like the idea of the bulk of the group being on the same schedule to encourage comraderie.  I will come up with a real schedule and mileage plan once I see enough people want to do this.

Next week is a holiday week, so that is out…which would leave my first attempt at forming a group for the night of Tuesday, July 10th.  I just looked at a training plan and the goal for that week would be to do a 4 mile run.  Please let me know if you'd be interested in that and if this all seems like a good idea?  For people doing this, please invite other runners, especially new/inexperienced ones who could use some mentoring.  (I know I've been helped out a lot by more experienced runners on the way to doing my 2 marathons…so this is partially an attempt to be a nice person and pass on some of my experience to runners starting out.)

I'm hoping for 6+ people being interested which should mean 4+ people can make it on any given week…if it's less than that then it probably won't be worth while.  The worst case scenario for me is that Brian is the only person who shows up.  He's already been trying to get me to join his BBMRC which he claims is "Brian Bastian's Marathoners Running Club" but I'm more than a little concerned that it really is the "BrokeBack Mountain Running Club".

-Terry

P.S.  Lance -- I thought you, Laura and her running friends might be interested (even though it would be short runs for her).

P.P.S. Doug and Tarra -- I'm not sure if this applies to you this year, but if this is moderately successful and fun this year, I'm dragging you guys out next spring and I'd tailor the runs as a build up for the Boilermaker.  So, you are welcome to come out and do some of the runs this summer, but definitely plan on me bugging you to train for the Boilermaker next spring.  It's a lifetime goal of yours…so it's time to do it!

Exhibit B:

______________________________________________ 
From:   Widrick, Terry  
Sent:   Monday, April 07, 2008 7:08 AM
To:     'Aubrey Adams'; Bement, Kimberly A; Belfield, Mark; Chambers, Glenn; Cooper, Robert; Ackerman, Douglas J; 'Erik Palmer'; Hollister, Laura A; Leite, Joel E; 'Tim LaRocque'; 'Michelle_Palmer'; Murdock, Scott A; Ponto, Emily A; Wheeler, Lee J; Williams, Tarra M; Yoder, Gregory K; Zuccaro, Ron; Zalla, Arthur; Bouziden, Francis A; 'Rachel'

Cc:     Bastian, Brian; Dunn, Allyson G; Holmes, Amy; Oberlander, Lance R; Stjohn, Brad; Caspari, Krista S; Widrick, Terry

Subject:        Who wants to TRY the Boilermaker this summer?

If you are receiving this email, then either I know you have some interest in running, I have talked to you about running in the past, or you grew up in the central New York/Utica area, or specifically have interest in the Boilermaker road race, or else I just felt like bugging you.

The Boilermaker is a "15K" (9.3 mile) race in Utica. This year it will be held on Sunday, July 13th. Believe it or not, this is one of the premier races in the entire US and is something that I think all local runners should experience.  It has some issues (the worst being a poorly executed start corral system) but with the amazing spectator support and the top notch post race party, it really is something to be seen.  And something that even non-runners may want to do once since it is one of the coolest/most famous amateur athletic events in central New York.

So, if you've ever considered running the Boilermaker, this is the year to do it. The Tuesday night running group that I'm a part of ("TRY" -- "Tuesday Recreational Yogging" -- Yogging is jogging with a soft "J" ala Anchorman) is going to help you through a 10 week training program. Its not as hard as you might think...you need to be able to do a 2 mile run in the first week and then the long run slowly climbs up to 8 miles maximum. (with long runs of 2, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 4, 7, and 8 miles) Other than the long runs, the plan calls for two other shorter runs each week and some cross training if you so choose. The idea would be that we'd do the long runs on Tuesday nights at Onondaga Lake Park and you'd be expected to do the shorter runs on your own -- or set up some time with other runners to help you get through them and even make them enjoyable.

This program is based on a famous runner/writer/trainer Hal Higdon...you can (and should) read all the details here:http://www.halhigdon.com/15Ktraining/15Knovsch.htm

The Boilermaker website:http://www.boilermaker.com/

TRY:
The TRY runs are Tuesday nights at Onondaga Lake Park starting at 5. Last year 7 people were involved (the "cc" list in the email) and 2 newer runners followed a similar training program and successfully finished their first ever half marathon (13.1 miles). So we proved the concept last fall and I hope to be able to help some new people this summer.

If you want to TRY, let me know and I'll add you to the weekly emails. The "Week 1" run will be on Tuesday, May 6th...but I'd like to do a pre-week -- a "Week 0" run of 2 miles on Tuesday, April 29th. So, if you want to join in on the fun...plan accordingly and get out there and jog a few times before that day so that you are ready to do a two miler at the end of April. If you need any help running before the 29th, let me know and I can come up with something…I'm at the park multiple nights a week and can meet up with people.  Don't worry about your pace...whatever you can do is what you do. "The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running."

Any questions/concerns/advice needed, just let me know. I hope to see a few of you out there this spring/summer!
-Terry
P.S  If you are joining in, feel free to bring along cubemates/friends/spouses/whatever.  (I'm even allowing people named "Ben" to join if they want to!  Yes, this is truly for anyone.)

P.P.S  If you don't think you can run far enough to do the Boilermaker, you could still join in and do the first few runs, but stop building up when you reach your limit.  And who knows, you might surprise yourself.

P.P.P.S  For those of you that this seems to easy for…there will be an intermediate level training program going on at the same time…so you can tailor your training to whatever suits your needs.

P.P.P.P.S  "Do, or do not.  There is no TRY."  -Jedi Master Yoda  (Well, this goes to show you that Yoda didn't know everything…because there is a TRY now!)

P.P.P.P.P.S  I've never done 5 levels of post scripts before, so I was just writing this one to break my old record.  Ok, I'm done now.  :-)