Time to Split

This week is our traditional Lights on the Lake Stroll night.  Meet at the normal place and time (5:30 next to the rental building under the trees with the "dropcicle" lights) and then we'll split into a jogging group that will go to the far end and back and a walking group that will go to "The Rainbow Love Tunnel" and back.  The place gets really crowded, so we are starting at 5:35, with whoever has made it by then.  Run us down if you have a problem with traffic.  Once we are done with the 4.5 mile jog or less than 3 mile walk, we are meeting at Bangkok Thai Restaurant for the "Ivy Memorial Dinner" at 7 PM.  If you cannot do the park but want to do the dinner, you are welcome to do that. I've heard back from a few of you, but want to have an idea from most of you about dinner so I can warn them if our group is going to be large.

If you read up on the Lights on the Lake you can see Wednesday night you can do it again (with dogs this time) and that they are doing the special late night run through the lights on Saturday, January 4th.  The price for car usage is $10 per vehicle during the week and $15 on the weekends.  So, get your pre-sale tickets, or better yet, take advantage of these nights and see the lights by foot!

These were posted on Facebook, but here is a glimpse of the fun by TRYers from after the Jingle Bell Run.  There were a lot of festive costumes including a set of 9 reindeer and Santa all linked up in what would have been an epic (although too short as constructed) Paige's Butterfly Run centipede team.

 

 

 

 
I had not run the OCC loop course before and it was better than I expected.  There were enough twists and turns and ups and downs that it never felt repetitive even though you have to do two loops.  It was definitely a course where you want to run the tangents though.  I saw a lot of people wasting steps be following the lane they were in instead of picking the shortest path through the twists and turns.

Thanks to Mrs. Fitzpatrick for putting this link out there this week: Better Runners Are ... Inflexible?  Then a link within that story talks about improving your running economy by not stretching.  I knew I was doing something right!  OK, if you read the fine print, you should still stretch some as a runner, and none of us are good enough runners to sacrifice our health in other areas of our life but it is a fascinating couple articles that go into the fact that muscle fiber elasticity associated with inflexibility can be a virtue.

Finally, a fun look at flexibility - this showed up on my Facebook newsfeed and I looked into a bit and it was done for real and only needed one take for the JCVD part.  He picked a heck of a time to split:


You can read more about it here, which led me to this video with an even crazier (that is - more likely to end up dead) stunt which they called the Ballerina Stunt (which seems poorly named - it's a high wire stunt).



Some pretty amazing stuff between those two "commercials".  I think I'll go out and buy a Volvo truck now.

There Are Few Who Are Well-Informed About the Beavers and the Damages They Cause

It looks like we avoided rainy, late season runs this year!  Instead, we will get to sample some light snow tonight.  This is the last week meeting at 5:00 at the Liverpool Park.  Please bring a headlight (a few of you) as the overcast day is going to have us starting in the dark.

We are due for 1/4 mile intervals, but we shall see what people feel like doing and split into a couple like-minded groups.  I'll have a stroller again so will probably do something like a steady three like last week.  (If conditions allow.)

Next week we are doing a group run (probably will have to be two groups) under the Lights on the Lake.  It will be very crowded with walkers, so please do your best to be respectful and fun as we bob and weave through.  The plan is to meet at 5:30 (and start the group run at 5:35).  It is VERY crowded, so give yourself some extra time to park and meet us.  Or plan to use phones to coordinate with me...it's not fun to wait in the cold, so we have to start (roughly) as planned.  If you choose not to come out, you can still join in for a now yearly tradition of dinner at Bangkok Thai Restaurant after the lights on the lake.  We will be meeting there for a meal at 7.  (Let me know if you plan to join in for dinner, whether you do the lights or not, so I can warn them to be ready for the size of our group.)

The following week, we will attempt to do our "overtime" sessions, starting at the mall parking lot and doing the creekwalk for the first session at least.  We can get creative from there.

Don't forget the Jingle Bell Run is this weekend.  We typically have a decent TRY turnout, but the change in timing and location may hurt that.  It's a "fun" atmosphere as people get into the holiday spirit...so it's worth a shot if you are looking for a 5k in the near term.

I saved this "TRY thought" for this week as it was long enough to stand on its own:
"I know that I have not been to TRY very much this year due to a
variety of different things, but every time I go, it is always a great
time.
The thing that stands out for me the most from this year is the amount
of new people that have joined. It's neat when current members tell
others about the group and they end up coming. I love meeting new
people and interacting with others in the community. It's also fun to
talk to different people about where they grew up, where they work,
their running style, why they run, what keeps them going, about their
families or personal life etc.
After TRY each week, I always look forward to next Tuesday!"

And now a couple thoughts for the road:
1) About a month ago, my family was in town and insisted in renting one of the round, red, "bikes" at Onondaga Lake Park.  It is expensive, but since we had extra people we got it for an hour and took turns doing shifts on it, more or less using Angela's TRYangle to do laps...spreading out the cost and the fun.  It goes quite easily if everyone is pedaling (some of the kids were too short to help) and steers OK when you are moving.  It is a strange sensation to be going backwards, but even stranger to be going sideways.  Basically, only one seat gets to go forward and that person gets to worry about the steering and the braking.  (Since it has a limited top speed, there isn't much braking involved.)

Here is the proof:




You do get a lot of interesting looks as you go by walkers and people off to the side...and it looks silly in the distance with all the legs churning.  I recommend it sometime when you have a group together (or family or friends in town) for 30 or 60 minutes worth of entertainment.


2) Argentina has a beaver problem!  This story from NPR details the problem with the imported beavers.  The final quote: "There are few who are well-informed about the beavers," Kunzle says, "and the damages they cause."

My Once a Week Heartbreak

In honor of Kelly's birthday, I am going to post early this week.  You're welcome (and you're worth it) Kelly!

This week is the first of two that we will be meeting at 5 PM and starting the run at 5:05 sharp.  Since we lost an hour but are only changing our start time by half an hour, it'll be pushing darkness as we finish.  I expect a somewhat smaller crowd, so we'll do a simple poll to see if people want to continue intervals and what length to do.  The forecast for Tuesday looks nice actually, so no worries about a cold November rain for this week.  For some of you who don't usually go out, plan a little time to help celebrate Malinda's new job.

Check out last week's post if you haven't or look at the TRY calendar to see the plan for the rest of the month.

Here are some more takeaways and thoughts of the almost completed TRY season.  Thanks again for your inputs!  They've entertained me, at least.  I added a few comments in the square brackets.

"It may sound cliche, but I enjoyed running with a group as I am always more likely to run with someone than on my own.  Also, there was always someone running at my pace."

"That time that Jake rescued the little girl from the big tree and then Malinda helped her find her family at the playground."  [Maybe he really is 'Jake, from State Farm'?]

"Terry twerking at the the NY state fair and being photo bombed when taking a picture to send to Sue."  [I've seen no photographic proof, so I'm not sure it happened.]

"The fair night had some funny moments and ended up with the group at a picnic table and some people eating hot beef sundaes while others were eating pints of ice cream.  It was very random.  Then everyone enjoyed that epic live version of 'Hey There Delilah'."  [Except Berman, what is wrong with her not enjoying a nice song about stalking and not taking no for an answer?]

"Yay to going out after TRY becoming the norm!"

"Half shells and bunnie tails! :)"


"The centipede division costumes at Paige's Butterfly Run!"  [Anything that gives me an excuse to post this photo is a win in my book:


Happy Birthday Energizer Bunny!]

[And this one fits in here, so I'll add - all the press that TRYers got this year.  Escalade hit the papers multiple times like she always does, plus a random one like Kelly and Malinda being the photo of the day during Paige's weekend.]



"What does the fox say...need I say more?"

"Not anonymous but thanks to the TRY group i not only found the interest to participate in my first 1/2 marathon but loved it and now I'm hooked!"  [Hooked like a sea bass.]

[A couple key regulars were missing, but the post Boilermaker party meet-up was special, as always.]

"It would be helpful if the weekly posts were put up on a more consistent schedule."  [As a reminder, this is not a professional organization.]

"I know I wouldn't have been out there if it weren't for you peeps and homeys.  Thanks for the inspiration . . . and also the occasional twisted, yet thought provoking, topics of discussion."

[Team Beef!]


"I love how everyone makes the point to do Angela's Triangle after the workout." [It's officially spelled "Angela's TRYangle"]


"I'm glad my biggest takeaway from TRY this year is not the same as Catherine's (a baby)."

[And a final one from me - a yearly takeaway almost every year is the more random happenings around the TRY group - the solid turnout for the baseball game and fireworks night in August, and the support the group shows for other peoples races.  Like the cowbell crew that showed up to cheer on the Chase Corporate Challenge and the smaller turnouts that cheered on other events like the Iron Girl.  It would seem that TRY has a good heart.]

Change of topics:
As a reward for continuing to read this, here is an informative article on how to plan around fatigue while doing your running plans or running while fatigued so that you can gain from it.  Certainly some useful points in there and once again the point about running your slow runs slowly enough is brought up.  (Which really is a way to say that speed differentiation in your training is key.)

And some randomness to end on to partially help everyone (but mostly new people) understand my obsession with beaver stuff.  Since I've been spending a lot of time "up north" in the Croghan and Beaver Falls area lately, I've been hearing stuff about the school and interacting directly with the school more.  While watching a cross-country meet I was sightseeing on the trails and came across this lovely rock.  My nephew who is currently on the school team was busy doing his thing so he was not available to represent the "present" part of the layout.  So here was my attempt at showing the "past" and the "future":



(The rock says "Beaver River Cross Country" "A commitment to excellence" "Past Present Future".)  This also explains why my personal motto is Terry "Commitment to Excellence" Widrick.

Related - the "Lady Beavers" of Beaver River Central School have just completed a first by winning the overall, Section III, Class C championship this past Saturday in Cortland with a 1-0 defeat of Little Falls.  Read this article if you are bored, but here are some of the highlights:
""I was really surprised when it went in. I thought I was going to cry. I was really excited.""
"The Lady Beavers haven't surrendered a goal in three games."
""We got hot at the right time," said Tracy Adams, the other Beaver River coach."  [She just happens to have graduated the same year I did.  There will be no living with her after this famous turn.]

It works out really well for me that Beaver River and SU both have orange as their main color:


Speaking of orange, time for this post to ride off into the sunset.

The Plan For November

The plan for this weeks group run is to attack Faith Hill again.  That means a mile warm-up, a slightly faster pace back to the bottom of Faith Hill and then a personalized set of hill repeats based on your fitness level.

This is the last week meeting at our normal time of 5:30.  With Daylight Saving time ending on Sunday, we'll shift the start time for the following two weeks to 5:00 (with an actual run start time of 5:05).  This always means some people cannot join in, but the park does not officially support after dark usage, so we do our best to comply.

Tuesday, November 19th, we'll meet up at 5:30 again (allowing regulars to join back in) for the Lights on the Lake Stroll and our last Tuesday night of the 2013 TRY season at Onondaga Lake Park. At that point we'll discuss continuing at another location.

A popular race among TRYers has changed a couple things this year.  Typically, the Jingle Bell Run has been on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but this year it is a week earlier - on Sunday the 17th.  An even bigger change is that it is now being held at OCC.  It had outgrown its most recent home at Longbranch park but it is still sad to see it moved along.  I guess growth comes at a price.  Perhaps having a building to use and a bigger course will make the event even more fun than it usually is?  I guess we'll see this year.

Lastly, Thanksgiving is a popular day for 5k and 10k races.  For you beginners in the group, think about getting in a "Turkey Trot", either around here, or look up one in the area you are travelling to for the holiday. It's a fun way to start off your day and leads to less guilt while stuffing in the stuffing later.

All the above date and time information has been updated in the TRY Google calendar.  (Which you can add to your calendars or always access at the top of the blog.)

Some personal updates: I've told many of you, somewhat randomly, about both of these things...but at this point I have no idea who I have not told yet...so I might as well get the news out to everyone:
My wife is expecting our second child.  The due date is right around the spring equinox.  So far everything is going well.

Also, something else that has been in the works for a while: We are moving.  It took an extra several weeks but "closing" finally happened last week on a house in the Westvale area...near but not quite in the Fairmount area.  It'll be a few weeks before we officially move in.

Now that we're all caught up on that...it's time to start looking back on our latest year of TRY.  The following are thoughts/quotes/remembrances on the 2013 TRY season passed on by TRYers:

"[I was] glad to find out Berman still has her overalls."

"I'm not sure I'm cut out for a normal running group.  So it has worked out well for me that TRY is anything but normal."

"Big turnouts and lots of new faces....and rarely skipping post-TRY festivities :-)"

"Live long and prosper."

"After not taking part for a long time, it was nice to be welcomed back like I had never left."

"I'm not sure how many other groups would debate the merits of and take a vote on the usage of the word 'moist'?"

"I honestly wondered at first what I had got myself into, but within a few weeks I could tell all the interval work was making a difference.  Thanks for making me a better runner."

"Camaraderie, friendships, fun, laughs, inspiration, and the ability to say . . . I did Faith Hill . . . on multiple occasions!"

"I came out for a running group, but found so much more than that.  I don't always take part in the activities, but having an opportunity to do everything from a polar plunge to an obstacle course race to a birthday celebration for anyone who has ever had a birthday, is great.  Thanks for everything that TRY is!"

Thanks for your inputs so far, let's keep them coming send me some more for next week.  (Message me to keep them anonymous.)

It is what I do, but it's not who I am.

Full disclosure:

I was out of town this weekend but back in time to post last night until I got distracted by..."Magic Mike".

But enough about that for now.  Tonight - looks like we will avoid the rain, but either way, fall weather is upon us.  For new people, there is always someone at TRY.  I think we've never had less than 2 people show up, no matter the weather for the past five years.  It's up to you if you want to keep joining in as the weather gets colder and wetter, but know that there will be someone there to run with if you do.

We are due for 1/4 mile intervals again.  (Probably pay Faith Hill a visit again next week).  For those of you who just did your hyman's this weekend, take it easy tonight.  Otherwise join on in for how ever many quarter miles you can stand.

Speaking of hymans (as a reminder, that is what we in TRY call a "half marathon", since we do not believe that 13.1 miles is a half anything, and hyman is short for "hybrid marathon" which is much less than insulting than "half".  Plus, just like a hybrid car, it gets you exactly where you want to go, satisfaction wise, but with better mileage.) Congrats to the TRYers who managed to not freeze their butts off in the Empire State Hyman on Sunday morning.  Duerr, Steve 1, Berms and her roommate Leo!  Also, I  believe Janna took part in the marathon portion of the race as part of a 4 person relay team.  Nice job representing and getting good times while having a good time!

Back to my distraction:
Due to a ill-fated non-disclosure agreement this is not widely known at all, but I was actually the inspiration for "Magic Mike".  It is basically a biopic of my life around college age, but due to creative differences, I got taken off the project...at which point even more lee-way was taken with the screenplay which is why I refused to even see it until last night and was disgusted to find out that -
"Terrific Terry" became "Magic Mike", Potsdam, NY and Clarkson became Tampa, FL and USF, Timmy "The French-Canadian Kid" LaRocque became just "The Kid", the holy grail location went from being Massena, NY to being Miami, FL, and an unhealthy addiction among the dancers to maple syrup became dipping into ecstasy and "G".

Whatever.  Movies always take some liberties.

Also, the dance moves got dumbed down and the abs got toned up - we did not need to be quite that ripped to impress the girls from "DZ", if you know what I am saying.  Even so, I've let myself go since that time in my life.  But as the money line (that they kept, thankfully) said - It's what I did, but it was not who I was.  So, I gladly left my days as a Cock-Rocker of Clarkson behind me and went into the field of computer programming (not one-of-a-kind, custom furniture).

I could go on, but you get the point.  I do get my royalty payments regardless of how crappily they adapted the story...so I'm not complaining too much.  The only downside to the payments is that they are made with $5 bills.  They told me I would not want to know what they had to do to pay me in twenties.

History Lies

Happy Columbus Day!

As you've noticed while running, Lights on the Lake is coming.  Counting tomorrow night, we have 5 more nights of regular TRY evenings.  (Plus, we'll have November 19th where we can stroll and dodge through the lights on the lake.)  Last year we extended TRY for a few more weeks taking advantage of the lit up Creek-walk and using that on Tuesday nights into mid-December once the automobile portion of Lights on the Lake make the park unusable.

For now, all you need to worry about is a few more weeks of TRY, same place, same time.  We'll deal with darkness by making sure we stay together as a group...at least in small numbers.

This week, we are due for 1/2 mile intervals.  Plan accordingly.

Don't forget, Wednesday night you can learn about the needs of the Syracuse community and get free snacks!  Just register and then come on down to the Community Foundation.

How did you spend your Columbus Day?  As most of us now realize, history was written by white guys.  And as Berms and Sue can tell you, white guys are primarily douche-nozzles.  So, it is no surprise that history books contain more exaggerations and partial truths than an online dating profile.  (Am I right, ladies?)  With the advent of the internet age, it's more and more common to come across "what really happened" and since we know that everything on the internet is true ("Bonjour!"), I can only assume that the following stories are more true than what we were forced to memorize in school.

I'm sure some of you have had similar stories filter through your Facebook news feed or Twitter timeline, but since I'm sure not ALL of you have seen this, I want to do my attempt to pass along some internet enlightenment.

This first story goes into great detail of how bad of a person Christopher Columbus was and what horrors he brought to the new world.  If even a quarter of it is true, we should all be ashamed to even consider this guy for anything but a noose.  Which is why the author prefers to think of today as Bartolome Day.  It's an interesting, and quick read.  And Columbus day has only been a holiday for 80 years and was started by the "Knights of Columbus?"  Yeah, like that isn't suspicious...we must have been awfully desperate for an October holiday.

This next story (really six intertwined sections) gives a more general treatment into how different the real story of the settling of North America was compared to what we have learned.  It covers Columbus, Vikings, Squanto, and others, and gives a lot of credit to the Iroquois Confederacy in shaping our government.  It is longer, and tends to get a little bit sarcastic (it's done by a "humor" site), but had some points I'd never come across before.  What would have happened to those pilgrims if they had landed on a healthy continent?

Speaking of history, I was all upset when I found this in the last week and realized that I came across it two years two late.  But instead of looking back with regret, I've decided to stay positive.  Instead of saying "too late" I'm going to say "maybe, someday".  Because, heaven help me, if anything should ever happen to my first wife, once I mourn for a very long time, I'm totally using this:



[Read with Yoda's voice: ] Ladies, warned you have been.  Hmmm?  Say yes, you must.

(I'm already regretting Tuesday morning's family breakfast.  The things I do for the enjoyment of the group.  *sigh*)

Stink-free Guarantee

Sorry for the delay. I've been studying running (and walking) forms of random people in Cazenovia this past week...driving slowly behind people for a while grading them...but suddenly things got a little weird and decided I better lay low for a while.  Maybe I should borrow someone elses car and pick another town to finish off my findings?

The plan for tonight is back to 1/4 mile intervals.  Less new people have been coming, so no surprises here - you know the drill.  BUT, one difference from most weeks is that I will not be there.  I've been called in as an emergency swim facilitator and need to take Joseph through his swim exposure lesson at the YMCA.  An experienced professional will make sure that things are started and ended with as much chaos and lack of planning as you've come to expect when I'm around.

If Matt and Lisa make it, be sure to wish them well as they head off to their nuptials!  And if they are able to go out afterwards be sure to raise a toast to their last happy week.  (As single people, that is.  Tim and Lindsay have proven already this year how much happier people can be once they get married.)

I'm going out on an uninformed limb here and "guessing" that Janna had something pretty major go wrong during her Wineglass marathon this past weekend in Corning.  Thankfully, I don't know that she has ever read a TRY post, so I can most likely get away with a misstep here if I guessed wrong.  Based on her finish time and the sweet posts between Corey and her on Facebook (sweet for them, hawkward for us others who happened to see them), I feel rather safe thinking the race didn't go well, or was even a failure.  But, I wanted to make the point that nothing is easier than having a race go as you planned and you finish as expected.  When you really prove how tough you are, is when a race goes off the rails, you do no where near your goal, but you find a way to finish anyway.  (I know some others have written or commented about this...your "bad" races tend to be some of the most memorable.)  So, Janna, congrats on finding something else inside of you and showing that a bad day was not going to come between you and that finish line!

Now for something different:
Next Wednesday (the 16th) at 5, there is an event going on where you can learn about how various charitable groups use data to determine how to best match up their programs with the needs in the Syracuse area.  Jill has been the driving force behind this speaker series and has put in a ton of her own time in hopefully making this an event that everyone can learn something from in how to "Maximize the Community Impact" of your charitable actions.  It is also serving as the kickoff event for The Future Fund's 2013-2014 grant cycle year, so besides getting educated by speakers from the United Way, the Community Foundation, and SU, you can learn more about The Future Fund itself which is in its 10th year of giving back locally.  The event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested so that we know the number of people.  Come on out and bring a friend!  (Most of you have your causes where you give your time and money, but if any of you are looking for a way to get more involved in helping out in your central New York community, or if you want to learn more about the needs of the community so that you are smarter when you are helping out your causes, come on out next Wednesday and have a listen!)  The Facebook event page with all the details and how to register is here.  If you have questions, you can ask Jill or Terry.

Finally, this video was suggested as fodder for a blog post, but while I was sitting on the pot, Ron happened to link to this on his Facebook newsfeed.  So, several of you may have seen it there.  If not, you owe it to yourself to learn about "PooPourri".  (If for nothing else, for all the euphemisms the lady drops during the commercial.)



I think they are saving the "took the browns to the Superbowl" for the inevitable Super Bowl spot they buy this February.

You Wreck Me

Let us hope that this weeks post is enough to make up for how bored Uncle Ken was last week?

For the workout - we continue to get some very un-fall like weather, which should keep our turn out levels high, but might actually impact our ability to max out on our workout.  Usually the crisper fall temps come along with a little increase in performance as you no longer have to worry about over heating.  But, who can argue with some sustained beautiful weather?  We are due for 1/2 mile intervals this week.  The number of reps are to be determined on an individual basis.  We can discuss them quickly at the pre-game meeting before the run.

OK, now to spice things up a little.  Who else just cannot get enough of Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus?  No, I'm being serious.  It's actually a good song.  (If you consider pop music good music, that is.)  Give the song a listen (again) without thinking of who is singing it...and it's a very good pop song.

For some lessons in appropriate construction apparel, give the video a watch (170+ million views cannot be wrong!):




Hey, let those among us who have not sat naked on construction equipment cast the first hammer.  Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy the tasteful side-boob.  (Several times.)

Interestingly enough, the "directors cut" is just the close-up on her face the entire time.  So, if you want the more emotional view (and no tasteful side-boob), you can watch just the one camera look:



Where was I?  Oh yeah - how about those powerful lyrics?

"Don't you ever say I just walked away
I will always want you
I can't live a lie, running for my life
I will always want you"

Which totally reminds me of Sara running her first 5k race this Sunday at the Teal Ribbon Run (Hope for Heather).  This wasn't truly a photo bomb, maybe more like a photo grenade?  Here is a photo tweeted by Wayne Mahar today:


Seriously, those are TRYers in the background.  (You may need to enlarge for full effect.)  Right behind Wayne's well muscled right shoulder is Jake, then between his still chiseled jaw and Lisa Spitz's head is Sara, and then just peeking over Wayne's blue collar is a shot of my tasteful side-forehead.  What a moment!  We were tweeted by Wayne Mahar.

Speaking of which, we'll have to ask Sara to be sure, but I believe she was more excited to meet and get introduced to Wayne Mahar than she was to do her first 5k race.  (Understandably).  All told, what an exciting Sunday morning for Sara.  Congrats on all accounts!

"I put you high up in the sky
And now, you're not coming down
It slowly turned, you let me burn
And now, we're ashes on the ground"

The post standard did a nice job today with an article summarizing the upcoming zombie themed runs in the area - including the "run from the dead" and the "escape from fright nights".  So, instead of re-doing that, I might as well just link to their article.

"I came in like a wrecking ball
I never hit so hard in love
All I wanted was to break your walls
All you ever did was wreck me"

This weekend, Sue is putting the s-u-e back in yracs and turning us once again into Syracuse.  Hopefully most of you get to see her on her visit.  Also, I believe this is the Wineglass Marathon weekend, so Janna's training should be coming to an end.  Good luck Janna!

"I never meant to start a war
I just wanted you to let me in
And instead of using force
I guess I should have let you win
I never meant to start a war
I just wanted you to let me in
I guess I should've let you win"

Good lessons for us all!  Thank you Miley, for putting voice to what we've all been through at some point in our lives.  Let's make a point to be less like a wrecking ball going forward and be more constructive with our relationships.  It's OK to let someone else win once in a while.

Finally - I did some long overdue bookkeeping on the blog.  On the right hand side, just under the calendar are the Essential TRY Links, including the explanation, the marathon marathon story, and all the More Meat articles, including the one on compression apparel that Kelly penned earlier this year.  Enjoy!

Off Week

OK, I admit it, I "forgot" to post lat night and then did not have a chance to early this morning.  So, we'll keep it simple and take a week off with a promise of better things to come.

Tonight - probably 1/4 mile intervals.  We can discuss it during the pre-game talk.

This Sunday morning - The Hope for Heather Teal Ribbon Run is the TRY supported event.  Please consider joining in.  (Details were provided last week.)

Coming up - I'll provide a link next week, but the "zombie" run is coming up and is a good theme for this time of year.

That's it.  The off week is ovah!

Keep the Faith

Thanks to the construction crew getting mostly out of our way, we can get back to an overdue hill repeat session.  We'll do a mile warm-up, speed up a bit getting back to Faith Hill, take a quick breather, and then do a couple sets of hill repeats on Faith Hill.  Something like two sets of five, but weather and energy levels can help determine what each individual chooses to do.

A reminder that the Hope For Heather "Teal Ribbon Run 5K" (and 3k family walk) is coming up on Sunday the 29th.  It's been a fun race a few of us have done and several of us have supported the past couple years and hopefully we continue that tradition.  Escalade said she wants us to specifically sign up under the "Prayers for Bridgett" team.  Rumor has it, this team does a champagne toast before the race and wears teal colored tutus.  I do not know if that is true, or if either is a requirement.  We'll figure that out later.

Some quick thoughts on the Tuff e Nuff 5k/10k challenge that TRY volunteered at:
They ended up with over 500 people for a first time event which they were very happy with.
It's amazing how much earlier you have to get up to volunteer at these things than to participate in them.
The weather was fricken cold when we first arrived - less than 40, but was warm enough (for volunteering at least) by race time.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.
We made some new friends and had "a blast" supporting the race at the "mud pit" obstacle.  Here are a few photos from the day:

Friend of TRY and Escalade's snowboard guide, Megan-Mack:


What the mud pit looked like, with me way in the distance:


Escalade and her new best friend Kate, who were the victims of some muddy hugs:


A glimpse at the obstacle after the mud pit called "walk on water":


And a glimpse of some competitors, I believe they called their team "past our prime, but not ready to admit it" (OK, that was our name for them):



It seemed like a fun event to do!  There were a lot of laughs at our obstacle and a lot of smiles at the end.


The finale for this post is a preview of an article that will probably be published in the Baldwinsville Messenger.  We get the scoop on the story as our Escalade explains what she went through mentally and physically on her trip to Colorado Springs to the Olympic Training Center.  Thanks Escalade for the very interesting story:

“If your dreams don't scare you, then they're not big enough.” I might not have my sight, but my vision is as clear as could be. "Will you look back on life and say, 'I wish I had,' or 'I'm glad I did'?" said Zig Ziglar. It is very hard to set a goal that is three years away, but I have wanted to be a Paralympian since I was a little girl and I am going to do everything in my power to make it happen. I am going to set smaller long-term goals that will all lead up to my ultimate goal of Racing for Team U.S.A in Rio in 2016.

On the way to the Olympic Training Center, many different thoughts were running through my mind. I was mostly feeling excitement, but the unknown started to fill my head as I got closer and closer. Will I be able to find the bathroom? Will I make friends? What will we be doing? Will I be good enough? What type of food do they serve? Where do I sleep? The list goes on forever. When I arrived, I was sitting in the cafeteria with my dad, talking to others in the program. The girl who was going to be my roommate introduced herself. Her name was Sarah, and she was also my pilot. A pilot is the person on the front of a tandem bike. Sarah and I clicked immediately. Others in our group kept asking how long we knew each other, remarking that it seemed like we knew each other for years, and not just for a couple of hours. I couldn’t have asked for a better roommate, pilot, and now great friend. Sarah had never been on a tandem bike before, but she is a pro cyclist, so she learned extremely quickly how to navigate a bike that is totally different than the one she is used to racing. We established our means of communication and rode as if we had been riding together since we were teenagers. She alerted me when we were going left or right, stopping, slowing down, when we needed to apply more pressure to the pedals or speed up, and other things that we needed to communicate while biking. In this camp, there were two other tandem teams. Both were male teams. The other twenty people consisted of injured military or people who were paralyzed. Those who were injured in the military with traumatic brain injuries usually rode an upright single bike. The individuals, who are paralyzed, rode hand cycles. They control the whole bike with their hands and arms, and instead of pedals, they push with a rowing type motion. I met many amazing people and I was fascinated by their stories. I laughed whenever anyone would ask what my story was. Compared to a person who was blown up nine times by an I.E.D overseas, losing your sight was no big deal at all.

I was at the Olympic Training Center for a week. There was no competitiveness at all. Whenever we raced,
you could always hear others yelling “great job,” “keep it up,” and “you got this.” Every day, I woke up around 7:00, walked to the cafeteria for breakfast, went back to the room to change into my bike gear, and went outside to hop on the bike and wait for our instructions. We left the campus around 9:00, returning around 12:30. At this point, we took our showers, put normal clothes on, went to the cafeteria for lunch, came back to our rooms, put our bike gear on, and then hopped back on the bike around 2:00. Around 5:30, we returned to campus, took another shower, had dinner, and then went to our nightly meeting from 7:00-9:30. When this was all over, we went back to the dorms, and mingled with one another. At first, we talked about our stories, why we were there, and where we were from. After the first night, everyone seemed to get along as if we knew each other for more than a few days. It was like a family, each person looking out for one another, and all there for the same reasons. We would say that we put the word “fun” in the word “dysfunctional.”

Each day we had different tasks and destinations to bike to. We biked on the Air Force Academy Base, Garden of the Gods, and around Colorado Springs. We worked on our skills which included doing figure eights, tight turns, reaching for our water bottles, navigating a course with scattered cones, and other things to feel as comfortable as possible on the bike. We had three races throughout the camp. Two of these races were on the velodrome. We biked a kilo, which is three times around as fast as you possibly could. A 3K, was nine times around the track. In the 3K, the objective is to shave time off of each lap. It is very difficult to do, but Sarah and I managed to do exactly that, and each lap out of nine was faster than the previous. Prior to coming to this camp, I had no idea what a veladrome was. Sarah had explained it to me, but I was still unsure of what it looked like. Before our race, our head coach had us walk the track, to give the visually impaired or blind athletes a feel for what they would be racing on. I had no idea how steep the track was. It felt like we were going 60 mph, but we were probably in the 30’s.

Our last race was a 20K time trial. This was 12.4 miles as fast as you could on a road course. After completing these races, besides being exhausted, I felt accomplished, proud, and happy. I thought Sarah was insane when she told me that we had to warm up for about an hour before each of our races. “Why would anyone want to work out before doing a race?” We put our bike on a trainer, which is a mechanism that hooks to the back wheel to stabilize the bike. We both hopped on and did a long workout.
We had moments where we would pedal softly and just get our legs used to the movement, but other times we were pushing hard and sweating. Before the 20K time trial, we must have done three out of the four laps that we would have done on the race. I was exhausted and thought to myself, “there is no way I can do this race, I am already tired, and my legs are killing me.” All of those thoughts left my mind as soon as we were on the course, giving it our absolute best.

People always tell me that I am amazing or that I inspire them. The people I met were the type of people who inspire me. Those people fought for our country, were injured, and still have the motivation and will to keep going and race their bikes. It seems silly looking back at the things I was worried about while on my way to the training center. I could not have asked for a better, more rewarding, motivational experience. I am 100% glad I chose to attend this camp. With hard work and determination, I believe I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles! Sarah and I were invited to Ohio, October 4-7, to go to a Paralympic feeder camp. At this camp, they conduct a lot of testing. They will test each of us separate, then both of us together to test our power. I am very excited for the next steps to hopefully make it on the USA National Team. I will “see” all of you at Rio in a few years.

Tweening

This weeks workout is back to 1/4 mile intervals.  Since I missed out last week, I'll attempt to talk to individuals to find out who did what, and then recommend the amount of intervals from that.

It seems like the construction process was making some great gains later last week, with obvious signs of paving being done, so I'm hopeful that the main path will be open again soon.  (And may be pleasantly surprised that suddenly, one week, it will be all done, despite seemingly being a mess just a week before.)

I know most of you marvel at how I can come up with an interesting post, week after week...and well, it isn't always easy.  This is one of those weeks where my attempts to have an interesting nugget or two provided by another TRYer did not work out and I am left with nothing but my own whits to get me through.  At such a time, I ask myself, what would the fox say?



You're welcome.  Evidently that is the latest potential craze that you should at least know about and have seen once so that the world around you makes sense.

Reminders:
This Sunday is the Tuff eNuff challenge at Greek Peak.  I am still curious if anyone wants to take part or to volunteer to help out?  We are typically consumers of races, but I encourage everyone to work on the other side of an event from time to time.  It can be eye opening and definitely gives you more sympathy for race volunteers.

Escalade is off in Colorado having an "amazing" time, but I don't have any details on her actual peformance or what "amazing" means to pass along.  For her Facebook friends, she was able to post some photos late Monday afternoon.

I still need your help to make this world more "hawkward".  See last weeks post for details and a link on how to make me happy.  (Thank you to those of have helped out the cause, but there are still many of you that must not have voted.)

Sometimes, when I don't have enough content for a post, I turn to active.com and all the emails they send me and find some interesting stuff from them.  This time around, the theme of food came out on top.  All of these are quick reads:
Some ideas for Easy Post-Workout Snacks That Aid Recovery.
8 Foods That Are Surprisingly Healthy.  (This one was a good one for me.  Made me re-think iceberg lettuce, frozen veggies, and peanuts.)
One that hits close to home, since a "special friend" of mine has Celiac Disease - Should [non-Celiacs] Go Gluten-Free?  It's a good reminder of the benefits and potential pitfalls of choosing to go gluten-free, when you don't medically have to.

And a bonus article that is not food related.  Beginning runners can skip this, but for the intermediate and experienced runners in the group, it's worth a read through this sort of confusing article on running intensity.  My takeaway is that I, and others, need to slow down on some of our runs.  It's very tempting (and typical) to turn a slow paced run into a medium paced run just to get it over with, but that may be sabotaging our overall training performance.

Laborious

Due to Labor Day weekend travel, this will be a brief post.

The plan for the people on the interval cycle, is to go back to 1/2 mile intervals.  Three repeats for the beginner group, four for the advanced.  That's it.  Easy-peasy, lemon squeezie.

Our very own Escalade is heading out to Colorado Springs later this week for her tryout with the US paralympic team.  Please give her a warm send off at TRY as she goes where few have gone before.  It is an awesome opportunity for her and she openly credits TRY and TRYers for getting her into her current fitness routine, so it is something we can all take pride in.  Whether it works out for future work with the US team or not, it is a moment to be cherished.  Cherish it Escalade, like a cherry.

There is a timely, and interesting, article that just got published at Grantland.com talking about "CrossFit, Tough Mudders, and the rise of social-physical challenges".  Grantland is an offshoot of ESPN, so I found it fascinating that such a major sports outlet wrote about Tough Mudders, Color Runs, and Crossfit, since TM's and Color Runs have been right up our alley (not our Ally!) this summer.  The article came to a similar conclusion I did - that they sort of come down to producing a good Facebook photo opportunity.

Lastly, I need your help.  Especially the people who are new to TRY this year.  Last year, I attempted to define a word on Urban Dictionary and for a moment my word managed to be THE definition, but it has since slipped to third place.  Please go check out the top three definitions of the word "hawkward" at this link and vote for my definition if you agree that mine is the appropriate TRUE definition of the word.  Honestly, the first two definitions deserve to be voted down, so feel free to do that as well, but mostly I am looking for up-votes for mine.  Actually, it is our definition of hawkward you are voting for.  Just as we helped Escalade on her way to her tryouts with the US team, we all have a stake in getting our hawkward to be the hawkward that the world knows.

Here is a snapshot of my definition in the third spot (notice it was defined by "TryTbone"):



Thanks for help...just do what is in your heart as there is no need to make this...hawkward.

TryTbone

Tuesday Evening Social

The Reminder:

TRY night at the fair is this Thursday afternoon.  Let me know in some way if you want to join in for people watching, poor food consumption decisions (bacon bomb?), and 'Hey There Delilah' singing.

The Plan:

Onondaga Lake Park, in its under construction phase, is getting a bit annoying, but remains just good enough to keep using it.  Kudos to everyone for putting up with it and continuing to produce some of the largest TRY crowds ever.  Keep being extra careful and mindful of the other park users and not clogging up the narrow trail we are using.  This week, it's back to our standard interval workout of 1/4 mile intervals.  Let's keep it the same as two weeks ago and do 4 or 5 repeats for the "newer" people and 6 or 7 repeats for the experienced people.  For the new crowd, focus on being a little more consistent than you were two weeks ago.  Also, think about your form and your breathing and start to "run smarter, not harder".  You can and will improve your running via your hard work, but you also can improve your running via some smart work.  Ask an experienced TRYer if you need help with that.

The Plea:

I have done a poor job in doing group introductions (for various reasons, that I won't make excuses about), so I am going to ask everyone to help me out.  We are getting great turnout, week after week, with several relative newcomers, so let's have a special social night.  Not afterwards, but during.  Please take a couple minutes before the run, while the group is forming up and turn to someone you don't know and introduce yourself and get to know each other, just a little bit.  Then, during the cool down walk around Angela's TRYangle, do it again and instead of talking to the people you know well, talk to someone you haven't talked to before and get to know them just a little bit.  TRY has never had this diverse of a crowd, so let's embrace it and get to know a TRYer that you haven't yet.

The above thought was brought to mind by something I did last week.  I went to an event that was totally out of my element, as part of a group I volunteer for and learned that a new TRYer has a job I know nothing about.  So, I was sitting there at a business breakfast, watching Nicole "Bobcat" Collins be a total rock star, and presenting to a group of local business persons, including some of the biggest of the big shots for companies that are worth millions upon millions of dollars.  She is the force behind the "Business Journal 500" which is "The only compilation of the vital data on Central New York's 500 largest corporations".  She has her photo on page 1 and got to present the publication to the local business community.  I had no idea!  I knew she worked for the Business Journal, but did not have a guess at what that meant.  And I never would have guessed that she could own the room in a room full of local VIPs:

Who knows what else I'm missing out on - other TRYers that have an "out there" work role, or unique hobby, or a fetish that would make Miley's seem tame.  So, let's find out.  Introduce yourself, and ask questions...you never know what someone will answer about themselves until you ask.  :-)

The Inside Scoop:

Finally, something that only TRY can bring to you.  (OK, not really.)  Here are the results of an "interview" I did with the organizing force behind Greek Peak's "TUFF eNUFF" adventure run.  The event is a 5k or 10k obstacle course race and "will consist of challenges designed to symbolize strength, courage, and the willingness to try, constructed of natural elements using the existing landscape."  (They said "try"!)  The event is on Sunday, September 15th, with heats going on from 9 until noon.

It is a fundraiser for good, local, causes, costs $85, and includes a free "Mountain Coaster" ride and reduced rates at the Greek Peak adventure center (ropes courses, zip lines and other cool things).  If you are unwilling or unable to participate, they need volunteers as well, and I am quite sure I can talk them into getting volunteers some free or reduced usage of the adventure center.

[Addition as of 0730: I was told to add that there is a free barbecue and the day ends with a big bonfire.  So, this is intended to be an all day event if you want to enjoy everything.  The race, the food, the adventure center, and the bonfire.]

The "interview" was informally done with friend of TRY and the reason that Escalade is part of our group, Megan-Mack Nicholson, whose leading of Escalade at snowboarding is what inspired me to reach out and see if she had any interest in "TRYing" to run with us:

The race came about as a brainchild of hers when she was approached to help out with a normal road race.  She wishes they had started it last year, before other obstacle courses sprung up, when it would have stood out more.  There is no obstacle course race creation for dummies book, so she admits to sort of winging it and coming up with the obstacles from her own experience at doing the Tough Mudder and checking out other smaller obstacle course races around the area.  She said that there are "only so many ways to have someone go over, under, or through" an obstacle, so there is not going to be anything that the world has not seen before.  The course has you go across, up and down the Greek Peak ski mountain, will not have you go to the tallest parts (thankfully) and the only way to see all the obstacles is to complete the 10k.  (The 10k course is NOT just the 5k course twice, but is another whole circle through different terrain.)  She hopes it turns out to be challenging, fun, and that it draws in enough participants to be successful.  Part of the stress of organizing a brand new race is having no idea if it is going to draw enough people, especially for the first year, when breaking even can be a tall order.  In addition to the course and the obstacles, she had to deal with the insurance side of things and getting the right amount of liability coverage at a reasonable rate by deciding such things as "having no electricity involved" and "limiting the height" of obstacles.  And mother nature has reared her fickle head as well, when the flash flooding of a couple weeks ago decided to reek havoc with the race course.  Will it all come together in time?  She sure hopes so, but admitted to being worried about it as of a month ago.  There is too much to do and not enough time to do it for an event like this.  It's not easy being on the other side of the registration table, so to speak.

Who among us wants in?  Who among us with answer the call?  Who is willing to volunteer to support a totally local race?  Let me know and I'll work things out with Megan-Mack.

The Sign-off:

Your Second Favorite TRY poster,

Plain White T

Hey There, De-TRY-lah

Alrighty then.  Where were we?  After hill repeats two weeks ago and 1/4 mile repeats last week, we'll cycle to 1/2 mile repeats this week.  Beginners to intervals - plan for two or three 1/2 mile segments (or two 1/2s and finish with one 1/4), while the veterans should plan for three to four 1/2 mile segments.

A late arrival back in town from the weekend has left me a little short of time on Monday night, so I'll skip right to the essential part of this post:
Each year, we attempt to find a fun free concert at the New York State Fair for "TRY Night at the Fair".  I was flipping through the paper advertisement for the fair and couldn't find a night that worked.  (Admittedly, the one that jumped out at me was "Florida Georgia Line" on the first Monday, but unfortunately I have a conflict that night and cannot be there for that.)  There were a couple undetermined acts as of the printing of the paper version, so I went online to see what they ended up being and the new answer lept out at me.  On Thursday,  August 29th, Plain White T's will be the 8 PM free concert.  Done and done.  I cannot believe it's been seven years since "Hey There Delilah" came out, but according to Wikipedia it's true?  Wow!  It's time to see that baby live.  Who's in?  The "plan" is to show up 5ish or a bit later that night, use cell phones to find each other, have a bit a fun, a bit of food, and perhaps a wine slushy or two, then end the night listening to the song that launched a thousand parodies.

Here is an official acoustic version, including a story behind the lyrics:


And here are two of my favorite parodies, and by the number of views, I'm not the only one.  An Arab version:


And a Harry Potter version, that cuts a little too close to home.  (...The invisibility cloak didn't work that day...):


Share, if you have any other favorites, as I cannot get enough of this song, or people spoofing it (if they did a good job with it).

Tough Mudder Race Report

After flirting with Faith Hill last week, it's time to revert back to our gold-standard interval: 1/4 mile repeats.  We can work out a plan with the various people who show up, including the few newcomers who are doing a great job of fitting right in.  For the newer people, plan for 4 or 5 repeats, for the veterans, plan for 6 or 7.

The following race report is courtesy of Erin T/Beef Eater/Meat Loaf, photos added by T-bone:
Tough Mudder- Not Just a Clever Name



[The after shot.]

After completing my first Tough Mudder, Terry asked that I write a brief summary of the experience, so here goes.

The Tough Mudder-Buffalo course was set on an ATV park with a number of natural obstacles, rocks, hills, etc. Personally, even with the long-distance training for the Boilermaker and weekly long runs, the run was definitely the most challenging “obstacle.” The terrain was very difficult to maneuver and the biggest hurdle was avoiding injury. After 11.65 miles, the run was definitely the most exhausting aspect.

In terms of obstacles, females are at an advantage since most were built to challenge the men (ex. crawling under barbed wire, inching through tubes, etc.) so females can cheat a little and scurry through. When it came to the walls and upper body challenges, with a team of guys (and other helpful racers) scaling the walls, jumping round bales, and racing up the half pipe were all relatively easy.

For fun, jumping into a pit of muddy water off a 15-ft plank was a blast and allowed people to rinse off and get refreshed. Another plus was the number of hydration stations with shot blocks, bananas, etc. and great T-shirts at the end for finishers.



[Tiffster getting refreshed.]



[Ob flipping refreshed.  Bomo!]

And for punishment, the Arctic Enema- a giant dumpster filled with 32-degree water and ice blocks, with a divider forcing you to maneuver under water as your body literally shuts down was, for me, the worst. A close second was the last obstacle, racing to the finish line through dangling electric wires which proved to knock thousands of people to the ground into yet another giant mud pit.

So, all in all this was a bucket list challenge for me but not something I’d do repeatedly, mainly due to the high risk for injury. With all that being said, Scala tells me (this being her second TM) that she completed every obstacle over the course of 4-5 hours and, as always, loved every minute of it. At one point during the race we were sat down and asked to reflect on someone who was an inspiration to us and of course, knowing Escalade was somewhere on the course at that point, I thought of her, out there pushing it to the max, like always. She also was quoted in a recent article saying the Tough Mudder is her favorite race, which proves that she just took too much voltage on the Electric Eel. ;)



[Escalade conquering her fear with Megan-Mack.]



[Syracuse Mudders after shot.]

Back to T-bone: thank you very much for that heartfelt race report, Erin, that was great!  :-)

For more perspectives on the Tough Mudder phenomenon, you can re-read Escalade's recap from last year, or my weighing in on it after our first foray into the event last spring in the Pocano's.

Finally, a note about losing it.  Losing ones job that is.  For those who have not heard, I am being let go from my company on Thursday morning.  After 16+ years, the only job I've known since college will be no more. Some people have wondered why I'm not more upset with the company or more distraught with my lot in life and it really comes down to this:
The day after I was notified of my job termination, a 24 year old friend had surgery at a Syracuse hospital to remove cancerous tumors from her thyroid area.  The next day (2 days after my notification) I found out another friend was headed out of town as she had just found out her step-mother had died from cancer complications and her father was hospitalized due to the stress from his wife's death.  So, honestly, how sad or upset could I be compared to those situations?  It was a very good job and for the most part a good company to work for.  But there is more to life than working, and much worse things that can happen to someone than losing the ability to work for a while.
Be thankful for what you have in life, whether it be your job, or your health, or your family.  And remember that no matter how bad of a day you think you are having, you do not have to look very hard to find people that have it worse.

Malinda Week

For the group run this week, I believe we are overdue for some hill repeats.  So, as long as the construction allows it, we will be attacking Faith Hill like rabid fans along the red carpet before the ACM awards!  If construction is blocking access to Faith Hill, we can revert to 1/4 mile intervals.

We've had a great influx of new people over the past few weeks.  Please do what you can to make them feel welcome.  It's probably for the best if you provide a buffer as the less I interact with them, the more likely they are to keep coming back to TRY.  Speaking of TRY, I really love this group.  At the Iron Girl triathlon this Sunday morning, we ended up being near another training group cheering on the run portion (we were there first).  There were more of them, they were wearing coordinated jackets and ringing a cowbell and doing some very fun cheers.  So, honestly, they were outdoing us a little bit.  But, the TRY contingency was holding its own as best it could, wearing coordinated hats, being positive to all participants, and encouraging all the runners to remember that this was supposed to be enjoyable.  Most importantly, TRY was there because we care about supporting each other with no other strings attached.  The other group seemed to care about their team, but there was a huge difference - they were part of a Fleet Feet training program.  So, they were getting paid (or at least compensated in some way) for some of the time they put in with their group.  Now, I don't know that they only are involved because of the monetary perks, but I do know for sure that TRY was not there for anything other than the love of TRYing.  That made me feel really good to think about all the times that TRY is there for each other, with no strings attached.  Keep up the good work and keep encouraging each other to reach heights they did not know they could reach.  We are stronger when we work together. :-)

Reminder: There are free general admission tickets available to this Friday nights Syracuse Chiefs game.  There will be a tail-less tailgate party that we will crash before the game (thanks to Roger) and the game will be followed by a fireworks display.  Let me know if you need tickets as we have an unlimited number available.  The more the merrier!

The "Cooks on the Run" blog blatantly kissed up to me with their most recent post (they have a picture of a poster that says "Don't be afraid to fail.  Be afraid not to TRY".  How fitting is that?!  So, I felt compelled to add a link to their blog on the right hand side of our blog.  Easy access for some inspiration and continued healthy recipe ideas.

Finally, the Discovery Channel is having their big "Shark Week" celebration this week.  But, I wonder why they aimed so low?  Why don't they celebrate a truly vicious animal?  Sure, sharks do some crazy things, and one catching a seal while leaping out of the water is a "WOW!" moment every time.  But, they don't taunt the seal by wearing pink.  And they don't post photos mocking the dead seal on social media before they eat it.  When you get right down to it, sharks are down right civil compared to the ownage that Malinda pulled off this week.

Look at me, I'm all delicate and smiley and I wear pink shirts when I am about to kill things:


Now look at the shark I caught and am about to eat with all my friends.  His family called him "Loaney" but we renamed him "Dinner".  The shaming of this shark will last forever on Facebook:


All that was missing were some hashtags: #malindaweek #sharkweekislame #aintnobodygottimeforthat.

Lastly, we have had a delay in the form of the technical equivalent of "my dog ate my homework".  I hope to have a write-up on the Buffalo Tough Mudder for you all next week.

Taking The Leap

OLP was good enough last week, so we are continuing to use it until construction makes it unusable.  (With the theory that the problem we know is better than the problem we don't know.)  So, tomorrow night, we will be meeting at the normal spot.  For those of you doing intervals, switch it up to 1/2 mile repeats this week.  For the two mile group, think about if you are ready to up it to 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 miles.  The other choice is to increase your pace slightly.  Don't push it if you aren't ready to, specifically injury-wise, but you don't want to stagnate either if your goal is to become a better runner.  It's nice to get to be able to do 3 miles at a rip, so that the world of 5k races is open to you.

Announcements:
Coming up on Friday, August 9th, is Lockheed Martin Night at the Syracuse Chiefs.  That means free general admission tickets to anyone who wants them, plus the game is followed by a good fireworks show.  Let me know at the park if you need tickets, I'll have them with me the next couple Tuesdays.  (Feel free to take extra for friends.)  There is usual a simple meet-up before the game (a tail-less tail-gate if you will) and some attempt to sit as a group at the game.

Ken (or "Uncle Ken") has asked us to pass along the blog, "Cooks on the Run".  It has stories about training, but more importantly, fun, healthy recipes.  (Including several vegetarian/vegan/gluten free listings in the recipes section.)  If you want to feel better about the unhealthy food you eat, glance through one of their meal plans. :-)  The most recent entry in the main blog section includes a fun sounding (and healthy) pancake recipe and running energy balls.  Seriously, it's worth reading just for the homemade energy balls.  Scrolling down there is polenta, tofu and something called "gyoza".  And a lot of quinoa.  Reading through some of these, definitely made me crave a Twinkie.  Something is wrong with me.

Escalade's snowboard guide, Megan-Mack Nicholson, is the brains behind the course for an upcoming obstacle course run at Greek Peak on Sunday, September 15th.  It's called the "Tuff eNuff Challenge" and gives the option of a 5k or a 10k course.  (It does not repeat, so to do all the obstacles you need to do the 10k variant.)  It is a fundraiser for a couple good causes and the race entry includes a free Mountain Coaster ride and reduced pricing for the rest of the attractions at the adventure center.  (Ropes course, zip lines, etc.)  "Mack" said she could really use some more runners, so please consider doing this, or passing along the idea to people you think might enjoy it.  She is also looking for some volunteers.  If you are interested in either participating or volunteering, let me know.

Next week, there will be some Tough Mudder details and photos, but for this week, let me just congratulate Nicole, Meatloaf, and Ob on completing their first Mudder this past weekend!  You now know that there are physical and mental challenges involved and that it is a lot more than a road race.  (For good and for bad.)  And finally, a special commendation to Escalade for facing her fears and once again taking the leap off of the "Walk the Plank" obstacle. Way to face your fears and leap into the darkness!

OLP as Normal

As most of you saw, Onondaga Lake Park will have construction for a while (see link).  We will still meet at the park at the usual spot this week.  We will do a test run with the construction and see how it goes.  Make sure to check here next week in case we need to change locations.  It sounds like we can make it work, but we may opt for a field trip!

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/07/onondaga_lake_park_recreation_trail_construction_work_begins.html#incart_river_default

This week will be quarter miles for anyone doing speedwork.  I don't have anything else on the schedule, so let me know if anyone has any training needs.  We can support anyone who would like help!

I hope everyone enjoyed a less intense week after the Boilermaker.  Since we had a 90 minute and 6 hour race, Aaron and I decided to give ourselves a nice, easy week.  It was good to let our bodies recover, but it was also a great chance to mentally recover from the stress of that kind of race.  We did lots of walking, a couple of easy runs, an easy swim, and a bike ride.  It was a great recovery week, but now I'm back out there and increasing the intensity again.  How long does everyone else give themselves after a big race?  Week?  Two?  1 day?

--Kelly :)

Terry's addition:
For anyone that did not read Kelly's excellent 12 points of what she learned last week, please go read that. Escalade and I used at least a few of the points at the Boilermaker.  We were not fully prepared this year, we were slower this year, and we walked several times this year, but at the end of the race, I asked which version she enjoyed more...and Escalade said that she enjoyed the slower race, where she was able to enjoy the entire 9.3 miles, over the traditionally more ideal race from last year, where she maxed out her performance time-wise but was red-lining for the last 5k and not able to enjoy anything in that stretch.

From my perspective, the Boilermaker delivered once again.  It's crowded at the start, it's crowded at the post race party, and it's almost always a very hot day, but it remains the areas greatest race.  For the second straight year, Escalade and my outfits were a plea for the runners and the crowd to spur us on, and they did not disappoint.  To say we heard "dozens" of cheers would be way too low, so I'll go with "hundreds" of times a fellow runner or the crowd along the streets 'cheered for Erin'.  It was, once again, an amazing experience that I hope Erin will always remember.  For those of you who wear headphones or blend in, I encourage you to play to the Boilermaker crowd one of these years - it can be as simple as being on Team Beef - but wear something that the crowd can respond to, leave the headphones at home, and see how different of a race experience you can have.

Now, for the colorful part.  The following "photos" are all screen captures from marathonfoto.com who seems to be doing a great job as they got all of us TRYers more than once.

Malinda (what IS she doing in that first shot?):

Meatloaf/Beefeater/SchmooopilyInLoveFacebookPoster:


Duerr (he needs more shirts with zippers):


Jake (from State Farm):


Janna (Utica's own!):


Berman and Berman (Father and daughter?  Roommate and roommate? Who cares, as they are so cute together.):


Valentin (alternative Superman):


Salazar (I think he outdid the 'Gerega Wave' with his peace signs and fist shots):


Escalade (and her guide):


Sue (the leaver):


And with that, another great Boilermaker is in the books.