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