More Meat Volume 6 - Twitter Potpourri

Since I've had a bad day a half, I am not in the mood to be creative myself...so I turned to my twitter feed to see what sorts of insights I could pass along from some recent tweets. So, here we go:

Red wine may help you lose weight! (Drink up, me hardies! Or as I like to say it: drink up, me hotties!)

Stretches and exercises you can do at the office. (Since most of us have jobs that have us sitting all day.)

Tips on how to plan a perfect running week. This is short, with the key paragraph:

Your ideal week will include a longer run to build endurance, a hilly run to improve your strength, and a scenic or social run that regularly injects some fun into your routine and keeps you coming back for more. Include a speed workout only if your goal is to run faster.

I keep seeing article like this - stretching isn't what I used to be told it is. How and when should you stretch? With a mention of why we do our mile warmup: Beginning a regular run by just taking off at a slow easy pace is actually "stretching" or warming up your body and getting it ready for your harder pace later in the run.

And this one isn't relevant for most of the people who will read this, but perhaps you could pass this along to a friend who has asked you how they can get into running. 10 tips for beginners. A couple good ones in there - "Get a group" (Check!) and "Get rest" (I'm a big fan of rest right now. Check!)

That's it...hopefully everyone has something they can take away from this latest round of meat.

TRY, TRY Again

Here we go again. Another Syracuse running season is upon us. Thanks to the nice March weather, most of you have already been out and running. For those who need some extra inspiration...it's April! What are you waiting for? Come on out an join in!

Read the entry below for the story of Fleet Feet's redemption.

If you have a friend you want to bring out to join in, don't forget to share with them what TRY is all about.

And for those looking to sneak out of work this Thursday - a couple of us are going to the opening game for the Syracuse Chiefs. Read all about "phenom" Bryce Harper. Here. Here. And here. (Sorry, getting a little baseball geeky on you, but I can't help it. It's obvious I don't spend all my time running...so now you know what I'm up to when I'm not.)

A Story of Redemption

Some of you may remember my story from the end of the Syrathon race series last fall. I was surprised and disappointed by how Fleet Feet handled the shirt distribution. By the time people were supposed to arrive to pick up their shirts (noon on a Sunday) most sizes and almost all of the shirts had been given away. I saw several people get turned away without a shirt and confused that showing up "on time" had led them to lose out on a fun perk they had been working for since March.

I wanted to speak up for the little guy (actually it seemed to be mostly women) but I waited to see what Fleet Feet put in their next newsletter. When they didn't mention the problem, I decided to write an email explaining what happened on shirt hand-out day. They didn't answer. And another couple weeks went by without a response and without any mention in their newsletter. I was shocked. For a store that is so good to customers, it didn't make sense. I started sharing the story with you guys as I ran with you. Saying that for the first time, I was disappointed in my experience with Fleet Feet.

Then a couple more weeks later, I got an email. They explained their reason for what happened and also noted that they were printing more shirts and would have information in their next newsletter. Also, they wanted to specifically make good to me due to my email, and were setting aside a shirt for me for me to pick up at my convenience.

I didn't tell anyone the follow-up to the story. I wanted to have the shirt in hand before I did. And I didn't get to the store and didn't get to the store...but I finally went over there a couple weeks ago (three? months after the email), and sure enough: they made good on their promise and still had a shirt for me.

So, I wanted to share a picture of my shirt and the store of Fleet Feet's redemption. They are back in my good graces and back to being the recommended shoe store of TRY. You can beat their prices if you shop online, but does that online store support most of the local races you run? Does that store take back sneakers after you've worn them? After you've bled in them? Fleet Feet is an excellent resource to central New York runners. I recommend that everyone keeps supporting them for your running needs.

TRY Preseason Week 2

This week is all about the Goat. And me not writing much. The first week of the six week Mountain Goat Training Run series is this Saturday morning. There is no better way to get prepared for the Goat than to make most of these runs. And even if you don't plan to do the Goat, the training runs are a great kick-start to your spring running training. Each week gets at least one major hill in so its a high quality workout.

This year, they are charging to take part - $5 which covers all 6 weeks. So, print out the waiver, have it filled out, and turn it in ahead of time at Fleet Feet, or the morning before a training run. But, trust me, do yourself a favor and have it printed and filled out beforehand.

The details, waiver and suggested training plan can be found here.

For those who can only make a couple weeks - here is some insider information: Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 6 are on the first half of the course (running up Stolp). Week 4 and 5 are on the second half of the course (our good friend Colvin). (And week 5 actually features the full course if you want to do the whole thing.) So, if you can only make two weeks - pick one of 1, 2, 3, and 6 and one of 4 or 5. That way you have experienced both main portions of the course and will be prepared for what is in store for you on May 6th.

TRY Preseason 2012

The month of March is very varied weather wise, so we've gotten in the habit of starting TRY in mid March (after daylight saving time starts) with absolutely no pressure on people turning out. If you are in the mood to come out for a jog and the weather suits, come on out and join in. Tomorrow and the next two weeks are for your own benefit before the real training (intervals) start in April. Thanks to the warm weather, I'm hoping we get a better turn out than usual for March...but that is all up to you. (Normal place and time - 5:30 at OLP.)

See the post below, for the first "More Meat" of the season. I promise you'll learn something, or your money back.

More Meat Volume 5 - Running Myths

Thanks to my twitter feed and @Cool_Running, I got a meaty entry for free. And who can't use more free meat in their lives? I think there is something in here for everyone.

So, here are 6 running myth busters, covering the topics of:

Is running bad for your knees?

Should women run while pregnant?

Should runners stretch?

Are pricier shoes better?

Should I carbo load?

Is running in the cold bad for your lungs?

2012 TRY Calendar

I have made my first attempt to capture most of the running events that TRYers frequent, including triathlons that I know about, and have updated the 2012 TRY calendar. Feel free to chime in if you want an event added. Due to laziness, I have not linked to the event websites this year. If you need help finding one of the events listed, please ask.

Things of note:

1) The TRY night at the Syracuse Crunch is this coming Friday (the 24th).

2) The local race coming up the fastest is the Shamrock Run on March 10th. (I assume it will be the first race of the Syrathon race series again.)

3) The Mountain Goat training runs start on March 24th. Will you be ready for that in five weeks?

4) The Making Tracks for Celiac's event is tentatively scheduled for May 12th.

5) The Liverpool Relay for Life is June 15th-16th. I had a difficult time finding enough runners last year -- got saved by a last minute influx of new people. This event may have ran it's course. I'll be looking for much earlier commitments this year -- and if not enough people want to do it, I will pull the plug on the running portion and just be part of a walking team. Not a big deal, but if I do that event, I want to do it right. So, think about your schedules and if you want to help out with that again or not?

6) The Boilermaker has about 6000 spots left out of the 14000 total allowed in the 15k.

7) I have penciled the TRY group runs as starting on March 13th, with a more official start (the speedwork portions) scheduled for April 3rd. Plan your lives accordingly! :-)