A MishMash of Blah

Tonight: there is a chance of severe storms in the area, so check your weather app before you drive out and choose wisely. If storms are eminent we will be wise and run Angela's TRY-angle loops to stay near our cars.

I really thought I could pull together an interesting and useful post today but the articles I was stockpiling really disappointed me as I looked through them in detail. So, I'll still post a few links and let you glean what you can from them.

First, not related to running, but related to TRY since I push local baseball on you a couple times a year. The Syracuse Chiefs have made the playoffs for the first time in my era here (first time since 1989) and will be starting their playoffs on the road on Wednesday, against the Pawtucket Red Sox. It is a best of 5 series, with games 3 through 5 scheduled for Syracuse. They are guaranteed a home game on Friday at 7 PM and then can have up to two more this weekend depending on how the series goes. It is a bit of an odd way to do it, but they are being rewarded for being the higher seed by only getting one guaranteed home game. The other oddity with minor league baseball playoffs is that they will not being putting their best product on the field. The parent team - the Washington Nationals are in a playoff push of their own and starting in September can expand their rosters for a month. So, as major league teams tend to do, they poached a lot of good talent from the Syracuse roster. Syracuse can in turn grab some players from the level below them to help them out, but it makes for an odd mix of players that haven't played together all year, but now will be fighting to get through up to three playoff rounds. Syracuse.com has some recent articles, but nothing I could find that was playoff specific yet, so just go to syracusechiefs.com if you need a baseball fix or want to order tickets ahead of time.

Now, running related, here I have culled through some of the most recent active.com articles to see what was worthwhile. Nothing groundbreaking, but good reminders and proof that TRY somewhat keeps you on the right path.
10 "secrets" to take your running to the next level - includes mixing up your runs, doing some hills, changing your pace, using partners, setting goals.
A quick read about when it is time to switch your shoes - the only surprising thing here was how sometimes a new shoe may need to be given up on right from the start. (Remember that a place like Fleet Feet typically takes shoes back if you instantly have buyers regret in the form of pain or blisters - one of the benefits of buying local.)
Here is a set of simple (can be done at home on the floor) core exercises good for runners and triathletes. Some planks and variations. Nothing ground breaking - but simple enough to start or restart your core training with.
Finally, a slightly more complicated one - a little more involved set of three exercises that can help improve your running form. You need some partner help with this one, but one thing I can do is get out my cadence app and remind people what 180 steps per minute feels like. Hopefully I remember to do that in the next couple of TRY sessions - let a few people at a time hear it while we do our warm up mile.

That's it. Hopefully Katie rescues this blog next week with stories from her foray into the world of rowing.

A Doggy Day?

Is this finally a "dog day" of August? It is going to be the hottest day for quite a while and perhaps the last hot day of the summer? We'll see how bad it feels at the park and can reign in the workouts accordingly.

Remember, for those of you who can attend, Jill has offered up her place just a couple minutes away for tonight's post run hangout. She is providing grill-ables but asks that you  provide your own adult beverages if you want them. (There are places right in the village to buy some if need be.)

Some major TRY love was in the air this past weekend. No, I don't mean Sue's love of Transformers movies or Berm's love of all things Disney! (Not that both of those are not still burning brightly.) I mean our own quick-courting Corey Finch tied the knot and made one woman's day (and life) while breaking so many others hearts. (You could be a Tug Boat Captain on all the tears of joy and sadness that were shed that day, but Corey-badger, true to his name, did not give a shit.)



Corey, thanks for inviting so many TRYers and allowing us to share in your special day. The ceremony was lovely and the reception was a truly great time. The conclusion is that TRYers can look half-way decent when they choose to:

Switching gears to some edumacational stuff:

Duerr, in basically the most hawkward way possible, is now going to call Malinda his gazelle. (If he starts rubbing her hair ties on his upper lip and asking about her ovulation cycle, I'm drawing the line!) But, short of that, read this interesting story on why having a female running partner is very good for a guy. (It was obvious you ladies always made us look better, but who knew you actually increased our performance?)

Speaking of ladies and better performance, ladies stop wearing bras! Oops, that is, stop wearing bras two days in a row if you want them to last longer and decrease the chances of prolonged discomfort for you. You're welcome ladies! (Management here at TRY really does care a lot about your perktastic-pink-nosed-puppies!)

Yeah, it's going to be hard to top that piece of alliteration, like ever, so I should probably stop while that is fresh on everyone's minds.

TRY Night at the Fair 2014

The "summer that wasn't" is almost over and it's time for the Great New York State Fair and one of our silly TRY traditions. This blog entry explains that, another upcoming social night, plus even has something related to running in it. I promise!

But first - on what is looking to be a nice, but perhaps too hot for what we are used to, night for TRY, we'll meet up and pick our running plans and get another run night in the books.

Looking ahead - next Tuesday (the 26th) Jill has graciously offered up her deck and backyard to us for a post-run cookout. She is located just a couple turns away from the park in downtown Liverpool and wants any TRYer that would like to, to come on over and hang out for a while after next weeks run. She'll provide the grill-ables but asks for you to provide your own beverages - especially of the adult variety. (This will be held rain or shine and to get some idea of how many to expect, please let me know if you will probably be able to attend.) Thanks in advance, Jill!

TRY Night at the Fair - One of our random, having nothing to do with running, traditions is to get any willing TRYers to meet up at the fair on a night with a good free concert. Last year we all enjoyed (well, almost all enjoyed) listening to "Hey There Delilah" as we ate our ice cream or hot beef sundaes. This year, the night picked out is Thursday (the 21st) to go along with a free concert by the Barenaked Ladies. Get an advanced sale ticket while you still can, show up for the fair whenever you can and then use your cell phone to meet-up starting around 5 or 5:30. We usually get a little food, get a little drink, hope we are people watching people more than they are people watching us and then end up near enough to hear most of the free concert. Let me know if you plan to be there or especially if you need my phone number to help find the group once you arrive. It's random but lends itself to an entertaining evening.

Here is 2/3 of the group last year. The Shukkers cost money:


but the cob nibbling, photo bombing and twerking are free:



Before I give you some more information about "BNL", here is the part about running. Well, recovery. And finally a recovery or training plan that I can fully get behind: "The Single Best Way to Recover..." is by sleeping more! Yes! Finally something I'm good at. Although this should mean that I am the most recovered athlete out there. Read the link for the details and decide for yourself.

Now a little more about Barenaked Ladies that I wanted to find out for myself so figured I should share as well:
Canadian Rock Band known for "One Week", "The Old Apartment", "Pinch Me", "If I Had $1000000", "Brian Wilson"; as well as the theme for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. They are also known for their light-hearted, comedic performance style, and humorous banter between songs and improvised raps/songs are staples at nearly every concert.

They've been around since 1988 and one of the co-founders left in 2009. Sales of over 15 million records. Their name was a fictionalized band name that they came up with joking around but it is what they used from the start.

One week is their only US #1 and the only one that has come even close. Pinch Me is the next highest reaching 15. If I had a $1000000 never charted in the US and only made 13 in Canada. It shows that you can end up with several well known songs without being a chart topping band.

Would they be considered a one hit wonder? Doesn't seem like it but then again, we maybe heard about them a lot more around Syracuse because they were from "nearby" Ontario. (Basically they are from Toronto.)

Anyway, now I know a bit more about Barenaked Ladies and despite never loving their music, do think that it should make for a free concert that is well worth the price of the concert. ;-)

Calling In Sick

A weak constitution and a couple of babies in the household is not a good combination for me. I've thrown up more in the last two years than I did in the last three years before that! I cannot be sure how, but the boys got to me again and I've had a bad day and a half tummy-wise. I do plan on getting soaked tonight at TRY but it will be just a constant paced jog for me. See you weather agnostic folks tonight.

Too Many Races

Today we return to an uncertain weather forecast and may be dodging rain this afternoon. I hope you enjoyed the one week reprieve last week. I'll attempt 1/2 mile intervals tonight for the several of us who did 1/4 miles last week. For others, split up as appropriate.

While voluncheering at the "Mad Cow 5K" on Saturday morning, the organizer lamented the competing race in Manlius that same morning. That other race was the "Manlius Mile and Bryan's 'Grizzly' 5K" which I know was started a few years ago in memory of a young man who had died. I don't think they always overlap, but the way the weekends fell they did this year. It has to be frustrating for small races to do everything they can to build a following only to have other races crop up that draw people away. Perhaps there is still enough to go around but naively it does seem we're close to a saturation point locally? Especially with the the non-local race organizers now targeting Syracuse with their gimmick runs that are so well attended even though they typically cost twice what a local event does. I suppose with all the choices, it's a great time to be a runner? But, I do feel bad for the organizers whose audience keeps getting watered down. (At what point do small race organizers realize it would be wiser to pool their resources and their time and do meta-events that combine their causes and split the proceeds? That is probably a tough step because you lose the uniqueness of your event and your preferred location...so it may be years before the combining starts?)

Personally, the Mad Cow event was a big success. There are several more cow hats and cow bells in the local community and I was able to donate a cool $60 to the cause - which was great for a couple hours of effort. :-)

Here is the little sheriff with the sales table in the background (you have to squint to see it):


And a shot of three-fourths of the sales team with the event mascot again:


This Friday night is the Lockheed Martin Family Night at the Syracuse Chiefs. I haven't heard back from anyone but I assume some of you want to attend like most years? It's free and there are post-game fireworks. Do I have to make a Facebook event to get peoples attention? (I may do that to help organize the very informal gathering we do.) The Chiefs are fighting for first place in their division and have 3 of the Washington Nationals top prospects playing for them. One of which was just called up last night and gives them two future major league outfielders playing for them right now. Both are "only" 23 so are doing very well for themselves to be playing at AAA right now. The good pitching prospect just started last night so we'll miss him by a couple games. As usual, there are a couple of former major leaguers hanging on to their playing years kicking around. Including at least one guy who has a world series ring from several years back now with my cherished Phillies. (From 2008.)

I think that's it for this week - I need more guest writers!

My Muse Was Missing

This week is the first non-hot, non-stormy Tuesday forecast in weeks! So, we have that going for us, which is nice. We can break up into like-minded parcels for the group run tonight. I am encouraging people who have not been (including myself) to start intervals tonight. Fun! :-)

I was hoping to be inspired for this entry, but my muse failed me. Which means I will keep this short.

Next Friday, the 8th, is Lockheed Martin night at the Syracuse Chiefs. Most of you have taken part in that before so I'll keep this brief:
Anyone interested in a simple pre-game tailgate gathering in the parking lot from 5:15-6:45 followed by a free baseball game and post-game fireworks show, let me know and I'll be sure to line up enough "vouchers" for everyone.

Something else of note that my little sister wants to do for some reason...an "inflatable 5k". It looks like it is called the "Insane Inflatable 5k" and is coming to the state fairgrounds on Saturday, September 27th. It looks like it follows the color run model, of partnering with a local charity (for this one it's the Samaritan Center), charging an "inflated" entry fee, and having several waves to choose from. The fee is at $49 for the next couple days and then goes up a couple times including all the way up to $75 for a day-of sign up. They have 9 waves to choose from, starting at 9 and the final one at 1. There is no mud and no foam. In their words: "Get “pumped up” for a course filled with the worlds largest and most extreme inflatable obstacles ever produced. Here’s your chance to be a kid at heart, but insane by choice!"

Lastly, for a little color, I'm going to steal two photos from Aubrey's BodyCombat session on Saturday morning. 

She thinks she could beat Mike Tyson:

Yes, for you young readers out there, Mike Tyson used to be a boxer. And a good one. Plus, rap music used to be made for white people to understand.

Totally Unleashed

This week we are starting off a series of "educational" posts where the heavy lifting is being done by a fellow TRYer. I'll sprinkle the next 2 or 3 in throughout the rest of the summer. For this week read to the end to learn about "BodyCombat" exercises classes and  how you can take part in a free one this Saturday morning.

For our Tuesday night workout - it's supposed to be a hot one, so hydrate up and ease up on the throttle a little bit as you run. We'll discuss the group run choices before we take off, but an important wrinkle this week:
At least three TRYers (once a TRYer, always a TRYer) will be rowing at the far end of the lake (well, actually in the channel between the lake and the Seneca River) in a competition of some sort. Katie, Kristen, and Lori have been training for the past several weeks in the crew boats, split up by company based teams, and will be racing on Tuesday night, starting roughly at 6. I know very little details and know even less about crew, but I believe they are in the 8 person (9 person with the hamster yelling "row"?) skulls and I know they race from the John Glenn bridge to the Longbranch bridge and you can watch from wherever you can get a vantage point from. I do not know the times of the trials and finals for the people we know - if Katie finds out ahead of time, perhaps she can post online? (She has since let me know that boats are in the water at 6, trials start at 6:15 and races will end around 7:30. So that opens the ability to drive down after TRY and catching the last 45 minutes or so of it. For anyone up for doing a 5 mile run, I propose you pause for a while at the turnaround point and watch a time trial race or two. Perhaps you'll recognize a familiar set of shoulders as they row past. Plus, you can cool down a bit before turning back to finish off your run. (Please let me know if you plan to do this so that the main group does not wait for you to do the walking finale.)

I cannot resist posting one of my favorite commercials of the past few years. Just too cute to resist, and still, such a simple word, "row":


Katie has promised up a write-up once this all is over on her experiences as a first time crew team member and what she thought of it all. That'll be one of the future educational posts.

The educational part for this week:
Aubrey "He Hate Me" Hait would like you all to learn a little bit about "BodyCombat" and would love you all to come out to a free class on Saturday morning. Do it for yourself. Do it for Aubrey. Or, if nothing else, do it for Leroy's birthday week. (#10years) Does it have anything to do with running? No. But that doesn't mean that it can't be beneficial and seems like it would make for a great cross training and stretching opportunity. It is an "empowering cardio workout where you are totally unleashed".

I'll let Aubrey take it from here:
TRY runners, have you ever heard of Body Combat?  It's a mixed martial arts group exercise program that is certified by Les Mills International.  Les Mills is the largest provider of group fitness classes that are held at health clubs and gyms.  There are several Les Mills group exercise programs, but my favorite is Combat.  It is the most intense workout that I have ever done and serves as a great workout for runners!  It is a 55 minute high intensity interval training class, and you will be throwing so many punches and kicks for a total body workout.  I gained a lot of endurance after taking this class for a few months, and it has really helped with my running.  I love it so much that I decided to become an instructor - and now I teach at the Southwest YMCA at OCC.  If you haven't given it a try, I recommend you drop into a free class this Saturday at 10am.  We are holding it outside on the lacrosse field (weather permitting).




For more information on Les Mills Body Combat: http://w3.lesmills.com/finland/en/classes/bodycombat/about-bodycombat/
[T-bone: this is where I learned it was totally unleashed and some suggestions for fitness level and what to bring to a BodyCombat class.]
 
Watch this to see some of the butt-kicking moves:




Details on Saturday's Body Combat class:

When: 7/26 at 10am

Where: The lacrosse field at OCC (just to the right of the SRC Arena/Southwest YMCA when you are looking at the building).  If the weather is bad, we will be holding class inside the YMCA.

Who: Everyone is welcome and there is no charge to take the class

If you have any questions or would be interested in trying out a Body Combat class, you can contact me at aladams19@hotmail.com.



[T-bone again: or you can bug me or post a comment on the Facebook page to get Aubrey's attention.]