Not Fooling Around

In past years I've attempted to pull an "April Fools" joke, but rest easy, that is not the case this year.  While it is fun to fool people momentarily, you cannot fool yourself.  So, the message in this post is that while TRY uses positive peer pressure to encourage you to push yourself to grow as a runner, you only have yourself to answer to.  If you ever feel that TRY is asking to much of you, please reign it in and follow your heart and the rest of your body.

Due to the late arrival of spring this year, most regulars are behind schedule, and based on feedback from the group, we will be delaying our suggestion of interval workouts for a few weeks.  For those of you who are ready for them, feel free to leave the group in the dust.  But for most of us, we will continue to ease ourselves into the running season with some steady paced runs.

If you are just getting  back out running because of good weather finally arriving, give yourself 2-3 judgment free weeks.  Go easy on your distance and your pacing and don't expect more from yourself than your legs and body are ready to give.  Most importantly, do not beat yourself up for being behind.  You have a full running season ahead of you, there is plenty of time to be hard on yourself later.

I have some interesting things in the work (hopefully) for the next couple of weeks.  For this week, remember that opening day for the Syracuse Chiefs is Thursday at 2.  The weather forecast is promising, so if you can get out of work or have the day off and want to come out, let me know as I should be attending.

Lastly, TRY changes with the times and there are a lot of mothers on the fringe of the group.  So, think about parents with young children that may be interested in coming out and running (or walking?) with some like minded individuals. I think TRY is ready to have a sub-group of women with babies or toddlers in strollers.  I could use some help with the name though.  At this point, I've come up with:
Mothers In Line For Fitness (MILFFs)
or
Baby Recreational Exercising And Strolling Toddlers (BREASTs)

Can we do better?

New Arrivals

This week is the final "tune up" or "preseason" week as the first week of April typically marks the week we get more serious.  So, it's one last steady paced run, at the distance you feel is appropriate, which has been 3 or so miles for most people.  Next week it is back to the typical interval night.

The start of the regular season also marks the time when I emphasize reaching out to your friends who have expressed an interest in TRY (or running in general) and remind them that you are part of fun, politically incorrect, and FREE running group that doesn't even call itself a running group.  You could pay for a better group, but what is the point of that?

There is an "intro to TRY" post that I made a couple years ago that is available at the top right of the TRY blog page and the top right of the TRY Facebook page, so share that link with people that want to learn more about us.  (I am too lazy to check the links right now, so there is a good chance that 1 or 2 of them have been taken off of YouTube again...but they'll get the point.)  Here it is again, for those two lazy to look to the right.

The Syracuse Hyman (that is "half-marathon" for those of you insisting on insulting the distance) was this past weekend and I know that Berms, her roomate, Janna, and Katie Fitz all participated.  Anyone else brave the below average temperatures and take that unique route through the city?  Any of you that did it want to add your thoughts (on the TRY FB page) on what you thought of the course, since it is a unique one compared to the other area races.  (Thanks in advance.)

That's it for business.  Read on for "fun" stuff:

I got this news out individually to a lot of you, but since it's a big group with some people I don't know that well (yet), my news of the week is that child number two arrived on Thursday morning.  "David Arlon Widrick" was born at 8:04 (not a bad mile time for this time of year?!) and weighed in at 7-14, measuring 21.5 inches.  He's doing well so far and is definitely cut out for TRYing with his long skinny legs.  I knew he was a future TRYer when he did this...the same exact face that all of your make each Tuesday night.

Quarter Mile Intervals AGAIN?!!!  NOOOOOO!!!


So, he will definitely fit right in.

This article has almost nothing to do with running, but a few of you have ran there and most of you have or will go there, and at least one of you is a "believer".  Anyway, I found this intentionally humorous story about "6 Things Nobody Tells You About Working at Disney World" to be fascinating.  It is a quick read and I challenge any of you to read it not walk away having learning something, and without getting a bit surprised at the couple heartfelt moments along the way.  It will be hard to look at the character actors the same way.

Longtime TRYers know that I attempt to push local baseball on you a couple times a summer.  Well it's that time.  The Syracuse Chiefs opening day is next week - Thursday, April 3rd at 2:00 PM.  IF, it is spring like by then I plan to make an attempt to swing by and check it out.  The little ones may limit the amount of time I can stay, but let me know if you are interested in knowing about the plan and attending.

The Chiefs have turned over their management team and are attempting to rejuvenate the fan base.  So, they've reduced ticket prices, come up with crazy promotions throughout the summer and fun theme nights for every day of the week.  Here is their page with "10 Things To Know About the 2014 Chiefs".

The daily themes include "Two For Tuesdays" (after some TRY night this year?), "$1 Thursday" which features $1 hoffman hot dogs, sodas, and certain beers (opening day is a $1 day!), and "Fireworks Fridays" where EVERY Friday game is followed by fireworks.

Promotions include a "guaranteed win" on opening day or you get to come back to another game for free, "Deport Justin Bieber Night" (what?!) on April 4th, Star Wars Day (on Star Wars Day! I wonder if Joseph's Darth Vader costume will work for David?), and one that is getting all sorts of national attention - "Tattoo Night" on July 1st.  Read the details about about how you can get free GA tickets for the rest of your life, just by getting a free Chiefs tattoo.  Who's with me?!  Left cheek or right?  Probably the right so that when mooning someone it will read "OC"?  (For Onondaga County...)

I am very curious to see if all this effort will pay off?  Of course, all this effort and a late arrival of spring weather could lead to a loud thud in an empty stadium...at least in April.  I hope I am able to check out some of their fun days, perhaps Star Wars Day (after the Mountain Goat) will be a perfect day for a TRY field trip?  (Yoda is our mascot after all.)

Express your interest in all things Chiefs after the beep...

Changing Times and Dates and Spring Cleaning

The TRY pre-season continues tonight as scheduled.  Please do your best to arrive by 5:30 and we will start our run close to 5:35.  It is supposed to be a sunny day, which should make it feel warm enough for an enjoyable outing.

If you receive the Mountain Goat newsletter, than you should have read this already, but big changes have taken place in the training program.  I have updated the TRY google calendar accordingly.  (There are only 4 weeks, the start time has changed, and you have to pay $15 to participate.)  These changes make me sad as the training run program was the best thing about the Moutain Goat.  But, the update has been a long time coming, and quite honestly, we, as runners brought this upon ourselves.  The running etiquette displayed on a weekly basis was terrible.  I spoke up a few times and attempted to model good behavior, but I could have done more.  And if everyone who knew better had spoken up more, there is a very good chance that we could have kept a good thing going.  So, remember that the next time you see fellow runners running on the wrong side of the street or making poor choices when crossing streets.  Speak up!  You will be doing the running community a favor.

A place this directly applies to TRY - lets make a point to be extra diligent when running our "Faith Hill's" this year.  Up on the left.  Straight across at the top.  Then down on the left.  Thank you.

Another date change his year is the Liverpool Relay For Life.  After being on Fathers Day weekend for all the years I've paid attention, they have shifted it to the 30th of May this year.  Supposedly they wanted to change things up and I believe they also wanted to spread out the local events so not as many happen on the same night as other local ones.  (There was also a chance of a location change to a school track, but from what I can tell, that did not happen as everything I see has it at Longbranch Park again.)  From the LM team page, you can already see that Ron is off to a great start to his fundraising again.  That's just one of the reasons, we call him "Ron-again"

Lastly - a chance for some spring cleaning for the ladies of TRY:  Jill is helping out "40 Below" with a clothing drive for used women's professional clothing.  Have anything to donate?  Let Jill (or me) know and we can help to make sure it gets collected from you.  I'll end with Jill's email on the topic:

"Hi All, 

40 below is co-sponsoring a professional women's clothing drive in April. In addition to donating clothes, they also need people to volunteer at the WISE Symposium on April 8th between the hours of 8 and 5pm to organize the clothes. It looks like a pretty awesome event, so if you have never been, this might be a good opportunity. 

Let me know if you are interested in volunteering (see details below)! 

If I will see you before this time I am also willing to take some of your donations, but I probably won't be able to come around get them from everyone. 

Thanks! Jill 

Here is some additional details 40 Below put out:

Tuesday, April 8, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. –Clothing Drive at the WISE Symposium, Oncenter

CETF and CPS and Professionals Incorporated are teaming up with WISE to collect new and gently used women’s professional clothing for the Women’s Opportunity Center. Donations will be collected at the WISE Symposium on April 8th at the OnCenter. Volunteers are needed to staff the clothing collection from 8 am to 5 pm the day of the Symposium. Clothing will be sorted, hung, and organized by size right at the Symposium so that the clothing may be delivered after the event. 

If you are interested in donating an hour or more during the event or to include your company’s participation in this clothing drive please contact Jill Tibbett at jill.a.tibbett@gmail.com  to volunteer. 

The clothing drive is accepting skirt and pant suits, blazers, slacks, blouses, purses, scarves, belts, shoes and jewelry. Small and plus sizes are urgently needed, yet all sizes are welcome! Please, no open toed shoes. Neutral colors preferred. To coordinate pickups or deliveries from April 1-15thplease contact Suzanne Benderski from CPS and Professionals, Inc. @ sbenderski@cpsprofessionals.com or 315.457.2500315.457.2500."

TRY Pre-season 2014

With the time change, there is now plenty of light to start meeting up for TRY at 5:30 on Tuesdays.  For this week, and the next two weeks after, we will be in "pre-season" mode which means no speed work is recommended.  People who have maintained their running through the winter are welcome to do a harder run.  For me and other slackers, the three weeks will allow us to ramp up for tougher workouts starting on April 1st.  (And that is no joke!)

It's the pre-season, so I'll keep my ramblings short:
The TRY calendar is partially updated.  The key date in March is the 22nd, as that is the day that registration starts for the Boilermaker (at noon) and also is the first Mountain Goat training run (run starts at 8, but you should be there earlier to register the first time).

Here is a short article about "How to Train With a Running Group".  It's worth the read for everyone.  (Experienced TRYers should read it so that they can help newbies out and keep them from making the mistakes mentioned.)  It mentions being accountable, wise, flexible, and finishes with this golden nugget: "Running with a group is a wonderful way to meet other runners, give yourself extra accountability, and boost your performances. Just make sure you're running within your ability level and aren't pushed too fast (or too slow)"

For those looking for strengthening exercises, here are nine you can do with your body weight.  (A couple need a pull-up bar and one a jump rope.)

See (some of) you tomorrow night.

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.