New Balance Tampa Blog

Friday the Gasparilla Expo opens. If you are a runner in the Tampa area, you should check it out. There will be lots of deals and cool new things to check out. Not to mention that New Balance Tampa will be out there and we got some nice deals. Besides a possible shin splint issue, the team is looking good and hopefully we will not make fools of ourselves

The race was great! Despite some confusion on seeding and corrals, it was a great race. Everyone was warm and friendly and the race was scenic with nice weather. Everyone in the team crossed together though we peppered back and forth during the race. I haven't gotten our chip times yet but it was about 40 minutes on the clock. We may not be the fastest but by gorge we had a good time. So good in fact that a few of us have decided to run the Ocean Drive 5K in Miami on March 8^th. Hope to see you there

The Ocean Drive 5K was last Saturday, though no time in South Beach is a bad time. It did rain quite hard that morning, which lead to soggy and cranky runners. By noon the race was over and the sun was out. We raised funds for Mount Sinai Canter Research Center and in the end had a great time. I hope that next year the sun will be on our side and my running mates and I will cut some time off this race.

I have made a nine-week plan for the big race day. This will basically be intervolves of walking and running days with increasing distance and my long run on Sunday. I'm hoping to finish in 27 minutes, but really I'll just be happy to complete the course.

 My running buddies noted that my stride is a bit too wide, which could explain why I'm heavy on my heels and vulnerable to knee problems. The over-striding has to be the result of being 5 feet tall and trying to overcompensate. I was so preoccupied, however, with trying to shorten my stride this morning that I got tangled up in my feet and took a nice dive on the running path. I didn't know a person could slid on concert. My hip took the brunt of impact which I guess is better then my face, but oh what a shiner. I'll consider it my first war wound  to the running gods.

So far so good, the whole team is comfortable doing the 5K distance, but I would still like to see our time shave down at least five minutes. I would really like to see everyone run between 20-25 minutes. My buddies at the running club say I should focus more on speed work then distance. Surprisingly everyone loves distance runs but they hate doing speed work. I'd rather want to die for 5 minutes then for an hour, but every runners different. Attendance at my A.M running club runs and my evening team runs have been thin. I assume the holidays are the culprit. I'll been lenient for the rest of the year, but come January 2^nd I'll be expecting a new year's resolution rush.

 To recap my past blog, I joined a running club about a week and a half ago. Everyone has been very nice and very inspiring. Perhaps too inspiring. At this mornings trot around the neighborhood I was convinced that it would be a good idea to sign up for the Gasparilla 5K in February. "You always write about the races why don't you participate in one!", and I was thinking, while infused with adrenaline and bravado, "Its three miles, I can do that, no problem". Now at noon, I am overcome with the thought, "Oh goodness, what have I committed to?" Nevertheless, I have 80 days and a new pair of 1223, so I think this is altogether feasible. Gasparillla is a great time of year to be in the Tampa Bay area and the race is a highlight for us at New Balance Tampa. I will keep everyone posted from time to time on my progress, and I hope to see all my Tampa weekend runners out there participating. If I can do it, believe me, anyone can.

After a short break and my disastrous last run (falling down is very very bad) I was a little leery of going out on the course, but it was a surprisingly good run. The core strengthening I've been working on is really starting to pay off. I always thought running was all in the legs, but it really is all of you. This week I'm planning on pushing up to 2 miles on my longer run, and like always hoping to cut down time. I'll keep you up to date as I go along.

It's been a while since my last post and things have been going well. I've shaved two minutes off my average for the week. I managed to scrape together a team of runners to run together. We decided if we're going to be running anyway why not do it for a good cause. So we are raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project. This great organization helps wounded service personnel and their families. All in all everything is going pretty smooth. I ran 5k on my last long run and I'd like to cut about 10 minutes off that time. So there is still work to be done

The holidays are brutal on a training regiment. The team has had one tonsil surgery, two pulled muscles and a partridge in a pear tree. Even I was slacking this week, but the race is forty days away. This should be enough time to smooth over any bumps (and cake) we may have had in the last few days. At our last training session, everyone was running between 8-12 minute miles. I figure some intense interval training this week should help get us back on track. How do you get back on track after the holidays, any advice?

Gasparilla is in the air here in Tampa. The city seems to slow down a bit to enjoy this yearly revelry. Alas, while all of my friends are getting ready for parades, pirate invasions, and some good clean debauchery, my team and I are in the final throws of training. If we where more skilled runners we could probably get away with loosing up a little early, but with only nine days left of training before we start getting into race mode I just don't think it's a good idea. Besides a finishing medal is cooler then Gasparilla beads anyways. I hope to see many people down at the race and come see us at the Expo. I had a chance to see some of the clothing we're bringing down and it's very cool stuff.