Run Tampa

Runners' Cars Still Being Towed from Circuit City Lot

Most runners in Tampa run from time to time on the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, and many park at the old Circuit City on Gunn Hwy. That seemed to be fine with Circuit City, but the new owners are not at all tolerant of people parking there to access the trail. On the contrary, many, many cars have been towed. People continue to email me about this. One man had met his wife there, and when they returned to the lot BOTH of their cars had been towed.

Another person said she spoke with the park rangers on Saturday, and they reported that 7 cars had already been towed that day.

I've posted warnings on the wall of the Run Tampa Facebook group and in my weekly newsletter/invite, but we need to keep spreading the word. Every time I go by there - which is often since I live a mile away - I see six or eight cars there, parked along the trail side of the lot.

There is a public lot on Ehrlich near Ballyhoo's, on Wilskey, near Linebaugh, on Waters Avenue, across from the Northwest YMCA, and at the southern terminus of the trail just south of Alonso High School on Montegue Street. All charge $2 parking, by the way.

Missing water kiosk: If you have noticed that the water kiosk that used to be on the Upper Tampa Bay Trail between Circuit City and McDonald's is gone, you may be wondering if it will be replaced. The word I have is that it will not due to the fact that they have trouble with teens congregating there after dark. How unfortunate that so many people must be inconvenienced due to the behavior of a small group. That kiosk had great value for the hundreds of people safely using that trail to maintain their fitness, and in Tampa's heat, water access is critical. Sure wish there was another solution :(   

 

Women's Magazine Half & 5k

Emotions, endorphins, estrogen, excellence! Congratulations to those who participated, those who volunteered, and those who cheered. Lots of great stories and ear-to-ear grins everywhere you turned. I can't imagine a more beautiful venue than the waterfront in St. Petersburg, and the day was gorgeous. St. Petersburg's Christa Benton-Stephens won the half marathon by a four minute margin, finishing in 1:20:02 and Jacki Wachtel of New Port Richey won the 5k with a time of 18:27.Click HERE to see the full size photos and slide show on Picasa.

Recapping Halloween and Looking Ahead to Another Big Weekend

Well that was some weekend running and racing weekend! It started with the Creaky Bones 5k on Thursday night in St. Pete. I heard about several outstanding PR's at that race and lots of fun, too.

Next, big crowd for our Saturday morning run at Flatwoods. We had about seven new people, too. Some ran the trails, some ran the paved loop, all were impressed with the friendliness of the group, all got their miles in, some more than they planned - easy to get carried away out there - and all promised to return for future group runs.

I apologize for the quality of the group pic above. My camera had a hard time auto-focusing in the dark. My husband tells me my camera has a feature to get around that, so I'll get out the instruction manual and figure that out.

That wasn't the only activity for Saturday, other Run Tampa members ran in the Great West Chase 5k and the first ever Frankfooter Half at Starkey Park. Then, yesterday, many of us participated in the Halloween Halfathon at Ft. Desoto Park. 

That's one full running weekend. Now, rest up because next weekend will be just as busy. It starts with Richard's Run for Life in Ybor City Friday night. That's always been a popular race.

Then, we've got the Northdale Pumpkin Run 5k and 1 mi. on Saturday. That's our official club event for the weekend, so I hope you can make it. It will be at the Bob Sierra YMCA Youth and Family Center on Ragg Road behind Gaither High School. Pancake breakfast to follow. There are even a couple of other races in the area, so check the Run Tampa calendar.

Then many of us will be doing either the first ever Xterra Wildhorse Half,10 mi., 10k, and 4 mi. in Dover or the Blue Moon Half or 5k in Dunedin on Sunday.

So, again, if you want to race next weekend, it won't be hard to find a race to do and Run Tampa friends to do it with you. I'll be running in both the Pumpkin Run and the Wildhorse Half Marathon.

Wear your Run Tampa shirt if you have one. If you don't, I still have some women's larges and men's mediums. They are $20 each. You can now order your shirt via the Paypal button on this page. I've had more shirts on order for a while, so should have all sizes available soon.

Great Showing for Run Tampa at HCSO Ranch Run 5k

Many Run Tampa members participated in the HCSO Ranch Run 5k on Saturday, and many scored PR's.

Two people, Sherry Scallon and Yu Haofei ran their first 5k's. Both had excellent races and looked strong even in that last tenth of a mile. Both Kevin Cook and Melissa Hurt had PR's, and we were thrilled to welcome Linda Rush back after a few weeks away from racing due to injury. While she's still not 100%, she still took home hardware.
Congrats to Run Tampa's Bob Meissner who also left with a medal around his neck.

And, one more note, Kevin Cook went under 30 minutes for the first time in the HCSO race Saturday (by about 30 seconds) and then did it again the very next day in the Aces 5k in Clearwater, also taking 3rd in his age group. That's some running weekend!

And congratulations to Sally Smith. She did both races as well AND won a pair of Newtons in American Running Company's prize giveaway after the Aces race.

Our next group race will be the Tampa Police Memorial 5k Race in downtown Tampa (run is on Bayshore) on October 9th. See me between now and then to get your Run Tampa shirt or have one made at Fit2Run.

Group run: Join us Saturday, the 18th at 7a.m. at Trout Creek for this week's group run.

To receive the weekly detailed invites, register to receive my Run Tampa quarterly newsletter (yes, it is overdue) and invites to group activities.

See complete results of the HCSO Ranch Run 5k here and results of the Aces 5k and 10k here.

 

 

 

Section of Upper Tampa Bay Trail Closed

Like the sign says, the section of the trail from Gardner Road to Manhattan Drive will be closed until October 29th while new pipes are installed, but they will also be doing trail maintenance.

While this section of the trail is closed, why not join Run Tampa's weekend group runs? This might be just the time to check out some other venues.

But, if you love the trail, no worries, the closed section is only about a mile. You still have about two miles to the north and about four miles to the south and west of the closed section. Just plan accordingly. I'm betting that the Wilskey Road lot will fill up faster than usual during this period, so you may want to head for the Channel Park trail head on Waters. That is the main trail head for the UTBT. It has a much larger parking lot, water fountains, and restrooms. There is also a covered area outside the restrooms, just right for offering shelter if you're out on the trail and a storm comes up.

There is also parking at the start of the trail, which is just south of Alonso High School, but that lot is about the size of the Wilskey lot and has not restroom.

Follow progress of the pipeline project on Twitter.com/NWPipeline or go to TampaBay Water.org. You can call Tampa Bay Water at 813.401.0132

The Latest Research on Stretching

Great article in Sunday's Tribune, originating from the AP in London. The verdict is in, there is no evidence that stretching before a run is good for you, and, in fact, it could do more harm than good.

For years, people have been surprised that I do little stretching, and none before a run, and despite that have experienced no serious injuries in over 30 years of running. Well, this article supports my behavior and results.

"Most experts agree that this kind of static stretching before workouts is not just counter-productive, but potentially harmful."

In the article, Kieran O'Sullivan, an exercise expert at the University of Limerick in Ireland, says that it does help with flexibility but that the time to stretch is after the activity or "...at the end of the day."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed over a hundred stretching studies and concluded "... people who stretched before exercise were no less likely to suffer injuries."

They suggest emphasizing the warm-up instead, which makes great sense to me. I think it's good, even advisable to 'loosen up,' but not to stretch. The article points out that being tight may be your muscles' way of protecting against injury, and when you do a static stretch before exercise, the muscle may even compensate by contracting, its way of defending against overstretching, which could actually slow you down by keeping you from moving as freely.

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for stretching, carefully, at the appropriate time, and I wish I had done more of it earlier in my career, but I imagine not stretching, ever, before a run, has benefited me.

They say it will probably be a long time before the message trickles down to the masses. I imagine so; many, many people still go with the old adage of "Drink before you're thirsty," even though that was disproved a few years ago, in favor of the much more logical, "Drink when you are thirsty." More people die in marathons from drinking too much, hyponatremia; in fact that's a real problem, but I'll save that for another post.

Here is the stretching article. It is critical for athletes to keep up with the latest research. A good way to do that is to read running magazines, reputable mainstream health and fitness magazines, and listen to podcasts. There is plenty of info out there, and it is constantly changing. Be careful about getting advice from fellow runners; that advice is sometimes outdated. Stand near the starting line of any race twenty minutes before it starts, and you will see people sprawled on the ground, stretching, because, hey, that's what you're supposed to do, right? Those people should all be in the middle of an easy warm-up run at that time.

Watch Out for that Baboon on your Run

In case you haven't heard, a monkey, most likely a baboon, has been spotted in the Citrus Park area of north Tampa several times in the last week.

As reported in the Tribune, a couple of days ago it ran across Lynn Road in front of a car near the Hindu temple, and yesterday it was spotted in the back yard of a man living in Indian Oaks, a neighborhood off Gunn Highway about a quarter mile east of the Upper Tampa Bay Trail. Later, it was spotted just west of Sheldon Road.

So, this is not just some monkey tale; lots of different people have seen this creature. The couple that saw it near the temple identified it as a baboon because it had the characteristic large red patch on its back side.

It is possible this is the same monkey that was sited 13 miles away in East Tampa last week. That day a man called authorities when he spotted it high up in a tree. They tried to tell the man it was just a raccoon, but a helicopter soon confirmed that it was, indeed, some kind of monkey. In fact, they took video from the air which I watched on Channel 8 News. They were unable to capture the critter that day, and since that time officials have not been trying to catch it.

Just the same the Jewish Community Center, which backs up to Indian Oaks subdivision, kept their 200 children inside yesterday according to today's Tampa Tribune article.

I just googled baboons. They are omnivores, preferring vegetation; however, they will sometimes eat rodents and young mammals.

So, when you're out training in the next few days, be careful if you spy something furry, it might not be a dog or cat. Indian Oaks is about a quarter mile from the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, but then that's always an exciting place to run when you consider that 250 big cats - I mean like lions and tigers - are living just on the other side of the fence at Big Cat Rescue. They are completely hidden from view and pretty quiet; I've only heard roaring once, and I'm sure they are quite secure, but it's still exciting to know they are nearby.

Personally, as my friends know, I love any and all wildlife sightings when I am out running, but those usually consist of snakes, which I see all the time at Lake Rogers Park, deer, which I've seen at Flatwoods, the resident alligator in the pond along the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, a couple of foxes, and such as that. I would love to get a glimpse of that baboon. That would be a great running story.

Read the full article on TBO.com.

Florida Cities Dangerous for Runners, Walkers

Last week Washington, DC based Transportation for America, released a report that of 52 cities with populations over 1 million, Orlando was ranked #1 and Tampa/St. Pete was #2. Very bad news for runners but certainly no surprise.

The list of the ten most dangerous cities for pedestrians included four Florida cities. Miami was #3 and Jacksonville #4.

Just yesterday a prominent Boston cardiologist Dr. Kenneth Baughman, was struck and killed while running in Orlando. He was crossing a four way intersection at 6 a.m. Baughman was an avid triathlete and runner from Newton, one of the towns along the epic Boston Marathon path.

I don't know if we can put a finger on the reason why Florida is so dangerous for pedestrians, but I don't know any runners who would argue that fact. I experience this danger firsthand when I was hit by a car in the Citrus Park area just two years ago. Amazingly, the woman driving the SUV admitted that she had seen me, but she thought I would stop, despite the fact that she was pulling up to a stop sign on Cain Road, and I had the right of way on Gunn Hwy. As I ran up to the cross street, she looked right at me, approaching on the sidewalk on her right; then she looked to her left, and not seeing any oncoming traffic, proceeded to roll right through the stop sign, striking me. It was terribly frightening, but fortunately she was only rolling. I bounced off the hood, spun a couple of times in the air, and landed on my feet.

Florida has quite a few such dubious distinctions. Too bad.

In recent years I've had the opportunity to spend some time in both Palo Alto, CA, and Boulder, CO. Wow! now those two cities really make it safe for pedestrians. In Boulder, vehicle traffic is pretty much expected to move through the downtown area at idle speed. It is quite clear in both those cities that pedestrians have the right of way, and there is a huge population of happy, safe runners in both cities as well.

Runners in Tampa often run in the street because asphalt is softer than concrete sidewalks, but it's important to remember that those are the most dangerous streets in the country. It's unfortunate, but that's not the point.

Tampa Runner, Ryan McCall, Murdered

Ryan McCall, a member of University of Tampa's cross country team, was murdered on August 19th  when he was on his way home from celebrating a birthday with friends. He and a friend were robbed at the foot of the North Boulevard bridge, which is not far from the house McCall had recently rented. According to the Tribune story, the robber shot McCall in anger because he had little money on him.

Budget Axe: Possibility of Limited Park Hours, Park Closures, Ranger Layoffs

We've got a major situation to deal with. Due to budget shortfalls, Hillsborough County Commissioners are considering MAJOR changes to reduce operating costs at county parks. We all need to contact all the commissioners by phone or email immediately because this issue will be decided very soon.

These are some of the options they're considering:

• Laying off rangers; I'm told they are planning on laying off 54 this year and another 54 next year, which will be pretty much all the rangers
• Limiting park hours. A sign at the kiosk at Trout Creek Park on Fletcher says they are considering limiting the hours to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Closing parks some days during the week

If they follow through with any of these proposals, virtually all runners will be impacted. Personally, I think it makes MUCH more sense to close the parks some whole days rather than cut back on the hours. I enjoy running at Lake Rogers Park, and I have always considered the fact that it is only open from 8 to 6 to be a real problem for two reasons: one, it's impossible to get in a run there before work or after work with those hours. There's just not enough time after it opens or before it closes, and, two, it needs to open earlier or stay open later because most people want to run when it's cooler, right after sunup and right before sundown. To open even later and close even earlier would be ridiculous. I ran at Trout Creek Saturday - fortunately, it opens earlier. We had finished our 6 mile run before 8a.m. It would have been much too hot if the park had not opened until 9:00.

I will be very upset if they decide to restrict my access to county parks and I will remember that when election time rolls around. If you agree, please email or call the county commissioners, all of them. This issue will be decided VERY soon.
http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/bocc/about/contactus.cfm

2010 Gasparilla Marathon Will be the Last

On Sunday Gasparilla Race Director Susan Harmeling announced the 2010 Gasparilla Marathon will be the last. In fact, the marathon and half marathon actually raise more money than the shorter races; however, the marathon puts a great burden on the City of Tampa in a time of budgetary shortfalls. Bill Ward's Tampa Tribune article states that only 1,800 entered the 2009 marathon, while the half marathon attracted a record number with almost 4,400 runners. See Ward's full article.

The Deep Freeze Half

I just read an article about The Deep Freeze Half Marathon outside of Chicago this weekend. A group of stay-at-home-moms and business women decided that in order to stay in shape during their cold winter, they would run in the Naples Half Marathon, the one in Florida last weekend, but it just became too complicated to arrange, so they decided to put on their own race. They have been running together two mornings a week at 5:30 a.m. all winter. I like this part: they designed the race course so that it passes by all of their houses. Nice idea.

I don't know about you, but when I woke up this morning and saw it was only 39 degrees outside, I didn't want to get out of bed. I  guess we really have it pretty good, though, compared with people up north.

Click here to read the article about the Deep Freeze Half Marathon.