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Teal Running to #TurnTampaBayTeal

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Running For Brews

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and Tampa Bay is turning teal to raise awareness about sexual violence and to raise funds to support Take Back the Night (TBTN). #TurnTampaBayTeal #TBTN2013 Read #TurnTampaBayTeal for SAAM for more details on Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), Take Back the Night, and the #TurnTampaBayTeal campaign. Several teal-themed, donation-based events have been popping up throughout the Tampa Bay area. On April 17th and 18th, Nicole Huau, Tom Rockhill, and Johnny McDrama with Running for Brews hosted two teal-themed Take Back the Night donation runs – one in St. Pete (4/17) and one in Tampa (4/18). Survivors of sexual assault are 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol. Because of the connection between sexual assault and alcohol abuse, it was greatly appreciated that a socially-based, charity-driven, community-oriented running club that begins and ends each run at a bar helped the Sexual Violence Task Force of Tampa Bay spread the word about Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Take Back the Night! The Boston Marathon tragedy happened on 4/15/13, so with teal-colored bibs, we ran through the streets of St. Pete and Tampa for two nights to honor Boston and Sexual Assault Awareness Month! Thanks to [...] Read more »

Donation Yoga in Clearwater to #TurnTampaBayTeal

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Teal-Yoga-Clearwater

Several teal-themed, donation-based events are popping up throughout the Tampa Bay area. On April 7th, Heidi Templeton and Heat Yoga & Fitness Studio in Clearwater, FL hosted a Take Back the Night Donation Yoga Class in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Task Force of Tampa Bay (SVTF). On Sunday evening, teal-clad yoga practitioners and supporters of the #TurnTampaBayTeal initiative joined together for an energetic and engaging yoga flow class by Heidi Templeton. Jamie Lawry photographed the event to help us #TurnTampaBayTeal and, in two yoga events in one weekend, over $450 was raised for Take Back the Night! To make an online donation toward TBTN, visit causes.com. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and Tampa Bay is turning teal to raise awareness about sexual violence and to raise funds to support Take Back the Night (TBTN). #TurnTampaBayTeal #TBTN2013 Visit #TurnTampaBayTeal for SAAM for more details on Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), Take Back the Night, and the #TurnTampaBayTeal campaign. Click here to check out the event photos, courtesy of Jamie Lawry Photography. Thanks to all who attended! Read more »

Donation Yoga in St Pete to #TurnTampaBayTeal

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YogaBluTealYoga

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and Tampa Bay is turning teal to raise awareness about sexual violence and to raise funds to support Take Back the Night (TBTN). #TurnTampaBayTeal #TBTN2013 Visit #TurnTampaBayTeal for SAAM for more details on Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), Take Back the Night, and the #TurnTampaBayTeal campaign. Several teal-themed, donation-based events are popping up throughout the Tampa Bay area. On April 5th, Nice Alberts and YogaBlu Studio in St. Pete, FL hosted a Take Back the Night Donation Yoga Class in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Task Force of Tampa Bay (SVTF). Yoga enthusiasts and supporters of the #TurnTampaBayTeal initiative joined together on Friday evening for a challenging and beautifully led yoga flow class by Nice Alberts. R. MonaLeza photographed the event to help us #TurnTampaBayTeal and over $150 was raised for Take Back the Night! To make an online donation toward TBTN, visit causes.com. Click here to check out the event photos, courtesy of R.Monaleza. Thanks to all who attended! Read more »

#TurnTampaBayTeal for SAAM

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Got-Teal

Download the full size to use as your Facebook banner! SAAM and Take Back the Night April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), during which time people in the United States are encouraged to raise awareness about sexual violence. This year, the Tampa Bay community is running a #TurnTampaBayTeal campaign and both the SunTrust Building in Tampa and The Pier in St. Pete will illuminate teal from April 21-30, 2013! Did You Know: 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will experience attempted or completed rape in her/his lifetime? Every 2 seconds, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted? 15% of rape victims are under age 12? Girls from the ages of 16-19 are four times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault? Victims are 6 times more likely to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide, 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, and 26 times more likely to abuse drugs? 54% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police? 97% of rapists will never spend a day in jail? On April 21st, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay and the Sexual [...] Read more »

Gasparilla Distance Classic 2013 – Michelob Ultra Challenge Day 2

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Michele Gasparilla Medals

<<< Read Gasparilla Distance Classic 2013 – Michelob Ultra Challenge Day 1 Gasparilla Race Day 2 The Half Marathon (13.1 miles) 3:30 AM wake-up call to begin the half marathon at 6:00 AM. Although we were sore and tired, we still tried to stay upbeat! When we initially planned our half marathon pace, we anticipated maintaining 11:30 min/mile, which was about 1:30-2:00 min/mi slower than we would normally run 13.1 miles. We didn’t start with a pace group because we wanted to begin as close to the Start Line as possible in order to make it back in time for the 8K. We ended up maintaining an average of 11:06 min/mile. Eric felt good throughout the half marathon, but somewhere around mile 6, my energy plummeted. I told Eric he could go ahead without me, but he decided to stick it out. The last 7 miles or so were brutal, so I appreciated having him around for encouragement. I got a bit of a kick around the last 3 miles of the 13.1, but that “kick” was negligible. It felt great to cross the finish line of the half marathon, but it was all down-hill from there. My body just [...] Read more »

Gasparilla Distance Classic 2013 – Michelob Ultra Challenge Day 1

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Michele Felt Like Running

When Eric and I learned about the Gasparilla Michelob Ultra Challenge two years ago, we agreed that the people who run those races are crazy. After all, who wants to run a 15K, 5K, Half Marathon, and 8K in two days? Not only did they have to run that far, but they had to finish the 15K and Half Marathon fast enough to return to the start line in time to begin the 5K and 8K, respectively. A few months ago, when Eric suggested that we take on the Michelob Ultra, I laughed at him, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like something we could tackle. We were, after all, already training for the Rock n Roll St Pete Half Marathon, so our mileage was decent. We knew it would absolutely be a challenge, but we thought we could at least reach the finish line for each race, even if we had to walk intermittently. So, we signed up for the Gasparilla Michelob Ultra Challenge – 30.5 miles in 2 days. Gasparilla Race Expo Upon arriving at the expo, we promptly made our way to pick up our race packets, during which time we waited [...] Read more »

Gasparilla Distance Classic 2013 – Best and Worst

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Gasparilla Logo

For the first time ever, we registered for the Michelob Ultra Challenge of the Gasparilla Distance Classic. That’s four events over two days, for a total of 30.1 miles. Saturday: 15K (9.3 miles) 5K (3.1 miles) Sunday: Half Marathon (13.1 miles) 5K + 3K (4.97 miles) What were we thinking? Not sure. In 2011, the 5K + 3K was our first Gasparilla event and our longest race distance at the time. Last year, we bumped up the Gasparilla distance to 15K, which was shortly after we completed the Rock n Roll St. Pete Half Marathon. This year, we decided to go all out with the Michelob Ultra Challenge, despite running the Rock n Roll St. Pete Half Marathon two weeks prior and running the 10 mile Flatwoods Ramble last weekend. I have to admit, we had some qualms with this year’s event. A race that happens once each year should run seamlessly. This year, it most definitely did not. The Worst After completing the 15K on Saturday, we had a long walk before hydration became available. Also on Saturday, we had to walk all the way back to the convention center and around the building just to get a banana, [...] Read more »

2nd Annual Rock n Roll St Pete Half Marathon Race Recap

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Rock n Roll St Pete Half Marathon Flag

What a fun experience! This year’s Rock n Roll St. Pete Half Marathon was our second half marathon to date. It was also our second Rock n Roll event and it did not disappoint. We began the race at Tropicana Field in Corral 5. Each wave of the start line was sent off without a hitch and the first few miles felt comfortable. Pacing myself is always more difficult in a crowd of thousands, but I felt like I could maintain it for quite a while. I wasn’t sure how many minutes beyond the official race start we crossed the start line in corral 5 (I guessed it was 4 or 5 minutes). When I hit 5K (3.1 miles for the non-runners out there), I was worried that I was going too slow, so I kicked it up a notch. At the 10K mark (6.2 miles), I still felt slower than necessary, so I sped up at Mile 7 (I’m taking credit for that, but it was probably the GU). Miles 8, 10 and 12 recorded my slowest speeds, which were, coincidentally, the same miles that I took advantage of the water stops. In 2012, leading up to my first [...] Read more »

Warrior Dash 2013 Central Florida Race Recap

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Vibrams Warrior Dash

Yes, I’ve been slacking on the race updates. Eventually, I will catch you up on last year’s half marathon and triathlon. In other news, we completed our fourth Warrior Dash on Saturday, February 2nd. To get you caught up, previous Warrior Dash blog posts can be found at: -2011 Central Florida Warrior Dash -2012 Central Florida Warrior Dash -2012 North Florida Warrior Dash Within the first two miles of the course, we designated this as the best course to date. The obstacle walls were higher and the obstacles themselves were more creative. Although there was a bit of a bottleneck at the chain ladder obstacle, it probably would not have been a memorable setback by the end of the course. There was, however, a significant hindrance on the course – a severe lack of planning in the design of one of the obstacles. It’s a bit of a blow to your momentum when, within the last mile of a good run, you come to a dead stop. Then, you wait…and wait…and wait…for a whopping 30 minutes (yes, we calculated our wait time when we edited the video). Meanwhile, we watched many of the runners pass by the obstacle because they [...] Read more »

Triathlon Training…Attempt

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Bikes

I don’t usually commit to races that I haven’t prepared for. For example, when we signed up for our first Warrior Dash (obstacle course mud run), we knew we could at least run a 5k. When we registered up for the half marathon, we found a training program online and stuck to it for 3 months, so we knew we could run the required 13.1 miles. Our 2 year anniversary is coming up on October 5th, so we wanted to find something entertaining to do in celebration. What better way to spend an anniversary than to complete a sprint triathlon? Unfortunately, we didn’t think this through with enough time to actually train for it. So, I’m relying on my eclectic combination of regular (and unrelated) sports activities to help me finish the race (stand-up paddleboarding, running, outrigger canoe paddling, P90X, yoga, CrossSUP, etc.). The first section of the triathlon is a half-mile swim in open water. Since I had no gauge on that distance, I went to the local pool about a month ago to swim 40 laps. Lesson learned: now I know I can swim 40 laps, which is a little further than 1/2 mile, so that is useful [...] Read more »