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Hello, race fans!

The Stinky Drinkers have been hard at work this week, from building mileage to recruiting runners, and we haven't stopped long enough to tie our shoes. Given the nature of our various day jobs, the SDs are most inclined to evening training sessions, a facet of our efforts which has led us to make several important observations about running. We would like to share them with you in the event you are secretly training with us:

• Bayshore Blvd. in Tampa has lots of bikers at around 7 p.m. Perhaps due to hours spent amped up in front of the tube watching the Tour de France, they move quite fast. While we runners have no
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  greater claim on the Bayshore sidewalk than they, we would like to request that bikers employ their bells or even just their voices to let us know they are approaching, and perhaps from a distance greater than a few feet. A shout such as "Hey, move over" or "I'm coming up behind" will suffice for anyone not equipped with a bell, although that little tinkling noise is quite pleasant.
• Those weird-looking crusty tubes located in the water next to the railing on both Bayshore and at St. Pete's Coffee Pot Park are oyster domes — habitats put there by a local environmental group in an effort to better filter our water. They are not corroded kegs left to rust after Gasparilla's past.
• Mosquitos. They are aplenty at this time of year regardless of the hour. Your solution to having your insect repellent run down your legs and arms, flushed away by your inevitable profuse sweating, is time. Spray down a good half hour prior to your run and let it dry, much like you would sunscreen.

Another SD tip, this one established by SD Lisa, is the effectiveness of breaking up your training distance into two parts. We have acquired a new training member (welcome, Angela) who is quickly building her distance to match ours; however, to ask her to complete our long runs at our current pace is not only unsafe training for her, it would just be mean.  So, last night's run was split into two pieces — 4.2 miles for the entire group, and an optional 2.1 miles to finish. Angela, being the self-starter that she is, still participated in part 2 of the run, she just opted to go at a slower pace. We all finished, stretched and patted each other on the back for a job well done. Huzzah!

Another important tip: Buy your shoes too large. This is something I learned about a year ago, and it has made all the difference for me as far as foot and leg pain. I wear a size 8.5 shoe.  However, in my runners, I now wear a 10, and my feet thank me with every step of every mile.  As you run, your feet swell, and a larger shoe gives them room to expand comfortably.  You may even find, as I have, that after many miles, your feet are just permanently bigger.  Since I've been running, I typically opt for a lot more sandals and a lot fewer stilettos.