Track Shack Blog

Keeping Central Florida Fit

I for one, missed having the state track meet at Showalter this year.  It is almost always how Jon and I spend our anniversary.  In fact, 29 years ago we went to the state meet with our running friends who had spent the afternoon with us at our wedding:)  But alas, this year the meet was in Jacksonville, probably a nice reprieve for Mike Brown, who directs the Showalter meets.  But that did not deter any of our incredible Central Florida schools from having outstanding performances!  Wow!  The following is a text Jon received from our son Chris, who truly has a passion for running…

 ”Florida produced 4 of the best 4 x 800 squads in the country, the top 3 came from central florida, your business is the centerpiece of running central florida, that means something”

That kind of kudos coming from your own son is heartwarming.  I’m sure I’ve embarrassed Jon sharing this, but I did it also to give credit to the coaches here in town who give their “all” to these amazing kids.  Thanks to each of you who keep all of our runners, of all ages, on the roads and loving a sport near to our hearts.  See you on the roads!

Spring is definitely in the air.  Well, not exactly super great weather for running, now that the humidity is back but really we shouldn’t complain, especially if you compare our weather to weather around the country.  But Spring, even summer is such a fresh, new time.  Several of us ran the Run for the Trees 5k, which I just adore because the course goes through Genius Drive and oh, were the peacocks out and about!  They were truly majestic and I so thank the City of Winter Park for allowing us to run there each year.  I also thank Natalie for her never ending encouragement to run the race. 

Spring means graduation time is here as well.  This spring we have four college graduates at Track Shack and we are so proud of each of them but sad because that means they are off to new challenges and they will be missed!  Our daughter received her Masters’ this week as well and oh, my, her springtime is blossoming!  She is now engaged:) 

I guess I’m a little old school.  I love getting the paper delivered each morning and I read it every day first thing.  I love turning the pages and studying the parts I want to read and skimming the rest.  And Sunday, Scott Maxwell’s essay on the 7 Mile Bridge Run in Key West was absolutely fabulous!  I feel terrible the race was cancelled but his account of his experience was awesome!  Read it if you have a chance, and how lucky is our running community to have a running article in the paper!  That is so appreciated, thanks Orlando Sentinel!   And Scott, I’ll see you on the roads!  Literally

Betsy

I know it is a fluke, but I love, love the weather this morning and wish it was the normal way to start a day in April! But, it is a great birthday present to me:) I’m off for a run, and my favorite way to begin my day.

We’ve had lots of good and exciting news recently. Both my nephew and our good friend, Stephen, are battling cancer and their recent scans have been super positive! They have a long road ahead but hearing their stories make you realize how important attitude is when confronted with challenges. We are keeping them in our prayers daily…

Our daughter, Emma graduates Friday with her Master’s…Jon always said she follows in his footsteps; her masters’ is in the Classics:) Her bigger news to us though is that she and her boyfriend Will were engaged three weeks ago! And so, another season begins in all of our lives as we look forward to their new chapter and all that goes with it.

I hope you have a great day, a great run and lots of good news! See you on the roads!

Oh, how I remember my one and only Boston…the 100th anniversary. What a day of excitement and it really brings back so many memories. Thinking of the event today throw my brain in tons of different directions. The weather forecast is not good today, in fact, the prediction is that it may reach 89 degrees. Reminds of the year of the Boston Massacre, a term coined by Dino, our beloved artist:) It was 86 degrees and humid and as I waited and waited for Jon to finish, I knew it wouldn’t be pretty. Poor guy ended up in the med tent twice that day after finishing and looking like a wet rag. I just hope and pray that runners, today, like our friends, Nate, Heather, Dustin and Steven to name just a few, focus on finishing well, maybe changing up their goals if necessary but finishing strong. I also hope that Boston gets some cloud coverage and proves the weather people wrong! (sorry Dave C.) Boston also reminds me of a special bonding time with Pat Williams. We were together all morning, keeping ourselves calm before the start, putting on sunscreen (wished I used more) and we even ran together until just after the mile when a potty break separated us. Pat is battling an illness now, but I know he has major strength and mind power to overcome…

So, Corporate 5k was just this past Thursday evening and we had 14,000 participants. It was an incredible evening for both our staffs. Hard, hard work, a year in the planning stages, so to see it happen and watch the happy finishers made it worthwhile. We so appreciate our team and all the volunteers and friends that help us make an event like this possible. Plus, it gives me yet another Boston memory! The Steven I mentioned above? His first event ever was the Corporate 5k just three years ago and now he is running Boston the second time. It takes many miles to qualify for an event like Boston and knowing he got his start at our Corporate 5k is just an awesome feeling. I hope to see many of our first time Corporate 5ker’s on the roads soon!

What a beautiful Easter weekend we ended up having.  The weather was finally cooler and comfortable, especially after the wind settled down.  It certainly made for a gorgeous morning run on Sunday.  Jon and I had an awesome opportunity to do something that in 36 years of running, we had never done before.  We ran to an Easter sunrise service at Rollins.  A friend and customer, Sue Anger, promoted an Easter morning run and the three of us were the only takers and it ended up being just a great morning and a special celebration looking over Lake Virginia. Thanks, Sue, for your creative planning.  Now, we’ve both run to a church service and last year we biked to the same one.  No, my friends who are triathletes, we are not swimming there next year:)  But I will see you on the roads!

Oh, no I have another hurt…this time it isn’t from runnning though.  Jon and I had an awesome time visiting our kids in Tallahassee this weekend.  We go up to run the Springtime Tallahassee event together.  It is a great community oriented run/walk and boy is it hilly!  We had a great time together, Emma and I stopped about a mile into the race to help a little girl tie her shoes.  She was so cute but I knew those shoes were slowing her down as they slapped the pavement over and over.  (plus it was driving us nuts:)) 

After the race we had a blast going through and visiting all the vendors and eating kettle corn.  I love kettle corn!  Once we were full we went and had lunch; it seemed we ate all weekend.  Well, we needed to walk off lunch so we found a great park and Jon and I went for a walk…and we walked…and walked.  Well, we discovered the trail was not circular so we had to turn around to walk back to the car.  Of course, it was getting late and we were meeting everyone for dinner (more food!) so we had to really walk, even run a little.  And Tallahassee has some hills!  So my new hurt Sunday morning was different than my normal aches and pains and it reminded me of a special weekend in Tally with my family.  Hope your weekend was as nice as ours!

Everyone has a different routine when it comes to their exercise program.  Sometimes Jon and I will start out in the morning together to walk before we go off on our own run and it is amazing how different our routines are.  I’m usually up first to make coffee and read the paper.  This is also my body’s warm-up time;  I stretch some, work on store paperwork, put away any clean dishes from the night before, I do whatever it takes to get things moving:)  I’m often up at least an hour before my run or walk.  Jon waits till the last minute to get going.  So that means, of course, I’m usually waiting for him to get ready and I’m already outside putting my shoes on.  That’s another different part of our routine.  Shoes.

I like to be outside to put on my shoes and my socks.  I smooth my socks over my feet and then prepare my shoes.  Just like I teach my customers!  It is important to me to have them very loose when I put them on, then I tap my heel into place and carefully snug up each lace.   It takes me longer than most but I think I’m often telling my feet to please treat me well today.  My feet, especially my right one, are not always happy campers when we run.  After 35 years of running they are sometimes a little achey:(  I like to be on my front porch putting my shoes on so I can enjoy the outside, hear the birds and say hi to whoever might walk or run by.  Our porch is great for stretching too. 

Jon takes all of two seconds to put his shoes on.  For starters, he doesn’t wear socks!  That is so old school!  He whips his shoes on by the front door, then decides it is time to stretch.  And stretch, and stretch, while I wait and wait.  Of course, he didn’t stretch while reading the paper, or putting dishes away, so now is his time to do that.

Finally we are off!  And if we go just a little late, like today, we see lots of you on the roads!  Have a great week!

Betsy

Spring means many things to people, especially to runners:)  We have lots of great races to gear up for, many here in Central Florida are training for the big one, Boston Marathon.  Our weather is typically great, not to hot nor too cold.  Lots of shoe companies are showing their new lines.  And for us at Track Shack, we are preparing for our Spring Sale!  Oh my, it will be a busy but fun week at Track Shack.  Saturday marks the running of the 35th Winter Park Road Race and the end of this season’s Running Series…so much happening.  I had a short but good run this morning and now its off to ride my bike to the store.  Stop by if you get a chance, otherwise I’ll see you on the roads

Betsy

It is a good thing we no longer have to wash our clothes in a bucket at the waterside.  I’m not sure how two people can accumulate so much laundry in such a short time.  When the kids were growing up it was totally understandable but now it’s just us!  Thank goodness for technology!  I love my washer and dryer:)  I guess between running, spinning and pilates and the fact we live in the sunshine state (even in March!) and sweat and/or glow, we are bound to have lots of laundry.  Would you believe my mom still hangs her clothes out to dry?  She is the greenest person I know! 

Well, after Saturday’s Smile Mile I know 1700 moms and dads who had lots to wash.  What an amazing morning at Blue Jacket Park!  And most every children came across that finish line with a smile!  If they didn’t at the line, they sure did when our fantastic volunteers cheered them on and presented them their medal.  We had 1700 winners Saturday and we are so happy for that!  We are very thankful for our volunteers as well.  They worked many hours and were so encouraging to all these kids.

 Off to prepare for another day of helping keep all of you fit!  See you on the roads!

One of the happiest parts of my day is hearing about a customer’s success with running and how it has impacted their life.  Sometimes this is just part of a conversation while helping someone with shoes, with nutrition or signing them up for an event.  Sometimes I read it on Facebook or even receive an email. The finish line of our events is often full of smiles and hugs.  I am so looking forward to all the high fives this Saturday at our annual Smile Mile event at Blue Jacket Park. 

Thanks for continuing to share happy running and healthy successes with me and our staff.  We love people and running and getting feedback encourages us to do what we do:)  Slow and steady but I’ll see you on the roads!  

Betsy