Daily Loaf

Catherine Durkin Robinson is a handful creating quite a scene over at Out in Left Field.

Last week I got a request to appear on Studio 10, a local morning talk show in Tampa, hosted by Holley Sinn and Jerome Ritchey. They wanted to discuss my review of Capitalism: A Love Story and maybe even my blogging adventures here at CL and Out in Left Field.

Despite the fact they have no open bar, I agreed to go on the show.

Thursday morning, I arrived early and asked for the makeup room.

Lovely Receptionist blinked a few times.

“Where do you think you are?” she asked. “Oprah?”

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(The Stinky Drinkers are merry runners who have all come together to train for the Women’s Running Magazine Women’s Half Marathon which will take place Sunday, November 22^nd in downtown St. Pete. They like running….they like beer…and they have gleaned quite a lot of wisdom from their journey thus far.)

After a Sunday spent “bonking” (desperately fading in latter miles) trying to keep up with our new running buddy, Luis, SD Lisa and I thought we would never successfully achieve more than 8.5 miles. Our heads ached. Our limbs wobbled like Jell-O, and both of us spent the better part of the afternoon sleeping off what felt very much like a mid-range hangover (the kind that causes thudding behind the eyes and extreme fatigue but no vomiting). In my last post, I mentioned that Luis attributed our downfall to lack of nourishment, but that wasn’t all. We were tackling high mileage without the juice of the gods — created by scientists at the University of Florida who were clearly under divine influence — none other than Gatorade. Read the rest of this entry »

(The Stinky Drinkers are a band of merry runners in training for the Women’s Running Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon on November 22^nd. These are their stories from the road…)

As the lightning flashed above, beyond and behind downtown St. Pete’s Vinoy Park, four runners sat in a Nissan discussing the science of conductivity. It was a very rainy Friday evening, and our 6:45 call time was being pushed ever backward as the thunder crashed around us.

“You know, if the car was struck by lightning, we would be sitting in a death trap,” Phylis told us. Read the rest of this entry »

To Stinky Drinker posting regulars, welcome back!  If you’re a newbie, then you should know that the Stinky Drinkers are a band of merry runners all training for the Women’s Running Magazine Women’s Half Marathon in downtown St. Pete on November 22nd.  Our mission is to increase our mileage weekly throughout our training, and when we do, we toast with a pint at one of the Bay area’s fine thirst-quenching establishments.

So far  I’ve introduced you to 2 of our 4 founding members to date, Liz (now known as “Grist”) and Lisa (aptly named “Snake Bite”).  I’ve saved our dear Phylis for last, which means this week, you’re getting the lowdown on SD Holley (heretofore to be known as “Shok”).  I’m taking the time to make these introductions because I think it’s important that all of our potential and/or honorary SDs out there realize that anyone can do this.  We are all very, very different, but it’s those differences that make us great friends and excellent running buddies.  Think about it — if you were not only operating on your own strengths, but also on those of the people you love, you would be an unstoppable force, wouldn’t you?

We think so.  Salut!

Name: Holley, Hols, Hollister…”Hey you”….
Age: 29
Zodiac sign: Aries
Day job: Talk show host/producer/film critic and all-around busybody Read the rest of this entry »

Hello, race fans!  Stinky Drinker Holley here with an update on the progress we’ve made in training for the Women’s Running Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon coming up November 22nd!  We’re a small but mighty running team, none of whom has ever run a “half” before, motivated by sheer will and the promise of a cold beer at the end of our journey.

I have another introduction to make, but first, here’s a quick update regarding membership and training.  We’ve officially welcomed a new member, Angela, to the team, and she is rockin’ and rollin’!  On Sun. July 26 we planned to run 7 miles, but the weather and downtown St. Pete’s Warped Tour had other plans for us.  Narrowly avoiding lightning strikes (note: NEVER run if there is lightning – if you can see it, it can strike you, no matter how far away it seems), we somehow managed to log 5 miles, soaked to the bone and surrounded by equally drenched teenagers.  We did what we’re calling our “urban” route by running up and down Central Ave., window shopping along the way. For future runs, we’ve set ourselves the task of developing interesting dance moves to perform at crosswalks while waiting for the light to change.  One must keep moving, and running in place looks pretty ridiculous….might as well look flat out, stark-raving mad performing the “cabbage patch kid” instead.

So…moving on: it’s time to meet SD Liz!  To learn more about the race we’re training for, log on to www.womenshalfmarathon.com! Read the rest of this entry »

[Editor's Note: Welcome to the latest chapter in Holley Sinn's running (ha) saga of The Stinky Drinkers, a beer-driven bunch in training for the upcoming Women’s Running Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon coming up this November in downtown St. Pete.]

After our most recent run, SD Phil decided that we needed some rules.  We needed to “name” each other (which we decided should be in reference to beer since that is our carb of choice), come up with appropriate punishments for SDs who miss training sessions and award achievements such as a certain number of miles contributed to the cause.   We are still working on 2 and 3, but I came up with a little SD profile quiz which allows each “stinker” to offer up an option as to his or her beer-related nickname.  Hence, SD Lisa became “Snake Bite.”  Check out the rest of her profile below, and stay tuned for more Stinky Drinker profiles to come, as the founders get a little personal!

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Greetings, sports fans!  After a considerable time off from CL blogging, I am back with a brand new project in which I would like to involve each and every one of you.  Wondering if I’m still bitter about Tim Tebow and his Florida Gators taking down my Oklahoma Sooners in the national title game?  Absolutely.  However, I have found a way to channel that aggression in a healthy and constructive way which brings me to the introductions I would like to make in today’s post.

It is in my nature to be….let’s say….overly active.  If my hands and feet are not busy doing something worthwhile, then I can generally be found running around in circles, all the while convincing myself that I am providing a service of some kind.  I think this affliction is referred to as “nervous energy,” and I have it in spades.  This condition is in no way diminished by my obsessive consumption of caffeinated beverages like the iced coffee I am consuming at this very moment, and I have no immediate plans to limit my intake.  I’ve tried — it’s an exercise in futility.

So when I learned about the upcoming Women’s Running Magazine Women’s Half-Marathon coming up this November in downtown St. Pete, I thought, “Okay…this is the perfect outlet for this influx of kinetic energy, and it’s not as daunting as the idea of 26 miles in a full marathon.  Sign me up!”  The event takes place on November 22nd, so in mid-May I printed out a training plan and set my feet in motion.

For exactly one month, I happily executed my training plan alone — running during my lunch breaks and after work….self-motivated and relentless.  But, after each grueling training session…with the heat and mosquitoes and the vomit-inducing smell of low tide and rotting mangroves…I was patting myself on the back alone.  There was no one to exchange high fives with…no one to sweat the glorious sweat of victory or exchange battle cries with.  Sadness and complacency threatened.  Action had to be taken, or the mission would be lost. Read the rest of this entry »

Our 2009 Summer Guide will be hitting newstands today, chock full of ideas on ways you can spend your summer vacation. If you don’t want to hunt down the print edition in the physical world (it’s hot outside!), you can stay cool and find all the Summer Guide content online here.

As part of putting the issue together we asked people, “what are you doing on your summer vacation?” Those answers appear throughout the issue and will be posted to Daily Loaf, Tampa Calling and Political Whore over the next few days.

To get things rolling here on Daily Loaf we have Holley Sinn (that’s her below) and Jerome Ritchey, the hosts of Tampa CBS affiliate WTSP’s morning-chat show Studio 10, talking up their summer plans after the jump. Also, a programming alert: Be sure to tune in to Studio 10 tomorrow morning (10 a.m. on channel 10) to catch CL Editor David Warner and interns Lily Reisman and Hannah Walk discussing the summer guide.

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