Summer sports off to great start

Youth Indoor Soccer

(5-7 year-olds) Results:

Bowes Imaging Center  14
Southern Greens  5
Alessandro Rincon scored 12 goals and Aliva Enzo chipped in with two for the Bowes Imaging Center win. Travis Bates scored all five for the Southern Greens team.

(8-10 year-olds) Results:

Gettle Toyota  5
Beach Bums  2
Sam Bowers scored two goals and David Daigle and Lilah Bowers each scored one for the Gettle Toyota win. Luke Marvin scored two goals for the Bach Bums team.

LaPensee Plumbing  5
Beach Bistro  3
Tyler Brewer and Preston Plambeck each scored two goals and Sean O’Reiley added one for the LaPensee Plumbing win. Jayse Berzowski scored two and Andrew Burgess added one goal for the Beach Bistro team.

(11-13 year-olds) Results:

Eat Here  8
Air & Energy  1
Shelby Morrow scored three goals, Dylan Joseph and Nika Ukhurgunasvili each scored two and Brooke Capparelli scored one in the Eat Here victory. Stephen Whyte scored the only goal for Air & Energy.

Eat Here  3
Waterfront Restaurant  1
Dylan Joseph scored two goals and Shelby Morrow added one in the Eat Here victory. Ryan Fellows scored one goal for the Waterfront Restaurant team.

Youth Indoor Soccer Schedule:

July 9, Monday, 6 p.m.
Southern Greens VS. Bowes Imaging Center

July 9, Monday, 7 p.m.
Beach Bums VS. Beach Bistro

July 9, Monday, 8 p.m.
Waterfront Restaurant VS. Air & Energy

Adult Co-Ed Flag Football League Results:

Miller Electric Chargers  39
Beach to Bay Construction Saints  27

Tyler’s Ice Cream Vikings  27
Sato Real Estate Browns  20

Agnelli Pools & Spa Dolphins  40
Jessie’s Island Store Jets  25

Duffy’s Tavern Raiders  47
Slim’s Place Titans  13

Adult Co-Ed Volleyball League Schedule:

July 10, Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Best Buy VS. The Feast Restaurant

July 10, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Lobstahs VS. Florida Discount Signs

July 10, Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Lobstahs VS. Florida Discount Signs

 

A marathon of epic proportions

It has been one wild and crazy thing after another. Seriously, I moved back to Florida in 2004 to chill and make some tracks after putting a few folks in jail as a TV investigative/consumer reporter for 18 years in Miami and St. Louis. Thought I would do a little running and racing and call it a life. Ha. Maybe runners are just born-to-run Type As. I’ve never been busier, and it shows no sign of slowing. It all started when that little book I wrote (“Eat Vegan on $4 a Day) got published a year ago this month and became my publisher’s best seller. As he likes to say, “It takes decades to be an overnight sensation.”

Yesterday, my hubby sends me a link to a New York Times article he thinks I’d be interested in. It is titled, “My Vegan Marathon.” Cool, I think. Someone is finally planning a vegan marathon. I am so tired of seeing the free chocolate milk booths and charred burgers and hotdogs as post-race food, I thought, “Maybe someone has finally got the vegan vendors together to have really healthy post-race food.” Just seeing milk after a race makes me want to gag. Ah…but not so fast. I read the article which is really about how marathon runner and New York Times writer Christine Frietchen was discouraged with her time and weight in her previous New York City marathon nine years ago. As she embarks on a vegan diet, she starts losing weight and gaining speed in training. Then she mentions some of the vegan athletes and runners like Ruth Heidrich who has completed 60 marathons as a vegan. And then, “I also met Ellen Jaffe Jones, a vegan running coach who at age 59 still runs eight-minute miles. When I asked her about meatless marathon training, she said, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing — lots of beans and whole grains.’” Holy guacamole! She’s talking about me!

I vaguely remember talking to somebody when I was a speaker at New York’s VegFest. What to do? Friend her on Facebook, of course. We write back and forth, and she confirms she met me at VegFest. “I wrote it ages ago -- I didn't even know they were going to run it until today. I don't actually like to reach out to people for formal ‘quotes’-- I like to pull things out of real conversations. And since this was an essay rather than an article, I thought I'd surprise you...” Indeed, you did, Christina. Any press is good press.

Last week, I spent four days speaking and doing book signings at five Whole Foods from Miami to Palm Beach. There are many things I love about being an author, but living in Whole Foods for four days, eating their food non-stop, having them cook recipes from my book, and engaging with customers was beyond Nirvana. I stayed two more days with my best friend from high school. She took me to a Salsa dancing class. I had long read about the nightly ritual in Cuba when dancing ‘breaks out’ on the streets. Too fun.

It was 32 years ago I broke the biggest story of my life…the “Gold Plumbing Caper.” The Miami school superintendent blew his whole career including a nomination to be undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education, stealing $9,000 worth of gold plumbing for his summer home in Naples. I’d had death threats over the story, and coincidentally broke the story the day I turned in my resignation to move back to a much better TV job in my hometown of St. Louis. But the bullet-proof vest wasn't needed.

I did notice the striking difference between the east and west coast sand for running conditions. Even with our wild weather, the Nature Coast sand is generally flat and ideally compacted and well-suited for running. The east coast sand is much coarser. You sink into it after every step. A good workout, but no personal records set over there. I love running in Florida anytime, but I’ll take our west coast beaches for running hands down. Gotta run!

You can follow Island resident Ellen Jaffe Jones on her Facebook page and keep up with her just released book:,"Eat Vegan on $4 a Day," or her website: www.vegcoach.com. She is also a nationally certified personal trainer and running coach. For training in a gym or private hire, contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com or 941-704-1025.