First month at the center

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 · Mike Davis

Good morning, I would like to tell I am sipping coffee from the warm and cozy south, but instead I am down south during some of the coldest weather they have had in years as well as snow and ice! No respite from the harsh winter. Oh well, life is meant to be lived and for those of us that run, we surely do that so weather is a mere bump in the road. The No Finish Line Running Coaching & Endurance Resource Center (The Center) has now been open over a month and I cannot tell you if we met our expectations. Honestly I had no idea as to what the expectations should be besides only that runners and other endurance athletes would know that we are there ready to serve them with many great resources. I am not so sure that we are close to there yet as far as notoriety but we are certainly moving in the right direction. We most definitely are bringing some great resources that have been well received so far. Pilates has been popular so far and we are looking to add a morning as soon as next week so that’s exciting. The running side of the house has been great as we have been able to help quite a few people with their running form through video analysis and in depth instruction. We have also had multiple “circuit training for runners” that have been popular as well and will soon be on our regular schedule (Friday nights at 5:30). If there has been a disappointment to this point it has been the struggle to get people in on Mondays and Wednesdays to try out Jasmin’s strength and conditioning classes. Jas is an awesome resource for those that are specifically looking to prepare themselves for running, biking, swimming or any other endurance sport and his classes are cheap and well worth trying. In fact tonight will be another chance to try his class for free. The 6:30 class is full but if you show up he will surely do another class for free! If not tonight next Monday and Wednesday’s classes will be free. If you want us to hold a spot, send an email or just show up and make Jas fit you in. My hope is that people will try it out and see the benefits for very little investment. So the first month has been interesting as well as lots of fun! While we have our core operations established we also continue to look for ways to add resources that will benefit runners. With that goal we are most definitely open to suggestions from y’all. Feel free to let us know what we can do to help you with your training and conditioning. Overall I am happy with “The Center” and look forward to its continued evolution. I really enjoy the comfort of our facility as a place for runners to meet and either run, strength train, enjoy Pilate’s or get some technical instruction. Lew and I are pretty much there 5 to 6 days a week and while we enjoy each other’s company we also enjoy those that stop in and spend time with us. We always have hot coffee brewed so on a cold night it is a great place to be. Tomorrow night will be our Thursday night Pilates with Erica and I highly, highly recommend that you stop in at 5:30 with or without your mat and try this class out. Pilates is definitely the perfect complement to your running or just a great core class in general. Being away for the week is a nice break for me, but I really miss the Pilate’s class. If you need to run instead of Pilates Runners Alley is having a Saucony Photo night run at 6pm. Go on down to Portsmouth and run and get your picture taken for the Saucony website. Another great local event will be Sunday March 1st out at Red Hook Brewery there will be a 10:00 run followed by a movie called; "Beer Runners Documentary.” There will be beer, refreshments and more. For more details go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/portsmouth-beer-week-movie-beer-run-tickets-15685763541 I plan to be there and think it would be great to see all of my friends there! Time to go get my strength training done and burn off some popcorn! Hope you are having a great week and hope to see you at “The Center.” God Bless! Mike