Sunrise Runner, Burning Barns & The Avocado Killer!

Woo to the hoo! Another week of Chicago Marathon training! About 300 miles in so far – ya know, that’s the part that nobody ever sees – the miles that you put in just to be able to run 26.2 on race day. But there we are, each morning before the sun comes up. Running empty streets and trails. We do get little rewards though…Like seeing shooting stars and sunrises!

Thinking about riding off into the sunrise.

Most days I get done before da sun, but if I time it right, I can just catch the big star as it climbs the horizon.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are orange.

Longer runs the sun will come up along the way. Makes for a nice view…until it decides to start cooking your body. Texas is hot, y’all.

Tanning the inside of my mouth. I heard mouth tans are so hot right now.

We got another reward this week when our training plan called for the shortest run in a couple months – 3.3 miles of intervals. Decided to visit old friend, Mr. Stripey Oval.

The race tag helps me run faster. Either that or I’m too lazy to cut it off. I forget which.

But it was a short reward, as we’re now back to more miles. This weekend’s long run is 18 big ones. Should be…fun?

No more horsing around.

Either way, I know I’ll reward myself with more TACOS! Just watch out for the spicy ones!!!!

Tried the “Barn Burner”. It did burn, and I didn’t even know I had a barn!

Luckily there’s guac around to calm the heat down. I really do want to eat ALL the guac.

I’ve killed so many avocados lately.

Oh, and yoga. Yes, it can be tough, but it’s also a reward, right? Ohmmmmmmmmmm.

Can you spot me? Hint – I’m one of only like two dudes.

There ya go, another quick update. See ya on the streetz…or the internetz!

How bout you? Morning or Night runner? Are you gonna eat your guac, or can I have it? What should I name those horses?

-Scott

Undressing Runners, Trespassing Yoga & (not) Passing up Tacos!

Sup kiddos? Keep it real? Rock n rollin? I hope so. As for me, I’ve just been tryin to stay gold.

Chi Marathon training is in full wreckx n effect. It’s goin good so far. This weekend’s long run was with WRRC’s Run My Hood series. And it was hot.really hot.and humid. But crushed a 14 miler…Followed by a pool party!!!

If that wasn’t a salt water pool to start with, it is now.

This run started bright dark and early with a smaller group of folks who needed the extra miles.

“You’ll never shine if you don’t glow.” -Smashmouth #NeverForget

We got in a quick 6 miles before heading back to meet up with the sleeper-inners.

This group is known for running in various states of undress.

I’m not gonna lie, I had a really hard time on the second part of this run. The sun was up and it was really really hot. I struggled. It was just one of those bad runs we all have from time to time. As soon as we finished I started to cramp up a bit and had to bust out an impromptu yoga sesh in a stranger’s yard.

I CANNOT believe my “friend” took this photo of me and put it on the internetz. At least a passing car gave me a honk doe…I still got it, baby!

Even though it wasn’t the best run, I’m thankful I had friends who helped me through it – especially the last few miles!!!!

And afterwards, of course was the funner stuffs! Woot wooot!

Oh, and we couldn’t wrap up the morning without one last mandatory group photo.

See, various states of undress, I told ya.

Double oh, this may have also happened…

Don’t judge us early-morning-taco-eating-margarita-drinkers. I mean, we’d been up since 4am for crying out loud. It was like afternoon to us. It’s 5am somewhere, #amiright?

Other than that, the mileage is starting to ramp up. 45 big ones this week. Stay tuned for updates…and more taco pictures.

How bout you? When is too early for tacos/margs? Ever down-dogged someone’s yard? How undressed do you get (when you run)?

-Scott

Running With Pirates, Yogis & Mouth Breathers!

Whazzzuuuup? I hope all my American friends had a great 4th of July holiday weekend – and my foreign friends had a great normal weekend! I, myself, and me participated in an unofficial race. Not so much a race, but more a social run…but we did get kewl homemade medals afterwards!!!

I like my nike mustache, or is it a muswoosh?

The course was  10kilometers, but for our Chicago Marathon training, we needed 10miles, so we tacked on another 4 afterwards. I’m glad we did, cause we found a big ole pirate ship!

I had to invoke the right of parley.

Almost Just as good, I also ran into some other run buds in the last stretch. Soo coo to go for a run in a different part of town and still literally run into friends on the roads.

A. Pickle on my right and an ole Ohio high school bud turned Texan on my left.

Speaking of Chi-town, the training is slowly picking up. It feels kind of good again to be running mediumish runs during the work week. The 4am wake up calls blow, but #whaddyagonnadoboutit? Gotta get em done!

Yes, I was so rungry that I tried to eat a tree.

And of course, I always like hitting up some of the local social runs to incorporate into the training.

We ran and then sat in big red chairs, duh.

Even though I’m all the tired from it all, I’m still keeping up with the cross training – either at the gym or in the department store.

I wear that I squatted a little lower right after this pic was taken.

OK, there’s more but I’ll save it for the next post. I really am planning on being more diligent about blogging – especially as the training increases. But if you want to keep up quicker, just give my Instagram a follow! Like a dude who eats a lot of bananas, on there I’m pretty regular.

Howzit? Training going well? Can you guess what the pirate ship was for? Do I ever close my mouth in an IG photo?

-Scott

Running in “Da Hood”, Becoming Fashion/Yoga Expert & Free Lululemon Gear!!!

I’ve been cray cray bizzay. Let’s catch up, shall we?

Chicago Marathon training has kicked in and I’m pretty excited about it. For this, I’m going to continue to do my long runs whenever I can with WRRC. Solid folks.

Last week’s subtle group.

It’s summer now, and that means they do a lil’ thang called “Run My Hood”. Basically, each week we meet at the house of a different runner and run their favorite neighborhood course. It’s pretty cool. I’ve often thought on my own neighborhood runs how I’d like to show other people “my route”.

Anyway, the best part of the run is the after-run. Hey hey, pool part-ay today-hey!

Lounge.

Chill.

Fresh.  BTW, Snapchat – @piratebobcat – hit me up, fool!

As always, I like to incorporate cross training into my…well, uh, training. The trails are all flooded in North Texas, so that’s a no-go. But it can’t rain in yoga class (well, except maybe rain sweat).

My elf friend and I finally mastered “Partner Chair Pose”.

And I gots to give a big shout out to Lululemon. At yoga practice the other day, the employees called me up to the front. They said they wanted to thank me for being a regular yogi, “Go pick out any yoga mat…it’s yours!” I was so surprised and honored…and PUMPED!

The mat my foot finally chose.

It was so cool of them to do that. And I gotta say, this mat is like night and day compared to my old one…or is it like day and night, IDK. What I do know is the quality of this mat is top notch. No slipping when I sweat, good padding, solid construction – just incredible.

And bonus, my looooooong time friend (you can see her in a couple group run pics above) has been at these yoga seshes because the studio she goes to and teaches at is putting on the classes!

Meet Virginia. She never compromises. Loves babies and surprises. Wears high heels when she exercises. Ain’t it beautiful?

Other than that it’s been sweaty doggy walks. And seeing as I’m an fashion expert, I made a quick tutorial on how to look good as you walk the hound.

Of course there’s lots of other stuff goings on, but I’ll save it for the next post…I don’t want to tire your pretty little heads too much today. Have a great weekend, hombres y mujeres!

How bout you? Ever get to run someone else’s “hood”? Ever been rewarded by a business you regular (other than the corner pub)? Ever Meet Virginia?

-Scott

PS – Best of luck to everyone running Grandma Marathon this weekend! I have a few Dallas friends there – Look for them – They’ll probably be in tops with “WRRC” on the front and “Run Free” on the back. Slap em on the backside for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Running Around Floods, The Devil’s Food & Attacked by Snapping Turtle!!!

No matter where you live, you’ve probably seen on the news all the crazy weather we’ve been getting in Texas. Torrential downpours, flooding, tornadoes, etc. It’s been a wild spring. But we did have one day this week where Mr. Sun peeked in on us.

The strange ball of light so confused me on my run.

Other than that it’s been a whet whone. Luckily we were able to race over the Memorial Day Weekend. And then it did storm the rest of the weekend. However my run bud and I were able to get in a nice relaxing 9 miler around White Rock Lake. I’ve never seen the water that high. Check out this shot from the normally dry spillway…

Usually all you see is concrete. It sounded like Viagra Falls!

One of the side effects of the high waters around town is that the critters are getting very cornfuzed. I’ve seen so many poor little ducks, gooses, turtles, froggies & snakes on the roads and trails.

And, funny story, was driving back from yoga and saw a big turtle in the middle of the road – some of us stopped our cars to help it. We quickly found out that it was a cranky SNAPPING turtle. It took some doing, but we finally got it back to the grass.

PS. I have now watched several YouTube videos on the safe way to pick up a snapping turtle. Note – It’s not easy because besides the biting mouth, they also have claws…and they can JUMP!

From the internet. This is what he looked like.

Anyway, after the 9 miler, we needed breakfast tacos, natch.

The devil made me do it.

So there it is…still getting my runs in, just having to dodge raindrops, high waters & critters.

How bout you? Staying dry out there? Ever had a run in with a snapping turtle? Having a good week???

-Scott

My Friends in Movies, Running Balloons & Postcard From a German DJ!

It’s been another crazy week folks. I don’t even know where to start. That’s a lie, I’ll start with this:

Pitch Perfect 2 comes out this weekend! Why am I mentioning that? Well, because I know people in the movie! So happy for these folks. Especially my buddy Flula.

We will fight you…in a non violent way.

I’ve had the pleasure to make several videos over the years with him (I’m a TV producer when I’m not running). So glad that he’s finally blowing up!!! Much deserved! If you want to see any of the videos I’ve made with him, you can do so HERE.

During his last visit to Texas – Tall German DJ/Actor/Comedian dudes really fit in well here.

And bonus, Flula did send me a post card this past week too! And it reminded us runners to stretch our hammies!

Stretch it out boys! Not sure why you’re wearing prison pants tho.

The other people I know in PP2 is the group Pentatonix. OK, I don’t really know them know them, but I did shoot a video with them last summer.

My friend Emily and I with the band. They asked me to join the group based on some of my sick youtube karaoke videos.

And I got to enjoy their concert…from the side stage!

I think she’s checking me out.

Other than that, been running like a boss. Gearing up to start my training for the Chicago Marathon in a few weeks.

Kind of looks like a no-legged flamingo. Poor guy – all he needs is one.

I’ve also got a few races coming up this spring, so I’ve been trying to keep with up the track work…even in the rain!

400’s with my run bud @emarsha had me feelin all light headed.

Oh, and yogaing like a boss. Anyone who thinks yoga is easy is someone that has never been to yoga…especially if you run 5 miles right before practice.

Sweat and tears. That was a tough session!

Now it’s time for more of it all, like a boss!

How bout you? Are you running…to see Pitch Perfect 2? Do you yoga? Flamiliar with Flula?

-Scott

Running Vampires, Throwin Shade, and More Blogger Shout-Outs!

Whew, thangs bean bizzay round hurrah. Trying to ketchup.

Firsty, I’ve had some good runs recently…specially the ones with friends.

My friend Josh totally did not photoshop this in any way. None of us have shadows because we’re vampires.

It’s always fun runnin with TNSR. If you’re ever in North Texas on a Thursday, you should join us!

What the sign says.

We run, and then hang out for a hot minute to talk (about running).

Fire can’t stop us from throwin shade.

I also re-incorporated track workouts into my routine. Most of the time I’m going these solo, buutttttt to my surprise, I had a run bud meet me for some 400’s! Makes the pukey feeling go by faster.

Sometimes in life it just feels like we’re running in circles.

Felt good to shake the legs out with some speed work. But it’s also fun to do some long slow runs. This week I met up again with WRRC to get the miles in.

Not trainin for anything specific, just trying to keep in shape.

And of course I’m still doing my cross training with weightlifting and yoga.

Males are in the minority apparently.

And I have to end with a shout out to the latest blogger friends who donated to my charity fundraiser for the Chicago Marathon.

Check out these dope people: LifeBetweenTheMiles, MarathonStateofMind, & VeryRach!

I’m very close to my goal amount and I couldn’t have gotten this far without everyone who has pitched in. Thank you so much you guys!!!!!

If you’d like to donate, you can do so HERE. To see a totally high tech special effects video I made of why you should dontate, click HERE.

How bout you? Doing any speed work? Do you prefer running alone or with others? Has anyone else heard if they got in Chicago yet?

-Scott

Running a Camel-Thing, Hangin with Da Prez, & Thanking Bloggers!

First off, big ups to all my blogging friends who have contributed to my Chicago Marathon Charity Fundraising Campaign.

Check out these amazing bloggers: Run Colby Run, Helly On The Run, Outdoor Running Adventures, So Very Slightly Mad, & Charissa Running.

You guys truly rock my wheelhouse! I promise to get you your personalized thank you pictures/videos soon!  Maybe they’ll even look like this…

On my last visit to Chi-town. Hangin with the Lincolns and a baby.

You guys have really helped me get closer to my goal digit!

So close!

I’m super pumped about the Chicago Marathon. It’s really helped inspire my runs this week. Starting with a 12 miler with WRRC.

After the run. Chillin outside La Rei.

The next day I did some hill repeats on my run. Why not?

Looks like a bunny-camel.

And of course, I have to follow it up with yoga to help keep me centered and strong.

I can’t spell gud, butt at least I finally kept my tongue in my mouth. Yeah, it’s Snapchat – add me: piratebobcat

What else is inspiring this week – oh yeah, watching the Boston Marathon! I especially loved stalking tracking all my friends who were there. Y’all did some amazing times! Including my man Logan, who rocked a 2:31! Yes, that’s a full 26.2 in 2:31!

Logan at the finish via webcam. I will run this race one day. I will.

So there it is. Rockin and rollin! Keepin on and remaining calm. Bring it on, brah!

How bout you? Watch Boston…or were you there? What’s inspiring you? Any suggestions for the personalized pics for those bloggers?

PS. If you’d like to donate to my fundraising campaign, you can do so HERE. Or watch a short video I made telling you why HERE.

Classic Me Weekend – Running & Tacos & Yoga (+ Bonus Vomit)

With just a couple weeks until the Key West Half Marathon, I gotta keep at it. So this weekend, I did my best.

Friday wasn’t so good. I didn’t run. I had some weird nausea and light headedness. I even had to pull over my car so I could vomited on the side of the road.

Fast forward to Saturday…I felt less vomity, so I met up with some friends at White Rock Lake early in the morn. The plan was 14 miles @ 8:30 pace. We ended up going a little further and a little faster than planned. Felt good.

Looped the lake, and then some.

After the run, a small group of us went for tacos…duh!

The devil made me do it.

While Saturday was chilly, it was nothing compared to the 30 or so degrees it dropped over night thanks to the Arctic air sent down from Canada. Yes, I blame Canada (can you please fix the Texas weather Mrs. Outdoor Running Adventures?).

I do.

I had put a call out to some of my Sunday Runday buds to join me for some chilly miles, but all I heard back was cricket creeks. I guess a 25mph constant wind that causes a 16 degree wind chill wasn’t up their alley.

Anyway, I decided that since the conditions were tough, that I should say ‘screw it’ and make my run even tougher. So I did 7 miles with a series of nasty hill repeats. My cheeks were frozen by the end.

After, I warmed up with some yoga…

So what, I’m in a yoga class in a Lululemon – I can still keep it old school gangsta.

So there ya go. Pretty much what you’d expect from me, right? Running, tacos, yoga, misguided blame…Just a typical weekend in PirateBobcat’s world. Love it!

How bout you? Did you get Arctic blasted? Do you blame Canada? Ever make a tough workout tougher just to spite the weather gods?

-Scott

2014 – Runs, PR’s, Celebs, Concerts, Tacos & Sexiness (Mostly in Photos)

Welp, we’ve dun it. Anuther trip around the sun. Looking back, 2014 was a pretty decent year. Let’s take a peek at a few hightlights, shall we?

It kicked off with a BANG! In January I ran the Disney World Dopey & Goofy Challenge. That’s 4 straight days, 4 straight races.

The 6 Dopey Challenge Medals.

Day 1 – Thursday – 5k (3.1 miles)

Medal 1/6 gotten!

Day 2 – Friday – 10k (6.2 miles)

Medal 2/6 got.

Day 3 – Saturday – Half Marathon (13.1 miles)

Medals 3/6 got.

Day 4 – Sunday – Full Marathon (26.2 miles)

Medals 6/6 (includes Dopey & Goofy bonus medals)

All in all, it was a magical 48.6 miles.

Running at Epcot, waving to my fans.

Included in the weekend was the Kids’ Race, where the soon to be 5 year old rocked it!

Medals for everyone!

Oh, and did I mention my sis and ma also did the Dopey?

At Magic Kingdom with our medals.

Shortly afterwards though, I was going for a run, tripped, felled, and Nancy Kerriganed my own knee.

Put me out of commission for a little while.

I was able to eventually get active again by doing a lot of yoga in a retail store.

Cat, cow, what difference does it make?

I really think yoga is important for everyone – including runners. So I do a lot of it. And besides…

#NotCreepyatAll

Another part of my cross training is lifting weights. And besides…

Dumbells make you smart…and sexy.

I also like to mix up my runs with track work. And besides…

Track work makes you sexy. Here’s the proof!

Trail runs are also great. And besides…

#truth #obviously

Eventually my knee felt better and I got back on the roads with some of my fave people. Like Thursday Night Social Runners.

TNSR, Representin

And also my crazy early morning elfen crew.

They like to run at like 5am. They cray cray.

I also made a few Luke’s Locker social trail runs.

Run trails, eat pancakes. Repeat.

And the White Rock Running Co-op, who really helped me to become a better runner this year.

WRRC. Good runners.

To help fuel my workouts, I ate lots of tacos. Lots.

Legit, son!

In between training, I also got to see some of my fave bands…like at this FREE concert – The Killers!

About 30 rows deep, my mouth a gasp with excitement.

And the Old 97’s.

Seen this band countless times.

And I was super thrilled to see the traveling Broadway show, based on the movie – Once!

And I got to make my annual Jimmy Buffett concert experience…TWICE!

JB concert #1. Just call me Front Row Joe.

JB concert #2. Things get wild at the tailgate parties…trust me!

I also got to hangout on stage during a Graceland Ninjaz concert.

On stage open mouth selfie.

As well as Pentatonix.

I liked to imagine they were all cheering for me (they may have been).

They were amongst the Celebs that got to hang out with me this year.

They asked me to join the group based on some of my youtube karaoke videos.

And my model friend Brooke Becker.

She’s kewl.

And long time friend, fashion blogger, and TV host, Hilary Kennedy.

We had to wear our shades because of the flashes from the paparazzi.

And all around media star, and long long time friend, Ashley Kamrath.

At the Emmy’s. We didn’t win this year, but we’ll get again next year!

And I made another video with friend & TV host, Emily Reppert.

On the set with my actor friends.

And I made a new BFF when I interviewed Olympic gold medalist, Jennie Finch.

See, told ya we were new BFF’s.

And my Dallas Half Marathon Champion friend, Logan Sherman.

Logan, Me, Patrick. Mustachioed.

And model/actor buddy, Shane Land.

We have played brothers in two movies. Can you see the resemblance?

And a Dallas Cowboy – Charles Haley.

A couple of legends.

Anyways, back to running. I ran a bunch of races. Starting with Abby’s Run 5k, where I won my age group!

Yay! I got a photo with Abby (who the race is named for) and her mom. Ann photobombed us.

Then came the Rock the Block 10k. New PR – 46:00!

And we’re off! -Photo from Dallasnews.com

During the months of Texas heat, it was really hot, so I only ran a few unofficial races. Like the Boston Marathon virtual run.

And the America, F**k Yeah 4th of July 10k.

Censored Bling

And the TNSR Beer Mile.

This was a bad idea.

Then came the Fall. Autumn is always a time of change. For us, a big change was the boy starting kindergarten. Where does the time go???

He’s grown about 5 times his size. Based on that growth rate, I figure he’ll be about 80 feet tall by his 20’s.

I even volunteered to coach his soccer team. That was a lot of fun!

Landsharks on three!

And the little girl just keeps growing too!

Stop looking at me swan.

Fall also saw a lot of PR changes. Starting with the Oktoberfest 5k – 21:33. When you PR, you have to celebrate…

They love me.

Next up was the Dallas Mavericks 5k. Another PR!

The Mavs Dancers asked to have their photo taken with me. I obliged.

Speaking of which, my brother ran his first half marathon this fall! And my dad is running his first half in January 2015!

Dad, Bro, Me at an FC Dallas game this fall.

The next PR to fall was at the Dallas 13.1 – 1:42:59!

Bottle opener medal.

Next was the annual Halloween fun run.

Our costumed group.

One sad change was that we lost our oldest doggy this fall. She was such a great pup.

sweet Bailey girl

But in happier times, I set another PR at the North Texas Turkey Trot 5k 20:04. Bummer was the course being .1 miles short.

Stop looking at me turkey.

Next up was the Rudolph Run 5k. And yet another PR – officially 21:29, but my watch had the course being long. According to it I came across at 20:50-something. Either way, I got 2nd in my age group!

Last year’s race was cancelled due to ice. So I got two medals!

The final race of 2014 was the Dallas Half marathon. No PR this day, but still got my 2nd fastest half – 1:45:01.

Big state, little medal.

And as part of the Dallas Marathon festivities, I got to meet MEB!!!!!!

Me n Meb

The end of the year was spent with friends and family for the holidays.

Looking back, it was a pretty good year. Lots of tacos, shows, good times, and running. In fact, I went over 1,200 miles on my feet. I even surpassed 5,000 miles total with my Nike+ watch – starting when I got it a few years ago.

5 g’s over the past few years.

Here’s hoping 2015 will be even better! Happy New Year, y’all!

Today’s only question: What’s your top 2014 highlight?