Running with Armadillos, Skunks, Kanyes & Humans!

I’m tired, kids. Gone over 500 miles the past 2-3 months getting ready for the Chicago Marathon. That’s a lot of 3:45-4:00 am wake-up alarms. The good news is that I still haven’t missed a single day of training. That, and I’m relatively healthy – no major injuries to report – just the odd aches and pains and colds and coughs. It’s going relatively well, all things considered, if you must know, I do declare, but I digress.

The past weekend saw our 2nd 20 miler of the training plan.

If we make funny faces, it’ll mask our pain.

Oh, that reminds me, in August we ran 198 miles. And yeah, I thought about running an extra two, but then I unthought about it.

So close to the double century mark. Oh well, there’s always next month.

Back to last week – One nice surprise was the rare “short” weekday run – Only a 5k! That’s a far cry from the 12 miles scheduled we ran just 7 days richard prior. Decided to do it on the track – just a few pre-sun 800’s amongst friends.

It was dark. Used a flash. My shoes glowed.

And is it just me, or are there a lot more varmints out and about lately? On the track there was a skunk…a SKUNK…On.The.Track!!!!

There’s also been some coyotes, frogs, bobcats, bunnies, more skunks, and some giant roly poly bugs…

Happy to report we outran the armadillo. And we were sure to cautiously approach the dangerous HS XC team behind us – oh how I hate them with their short shorts, long hair & zero body fat.

Not sure what’s going on…are they all foraging for winter sustenance? Do I need to do the same? Should I start hoarding choco-sprinkle donuts like these smelly critters…?

Strange beasts indeed.

Oh, and did I mention the snakes? Indiana Jones would hate it up in hurrah..

It’s totes real.

That pic above is courtesy of Thursday Night Social Run – as always, things got crazy with TNSR. There is so much going on below, that I don’t even…

Da Fu?

There’s been some more runs and funs, but I’ll get to that, like later, or whatever, no big whoop. For now, I gotta go lay down, put my feet up and watch the new episode of Drunk History. Hasta luego, playas!

How bout you? Been seeing any critters on your runs? Armadillos – cute or dangerous? If you were an animal, what would you be?

-Scott

Back 2 Runnin, Birthday Boy, Makin TV & a Bummer, man.

Bummer, man…I’m not in South Florida anymore.

(If you did miss my recap of the Key West Half Marathon, see it HERE)

But it’s good to be home too. Especially to celebrate the boy’s 6th berfday!

We’re just a group of mouth-breathers.

With the hat and shirt, there’s no mistaking who’s day it is.

My fave kind of cake and fave baseball play – bundt.

To burn off the birthday cake, I got back into my running groove after taking a couple days off after the race. The highlights were my weekend runs with friends.

Sunrise run with Marsha.

The next day we tried to run trails, but they were too muddy. Another round of pavement pounding it is!

A bunny wabbit run with Serene. Funny cause we actually saw a coyote on our run.

Other than that, it’s been business as usual. If you don’t know, when I’m not running, I’m making TV shows. And this week I got to go to a fun little training thingy to help keep my skills razor sharp.

Movies aren’t as glamorous behind the scenes.

So there ya go. And now I go. More miles in the morning!!!

How bout you? Do you see any animals on your runs? Celebrate a birthday recently (aka join a new age group)? What kind of videos would you guess that I make?

PS – Again, if you missed it, you can see here my Key West Half Marathon Recap & my Key West Photo Purge.

-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?

Lots of Christmas Runs, Stage Shows, Wild Yoga & Randomness Galore

It’s been non-stop gangbusters lately. Let me try and ketchup…

What am I up to? Oh, just making it rain, dear.

Of course, Christmas was upon us, and so the kiddos were amped.

1/3 of these folks had a wet diaper. Can you guess which one?

But the holidays don’t mean my legs get a break. And on Xmas Eve I met up with a big group of local runners for a morning run.

Getting my Zen on before the run.

Christmas morning I went on a solo run. I saw a surprising amount of people at the park.

For my long run this week, I got in a half marathon. It was really really windy.

At the last minute my run bud messaged me and said she’d run with me. So glad she did. It made the miles go by much faster. We didn’t take a pic, but here’s us at last month’s Thanksgiving Day race.

Such a pill…gram.

 

While we were at the show, the grandparents took the kids to the zoo…

Penguins is practically chickens.

Free turtle rides!

The next morning I met up with some more friends for a trail run. We got in 6+ miles, and even mixed in a little yoga…

Not sure if these are actual poses or not. But there’s no rules in yoga, right?

But it doesn’t stop there. Next we took the kiddos to see Disney Live…

Pirates vs Princesses. Guess which team I’m on.

Ha, I gotta say that it was drastically different than the ‘Once’ show – a lot less ‘F-bombs’.

Anywhoodle, that night my friends messaged me that they wanted to go on a second run for the day, but this time it was around a fancy neighborhood that is famous for their Christmas lights.

Tree Pose.

Look, it’s Santa flying! I know him!

I need to have these green spots checked out.

So there it is, kids. The reason for my blog-cation. It’s been a crazy train time around here. Hopefully things will relax just a bit, but it has been a fun ride!

How bout you? Crazy Holidaze? Gettin your workouts in? Any fun group runs?

-Scott

Animated Running, Trail Nimbleness, Yoga Bliss, & I’m a Sunglassed Winner!

What’s up, Playas? I know the holidays are upon us, but I feel like things are kind of getting settled around here. Not normal, I know. But now that the Dallas Marathon is over, people in these parts are kind of on hiatus, running wise. Not me though!

Before I get to what’s up, lemme wrap up my Dallas race. The proofs came in and I had some fun turning them into animated gifs…

At the finish with a mystery run partner.

If the animation was too much for you, here’s a still.

And one funny thing I found: I didn’t know it, but I was running for a while with one of my training buddies. I didn’t realize it until I saw the pics! Ha, I guess we were too focused on being in beast mode.

Me and a not mystery runner.

Me n Liz (Ironman shirt & visor). We ran many miles together this training season.

Anyway, on to this weekend: 10 solo miles on Saturday, followed by a muddy group trail run on Sunday. The highlight being that I was particularly graceful and nimble as I crossed a creek.

It only took me like 8 minutes to cross, but I didn’t want to fall in like my friend did before me!

Anywhoodle, after the trail miles, it was on to yoga. I was pumped when I saw which instructor it was – this lady is awesome…and she kicked our booties!

Can you spot me?

I am seriously sore after all the yogaing.

I swear we did more than just this pose.

Oh, and I just got some good news…At the Dallas Marathon Race Expo, I posed for a photo at a local running store’s red carpet. And guess what?!?! They liked it so much they said I won a $50 gift card! Booyah!!!

The winning photo. As my one friend put it, “two sets of shades because the sun never sets on a badass” Truer words have rarely been spoken.

So there it is, kiddos. Tryin to keep it real in the face of holiday chaoticness. Boom!

How bout you? Ever get surprises when you see a photo? Can you imagine how graceful I was crossing that crick? Yoga much lately?

-Scott

Dallas Marathon Course Partial Preview, Run Bale & Pre-Dawn Selfies

This weekend saw many more miles. The WRRC mapped a route that ran along some of the new Dallas Marathon course – intentionally running the toughest sections of the course. And I gotta say, I feel for those who are running this race. You got some hills to deal with.

The “Dolly Parton Hills”, Swiss Ave & the Santa Fe Trail are gonna make you work.

It did take us through some old pretty neighborhoods. Hopefully the mansions will distract you from the ups and downs of the roads. However, you won’t have such a luxury after you leave the lake and hit up the Santa Fe Trail – Not much to see there.

Now, if you’re running the half marathon, you won’t have to deal with these tough sections of the course. You don’t even sniff them. Consider yourself lucky!

Anyway, to get to this run, I had to get up in the 4 o’clock hour. When I did, I noticed I had been tagged by my buddy Amy at FitnessMeetsFrosting on an Instagram challenge to take a selfie of whatever you are doing at the moment. Here’s mine…

I was absolutely thrilled at being up at this hour.

After the run, we ate tacos. I didn’t take a picture. I was hungry. Deal with it.

Anywhoodle…the next day I was up early again for a trail run with friends. It was kind of rainy and cold, so most of our friends bailed…I didn’t.

See, I told ya I didn’t ‘bale’ on the run.

I love that there was a random hay bale. Just last week in the same park was a random chair.

It’s a park of random mystery props.

Anyway, by the end of the run, there were only two of us left. We ended up getting in 7 miles before I had to head to yoga.

What I loved about both runs is that the people I ran with all pushed each other to go further and faster…In fact, on both days the fastest miles were on the hilliest sections. All in all, we got in some long runs, some hills, and some speed work. Love it! Feelin strong. Thinkin I might need to sign up for the half to take advantage of my current fitness level. Hmmmmmmm………

How bout you? Ever preview a race by running sections of the course? Ever bale on a run? If you took a selfie right now, what would you be doing?

-Scott

Lots of Running, Ghost Chairs & Taco Hauntings

We finally got a few days of somewhat fall-like weather. Yippee! It made for some good runs. It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes when it’s not a billion degrees.

For Saturday’s long run, it was in the upper 40’s when I meet WRRC at 6am at a strip mall with an interesting store…

Nothing butt good deals here.

A lot of the folks I ran with are gearing up for the Dallas Marathon. I am not. They were going 20 miles. I did not. I ended up with a group that went 15. Why? Just for fun.

It was an out and back because one of the runners wanted to end with hills. And this route started with hills. So that’s a nice hilly bookend. Lucky us. Amazingly though, some of these runners pushed me to negative split. At the half we were an 8:25 pace, but by the finish our total average mile was 8:15! Feels good to be a gansta.

Afterwards some of us mowed down some totally epic tacos. Sadly, I didn’t take a pic, but I did when I previously visited this taco joint.

This place is cleverly called “Taco Joint”

For Sunday Runday, I met my run-bud Serene for some trail running and I added another 6 miles.

I photo bombed her selfie. I’m such a rascal.

She had done a 30k trail race the day before. And.Was.Hurting. But she toughed it out. I’m glad she did, because in the middle of the park we spotted a photo op!

This will be the cover photo when my next album drops.

Lots of people have photo shoots in this park, and I assume that’s what this chair was there for. But nobody was with it. It was just randomly in the middle of a field. Later on it was gone. So either someone took it, or it was a ghost chair. Probably the latter.

Afterwards I went to yoga. The instructor decided it was going to be a power leg day. Lucky us. I legs were shaking so bad, and now I am berry sore. I didn’t take a pic in class…but also this weekend, our friend at Candies and Crunches challenged me on Instagram with a yoga pic. I sent one back.

Leaning tower of paradise. Yes, I’m a mouth breather.

Also this weekend, our friend at My Walk to Rio 2016 challenged me on Instagram with a taco pic. So after yoga I went to yet another taco joint. Again, I forgot to take a pic, but here’s an earlier pic from the same joint.

It’s a BBQ joint in a gas station, and it’s good. They serve breakfast tacos too!

So not a bad weekend of running, yogaing and tacoing!!!

How bout you? Do your run friends push you? Any Instagram friends challenge you? Do you believe in ghost chairs?

-Scott

Runin, Partyin, Yogain, & Rule Breakin

Ya know how people always annoyingly say that they need a vacation after their vacation? Well, I think many of us exerciser-type people need a weekend after our weekends. Man, weekends are ex-haus-ting.

Saturday I was up early to run with the White Rock Running Co-op. I ended up going 11 miles. There’s some great runners in this group. And we had another rare break in the heat – it was an unheard-for-August-mid-60’s in the morning. Awesome.

Are we runners, or are we human?

Humidity was still hovering around 90% though. Someone commented that it was hard to breath. All I know is my shorts were so heavily soaked in sweat that they were coming down. Hello! Had to keep retying the string tighter.

It’s all good though cause we cooled down after with a pool party.

Got it made in the shades.

This is such a great idea. It was potluck style, but the hosts also fired up the grill and had a cooler of adult style bevvies.

Sunday I was up early again for a solo trail run. Due to some rain earlier in the week, there was a big sign that read, “Trail Closed”. But something I learned once from my grandma, “It doesn’t say who it’s closed to. That sign could be meant for anybody.”

So I climbed over the barricade and ran. It was nice to have the whole trail to myself – well except for all the critters scurrying about (including the box turtle I had to move off the path).

The trail isn’t really that squiggly, I was looking for my keys.

After four sweaty miles, it was time for yoga. Yoga is always more difficult when you’re on tired legs (and arms and torso and brain). But I got through it and that should make all the body and mind parts stronger for next time.

The rest of the weekend it was chores, and playing with the kiddos. If you’ve ever played with toddlers, you know how tiring that can be in itself! They are like full-speed non-stop.

But even though it was all tiring, it was all fun! And luckily I didn’t see any nude photo shoots, like I did the other day.

Onward to more!

How bout you? Any good workouts this weekend? Save any wildlife lately? Do you see a sign and think it’s not necessarily meant for you?  Who else needs a weekend after their weekend?

-Scott

Running with Elites – Get Ready to Work it!

This weekend was meant to be an “easy” one in my Disney Dopey Challenge training.  It was supposed to be a laid back 10 miler on Saturday and cross training on Sunday.  Well, the laid back 10 miler turned out to be not so laid back.  That’s because I ran part of it with an elite runner.  Lemme splain.

I can’t wait to get Dopey, fo realz.

I was running by myself.  Enjoying the cool 50 degree temps.  Maybe because of the weather, or because I knew I didn’t have to run back to back days this weekend, but my pace was getting faster and faster as the miles passed.  Working on that negative split, yo!

Then I came to the appropriately named Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.  There I first ran into my buddy The Dancing Runner.  We had an brief chat, wished each other luck, then I went for a loop in the preserve.  It was hilly, but pretty.

Views from the AHNP.

When I came out, I then ran into my Elite runner buddy – Logan Sherman.  We had a quick chat and determined that we were both heading the same direction after leaving the preserve, and so he said he’d run with me.  I thought, “How in the world is this going to work?!?”

Recently profiled in Competitor Magazine.

This guy runs 5 minute miles when he wants to.  His next goal is running a sub 1:05 half marathon at the USA Half Marathon Championship in Houston this January.  That would qualify him for the Olympic trials.   My last half marathon I ran a little over 8:00 minute miles.  I didn’t want to hurt his workout too much, so I picked up the pace the best I could and we hit the road.

Yes, that’s him running with Kenyans.

Obviously, he had to slow down his pace a to run with me, and we ended up going around 7:00 minute miles.  That’s normally my 5k pace, not normally the last few miles of a 10 mile training run.  But I’m glad to say I held up alright.

The whole time we ran, we were talking.  It was hard for me to get words out while breathing that hard, but I did manage to make a few complete sentences.  One cool thing is every other runner/walker we passed, he would yell out words of encouragement to them.  He did the same to me.  Saying stuff like, I was looking strong and relaxed.

When it came time for our paths to split off, he gave me some more encouragement – saying he was proud of me and that the pace was easy for me.  I thanked him, wished him luck on the rest of his run, and told him to keep up the good work.  Then he was off in a blur.

With Logan and Friends after a recent social run.

I’ve run with other elite runners before, but usually as part of a large social group, and at a casual slow pace – not one on one.  So this run was a fun and inspiring experience. It gave me some confidence knowing I can really pick up the pace at the end of a run.

I want to continue to become a better runner, and continue to get faster.  I’ve got some work to do, but hopefully sometime in the future I’ll be able to hang for more than just a couple miles.

What about you?  Have you ever run with a crazy fast person?  How’d did it go?  Would you find it inspiring or intimidating?

Saturday Long run, Sunday Trail Run

So this past holiday weekend I got up on Saturday for my long run.  No specific plan as Dopey Training doesn’t start until September, but I need to able to run 13 miles for the week 1 long run, so I got’s to be ready before then.  The last couple months my long runs have been kept to 8-9 miles.  Just keeping it in check but also keeping my endurance somewhat up.  So when I started the run I went ahead and decided to go double digits for the first time since April.  It was hot, but I got er done.  I have been able to run from park to park finding drinking fountains in most of them.  Not too bad.

Sunday was Runday.  I had some friends wanting to run trails.  Sounds good to me.  I like running trails.  I like the challenge, the difference, the variety, the mental focus, and the fun of it.  It looks like our Runday trail group might keep it up for a while as several of the newbies got bit by the trail bug (not a literal bug).  I’m sure our group will grow too.  We got up early and ran Arbor Hills.  After we got breakfast and swapped stories.  Not a bad start to the day!  And we only lost 3 people during the run (don’t worry, they were all found safe later on)!

It’s best to run in the back so the leaders are 1st to find snakes and spiderwebs.

Stopped when we realized a few peeps were missing.

We ended up going 5-6 miles.  Great cross training!  But after the run I went for more xtraining – yoga.  Wasn’t sure how my legs would hold up, but they did alright.  I can’t miss yoga during Dopey training.  The stretching, stabilizing, strengthening is so vital to running!

Anyways, took a day off and back at it today with an early run and an afternoon weightlifting session.  The journey continues!

Holla!