Awesome Run, Muddy Run & Birthday Fun!

First off, I want to thank everyone again for the birthday wishes. And yay, we finally got to celebrate it over the weekend with a bunch of friends and fams.

Some running buds. “Must be this tall to ride.”

But I’ll get to that…

…The weekend started with one of the best runs I have had in a long time. I woke up early to meet up with WRRC in Dallas. The weather was gorgeous. It was especially lovely as we ran by White Rock Lake.

This sunrise is the kind of stuff runners see every day. Almost makes up for the early alarm clock…almost.

The folks I joined up with said they were doing 10 miles at an 8:45 pace. “OK, sure.” I said. I’m not really training for anything specific, so just running for fun.

Buuut, one thing that WRRC group runs are famous for, is always running further/faster than planned. We ended up going closer to 11 miles at an 8:15 pace.

My GPS was off – hence the pace/distance discrepancy.

I felt really really good on this run. I think I could’ve gone all day long. I wish more runs were like that.

Afterwards, a few of us got breakfast tacos…Natch! I didn’t take a picture of the tacos (they got in my mouth hole too fast), but I did take a pic of a pic of a friend that I spotted on the wall.

Pic of my good friend…his name is Dean. Oh, and also there’s a pic of my pal, Sylvia (who just ran her first 13.1). BTW, how do I get on the Taco Wall of Fame?

The next morning I met more friends for a really muddy trail run. They also surprised me with some birthday presents…I didn’t take a pic, but trust me, they were Klassy.

Anyway, we went about 6 miles and had a few photo ops along the way.

Taking a break. Bummer that I forgot my giant headband.

A couple friends even camped out there the night before. They let us play with their toys.

We got so hammered.

Even though there were some really muddy patches that slowed us down, we eventually finished the run.

The park rangers didn’t like our shenanigans, so they put us in their tree jail.

After the run, guess what happened? Yeah, that’s right…

I had this thought as I was eating.

From there I had to get all cleaned up nice, cause it was finally time for the birthday party! We went to a runner/kid/dog friendly Texas patio bar. It was packed (like I said, gorgeous weather). Because of the crowd, most of us were spread out all over, but it was still great to see everyone!

I was really bad about taking pics – too busy with birthday bevvies socializing. But we did get a few.

That’s a small glass of water.

Ha, but I did take one photo with a friend who complained it was too “normal”. She wanted a more “Scottish pic”. OK, you asked for it.

I needed salt for the tequila.

So all in all it was a really good past few days. It wouldn’t be a bad life if every day you got to go on a run, eat some tacos, then sit on a patio with friends/fams, would it? Need to work on that.

How bout you? Ever have one of those runs where it just felt effortless? Any guesses what my trail runner friends gifted me? Is it patio weather where you are yet?

-Scott

A Pirate Looks at 40 ~ The Birthday Post

Yup, it’s my 40th birthday. Not sure how that happened. Seems like it was just the other day when I was a kid in a party store looking at all the “over-the-hill” gag items. I remember thinking that that was like a million years away. Haha, it’s a lot closer now.

Thoughts from this morning’s run. I only received a few complaints form neighbors.

I was reading an article recently about how people tend to make major life decisions as they approach the end of a decade. For example, they said as you reach the age of 30, 40, 50, etc. you have a higher rate of suicide, or signing up for a marathon.

Well, I’d kind of like to keep on livin. So I guess I’ll choose the running option. Even though I’ve run some marathons, I’d like to run more…only faster!

One of this week’s runs. It’s like an upsidedown deflating birthday party balloon.

And yes, my birthday does fall the day after St. Pats. Which sounds cool, but in reality everyone is too worn to want to do any more partying. That’s ok though, I can kind of combine them.

Limited edition Guinness in my personalized PirateBobcat pint glass.

We’ll be celebrating later, but I’m not exactly sure what the party plans are yet. But I do know this, I need a cake hat like the boy had at his birthday.

We’re just a group of mouth-breathers.

The good news is that I’m now in a new racing age group! Hopefully I can be competitive!

In addition, it was pointed out that my Boston Qualifying Standard is a little slower now! Woo hoo! Now I only need to run a 3:15 marathon! That means I just have to run my 10k pace for for 42k…….er, uh, wait. I guess I have some work to do!

You have to be fast as a bearded unicorn to qualify.

I’ll leave you now with this. It’s some lyrics from the song that’s been stuck in my head all week:

Yes, I am a pirate two hundred years too late
Cannons don’t thunder there’s nothin’ to plunder
I’m an over forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

-Jimmy Buffett from “A Pirate Looks at 40”

How bout you? Any milestone birthdays coming up/just passed? Did you get me anything? Ever run in your birthday suit on your birthday?

-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

Blog Birthday, Fly Fight, Drew Carey & Tacos

Hey kids, guess what? I just noticed that a few posts ago I wrote my 300th blog entry here. Now I’m at like 306 or something. So that’s good I guess. I just wonder where I’d be at if I didn’t ever take my “break”.

What had happened was that when I started training for my first marathon in 2007, I got bombarded with the same question every day, “How’s your training going?” I decided it’d just be easier to write a blog about it so people could follow along. And so I did…for a few years. But then I had a minor freak out about personal thoughts on the net and deleted the entire thing. All of it gone.

Fast forward a couple years and I got back in the game. It’s been fun. I hope to keep it going. So happy birthday Blog…here’s a cake.

My friend’s “Walmart Cake” I love this. So much.

I was just telling Amy over at Fitness Meets Frosting about that cake, and now she knows I wasn’t making it up!

Anyway, this morning I was on my run and came along the path where I saw the nude photo shoot a few weeks back.

There were no budding artists this time, but there was a horsefly. This thing followed me for a good quarter mile and kept nipping at my head. I got pretty frustrated and started yelling at it.

“Seriously dude?!?”

“Come on man, knock it off!”

And finally, “That’s it, you want to come at me bro?!?” I stopped running and turned to fight it.

After a few seconds of flapping my arms about in a manly way, I finally scared it off. I also scared something else. I didn’t realize that behind me was some dude jogging. He had turned the corner to see me swatting at the air and yelling at an invisible foe. He looked at me sideways as he ran past.

Oh well, what ya gonna do?

In other news, Jason over at Must Love Jogs keeps mentioning that he doubts my claims of having met Drew Carey before. Well here’s your proof. (It’s before he lost all the weight.)

Just a couple Ohio boys hanging out at a soccer match in Texas. Good thing I had my fake Drew Carey glasses handy.

I actually saw him another time at the Disney Marathon (yes, he’s a runner too!). But he was injured and couldn’t run, so instead he was cheering for everyone and high fiving. Pretty cool guy.

And finally, I’ve eaten at like 5 different taco joints this week. Here’s a pic of my favorite.

Oh yes. eggs, avocados, spicy things and more!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

How bout you? Anyone else want to question any of my former claims? Ever fight with an insect on a run? Ever get a “Walmart Cake”?

-Scott

Post-Run Birthday Boot Camp & Speed Humping

It’s been another crazy few days. Let me start covering it with today’s post on Saturday morning.

First off, I got up somewhat early to run. The humidity was redonk. Like 95%. Plus it was windy and hot. I had planned on going 8-10. I made it to 7…barely.

After the run, it was time for a birthday party. That sounds fun….but it wasn’t.

It was the birthday day of one of the folks I run/workout with on occasion. So what did she want to do…Party? Brunch? Party brunch? Nah, she wanted to lead everyone in a boot camp session. Sheesh.

I know we’re supposed to be in plank, but I’m doing the more advanced version where you put your knees down for a bit.

About 10 minutes after my run, there we were dragging tires, throwing medicine balls, squatting, planking, burpeeing, pushing up…Oh, and  we did a sort of plank/push-up workout thing called ‘Sally’. I don’t know who Sally is, but I now hate her.

Can you spot me doing core work?  Afterwards they had Lululemon cookies.

I did get to thinking (during the exhausting workout) that I’m glad these are the kinds of people that I count as my friends now-a-days. People who want to kick off their birthday with a run, yoga, boot camp, etc. I like that. Sure, we may still celebrate with some margaritas later, but first we’re going to get our sweat on.

Anyway, after the sweatfest, I saw a sign…literally. I saw a road sign that NEEDED a video. So we made one. Below is that video:

How bout you?  Do your friends celebrate their birthdays with a workout?  Do you know Sally?  Have you ever seen such a literal road sign?

-Scott

Blogger Shout Out

Just a quick post to send a shout out to Amy over at FitnessMeetsFrosting. Last week I mentioned here that it was my birthday week. She promptly emailed me and asked for my mailing address. At first I was worried that she wanted it for stalking purposes, and I spent several days looking out the blinds for someone hiding in the neighbor’s bushes with binoculars focused on the bedroom window. But to my relief, that didn’t happen (yet)!

Instead, what I got was a birthday present! Frosted Lady sent me some Rocktape!!!

I have the exact same running form as the gal on the box.

This was thoughtful because she knows I’m a runner/exerciser. And she knows I’ve had a couple knee related injuries recently. So that’s a cool gift.

I’ve never met the Fit Meeter in person. We haven’t spoken on the phone or via skype. But we are blog-friends (and Twitter & Instagram buddies), and it was really cool of her to do this. So thank you Amy, you totally “Rock”! (get it…rock, Rocktape…I’m so clever)

How bout you? Has a virtual friend ever sent you anything? Last thoughtful gift you got? Why didn’t anyone else get me anything?!?! (KIDDING!)

Birthday Runs & Tacos Addiction

The day after St. Patrick’s Day is my berfday.  Always has been.  Which is kind of bitter sweet.  Sweet in the fact that it’s so close to one of the biggest parties of the year.  Bitter because the day after St. Pat’s, not too many people want to party (many are hungover).  But I can’t do nuthin about it, so I try to make the best of it!

I celebrated with a Guinness in my personalized glass, along with the 4 leaf clover plant my wife got me!

Bring me luck!  #please #luckyclover #andluckyguinness

I seem to always go for a run on my bday and that didn’t change this year.  And to keep the birthday week going, I did another run today.

And look out competitors in my age group – I did hill repeats for the first time this season.  Hill repeats are basically the beginning of speed work, and soon I’ll be moving back to the track.  #Yeehaw!

Other than that, I’ve been taking full advantage of birthday meals this week.  So far I’ve had three taco meals.  I took a photo of two of em.  (I scarfed down the third before I could snap a pic.)

That’s an Independent and a Dirty Sanchez from Torchy’s Tacos. #Honestly #that’stheirnames #veggietoo

Mahi Mahi was so Goodi Goodi. #Iknowit’samahisteak #youputthepartsinsoftcorntortillas #tomakeataco

I still have a few days left in my birthday week, and I have some more stuff planned.  #willkeepyouposted

How bout you?  Anyone doing hill and/or track work?  What’s your birthday meal?  Am I using hashtags correctly?  Anyone want to celebrate with me the day After St. Patty’s Day next year? #i’llbeyourfriend