The 3rd Annual TNSR Beer Mile – Race Preview

Tonight I get to run a race! It’s the 3^rd Annual Thursday Night Social Run Beer Mile.  This is an unofficial race. It’s not a sanctioned event, but then again, how many Beer Miles are?

I ran this race last year (it was my first ever Beer Mile) and I was fortunate enough to finish in 2^nd place!  You can read my recap of that race HERE.

A trophy, yay!

Oh wait, I forgot to explain what a Beer Mile is. Here’s the breakdown:

1. The clock starts.
2. Everyone drinks a 12 oz beer as fast as they can (it is a race afterall).
3. Run ¼ mile lap as fast as you can.
4. Repeat until you finish four laps/beers.

Last year I finished the Beer Mile in 9:49.  Being that this is a race, I hope to do well and try for a PR.  I’m hoping the experience from last year’s race will help me.  I know not to go out too fast, as pretty much everyone last year who did crashed by the 2^nd lap.  Kind of like a normal race, huh?

~~~Run with your head the first half, run with your heart the second half~~~

Hopefully the track work I’ve been doing will translate to the Beer Mile!

That said, I’m still planning on just having fun with it.  I remember it wasn’t the most pleasant race I’ve ever run, what with all that brew sloshing around in my tummy.  But it should be a blast anyway!  Stay tuned for the recap!

Questions:  Have you ever run a Beer Mile?  Any strategy tips?  Any other advice?

-Scott

PS – Congrats to the USA advancing today in the World Cup!!!!  We got out of the “Group of Death” and we’re on to the knockout stage! I hope we knock someone out! #ibelievethatwewillwin

Toddler Time, Forced Yoga, & USA World Cup

(subtitle: Part III of why I’ve been MIA)

After another week of running, lifting, yoga-ing…plus an added 2.5 Jimmy Buffett concerts, I was spent.  Exhausted.  And when I awoke – I heard rain.  Hard rain.  It would’ve been perfect to stay in bed or on the couch all day, but that’s something that just doesn’t happen to people with toddlers…Or to folks who must exercise.

The lil monsters in a rare calm mood.

I woke up later than normal (thank you, kids for sleeping in).  I looked at the clock and realized yoga practice was less than an hour away.  I had a decision to make.  On one side there was the tiredness and rain, on the other side…this – I took a step and felt the slightest twinge in the outside of my left knee.  It reminded me of the years long struggles I had against IT Band Syndrome.  I knew I never want to go through that again, and I know yoga is one reason I was able to fight it off.              I went to practice.

Please instructor, can we do child’s pose the entire time.

The class was tough – not what I was hoping for the day after a Buffett concert.  But looking back, I’m glad it was.  That’s why we go – to challenge ourselves.

Afterwards it was a mad dash to get a bunch of errands and chores done before the USA vs POR World Cup Match.  I met a bunch of (mostly running) friends at a local pub.

A part of our World Cup viewing group. The infamous Pepsi even made an appearance (yes, that’s her real name).

If you watched the match, you know what an emotional roller coaster it was.  Disbelief, tears of joy, then gasps of disbelief.  That said, it was fun.  That’s why we watch sports.  And in the end, the good ole’ US of A is in a great spot to advance to the next round.  But it is sports, so we have to wait until their match against Germany!  #Ibelievethatwewillwin

So there’s that.  Plus the previous days of epic craziness (If you missed them, you can read Part I HERE, and Part II HERE), plus life, plus work, plus everything = Scott’s been out of pocket.

Anyways, hoping to get back in a routine and catch up with everything, but we’ll see what life brings!

How bout you?  Ever go to yoga (or any workout) when you (and the universe) said not to?  Where and with whom did you watch the US/Por match?  Do you believe?

-Scott

Running Stare Down & USA Wins the World Cup*

*I know it was only their first match of the tournament that they won, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to write that for realz!?! A boy can dream, can’t he?

Anyway, to watch the match I met up with my dad and elusive bro at a local pub.  This was the scene when they scored the winning goal…

I love how soccer has become so popular in the States recently.  I wish when I was a kid that they had a pro league and showed Euro Leagues and World Cup matches on TV.  Oh well, I’m enjoying it now!

Still on the winning high, I got up this morning for my run.  Despite only getting a few hours sleep due to a certain 2 year old waking up at 4am, I still had a pretty good run.  That is until I was going through ‘my’ park and I saw two German Shepherds hauling arse across the field.  I stopped in my tracks not wanting them to chase me.  I didn’t see any owners.  Then I thought maybe I saw them wrong, maybe they are coyotes.  Time to assess the situation.  But then I saw the owners…

A male and female couple.  They came around the corner.  They were throwing balls for the dogs to chase.  Clearly violating the leash law.  I gave them a stare down to let them know it was not cool that they were interrupting my run.  I still wasn’t moving because I didn’t know if the dogs wouldn’t come after me.  I kept staring until they finally waved at me.  I did not wave back.  I know, rude much.  But they were rude for not having their dogs on a leash when there’s runners and kids around.  I waited till the dogs were going in the opposite direction and continued on my way.

I’m glad to report I made it home safely.  Crisis adverted.  You can breath easy now.

How bout you?  Did you see the US victory in their opening match?  Give anyone a stare down lately?  How many bar flies did I catch in my mouth?

-Scott

 

 

Pneumonia, World Cup, & Don’t Eat Curry B4 a Run

I mentioned in my last post how jazzed I am for the World Cup to have started.  I am a soccer/football fanatic and this is the best time of the every four years.  But as this tournament started, I reminisced about the last one four years ago.  It was a Heaven & Hell sort of situation.  Heaven because I got to watch pretty much every single match.  Hell because I had gotten pneumonia (hence the reason I got to watch every match – I was near death on the couch).

Now while I’m happy about getting so see so much football, I gotta say, do NOT get pneumonia if you can help it.  It is an AWFUL experience.  But enough about that.

Not the World Cup trophy, but my rec league 2nd place finish last year is pretty good too, right?  Right???

Other than that, it’s been a pretty good week.  Well, except for my run yesterday.  Here’s the dillyo.  I was going to run in the evening with my usual group, but the weather dudes predicted rain, hail, and end of days (BTW it never even sprinkled a little).  So I decided to sneak one in mid afternoon…in 90% humidity…after I ate my homemade curry…didn’t end well.  Haha, please learn a lesson from my mistake.  Don’t do what I did.

It’s all good though, I gotter done.  And that night I was able to finish the week off with a doggy walk slash kiddy bike ride.

He’s constantly turning around to tell me some ‘amazing’ revelation. Keep your eyes on the road kid!

Hope y’all had a good week and will have a great weekend!  I know mine will be full of soccer!!!!

You watchin the World Cup?  You play any other sports?  You ever eat curry before a workout (I hope not)? 

-Scott

Anyway, I

Heat Blows and Happy World Cup Day!

First off, I am pumped!  Today is the first day of the World Cup!  Even though I am passionate about running, soccer will always be my first love.  Can’t wait to watch the beautiful game!  Happy World Cup Day everyone!  Go USA!

Bend it like Evans. I can beat you with one arm tied behind my back.

OK, now on to the heat.  I used to like the weather heat, but then I got into running and now I prefer it to be less heaty.  It’s turning into summer here in Texas and that means super heat. Serious heat.  It doesn’t go away over night, but at least the sun isn’t beating on us, so that’s when I have to run – before the sun comes up.  It’s fine, I’ve made my peace with it.

The Texas sun is not forgiving.

There’s another kind of Heat that I’m not a big fan of – The Miami Heat.  They are an NBA basketball team and they are in the finals right now.  And my blogging buddy Helly doesn’t like them either so we decided to write about it – read hers here. 

First, I must offer my apologies to the Running Schlub.  I know he’s a fan of the Heat, so I’m sorry about this, but lemme splain.

#1 – The current Heat roster took form when free agents Lebron and Bosh decided to join Wade to for a super group.  To me, that was the coward way out.  Instead of working hard like every other NBA player to make it to the promise land, they just got a bunch of all-stars to team up.  To give you some perspective, they asked former great players like Michael Jordan if he would’ve ever joined a team of superstars so they could beat up on the rest of the league – he said, Hells no!  He wanted to beat the best in the league.  He wanted to beat Bird, Magic, etc.  He didn’t want to team up with them for an easy way out.

#2 – They show a lack of respect.  From their first circus like press conference announcing the new superstars.  To Lebron changed his number from 23 to 6 because he said he had too much respect for Jordan.  So does that mean he doesn’t respect Dr J?  And when they barely won the championship last year, they said it was the hardest finals they ever played in.  Um what?  What about the one you LOST to my Dallas Mavericks???  Speaking of which, Wade and Lebron made fun of Dirk Nowitzki when he was sick, but still played in the finals.  Really?  Then when Lebron gets sick he tells everyone how hard he’s fighting through the illness to be able to play.  Really?

#3 – Their fans.  I’m not talking about the hardcore legit fans.  I’m talking about most of them who are bandwagon and obnoxious.

#4 – Who gets a tattoo that says ‘Chosen One”?  Really?

#5 – I was born and raised in Ohio – if you know anything about Lebron, then you know how despised he is now in his/my home state.

Ha, I know Helly and I could go on about this, but I’ll stop it there.  That all said though, I do respect some of their players and I do understand Lebron is a beast.  He’s a dominant player no matter what you think of him. But it doesn’t mean I can’t root against him. 😉  They are playing the Spurs, who are Maverick rivals, but I’m pulling for them anyways.  Go Spurs Go!

I’m just glad my Mavericks were able to beat them in the finals a couple years ago.  Yes, we slayed the giants!

My old school Mavericks jersey. Taken right after they won the title!

Funny story, after the Mavericks won, the governor of Ohio made a proclamation naming the Dallas Mavericks Honorary Ohioans.  Hahahaha!

Anyways, there ya go.  Sorry about the rant.  Helly and I were joking about it on Twitter and decided pull the trigger on these posts.

How bout you?  Excited about the World Cup?  Got any opinions about the Heat?  What time do you get up to run?  What’s your favorite pro sports team?

-Scott

PS – In case you’re wondering, I became a Dallas Mavericks fan while I still lived in Ohio.  They drafted a player from Ohio and that’s when I started following them.  It’s a coincidence that I ended up moving here.