15k PR, Hipster Tacos/Coffee & Ready for Chi-Town!

OK kids, it’s almost time. Just a few days to Chicago Marathon Day!!! I’m feeling pretty good heading into it, mainly because we had a good pre race test over the weekend. The DRC Loop 15k. 

Some scenes from the day. Yes, I had bib issues.

This was a 9.3 mile loop of White Rock Lake. I wanted to work on my pacing in preparation for Chicago. And boy did I. I ended up setting a PR!

1:09:26, 7:28 per mile, 6th AG*, 47th OA

*Yes, there were some fast people at that race.

What had happened.

This gave me confidence. It’s nice to run a PR a week before your marathon.Not only that, but my training partner also PR’d and even placed in her age group. It shows the work we’ve been doing is paying off. Hopefully that means good things for Chicago. <fingers crossed>

Anywhoodle, afterwards we got breakfast at a hipster taco/coffee shop. Now I don’t drink coffee, but my friend does, so here’s what it looked like from her end:

Some people heart coffee, I heart tacos.

So there it is, kids. Short and sweet. Sorry if you wanted more detail, but I’m too focused on where I’m going this weekend to keep living in the past. 😉

How bout you? Ever have hipster tacos/coffee? Ever race the week before your goal race? Any bib attaching advice?

-Scott

A 22 Mile Half Marathon, Freezing Texas & It’s Chicago Marathon Week (Eeek)!!

Sup beaches? Keepin it real, or really keepin it? Good, I hope you’re well.

Things my way have been 2 fast 2 furious – and not in a street car racing kind of way. Life, ya know? But here’s the thang – It’s Chicago Marathon Week!!!! I cannot believe it’s finally here. It seemed so far away when I first registurd. Breathe Scotty, breathe.

OK, I had all these blog posts planned, but I just haven’t had the time. So let me catch you up now…….We had our last 20+ miler the other week ~ 22 to be exact.

Is that gal in the red headband checking me out? She thirsty!

Yes, I ran 9 miles…then a half marathon. That’s how that worked. This was a hot and humid day in North Texas. Wasn’t the prettiest run, but got it dun with the help of my run partner (the open mouthed gal) and my friends along the course.

Normally they’re just full of hot air.

Between the 13.1 and the 5k I placed in the day before, I came away with a pretty nice lil haul for the weekend.

Two medals, one trophy. Better than two girls, one cup…Or one guy, one jar.

But since that day, the Mountain Dew Point has fina-freakin-ly broke!!!!! We’ve had almost fall like weather. It’s been Glorious!

Needed to warm up with jalapeno soup!

My legs feel like they have a spring in their steps. I just can’t say enough about how happy I am for this weather after such a rough Texas blistering summer.

Sun, I eat you.

It’s been good, cause we haven’t had much of a taper – still running 40-50 miles per week per the training plan. Somehow though, I’m ok with that. Just enjoying the freedom of the runs.

Hoping I get patriotic winged feet by race day.

I really hope this weather is a preview of what we’ll currentview when we get to Chi-town.

Mouth open – it’s so nice to finally be able to breath!!! No soup-like air for you!

I do have some confidence going in to this marathon. I feel way more prepared than I ever have for a race. 26.2 is never easy, but I know the work we put in all summer will pay off when we get to that start line.

Oh, and speaking of which, look what came in the mail…

Sorry for the language – I work blue on Snapchat.

Woo to the hoo. We do this. Almost there, baby doll.

How bout you? Ever run a 9 mile warm up for a race? Anyone I should look for in Chicago? Can you dig it?

PS – Come back tomorrow, I have some more good updates to share!!! And yes, I will get to responding to your comments. Soon, I pinky swear!

-Scott

Runners – Be SAFE! I’m Not Kitten Around!

Chicago Marathon training is going swimmingly runningly! In the midst of a 55 mile week, with a 20 miler long run this weekend. Things have been going almost purrfectly…almost…..

You guys, you gotta be careful out there…Or should I say “Be catful”? The other day at the TNSR Social Run, things got a little hair-bally…

I couldn’t remember if you’re supposed to play dead, or flail your limbs like a fool when a giant cat is stalking you.

As runners, we all know that you always have to be smart – know your surroundings, watch your back, run with others, carry pepper spray, etc….But this day I completely forgot to bring along my catnip. And it didn’t help much to fake a catnap…

Nope, playing dead doesn’t work either.

If you feel really threatened on a run, it’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for a hiding place. I thought the lake would be good, but unfortunately some of these gi-cats were amphibious…

Luckily a couple run buds pulled me from ole crazy eyes there.

When all else fails, it’s best to have at least one person around that you can run faster than so they can be the fall guy…it’s all about self preservation at this point.

Oh snap! I’m in the back of the pack! That’s trouble cause just like with humans, the cute ones are the most dangerous.

One thing I always do when I feel threatened is to face the threatener. Be less of a passive target that way…

Come on, Kitty! Put up your paws! Let throw down like Bobby Flay!

More often than not doe, being calm and level headed can go a long way in deflating a dicey situation. That’s what helped us patch things up with our kitty kitty meow meow head friends…

I still don’t trust ole yellow eyes back there.

In the end, errbody was safe and feline fine!

And I hope all of y’all are being safe out there…and if you’re not, then start right MEOW!

How bout yous? Any safe running tips? Did I miss any cat puns? Have you heard of any radiation laced mice that these cats might be eating?

PS. Once again I gotta thank @sojomy for the pictures – he’s always there to capture the moment! Big shout out! That’s him taming the tabby…

Yeeehaww

And if y’all are ever in North Texas on a Thursday evening, you gotta come to TNSR…fo real doe! To see the rest of the pics, check out the TNSR Facebook Page and give it a Like.

Running Santa, Hipster Tacos & Purple Time!

Chicago Marathon training is in full swingers beasty mode. Been a good week of running. Let’s go backwards, shall we?

Sunday – I had a race, but I’ll save that recap for the next post. So let’s go to Saturday. This was the long run of the week.12 sweaty sweaty miles.

Texas roads don’t look normally like that – It’s a weird route because it was around a lake.

The plan for this run was to do a 9 mile loop of the lake, followed by a 5k race to make an evenish 12. Well part I of the plan went ok, part II did not. I had failed to pre-register for the race, and by the time I got there they had run out of bibs. So no dice, Detroit!

So mad that I had to partially strangle my running booze.

No worries – Went ahead and ran the final 3 miles along the race course so I could cheer for friends. And yay! Some of them won age group awards!

Tory y Juash. A tale of two pairs of shorts.

Serene got her medal, but her real reward is that I let her run with me sometimes.

Afterwards we met up with a bunch of other runner friends to get wasted on tacos! Woot woooot!

It’s ok to wear blue shades there, it’s a hipster taco joint. Fo realz – everyone in there is either in short running shorts or purple skinny jeans.

Moving on…or uh, further backwards….The weekday runs were also on point. The highlight being the Thursday Night Social Run.

Click image to enlarge and see all the totally not photoshopped action going on here. Really – Some of my friends just have weird proportions and don’t cast shadows.

This run took us past yet another group of longhorn statues. Not sure why we need so many of them here, but whatevs.

We were looking at something udderly amazing. Honest, I wouldn’t steer you wrong! Thank you, I’ll be here all week!

It was also like runner Christmas in July at my house cause a gift magically appeared this week…My ALZ Stars tech tank!

Thanks, Running Santa!

As you may know, I’m running Chi-town this fall on behalf of an Alzheimer’s charity. I’m so proud to represent the purple! If you would like to donate to the cause, you can find info HERE. And to those who have already donated, I know it’s slow going, but I promise to get your thank you prizes soon!!! #BoomShakaLaka!

On to more run-fun!

How bout yous guys? Do you believe in Running Santa? Ever have a hipster taco? Isn’t it unbullieveable how many longhorn statues are ’round here?

PS. Come back in a day or so for rest of the weekend’s recap!!!

Bloomin’ 4-Mile Race Recap – I Almost Puked, But Then Ate Tater Tacos

The Bloomin’ 4-Mile was a tough race. Mainly because it was so so hot. Hot and humid. Sun a-blazin! I really struggled (as did we all), but was able to push through for a new PR*!

*This was my first 4 mile race, so automatic PR anyway.

The race was at White Rock Lake in Dallas. I always love running there. I had a couple friends also going down from the burbs, so we carpooled together.

Hamming it up for the race photographer in a field of wildflowers.

This was part of the Dallas Running Club’s race series. It’s a pretty sweet deal – $30 for a year membership to the club and you get to run 8 races for free!!!

Before the race with my run buds…and a photobombing tree.

The course was a 2 mile out and back. I run around this lake often, so I knew what was coming – a nice little hill for us to climb once on the way out, and once on the way back. The second one especially hurt.

The red (slow) part near the turn around was the hill.

It was really hot, you guys. I really wanted to stop and take a puke walk break, but I pushed on. Thankfully I did, cause it meant I was done sooner. I was pleasantly surprised at my results, considering how I felt during the race.

Never so happy to see a finish line.

Official Results:

29:01, 7:15 per mile, 5th in Age Group, 41/440 Overall

And while I missed out on a medal, some of my friends managed to place. Big ups to them!!!

Someone in this pic got a medal, someone else missed getting one by 4 seconds. That’s gotta hurt.

Another advantage of running around WRL are the nearby craft taco joints. They are a must after a run! Run, eat tacos, watch friends play on their phones, repeat.

So all in all, a painful, but successful day!

How bout you? Ever run a 4 mile race? Any hot races lately? Ever had mashed taters in your tacos?

-Scott

I Finally Mastered Yoga & Ran Hilly Miles & Ate Tacos

Nuther krazy weekend, kids…But good news, I finally mastered yoga!!! After yesterday’s hilly 7 mile run, my elf friend and I totally nailed chair and tree poses.

We finally found the Keebler tree.

The day before that, I had woked up early for a long run. This time the WRRC and DRC teamed up at White Rock Lake in Dallas. I ended up running 13 really HILLY miles in the neighborhoods East of the lake.

Yes Virginia, Dallas hills are real.

After those two days of hilly runs, (plus the previous 4 days of runs), my legs were feelin it. I had to help them recover by eating many many tacos. My fave of the weekend was from a farm to taco joint called Good to Go Taco.

Local chorizo and mashed taters in a taco? Yes, they went there. And the,y in turn went to my belly.

And some more good news – we got a warm front this weekend, so we had a very nice 75 degree day. We took advantage with a patio brunch and attending a big Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

All in all a pretty good lil weekend. And there’s more! I got some big news over the weekend, but you’ll have to wait for that. Stay tuned!

How bout you? Have a good weekend? Have you mastered yoga yet? Who wants tacos (besides our friend over at Walk to Rio 2016) who was taunting me on Instagram over the weekend with his Mexico City tacos)?

-Scott

The Loop 15k preview – Running with Ebola

So there is a race I’m supposed to run this weekend. It’s in Dallas. Where the Ebola stuff is going on. They say we’re safe. I believe them. But, I’ve been sick all week with a cold. At least I THINK it’s a cold!!!!

Should I be worried?

I tried to continue with my workouts all week, but on my run yesterday, I felt like doo doo. Besides my Ebola sniffles, it was also flippin hot, wildly windy, and freakin Humid with a capital H. Left me nice and shweaty.

My sweat leaves marks.

Buuut we had a massive storm blow through last night, and that has brought us some relief. And so the thought of running a race in somewhat tolerable conditions is very tempting.

Also, I ate some pho last night (pho realz, I did). And I slept-in instead of running this morning. So I hope that helps me feel more better. Well, at least as well as I can feel…

I hope to get rid of the chip on my shoulder.

I ran this race last year and did ok. But it was muuuch more hotter than it’s supposed to be this year. But two, I was healthy last year. Well, at least as healthy as I can appear…

Say ahhhhhh!

So here’s hopin I feel well enough to race this weekend!

How bout you? Do you run if you’re under the weather? Do you run whether the weather? Can you diagnose my illness?

-Scott