Rain Runnin & a Snowshark!

As I promised the other day, I am not going to miss another run due to the winter weather. I was going stir crazy when illness/iceness forced me off the roads. So yes, I ran every day this week…I just had to make some adjustments.

Luckily, we had some warmer weather that melted all the ice/snow. So I has happy to get back to my typical sunrise run routine. Even if it meant running in the cold rain.

As I was swatting the rain that was stinging my face, it occurred to me how sexy I was probably looking.

But then guess what happened. Yup, another cold front came through and froze all the rain. And then dumped a bunch of snow on top of it. Luckily tho, the sun came out and would melt enough in the afternoons for me to run…before it refroze overnights. So I had to adjust my normal sunrise runs to mid afternoon runs. Felt weird, but I got it done.

The best part of running in daylight was seeing all the snowmen in the neighborhood. One, in particular caught my attention. I promptly ran home to get the kiddos to see it.

I didn’t even tell him to pose, he just gets it!

She was scared at first, but warmed up to the killer snowshark.

Felt good to shake out the legs this week. On to more!

How bout you? Seen any snowsharks? Are you able to run outside yet? How foxy am I in that photo?!?!

-Scott

Snow Won’t Let Me Run…Me Hate Snow!

I just ain’t been myself lately. Last week I was sick and  so I had to miss some runs. This past week the weather really went south and so I had to miss some runs. Needless to say, I wasn’t jumping with joy.

Before I go further, you should know that I grew up in Ohio. So I’ve had my fill of cold yucky snowy winters. Been there, run that…

One time in high school the newspaper photog caught our track team training in the ever-present cold (I’m the one with the bandana face)

Now I wasn’t completely all humbug about it, mind you. In fact, we did take the opportunity to teach the kids how to make snowballs and snowangels.

Any time you can add violence to an activity, the boy will like it.

She looks about as thrilled as I was.

But after the novelty wore off (about 45 minutes), the kids were over the cold wet stuff as much as I was. But that didn’t make it go away. Nope, freezing temps kept the roads icy. I can’t run on ice. It was so bad, that they had to cancel a big race over the weekend…kind of. The Cowtown 5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2, & Ultra was scheduled to go down, but they had to cancel all but the 13.1 due to icy roads. Bummer.

Yuck.

I did however, make it to yoga class. I was one of a handful who braved the elements. I saw a running friend in class, and we talked about how we both felt ill from not being able to run. I get it ~ if you are used to doing something every day, and then suddenly stop for a couple weeks, you’re going to feel off.

I feel like I’m about to go cray cray. I’m not missing another day. I don’t care what’s out there, I’m hitting the roads.

In the mean time, I’ve been comforting myself the best way I know how. With tacos…

Vegetarian tacos will warm me up.

We do what we gotta do, right?

How bout you? Weather, illness, etc. affect your workouts lately? Love or Hate the snow/cold? Who else is thankful for tacos in desperate times like these?

-Scott

Hit the Running Reset Button & Blogiversary

I feel like I’m a sleepy bear that’s been hibernating in a manly cave the past week or so. For the first time since I “Nancy Kerriganed” my own knee a year ago, I’ve missed a few workouts. There’s a couple reasons for this.

1. We got iced. This happens about once a year in North Texas. We never seem to get snow days, but rather ice days. No joke, there’s like an inch of ice on the ground right now. It blows. Though the kids don’t seem to mind getting a few days off school.

A rare opportunity to play outdoor Texas hockey.

I know the pictures look like snow, but trust me, that is solid ice. Muy dangerous. I’ll run in the dark, past skunks, over the hills and through the woods, but I won’t run when there’s ice around.

Why won’t this white stuff make a snowman?

2. I have been sick now for over a week…I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks. I did go on one run since I’ve taken ill and it wasn’t a good idea. Muy lightheaded, batman.

So between the ice and the illness, I decided to Shut.It.Down.

As much as I wanted to join my friends for a long run, go to yoga, run trails, hit the gym, etc. I decided to take a mini-break to get better and let the weather get better. Sometimes you just gotta do that.

Since I shut it down, I’ve gotten a ton of sleep. My nagging runner aches and pains have faded. I cleaned out the DVR. And any sense of burnout is gone – Since I haven’t run for a week, I am so friggin itchy to get back out there!!! Here’s hopin’ the ice melts so papa can hit the pavement!

Other than that, WordPress says I had my 6 year blogiversary!

6 Years

So yay for us!

How bout you? Ever shut it down? Anyone else sick? Do you think we’ll survive #Icepocalypse2k15?

-Scott

Tip: Don’t Run in Hail Storms

So we had some freaky storms yesterday in North Texas.  I knew they were coming, so I went for my run just before they arrived.  Man, I’m glad I did.  Others weren’t so lucky.

First off, my pre-storm run was incredibly humid and windy and hot.  I was a sweaty mess.  But then the storm came.  The temps dropped, the winds increased, and hail fell from the sky.  We were also under a tornado watch.  In fact, this photo was taken at the minor league baseball game about 3 miles from our house.

The game was called on account of twister.

What was really crazy though was the hail.  They were mostly golf ball size.  Some smaller, some bigger.  I would’ve taken a video, but I was too busy running around the house making sure no windows were getting broken.  I also didn’t take a photo of any of it.  But luckily the next morning, some was still outside.

Real hail has such interesting shapes.

As I was examining our windows, I saw a truck pull into the school down the street.  Why?  Apparently a lady was walking her dog when she got caught in the storm and was trying to take shelter next to the building.  She called the truck driver to rescue them.  I cannot begin to imagine how bad that would’ve hurt – getting pelted with ice balls falling from the sky.  She was probably all like, “What the hail!?!?”

Other than that, it was a good week of workouts.  Sun – Trail Run & Yoga Class, Tues – Run, Wed – Weights & Track Workout, Thurs – Run & Hail Storm

Have any hail horror stories?  Ever been on a run and got caught in a storm? (I did once – a thunderstorm out of nowhere – had to take shelter under a park awning.)  Anyone else have any real hail photos?

PS – Don’t forget your daily vote for my video “C”!!!  Only a few days left to vote for “C”: http://www.heb.com/page/offers-contests/earth-day-video-contest

-Scott

Generic Title: Year in Review

Last day of 2013.  I got one last run and weight session in.  It gave me time to think about the past year.  Here’s what had happened…

It started by running the 20th Anniversary of the Disney Marathon in Orlando…

Medals dang near big as yo head!

As part of that, the boy ran the Kid’s Race and won his heat!

I can’t believe he has better form than I do. He also has better race photos.

I also kept my streak alive of being undefeated against celebrities in races.  You can read about the others HERE, but this time I beat Joey Fatone….

It’s the guy from that boy band – I think it’s named – My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Explored the Orlando Theme Parks with…

Moms, Pops, Boy.

Celebrated the boy’s birthday at a fire station (his choice)…

Unfortunately, the did not serve us chili.

I then ran the Too Cold to Hold 5 miler.  You can see the recap HERE – A bunch of friends joined me…

We should’ve ordered brighter shirts for TNSR.

I ran the Dallas Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon.  You can see the recap HERE…

I know it looks like Brooks threw up on me, but don’t care cause it was cold! I needed more of that tin foil stuff to wrap me up like a baked potato.

I then got to produce a bunch more videos with the hilarious Flula…

Like our dope videos or we will fight you…in a non violent way.

I got to celebrate my birthday and St. Patty’s Day in a special way, which you can see HERE…

I’d be a giant in leprechaun village.

Then I won my age group in a very special 5k that you can see the recap HERE…

I’ll treasure this one fo shizzle.

I then got to meet up with my sis and sis from another miss in Raleigh, NC…

With my sis and sis from another miss.

After a few days of fun, we were off to the Outer Banks to run the Flying Pirate Half Marathon, which you can read my recap about HERE…

My sis and I after a recent 1/2 marathon in OBX, NC.

We had a bit of fun exploring the site of the Wright Bros first flight…

Gotcha!

And celebrated on the beach…

Here’s your typical beach photo of legs and feet.

Unfortunately, the next day was the bombing of the Boston Marathon.  I wrote my thoughts on it HERE, which I got a huge response from.  Apparently I wrote what others were feeling.

At Fenway Pahk watchin tha Red Sahx play the wicked Yankees a few years ago.

I then ran another 5k, you can read about it HERE…

Takin it to da bridge!

Then my soccer team finished in second place after losing in a shoot-out after double overtime…

No smiles for second place.

I continued running with Thursday Night Social Run...

We run. We socialize. It’s cool.

I ran another 5k, recap HERE…

Posing with a patriotic trash can.

I re-incorporated trail running into my repertoire…

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

Got to play a ninja in a music video…

In between takes with some “Felvis” dancers (female Elvis).

I then ran in an unofficial 4×1 mile relay race, recap HERE…

At the Relay Race – We’re both rockin the Pure Flow 2 by Brooks.

I then ran my first Beer Mile race (4x 1/4 mile + 1 beer at each).  I finished 2nd overall.  Recap HERE…

A trophy, yay!

I became a part of a new run training group – Project Run 214…

Bright and early!

Got to see Mumford and Sons with family and friends…

Went to the local Oktoberfest so that I could drink free beer cheer my friends running the 5k…

My friend wore lederhosen during the race, so we decided to celebrate.

Enrolled the boy in his first hockey class…

He looks serious!

Went to the coast of Texas to teach a class on TV production and collect some awards…

Boats on the water.

I ran my first 15k race.  Recap HERE…

Say ahhhhhh!

Tested out a new mode of transportation…

Howdy pardner. You like my ride?

Went trick or treating with the rug rats…

I’m a ginja (ginger ninja).

Do not cross him.

Cowgirls are udderly cute.

I then went to the Alamo to look for my bike…

Alamo selfie!

Won two more Emmy’s for the mantle…

Emmy #6! I’d like to thank the Academy, etc. etc.

Hung out with Nitro from American Gladiators…

Right before we went through the gauntlet!

I then tweaked something in my knee…

My tape job.

Cheered for more friends running a Thanksgiving day race…

The turkey was probably sad because it was Thanksgiving – a sad day for flightless birds.

Survived a North Texas ice storm…

All that white stuff looks like fun snow, but is actually pure evil ice.

Which forced me to the dreadmill to continue my training…

That took forever.

Helped a friend run the final few of his 30 mile run for charity…

At the mile 27 station.

Celebrated the holidays with family and friends…

All our ornaments on the bottom half of the tree.

And ate a buttload of tacos…

Mmmmm, tacos.

BTW, my knee is feeling pretty great.  I’m almost done training for next week’s Dopey Challenge (5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2) at Disney World!  Can’t wait to get these 6 medals!

My neck feels heavy just looking at them.

In between we just kept on trying to keep on.  Hanging out at home with the fams and dogs.  Making videos.  Yoga-ing.  Working out.  Cooking.  Laughing.  Oh, and blogging.

 

How was your year?  Did you make the most of it?  How’s your 2014 looking?  Big plans?  Holla!

Run Glorious Run

I got to run outside again today!  We’ve had two days with afternoon temps just above freezing, so much of the ice has melted, not all of it, but much.  I was so happy to be outside and not on the treadmill that even though my run was not the most scenic, it was still glorious to me!

I did a quick 7 miles this afternoon.  I wanted to run in the daylight so that I could see any lingering icy spots (there were quite a few) along with downed trees and branches.  Many trees suffered casualties from the weight of the ice.  I had to negotiate around many poor tree limbs.

And here’s something strange that I also saw on the sidewalk – a fleshlight.  If you don’t know what it is, google it when you’re not at work.  Hahaha.  I had to stop my run and go back to make sure I had seen what I thought I had…and I had indeed!  Not sure how it got there or why, but it gave me a chuckle.

Anyway, this morning I saw this sight over our garage door, and figured I’d snap a pic before they all melt.

In case you didn’t believe that we did actually get ice in Texas recently.

Again, it was just a simple mid week training run, but after being cooped up indoors for almost a week, it felt glorious!

How bout you?  Had any glorious runs lately?  Come across anything strange on the ground during a run?  Is saying an icicle broke your glasses a good excuse after an incident with your Red Ryder BB Gun?

Will Run 4 Tacos

It’s still bitterly cold here in Dallas (in fact, the news dude said it’s colder than Anchorage, Alaska), and there’s still plenty of ice on everything.  Good news is that a mysterious bright yellow-orange sphere made an appearance in the sky for the first time in several days.  The sunshine helped warm things up a bit and melt some of the ice.  It’s not all gone though, and I’m weary to run outside as I don’t want to step on an icy patch and possibly hurt myself a month before my races!  Also, my knee is a little sore after the 32 mile weekend of running.  So I took today off of running and went to the gym instead to pump iron.

But the real highlight was tacos!  For some reason, tacos just sound good after a run.  And so to reward myself for the weekend, I went and got my self some Torchy’s Tacos.

Mmmmm, tacos.

The one on the left is called the Mr. Pink because the star of it is seared ahi tuna!

The one on the right is called the Dirty Sanchez because, well, I’m not sure why.  It’s full of scrambled eggs among other things.  (feel free to urban dictionary the name if you aren’t familiar)

So there ya go.  Running, tacos, it’s all good.

What about you?  What do you reward yourself with?  You want a Dirty Sanchez, don’t you? 

 

32 Miles on a Dreadmill

The good news is that my knee is feeling better, not 100%, but tolerable to run on it now.  So I was able to get back into my Disney Dopey Challenge training this week.  It culminated with a weekend of 4, 9, & 19 mile runs on Fri, Sat, Sun.

The bad news is that we got totally iced over this weekend.  Everything has a layer of ice.  Everything.  No snow, all ice.  So I wasn’t able to run outside.  I had to do the 32 total miles all on treadmills.

All that white stuff looks like fun snow, but is actually pure evil ice.

I don’t know how you treadmill runners do it.  I was so bored, I was this close to offing myself.

I set the pace at just under my target marathon pace (around 8:50 per mile), and went to town.  So it took me around 3 hours to finish the 19 miles.  That’s a long time to run on the hamster wheel.

I never run with music, but thought it would help with the treadmill boredom.  Problem is that when I plugged them in, they kept getting some sort of electric feed from the treadmill that sent a shocks into my ears.  I didn’t feel like getting shocked in my ears for 3 hours straight, so I took them off.

And to make it worse, the gym’s TV’s went out with an hour to go.  So I really had nothing to listen to or look at while I ran.  It was pure mental torture.

Sunday’s miles.

On a side note, after this experience, I really don’t think training on a treadmill is good for you.  It’s not like normal running at all – no turns, no real hills, no real speed changes (I know you can “simulate” the last two, but it’s not quite the same).  Plus, since the treadmill is moving, I believe it’s basically doing some of the work for you because you don’t have to use the energy to propel yourself forward.  That is why they say you should set it to an incline of at least 1 to better simulate outdoor running.  So that’s what I did – yup, the 3 hours of running was all uphill at a perfectly constant pace.  Also, my chiropractor said I was way out of alignment, and in spots that I’m normally not after outdoor running (like the inside of my knees) – I’m blaming it on the ‘mill.

The good news is that I was still able to get the miles on my feet.  And I know that I can run that long without stopping once at what is supposed to be my goal marathon pace.

Here’s hoping the ice melts soon because not only was my vehicle slipping and sliding on the way to the gym, but never want to run on a treadmill again! (No offense to those of you who do – I know some don’t have an option and some even enjoy the treadmill)

How bout you?  What’s the furthest you’ve ever gone on the treadmill?  How would your brain react to running in place for 3 hours with no TV, music, etc. (mine was fried)?

We’ve been BLANCHED!

I know some of you fancy yourselves to be amateur cooks, so you should know what blanching is.  For those who don’t – for example, it’s when you’re boiling asparagus until it gets nice and bright green, then you immediately remove it and put in a bath of ice water to stop the cooking.  Well that’s what happened to us here in Dallas.  It was 80 degrees (American) one day….the very next day we were covered in ice.  Yup.

The little monsters exploring the ice-snow.

So yeah, we’ve been blanched pretty good.  I guess we were done cooking.

Anyway, pretty much the whole city shuts down whenever we get any bit of snow or ice.  They even cancelled the Dallas Marathon.  Bummer for everyone who spent the past few months training.  And bummer for me because I was going to use part of the race course for my 19 mile Dopey Challenge training run on Sunday.  Not sure what I’m going to do now.

Today called for 4 miles which I begrudgingly did on the dreadmill at the gym.  I much prefer the outdoors, but I don’t want to step on an icy patch and take a nasty spill.

I’m supposed to do 9 miles on Saturday before the 19 on Sunday.  Here’s hoping I can do it outdoors!!!  Come on sidewalks and streets, de-ice yo-selves!

Also, I found an old pic from a newspaper in my hometown in Ohio.  It shows some of us high school track and field kids winter-training down the coldy snowy streetys.  I’m the one on the right with the bandana on my face – I can’t remember if it was to fight the cold air, or if I was going to rob a stage-coach afterwards.

Hardcore, baby!

Those were the days before all the fancy tech-thermal-moisture-wicking-temperature-regulating gear that folks wear now-a-days.  Back then it was cotton and wool.  You probably like my sweats and wool cap!  The cool http://raceitliveitloveit.com/ blogger recently talked about those days on one of her posts.  It wasn’t that long ago!

What about you?  Did you get blanched?  Do you run in ice or snow or stick to treadmills?  Ever run in sweat pants and shirts? 

My Watch is a Jerk (& Dopey Training)

So the previous couple weeks I wasn’t able to follow my Disney Dopey Challenge (5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2 in 4 days) training schedule due to some sudden weird ache in my knee.  But since I’ve got it rested and taped up, it’s been much better.  I was able to jump back into it the past few days, and that makes me happy.

Dat my RockTape job.

This may change, as the weather here is supposed to go from righteous to growdy.  Today it was 80 degrees (American) and sunny.  Tomorrow it’s supposed to be in the 30’s and sleet/snowing.  What?   And then it gets worse.  Supposed to get colder and colder and icier and icier.  That could mess with my weekend training.

Click to enlarge.

As you can hopefully see, I’m supposed to do 4, 9, 19 on Fri, Sat, Sun.  This weekend is also the Dallas Marathon, and they came out today and said that if the roads are too icy, they will cancel it.  That’s a bummer.  Especially for all those people traveling here and all those who have done months of training.  Here’s hoping the weather dude on TV is as accurate as he normally is (not very at all).

Anyway, since I’ve been able to run again this week, I was trying to be smart and take it easy.  Take it a little slow.  Well, when I got home from one of my runs and plugged the Nike+ GPS TomTom watch into the computer to record my run, it gave me the following message…

Insult me then try to get me to buy stuff, is that your game?

Yes, my training device is mocking me.  It’s insulting me.  It’s taunting me.  Why?  I can only conclude that it is a big stupid head jerk.  I already know I’m running slower than normal…that’s by design you butt-clown!

Ahh well, I’ll get him/her back (somehow) soon enough!!!

How bout you?  Ever been insulted by a robot?  Do you think we’ll be able to run this weekend?  How you doin?