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?

Proof That I Ran the Oktoberfest 5k

If you missed my post about my 5k PR last week well don’t fret. You can either click that link in the previous sentence or you can skip it and just look at some of the official race photos that were just released.

Why is that kid in the yellow shirt falling over?

I usually take bad race photos, but there’s actually a few decent ones here.

So long lobster-backs!

Yes, these are previews, and I do buy race photos when it’s a special occasion. But this was one of a million 5k’s I’ve run. And I wouldn’t mind getting a few of the non watermaked ones, but at $20, no thanks.

My secret to running fast is to keep your mouth open so you catch bugs – instant protein!

I read about a race in Cali that all the photos were either included in the registration, or were like $5 bucks a piece. Much more reasonable. I wish more races offered that.

Deuces.

Anyway, I thought I’d end this post with my favorite photo of me from the race. This was one of several they tagged under my bib number…

I look like I finished strong!!!

There you go. A few of the pics they tagged me in. Ha, hope you enjoyed them.

How bout you? Ever take a decent race pic? How great do I look in that last pic? Any other questions or captions to the pics?

-Scott

Oktoberfest 5k Recap – New PR!

This was a tough 5k. Hot, humid, windy, hilly. There were people puking on the course (and no, I don’t think they’d been drinking the free beer before the race). But I’m proud to say that I pushed through it all and was rewarded with a new current* PR!

It all started when I got to the race early to warm up and ran into a bunch of friends.

Sum uv my run buds.

A couple of us were chatting at the start line about how this race was going to hurt, but we still hoped for a good time. I was really wanting to average SUB-7 minute miles.

The course was an out an back with a big man-made hill (bridge) in the middle that we had to cross twice. The out was mostly downhill with the wind at our back…I went out too fast – 6:30ish mile.

At the turn around we realized that the rest of the race was going to be uphill…into the wind…into the sun. Second mile was 7:00ish. Third was 7:30ish. The opposite of a negative split.

The race charity benefits kids with cancer. And they had posters of some of the kids along the course. That definitely helped with motivation. I pushed on.

At the last turn I looked at my watch – I was at 21ish minutes with .1 miles to go…a PR was in reach! I kicked it in, crossing the line at 21:33! That’s an average per mile pace of 6:56!!! Dude. Sweet. Goal reached!

31st out of 1547…I’ll take it!

Afterwards we headed into the beer tent to celebrate!

Cold beer and air conditioning…Yes!

Food, live music and Free Paulaner beer from Germany!

My one friend learned to drink from her dog. I have no idea why they use Bud Light cups for good German beer.

And while I was shut out of placing at this race (I hate my age group), several of my friends did bring home some hardware!! But instead of medals, they got beer steins.

Two age group winners and PR setters!

Another winner! Picking up her beer stein and baby.

A good morning was had by all. We couldn’t help but show each other some love.

I’m the meat in a runner sandwich.

In the end, this event was a lot of fun…But of course, hindsight is 20/20. When I was going up that last hill, I was not having fun at all, but pain is temporary, right? The glory of PR’ing in a local 5k lasts forever!!!!!

How bout you? Race this weekend? Anyone celebrate Oktoberfest? Anyone want to join our sandwich?

-Scott

*I say ‘current’ because my all time PR is like 19:04 (high school).

Oktoberfest 5k Preview!

I get to race. I get to race. I get to race. I get to race.

My last race was in May, so I’m more than antsy to make some new safety pin holes in my shirt. That’s why I pulled the trigger and signed up for the Addison Oktoberfest 5k.

I’ve run this race probably a dozen times. This is a fun event. You run, then get free German beer. It’s a win-win.

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

That said, I haven’t run this race the past few years. Instead I would wake up early for my long run…and then go to the race and drink free beer cheer for friends.

Some of my friends I cheered for. I had to blur out some x-rated items they had on the table.

I gotta say, I’m not a huge fan of the new course. Back in the day it was a flat race. But now the course goes over a rather large bridge…TWICE. Yup, you go over the man-made hill and then turn around and do it again.

But at least I know that going into the race, so my plan is to take advantage of the 2^nd downhill. I’m going to ride that wave, and use that momentum to carry me to the finish! Or that’s the plan at least.

The scene in the beer tent after the race.

This race has grown each year, and raised a lot of money for the charity. It has also gotten pretty competitive. Some speedy folks show up for the prize money all the fun.

If you don’t know, the Addison, TX Oktoberfest is one of the biggest in the country. It’s four straight days of beer-soaked, sour-krouted, polka-dotted fun.

Things may have gotten out of hand.

And if you don’t know, yes, Oktoberfest takes place in September. That is how they do it in Germany. I could explain why here, but instead, I’ll let my buddy Flula explain in THIS VIDEO. (And yes Jason, I do actually know him.)

With my 2nd favorite German. We will fight you…in a non violent way.

Ha, ok, if you watched that video, it didn’t explain much, but hopefully it gave you some giggles.

In the end, I hope to have a good time, a good race time, and a approval from this guy…

My friend here grows a glorious mustache.

Recap coming soon! Prost y’all!

How bout you? Racing this weekend? Celebrating Oktoberfest? Any Oktoberfest race predictions for me?

-Scott