Rock the Block 10k Recap – Running in Soup & Winning Medals!

I did just run the Rock the Block 10k over the Memorial Day weekend. It was a tough day, but good news is that I was still able to manage my way to a medal!

I wish in college I had learned how to make a proper collage.

As I mentioned in my preview, I was not looking forward to running this race course. I’d run it before and wasn’t a huge fan. Well, be careful what you wish for. Due to all the crazy stormy floody weather we’ve been having in Texas, the course was part underwater. But rather than cancel, the organizers scrambled to get a new certified course.

Look closely folks, the 10k is a two lap course.

First off, kudos to the race for not cancelling, and finding an alternate route. But unfortunately the new route was a 5k distance that we had to run twice. There’s nothing more demoralizing than crossing the finish line and realizing you’re only halfway done. And on the 2nd lap of the race, we hit all the people still trying to finish the 5k. That meant a lot of weaving and missing out on tangents. Throw in a few hills and 180 degree turns, and it was a bit challenging.

Before the race with two normal sized friends and a miniature sized one.

The weather was also a factor. 97% humidity. Ugh. It was like running through pea green soup. Legs felt heavy and when the breeze was at our backs, it was hard to breathe. I saw one guy puking about a mile in. And through a middle section of the race it started to rain on us which made the roads a bit slick.

That all said, I was able to push through and finish 3rd in my age group and 14th overall!

Official stats.

I was hoping to break my PR of 46:00 that I set one year ago, but it wasn’t meant to be. I finished in 46:32, or 7:29 per mile. And I was proud of myself for actually rocking a negative split (I lost those stats doe).

I’ll get you next time, two guys I don’t know!

Not only that, but my peeps from WRRC and TNSR also received age group awards!

Bringing home da bling.

So despite the tough conditions, we had a great time. And they raised a lot of fundage for a good cause.

And best of all, we all went for breakfast tacos after the race!

Racing, medals & tacos…I’ll take it anytime!

How bout you? Race this weekend? Your tips for humidity running? It’s been so long, can anyone tell me what the sun looks like?

-Scott

Race Discount for YOU, Check My Flow, & It’s (hopefully) Race Day!

It’s been a good week of runs for me, I think even Kanye would agree…

Josh is excellent at photoshop.

A TNSR run is always fun.

Trying a new running form.

Tho the day before’s run on the track was whack.

The clouds and the noises they made were scary, but I got the run dun before they cried on me.

But the day before that was pretty phat.

A baby run and a papa run.

OK, that’s enough freestylin. I gotta focus on this weekend – RACE TIME! Well, I hope. My last two races have been cancelled due to massive Texas storms. And as I write this it is storming again. Hopefully it will clear up before the race.

I was lucky enough to get a free entry to this race – Rock the Block 10k. That said, I’m dreading it a little. I ran this race last year and wasn’t a fan of the course.

Last year’s poster. The route hasn’t changed. Who likes an out and back – I mean, honestly?

But at least I know what to expect since I’m familiar with the route.

And we’re off! -Photo from Dallasnews.com

And hopefully the rain clouds will help keep it kewl this year – last year it was friggin hawt!!!! But I still ran a PR (with a horrible positive split) of 46:00.

Just a bit sweaty at the end.

I’m going for a negative split and another PR, so come back in a couple days for the recap!!!

Other than that, the fine folks at Spartan Race have sent me a discount code to share with you:

They do these obstacle races all over the USA (and I think internationally too), and they have different distances you can choose from…

But hurry up and use the code MEMORIAL because I believe it expires pretty soon!

So there ya go, kiddo. A week that was pretty on fleek. And now I best be goin cause my rhyme is done flowin.

How bout you? Running this holiday (US) weekend? Ever run a Spartan Race…or going to? Do you have any race predictions?

-Scott

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?

I Had the Runs Bad (But They Got Good)

Heading into last weekend’s 10k, my first couple weekday runs had drained my confidence.  It started with a simple 3 miler.  It did not go well.  I felt like I was really working hard, only to finish and see my pace was way slower than my runs were the previous week.

Then the next day at my track workout, I wanted to quit after the first 400.  I didn’t, but it wasn’t pretty.

So my running confidence went from high to low.  But then came the next day.  I met up with my friends at Thursday Night Social Run.

In my run fighting stance.

After a disappointing couple of runs, I figured that maybe I needed rest.  My plan was to take it easy.  Just jog it out and do a mini ‘taper’ for the race.  Well, that didn’t happen.  I got to talking to a buddy on the run, and before I knew it we were done and I had run my goal race time in our three miler jaunt.

I’m the monkey in the middle.

This performance gave me the confidence I needed for the race.  Just like that, I knew I’d be ok come race day.  And I was!  If you read that post, you saw that I PR’d (PB’d), despite a week of mostly cruddy runs.

Afta da ra…ce.  Feelin tired, but feelin better.

The moral of the story is this:  You can never get down because of one run/workout/day.  If you have a ‘bad’ one, chances are next time will be better.  There will always be off days.

Of course, there’s a lot of factors that go into this – what you ate/drank, how much you slept, weather, etc. etc. etc. etc.  But if you stay diligent and consistent, then good things will happen.

How bout you?  Run confidence ever shaken then restored?  What snaps you out of it? 

-Scott

 

Rock the Block 10k Recap (Subtitle: Making Little Girls Cry)

This past Saturday I ran in the Rock the Block 10k.  It was around 70 degrees and overcast, 10-15 mph winds and extremely humid.  The race had a late start (8:45 am) with a 5k starting after us at 9.  I got there in plenty of time to find parking and get my warm-up in.  I ran about a mile, then did all my dynamic warm up moves.  I had a good sweat going when the gun air horn went off.  And I would only get sweatier.

And we’re off! -Photo from Dallasnews.com

I went out too fast.  6:30 for the first mile.  In fact, I was running in a pack with another dude and a little (probably 12 years old?) girl.  As we started to slow a bit the second mile, an older man passed us and yelled, “You need to work on your pacing.  You’re a great runner, but you went out way too fast.”

He was yelling at the girl, but he could’ve meant any of us.  I hope she didn’t cry later.

Then we passed the turn off for the 5k finish and man, it was tempting to take it, haha.  But our work was just starting.  By now I’d left behind my earlier pack and drafted off a couple teenagers, until they faded.  I continued to run the race this way – letting others ‘pull’ me along until they eventually faded.

The course was a bit hilly and there were several 180 degree switchbacks.  I gotta say, there’s nothing worse than running and having to stop your mo’ so you can turn completely around to run the other direction.

Click to enlarge (that’s what she said).

The wind was in our face the first half and at the turn round, it was at our back.  I tried to let it help me finish.  I also thought about some other blogger friends who I knew were racing this past weekend like Salt and Kristin.  That helped give me motivation when things got tough.  I also saw a few friends running on the course – they shouted encouragement and that also helped!!!

Funny story – as I passed a friend, she tried to yell “Great job Scott” but got it mixed up with ‘Great Scot” and ended up coming out something like “Greasc!”  Hahaha!

But then with about a mile or so to go, our race merged with the 5k.  Ugh.  I hate that.  A lot of them were walking by this point.  I had to do a TON of weaving and yelling, “On your left!”

Two little girls even swerved right in front of me and then decided to stop running and walk.  I nearly trampled them.  “Come on, you can’t just stop right in front of someone.”

I hope they didn’t cry later.

Anyway, I knew by my watch that I was close to a PR, so I blew off any water stations and just kept pushing.  It paid off!

46:00 flat – a PR (PB) by 23 seconds!  Good enough for 5th in my division and 15th overall!!!

Click to enlarge (tee hee hee).

I has happy with the result.  I wanted to run an average of 7:15 per mile pace, but ended up at 7:18-19, so pretty close!  Although I am disappointed in myself for foolishly running a positive split (first half of race faster than second half).  I really need to work on my 10k race pacing (like the old man yelled).

So sweaty. Who wants a hug?

In the end, it was a good time.  I saw lots of friends there and got a PR on a challenging course/conditions.  And best of all, the proceeds go to a really good cause.  You can find out more about the charity HERE.

I’m also still in awe of the fact that I ran a race with an even time:  46 minutes, 00 seconds.  That has NEVER happened to me before.  So crazy!

How bout you?  Ever run a flat even time?  Ever make anyone cry in a race?  Ever run anyone over (or get run over)?

-Scott

Rock the Block 10k Preview!

This weekend is Memorial Day in the States.  We get Monday off!  WooHoo!  And I also get to race a race!  Woo to the Hoo!  A while back there was a Groupon deal for a 5k/10k.  I signed up for the 10k.  It’s called the Rock the Block.

I have only run two 10k’s in my life, so I’m not that familiar with this distance.  I am however, halfway familiar with this course.  I ran a 5k at the same place one year ago.  You can read my recap of it HERE.

Takin it to da bridge!

The first half of the 10k course is pretty much the same as the course I ran last year, until it splits off so we can get the extra 3.1 miles in.

I was glad that I finished ahead of all of those cones.

I know the first part of the course has a couple hills and a switchback, so I’ll be ready for that.  But I’m not sure what the rest of the course holds – other than what I can see on the course map.

One bummer is the race has a laaaate start – 8:45.  By then the Texas sun will be up and burnin.  Hopefully it won’t be too hawt.

After last year’s race. My sweat glands don’t always work, so I was panting.

That said, I still hope to PR (current is 46:23).  And if things go really well, there’s a time goal I’d like to reach (45:00).  I haven’t been following any specific training plan for this, so we’ll see how it goes.  Hopefully all the track work I’ve been doing will pay off.

Either way, I know a bunch of friends are running this race too, so it will be good to have some friendly faces around!  Wish us luck!

How bout you?  Racing this weekend?  Do you get a three day weekend too?  Any advice for 10k plans of attack?

-Scott