Awesome Run, Muddy Run & Birthday Fun!

First off, I want to thank everyone again for the birthday wishes. And yay, we finally got to celebrate it over the weekend with a bunch of friends and fams.

Some running buds. “Must be this tall to ride.”

But I’ll get to that…

…The weekend started with one of the best runs I have had in a long time. I woke up early to meet up with WRRC in Dallas. The weather was gorgeous. It was especially lovely as we ran by White Rock Lake.

This sunrise is the kind of stuff runners see every day. Almost makes up for the early alarm clock…almost.

The folks I joined up with said they were doing 10 miles at an 8:45 pace. “OK, sure.” I said. I’m not really training for anything specific, so just running for fun.

Buuut, one thing that WRRC group runs are famous for, is always running further/faster than planned. We ended up going closer to 11 miles at an 8:15 pace.

My GPS was off – hence the pace/distance discrepancy.

I felt really really good on this run. I think I could’ve gone all day long. I wish more runs were like that.

Afterwards, a few of us got breakfast tacos…Natch! I didn’t take a picture of the tacos (they got in my mouth hole too fast), but I did take a pic of a pic of a friend that I spotted on the wall.

Pic of my good friend…his name is Dean. Oh, and also there’s a pic of my pal, Sylvia (who just ran her first 13.1). BTW, how do I get on the Taco Wall of Fame?

The next morning I met more friends for a really muddy trail run. They also surprised me with some birthday presents…I didn’t take a pic, but trust me, they were Klassy.

Anyway, we went about 6 miles and had a few photo ops along the way.

Taking a break. Bummer that I forgot my giant headband.

A couple friends even camped out there the night before. They let us play with their toys.

We got so hammered.

Even though there were some really muddy patches that slowed us down, we eventually finished the run.

The park rangers didn’t like our shenanigans, so they put us in their tree jail.

After the run, guess what happened? Yeah, that’s right…

I had this thought as I was eating.

From there I had to get all cleaned up nice, cause it was finally time for the birthday party! We went to a runner/kid/dog friendly Texas patio bar. It was packed (like I said, gorgeous weather). Because of the crowd, most of us were spread out all over, but it was still great to see everyone!

I was really bad about taking pics – too busy with birthday bevvies socializing. But we did get a few.

That’s a small glass of water.

Ha, but I did take one photo with a friend who complained it was too “normal”. She wanted a more “Scottish pic”. OK, you asked for it.

I needed salt for the tequila.

So all in all it was a really good past few days. It wouldn’t be a bad life if every day you got to go on a run, eat some tacos, then sit on a patio with friends/fams, would it? Need to work on that.

How bout you? Ever have one of those runs where it just felt effortless? Any guesses what my trail runner friends gifted me? Is it patio weather where you are yet?

-Scott

Lots of Running, Ghost Chairs & Taco Hauntings

We finally got a few days of somewhat fall-like weather. Yippee! It made for some good runs. It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes when it’s not a billion degrees.

For Saturday’s long run, it was in the upper 40’s when I meet WRRC at 6am at a strip mall with an interesting store…

Nothing butt good deals here.

A lot of the folks I ran with are gearing up for the Dallas Marathon. I am not. They were going 20 miles. I did not. I ended up with a group that went 15. Why? Just for fun.

It was an out and back because one of the runners wanted to end with hills. And this route started with hills. So that’s a nice hilly bookend. Lucky us. Amazingly though, some of these runners pushed me to negative split. At the half we were an 8:25 pace, but by the finish our total average mile was 8:15! Feels good to be a gansta.

Afterwards some of us mowed down some totally epic tacos. Sadly, I didn’t take a pic, but I did when I previously visited this taco joint.

This place is cleverly called “Taco Joint”

For Sunday Runday, I met my run-bud Serene for some trail running and I added another 6 miles.

I photo bombed her selfie. I’m such a rascal.

She had done a 30k trail race the day before. And.Was.Hurting. But she toughed it out. I’m glad she did, because in the middle of the park we spotted a photo op!

This will be the cover photo when my next album drops.

Lots of people have photo shoots in this park, and I assume that’s what this chair was there for. But nobody was with it. It was just randomly in the middle of a field. Later on it was gone. So either someone took it, or it was a ghost chair. Probably the latter.

Afterwards I went to yoga. The instructor decided it was going to be a power leg day. Lucky us. I legs were shaking so bad, and now I am berry sore. I didn’t take a pic in class…but also this weekend, our friend at Candies and Crunches challenged me on Instagram with a yoga pic. I sent one back.

Leaning tower of paradise. Yes, I’m a mouth breather.

Also this weekend, our friend at My Walk to Rio 2016 challenged me on Instagram with a taco pic. So after yoga I went to yet another taco joint. Again, I forgot to take a pic, but here’s an earlier pic from the same joint.

It’s a BBQ joint in a gas station, and it’s good. They serve breakfast tacos too!

So not a bad weekend of running, yogaing and tacoing!!!

How bout you? Do your run friends push you? Any Instagram friends challenge you? Do you believe in ghost chairs?

-Scott

Taper Run & Taper Tacos

My Disney Dopey Challenge training is finally in Taper mode.  This weekend only called for a 12 mile run on Sat and cross training on Sun.

Click to enlarge.

The 12 miles was a little challenging, but I wanted it that way.  I don’t know if it’s smart, but I figured that since I’m only doing 12, that I should add some hill work.  I picked a particularly hilly part of town to run in.  They did their job.  Add to that the 20 mph winds, and I got a pretty good workout in!

Afterwards I got my reward – Tacos!  I went to a local Texas BBQ joint (slash gas station) and got some BBQ breakfast tacos.  I don’t really eat meat at all, so mine had mostly eggs, potatoes, and smokey beans.  I also know that flour tortillas aren’t good for you, so I ate their innards with a spoon.  (I know I’m mostly defeating the purpose of a cheat meal, sorry).

Rudy Rudy Rudy…

For my cross training I went to yoga class.  The instructor I see never does the same routine twice.  He does NOT take it easy on us.  This ain’t yo mama’s soothey-stretchy yoga!  I’m feeling it a day after, and that’s a good thing!

Afterwards I took the rug rats and rug dogs for a walk.  Before hand though, the girl tried to figure out a magnifying glass.  She pretty much nailed it…

Just like Inspector Clouseau.

I can’t believe that tomorrow’s run will be the last one of the year (2013).  We’re so close to getting Dopey.  Just gotta stay focused a little while longer!

Questions:  Do you have any good restaurants/gas stations? (we have several in Texas).  What kind of yoga do you do – does it have you shaking and sweating and questioning why?  Any good weekend workouts?