Shhh, My Secret Race!

So I’ve got a secret. I’ve been keeping it close to my vest (side note, I also started wearing vests). Here it is: I’ve been secretly training for a race.

I hadn’t registered for said race until just this week, but I’ve been eyeballing it from a distance. It’s the Dallas 13.1 half marathon. I ran this race two years ago and set a PR.

In all black like a villain robbing time and bling!

This race has the best half marathon course of any race I’ve done in Dallas. And since I did well last time, and since the weather will hopefully be cool, and since I have a ton of friends running it, and since I’m healthy and in decent shape, those are the reasons I chose this race.

This year’s bottle opener medals. Funny cause Mich Ultra is a twist off.

It used to be sponsored by Allstate, but now it’s presented by Mich Ultra. To be honest, I’m no fan of Mich Ultra. I personally want a beer with some flava. Like a proper Guinness. Maybe I can cover up the gigantor Mich Ultra logo on my medal with a Guinness one…

My other issue with this race is that it is officially called the “Michelob ULTRA Dallas 13.1 Marathon”. Catchy title, eh? My issue is that they call this half marathon a ‘marathon’. What the wha? I have zero clues as to why they are calling a half marathon a marathon. Not cool. Not to mention the fact that ULTRA is in the title, implying that it’s an ultra marathon.

Anyways, back to my secret training…It’s been all about them miles.

Track work, weekday run, trail run, long run…Halfway through October and already at 74 miles for the month! Woot Woot!

I haven’t been following any specific plan. My main goal was simply to increase my weekly mileage. I’ve also been doing some speed and hill work, but mainly I’m all about the miles this time around. If you read my weekend recap then you know I put in 25ish miles – much further than the 13.1 I’ll be racing. I hope this strategy helps.

They say you hit the wall at the point of your previous long run. So I hope that by running 15-16 mile long runs will delay the wall in a 13.1 mile race. Legs Fingers crossed!

How bout you? You have any secrets to share? Are you also offended that they’re calling this 13.1 race a ‘marathon’. Do you train by running further than the race distance?

-Scott

Whether to Weather the Weather and Run

Talk about a tail tale of two runs.  This past weekend, I was going to go for a 10 mile run.  It was harsh.  This morning I was going for a 4 mile run.  It was radical.

I know there are a ton of factors that go into a good/bad run.  But I’m giving the edge in these ones to the weather.

The other day it was windy, humid and near 90 degrees.  This morning it was windy, humid and 54 degrees! Thank you cold chilly front!

The other day I got my ten miles in, but it was sweaty and laborious.  This morning I got my four miles in and it was less sweaty and glorious.  I only wish it wasn’t a school day so that I could have kept running!

I know there’s nothing you can do about the weather – you gotta run anyways.  And they don’t often cancel races for the conditions (unless it’s extreme).

In fact, at the 2012 Disney Marathon, they had a warm hot front come through and so they had to put up these signs everywhere…

Awww, but runDisney, I wanted to PR!

The heat and humidity of that race caused me to finish about 45 minutes slower than I wanted to.  I was bummed.  I felt like I had done all that training for not knot naught.

Despite my finger I didn’t actually finish in first place.  Yes, I was a bit sweaty.

I was so bummed that while drowning in a post race celebratory beer (oxymoron?), I tweeted to Actor, Runner, Hobbit – Sean Astin asking for advice.  To my surprise, he tweeted back.

Puts it in perspective.

I realized he was right.  I got to run a marathon.  I got to do it outside.  It’s a good thing.  So now I always try to remember that when ever the conditions don’t cooperate – it’s still a good thing what I’m doing.  Just hope that the next time it will be better.

And for now I’m going to hope this little freaky fall-in-spring weather we got today will stick around…at least long enough for my run tomorrow.

How bout you?  How do you handle changing weather conditions (weird fact, I tend to get random bloody noses when the seasons change – attractive, huh?)?  Any celeb twitter interactions recently? 

-Scott

ps. looking back, this post may have been partially inspired by Salt.  She’s freaking out about her upcoming race.  She’s got nothing to fear tho!

Run for a Cause #run3rd

So, it’s been a couple weeks since my last bloggy blog, but like I warned in that one – I was out of town, away from computers.  I was in Orlando to run the 20th Disney Marathon.  My head is still swimming from all that happened and I’m still working to consolidate the photos/videos, so I’ll blog about it in the coming days.  In the mean time, I’ll fill you in in an unofficial race I was part of right before I left on the trip.

My buddy Coach Oscar runs for a cause.  His father committed suicide a while back.  Since then, he has set up some fundraisers to fight depression.  One is a race in the Palo Duro Canyon: http://www.palodurohotdog.com/  I hope to be able to run in it this summer.  Another is a non profit he’s organizing called Live Every Day, it’s aimed to serve Depression Awareness and Suicide Prevention.  It’s not up and running yet, but if you want to donate to this cause in the mean time, here’s some instruction:  http://bswarms.com/swarm158

Anywhoodle, to help raise funds to launch the non profit, he decided to run 30 miles.  Here’s the redonk map:

I told you it’s redonk.

To get this done, he needed help.  He’s not a big time runner.  He runs 5k’s mostly.  So a bunch of us helped him along the way.  We did this by running portions of the trail with him, by providing sustenance, and general support.

Here’s a group of his athletic supporters.

I was able to join in the last 4 miles.  He was hurting, but got it done.  Here’s a video of the finish:

That’s it.  One dude with a cause, workin to make it work.  I was glad to be a part of it and hope to be more involved in the future.  But it’s good to keep in mind that no matter what race you run, official or not, it most likely has a cause behind it.  Some deserving charity is hopefully benefiting from your participation.  When you prepare for your next race, take a few moments to learn about the beneficiary, and take some time to think of them during the event.

If you’re not aware, actor and runner Sean Astin has a twitter hashtag and web page about running for others.  It’s this: http://run3rd.blogspot.com/ Basically, you run first for yourself, second for your family, and third for a cause of your choosing.  Try to figure out who you #run3rd for, it will make the miles more meaningful.  After all, it ain’t all about you son!

Haha, keep it up kiddos. Peace!