15k PR, Hipster Tacos/Coffee & Ready for Chi-Town!

OK kids, it’s almost time. Just a few days to Chicago Marathon Day!!! I’m feeling pretty good heading into it, mainly because we had a good pre race test over the weekend. The DRC Loop 15k. 

Some scenes from the day. Yes, I had bib issues.

This was a 9.3 mile loop of White Rock Lake. I wanted to work on my pacing in preparation for Chicago. And boy did I. I ended up setting a PR!

1:09:26, 7:28 per mile, 6th AG*, 47th OA

*Yes, there were some fast people at that race.

What had happened.

This gave me confidence. It’s nice to run a PR a week before your marathon.Not only that, but my training partner also PR’d and even placed in her age group. It shows the work we’ve been doing is paying off. Hopefully that means good things for Chicago. <fingers crossed>

Anywhoodle, afterwards we got breakfast at a hipster taco/coffee shop. Now I don’t drink coffee, but my friend does, so here’s what it looked like from her end:

Some people heart coffee, I heart tacos.

So there it is, kids. Short and sweet. Sorry if you wanted more detail, but I’m too focused on where I’m going this weekend to keep living in the past. 😉

How bout you? Ever have hipster tacos/coffee? Ever race the week before your goal race? Any bib attaching advice?

-Scott

Sunrise Runner, Burning Barns & The Avocado Killer!

Woo to the hoo! Another week of Chicago Marathon training! About 300 miles in so far – ya know, that’s the part that nobody ever sees – the miles that you put in just to be able to run 26.2 on race day. But there we are, each morning before the sun comes up. Running empty streets and trails. We do get little rewards though…Like seeing shooting stars and sunrises!

Thinking about riding off into the sunrise.

Most days I get done before da sun, but if I time it right, I can just catch the big star as it climbs the horizon.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are orange.

Longer runs the sun will come up along the way. Makes for a nice view…until it decides to start cooking your body. Texas is hot, y’all.

Tanning the inside of my mouth. I heard mouth tans are so hot right now.

We got another reward this week when our training plan called for the shortest run in a couple months – 3.3 miles of intervals. Decided to visit old friend, Mr. Stripey Oval.

The race tag helps me run faster. Either that or I’m too lazy to cut it off. I forget which.

But it was a short reward, as we’re now back to more miles. This weekend’s long run is 18 big ones. Should be…fun?

No more horsing around.

Either way, I know I’ll reward myself with more TACOS! Just watch out for the spicy ones!!!!

Tried the “Barn Burner”. It did burn, and I didn’t even know I had a barn!

Luckily there’s guac around to calm the heat down. I really do want to eat ALL the guac.

I’ve killed so many avocados lately.

Oh, and yoga. Yes, it can be tough, but it’s also a reward, right? Ohmmmmmmmmmm.

Can you spot me? Hint – I’m one of only like two dudes.

There ya go, another quick update. See ya on the streetz…or the internetz!

How bout you? Morning or Night runner? Are you gonna eat your guac, or can I have it? What should I name those horses?

-Scott

Running with Taylor Swift, A Real Life Monster, & Don’t Ask About My Job!!!

Chicago Marathon training is in full swing! It’s early still, but so far so good. It’s nice to finally have a plan instead of just running random daily miles. I’ve been running a lot with friends and I think I have a pretty solid base heading into the real dillyo.

A highlight of the week was our TNSR celebrity social run…

Josh didn’t photoshop anything here. It’s all legit. Kanye and Taylor set the pace.

It’s always good to have other folks around to help push you on the run…and to mess with your otherwise perfect running photo…

Guess they thought I needed two sets of bunny ears.

Another fun group run this past week was with the WRRC and their “Run My Hood” series. This time it was a run around some East Dallas neighborhoods, followed by another fun pool party!

I actually ran 10 miles – the gps was acting up.

There’s something about jumping in a pool after a sweaty humid Texas summer run. I need to get a pool, or more friends with pools, or figure out a way to sneak into my neighbor’s yard.

And I don’t know if you can tell this or not, but whenever a camera makes an appearance, I am instantly drawn to it…even if the subjects didn’t necessarily want me to be in it. Cause in my head, if you want to improve your pics, just add Scott! 😉

Photobombsaway! #notcreepy

So the training is going well so far. And other than that, this little monster had a birthday…

Don’t let the cute smile fool ya, she can single-handedly destroy an entire house.

And at her school, they gave her a father’s day questionnaire. After reading her answers, I feel like she doesn’t know me at all!

If any narks are reading this, please ignore her answer to what my job is. (click the photo to enlarge)

So things are good, things are good. Oh yeah, and so are TACOS!!!!

I like to eat in front of a mirror to make it look like there’s more tacos.

So there ya have it. BOOM! On to more!

How bout you? You’re not a nark, are ya? Who likes mirror eating? Will you invite me to your pool?

-Scott

Bloomin’ 4-Mile Race Recap – I Almost Puked, But Then Ate Tater Tacos

The Bloomin’ 4-Mile was a tough race. Mainly because it was so so hot. Hot and humid. Sun a-blazin! I really struggled (as did we all), but was able to push through for a new PR*!

*This was my first 4 mile race, so automatic PR anyway.

The race was at White Rock Lake in Dallas. I always love running there. I had a couple friends also going down from the burbs, so we carpooled together.

Hamming it up for the race photographer in a field of wildflowers.

This was part of the Dallas Running Club’s race series. It’s a pretty sweet deal – $30 for a year membership to the club and you get to run 8 races for free!!!

Before the race with my run buds…and a photobombing tree.

The course was a 2 mile out and back. I run around this lake often, so I knew what was coming – a nice little hill for us to climb once on the way out, and once on the way back. The second one especially hurt.

The red (slow) part near the turn around was the hill.

It was really hot, you guys. I really wanted to stop and take a puke walk break, but I pushed on. Thankfully I did, cause it meant I was done sooner. I was pleasantly surprised at my results, considering how I felt during the race.

Never so happy to see a finish line.

Official Results:

29:01, 7:15 per mile, 5th in Age Group, 41/440 Overall

And while I missed out on a medal, some of my friends managed to place. Big ups to them!!!

Someone in this pic got a medal, someone else missed getting one by 4 seconds. That’s gotta hurt.

Another advantage of running around WRL are the nearby craft taco joints. They are a must after a run! Run, eat tacos, watch friends play on their phones, repeat.

So all in all, a painful, but successful day!

How bout you? Ever run a 4 mile race? Any hot races lately? Ever had mashed taters in your tacos?

-Scott

Running Around Floods, The Devil’s Food & Attacked by Snapping Turtle!!!

No matter where you live, you’ve probably seen on the news all the crazy weather we’ve been getting in Texas. Torrential downpours, flooding, tornadoes, etc. It’s been a wild spring. But we did have one day this week where Mr. Sun peeked in on us.

The strange ball of light so confused me on my run.

Other than that it’s been a whet whone. Luckily we were able to race over the Memorial Day Weekend. And then it did storm the rest of the weekend. However my run bud and I were able to get in a nice relaxing 9 miler around White Rock Lake. I’ve never seen the water that high. Check out this shot from the normally dry spillway…

Usually all you see is concrete. It sounded like Viagra Falls!

One of the side effects of the high waters around town is that the critters are getting very cornfuzed. I’ve seen so many poor little ducks, gooses, turtles, froggies & snakes on the roads and trails.

And, funny story, was driving back from yoga and saw a big turtle in the middle of the road – some of us stopped our cars to help it. We quickly found out that it was a cranky SNAPPING turtle. It took some doing, but we finally got it back to the grass.

PS. I have now watched several YouTube videos on the safe way to pick up a snapping turtle. Note – It’s not easy because besides the biting mouth, they also have claws…and they can JUMP!

From the internet. This is what he looked like.

Anyway, after the 9 miler, we needed breakfast tacos, natch.

The devil made me do it.

So there it is…still getting my runs in, just having to dodge raindrops, high waters & critters.

How bout you? Staying dry out there? Ever had a run in with a snapping turtle? Having a good week???

-Scott

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

Long Run (Hooray!) & I Run 4

So the weather finally cooperated (no more icy roads) and I felt fairly healthy again, so it was back to runnin! I ran each day last week, including a long run with the White Rock Running Co-op. Felt good to be back out there after nearly 2 weeks off!

The route we ran. Started/Ended with hills while the lake was sandwiched in between.

Who Ray that was fun!

After the run, we got breakfast tacos…natch! And I’m glad we did because it gave me a chance to catch up with some run buds.

How can it be butt burnin if it’s only medium heat?

One of these run buds is in the I Run 4 program. If you’re not familiar with IR4, here’s what it says on their website:

“In I Run 4 Michael, Athletes of all levels and kinds – runners, walkers, yogis, triathletes, etc – are paired with children and adults with physical, mental, and developmental special-needs ranging from Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy to Autism Spectrum disorders, to physical deformities and disorders like lost limbs and congenital organ disorders, to lesser-known disorders like AHC.”

It’s a pretty cool program. A lot of these kids aren’t able to run, so when someone runs 4 them, they usually share with them how many miles. After special events like races, quite often they send the kids their medals/shirts.

For the past few months, I’ve been giving race medals to my bud so he can send them to the girl he’s matched up with.

Me & Clay and the chocolate bar medal he’s going to send the girl.

It’s always great to hear back that the kid was so excited to receive her new bling. I’m really glad it can bring a smile to her face!!!

Now yes, I do love my race bling too. And my own kids always love it when I bring a new medal home. So what I usually do now is explain to the race people what I’m doing and if I can have an extra medal for the girl. So far so good!

Here’s me in a homemade tank top hugging a unicorn for some reason. In the background you can see where I hang my race medals.

Not only do the kids love what comes from being in this program, but it can help the athletes too. When things get tough in a race, thinking of the kid you run 4 will help you keep going! That’s for sure!

How bout you? Have you heard of IR4? Do you know Who Ray is? Should I start a homemade tank top business?

-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

Cold Running, Sliders, & Disappointing a Celebrity Chef

It’s been cold around North Texas. I know I shouldn’t complain, after all, it took us to January to finally get some uncomfortably cold weather. But Scotty no likey.

Took my gloves off to take the photo. Mistake.

WTFrick?!?

I hate the dreadmill even worse than the cold, so I put on layers and hit the road. Why? Can’t stop. Won’t stop! Just a little more than a week until the Key West Half Marathon!!!

Soon my friend, soon.

Anyways, other than that, let me catch you up on some of what else has been going on in my world. Here’s the randomness in pictures.

Took a pic with the Dirk mural.

Kids were fascinated by the balloon animal maker lady.

I took a sneaky selfie with Pepsi (her real name) and Sarah & TriKohl at the latter’s going away party.

Had lunch with my celebrity chef friend, Trevor Ball. Look for him on the Food Network again in the coming months.

Then promptly disappointed him by eating these Sliders. Had to, it was a gift, and it’s a taste of home (Ohio).

But quickly redeemed myself by eating these tacos.

Then took a pic of the lil girl’s teeth, which are coming in quite nicely!

So there ya go. It’s been cold, random, and fun round these parts. On to the weekend and more coldy cold miles to run…and more randomness, I’m sure. Wouldn’t have it any other way!

How bout you? Love or hate Sliders? You running in the cold or takin it to the treadmill? Any randomness going on with you?

-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?