Cool Runnings, Doggy Walkings, & World Cup Withdrawaling

Holy guacamole! The weather gods gave us a break today from the stifling heat and humidity. I woke up to temps in the 60’s! I was so excited to go for my morning run. I hit up the track for some 400’s.

Hello old friend. Seems like we just saw each other a week ago.

Man, was it nice to be able to breath actual air and not vaporized liquid. And it was so great not being completely DRENCHED in sweat for once. I only wish I had more time so I could run all the miles.

And besides comfortable tolerable running conditions, it also makes for nice evening doggy/kiddy walks. Our walks only go about a mile usually, but normally we’re all soaked in sweat by the end. Nice not to be all swampy for wunce.

 

The boy offered to push the girl. That left me free to hold the leashes of the boy and girl dogs.

Other than that, the World Cup is over. It was a great month-long tourney. The best part was hanging out at watch parties with friends and families and friendilies.

My male model friend. We’ve actually played brothers in two separate movies. I guess that means I look like a male model too?

Some of my running buddies watching the final match.  Working on my side mouth smile.

Anyway, onward and upward (facing dog).  I just hope the weather is still slightly cool in the morning!  Cross your fingers, or legs, or whatever it is you do.

You get a break from the heat too? Did you take advantage? Missing the World Cup?

-Scott

Early Runs of Necessity & Hauntings by Children

The weekend that was was a full one.  The wife was working, so that meant daddy daycare doodie duty (OK, there may have been some doodie too (diaper fun)).  And since CCP is so not cool with leaving toddlers home alone so the parents can go to the bar for a run, that meant I had to run before she left for work.  That meant meeting up with my early running friends at 5:30 am. I was able to squeeze 9 miles in with them before I had to head home.

Some of the early run crew sharing a potty break after a recent run.

The rest of the day, it was chasing around the two little monsters as they tried to make as much of a mess in the house as possible.  I swear it’s like living in a haunted house – you hear random unexplained noises and screams, or you leave a clean room, then come back 30 seconds later to find it completely destroyed!  Is it a poltergeist or a toddler?

Playing firefighter selfie. Don’t let the cute exterior fool you, that’s how they get you to lower your defenses.

Sunday was more of the same.  I got up early to get in a quick 3 miles before going to yoga.  And this yoga class was a tough one.  People were struggling.  But it made us stronger, right?  The rest if the day involved more kiddie games.

The two year old made a Mr Potatohead. Let your nightmares begin now.

Mix in a few household chores, doggy walks, and trips to the park….by Sunday evening I was exhausted.

Trying to burn off some of their nonstop energy.

Keep calm and slide on.

Just a few thumbsuckers.

In fact, I pretty much passed out as soon as the wife got home….that is until I was suddenly awoken by a large crash.  The boy for some reason knocked over cabinet in his room that shattered a piggy bank that was on the floor for some reason.

We’re totally innocent.

I heard once that they took a very fit marine and had him shadow a toddler and do everything the same.  By the end of the day, the marine was completely spent.  I totally feel for him.  Maybe that should be a new book I should write – The Toddler Workout.  It’s that thing where you never sit still, you run everywhere, and you keep your energy up with sugar and carbs.  I’ll get working on that.

How bout you?  Good weekend of workouts?  Every been in a house ‘haunted’ by a child?  Want to pre-order a copy of my new book?

-Scott

 

Runner Who Can’t Run

To anyone who likes to follow along with my silly posts, I apologize that I’ve been MIA (that stands for Missing in Action, but it also is short for Miami, I wish I was using it for the latter definition, but I’m not).  I’ve just been out of sorts since I hurt my knee.

The good news is that it is feeling better each day and I think I’ll be back on the roads soon, but as of right now I am still not running.  It’s been two weeks, which I know isn’t that long, but when you’re used to being active almost every day, it feels like an eternity.

Whenever I’m driving and I see someone running along the side of the road, I feel an insane jealousy.  They don’t know how lucky they are!  If you are healthy, please remember that it is a gift.  Every run is a gift.  Every workout is a gift.  And it’s a good kind of gift, not a crappy one that your friend picked up at CVS at the last minute.

I keep trying to remind myself that this is just the universe giving my body some rest.  I must need it.  Must keep reminding myself.  Must.

It’s funny, most people get upset at the fact that they are hurt.  But runners don’t get upset that they’re hurt, they get upset because they can’t run.

But staying positive.  The good news is I took the thumb sucker on a doggy walk yesterday, and I didn’t think about my knee at all.  That’s a good sign.

Sorry we don’t match. I tried, but my hair wouldn’t reach.

Anykitandkaboodle, we finally got some sunshine, and the weather is warming here.  Hopefully that’s another sign that it’s almost time to hit the reset button.

How’s everyone else doing?  Anyone else on a “break”?  Do all little girls like the taste of their own hair?  Any good or bad gifts recently?

runDisney Kids Races (Part 1) #WDWMarathon

So as part of the Disney Marathon Weekend, they also had something for the kiddos.  And why wouldn’t they?  It’s Disney after all!  It’s also a small world after all (Now try getting that song out of your head!).

They had a few options depending on their age, and for our toddler Griffin, he was in the 100 yard dash.  I think we could’ve signed him up for the mile, but stuck with the shorter distance this time (he has done a 1 mile fun run before).  He ran the same race last year too, so we knew a little better what to expect…and it went well!

I can’t believe he has better form than I do. He also has better race photos.

The race takes place at their Wide World of Sports complex on their really nice track.  And being Disney, they go all out with a DJ spinnin tunage, a couple hosts/commentators, t-shirts, finishers medals, food and drink, personalized bibs, and even Mickey himself!  You can’t beat the price either – $10 entry fee!!!

Photo op with the mouse.

You even get to get their goody bags at the race expo.  I think the kids really liked the race and the whole experience made them feel like real runners (which they are!).

And they’re off! Most of them anyway.

Griffin actually warmed up for about 20 minutes before the race.  He also wanted “energy” in the form of my mom’s Power Bar Gel Blasts.  Speaking of energy, Griffin told me before the race that he would leave some of his on the track for me to use during my marathon.  I remembered that around mile 18 when we ran on the exact same track!  Definitely helped me to keep moving.  He was sure to remind me before the race to pick up some of the energy he left, and I did!

He’s leading the pack! I’m taking a shaky movie of it.

All the warming up and “energy” must’ve worked because Griffin won his race!  To be fair, he was only in one of three heats on our day and there were three days of kids races.  But still, he crushed it!  Nobody else was even close to him at the finish.

Breaking away from the pack. Note how I’m not even in the picture anymore.

I don’t think his feet ever touched the track.

Crossing the finish line, still floating.

My only instructions to him before the race were to run right down the middle of his lane and don’t stop till he gets to Mickey, who was at the finish line.  He did and did.  He was pleased with himself that he “beat all the other kids”.  But we had to have a good sport talk after we passed a girl who was crying cause she didn’t win and Grif told her, “I did.”
Hard to blame him though, he did really well and earned his second race medal!

Showing off his medal. He’s as serious around a camera as his pops is.

Funny thing is that after the race, he just kept running.  I didn’t want to chase him as I was conserving “energy” for my marathon, but at one point he had run almost a mile away from us.  I finally caught up to him and asked why he kept running.  He responded that he’s, “getting ready for my next race.”  Haha, good for him!

In part 2 of my review of the runDisney Kids Races, I’ll post the videos – wait until you see them!!!  They’re amazing, trust me!  So stay tuned!

In the meantime, I need to study Griffin’s photos to learn myself how to have better running form!  Peace out Internet!