Chicago Marathon Pre-Training, Lake-Mansions-Taco, & Me Pretty One Day

In case you missed my earlier post, I’m runnning the Chicago Marathon, and I’m super pumped <squeal>!

The race is in early/mid October. So I still gots time before I really need to start training. In the meantime, I’m just trying to have fun running and keep in shape. The other day I met up with WRRC for a nice casual 10 miler.

Taking a quick water break at White Rock Lake (no, I didn’t drink lake water…this time).

Always good running with this group. They’ve made me faster over the past year. And we have some fun along the way.

Nuther water stop by the Swiss Ave old money mansions.

Another good thing about this group is that they’re always up for breakfast tacos after our runs!

The only bummer that about the Chi Marathon is that since it’s in the fall, that means I’ll have to do my training in the Texas summer. I’ve always run winter marathons, so this is a first. I’ve never envied my friends who are on a 20 miler in August. Blergh.

But for now the weather isn’t too hot. It’s still spring. And it’s bluebonnet season! This happens once a year for like two weeks. And when I saw some on a trail run, I had to take the photo op.

So pretty. And the flowers are nice as well.

Up next I need to decide on a training plan to follow. I have a friend who may make one for me, or maybe Higdon, or my other friend recommends Jack Daniels – tho I don’t like him as much as Jose Cuervo. Gotta figure this out.

In the mean time, I’m going to keep on running and lifting and yoaging.

My foot is ready for practice.

Oh, and fundraising too! I did mention that I’m running this race through charity, right? In fact, I’m already halfway to my goal!!!

Let’s make those grey people green people!

If you missed the short video of me explaining why you should donate – and what special perk I’ll make for you, watch it HERE.

If you prefer to go straight to the donating page, well good on ya. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

Thanks in advance!

How bout you? Recommend a training plan? Who still goes for longish runs when not really training? What did you think of my super high tech video?

-Scott

PS. Good luck to everyone running Boston on Monday! I’ll be stalking rooting!

Death Defying Run & Easter Fun!

The Easter weekend was a good one, but not without some danger! It kicked off with a long run. I met up with my run bud for a 13 miler that nearly took my life!

I know it says 12, but my gps shorted me a freakin whole mile! I swear, I mapped it out.

Ha, we had come to the end of a trail, and saw there as another trail on the other side of a pond. All we had to do to get there was scale a waterfall. It wasn’t my most graceful moment, but eventually got across.

Whew! That was close!

Of course, when you run a lot, you need to reward yourself a lot. So a couple run buds and I met up for a quick nip.

Runners are normally happy people. Sometimes we need to mean mug tho to keep our competitors worried. And yes, I normally do keep a feather behind my ear. It’s a good look all around.

Easter day was rainy and gloomy. But I braved the wet stuff to get another 6+ miles in.

Bunny ears selfie! I actually ran closer to 7 – need to get that dang gps fixed!

The rest of the day was nicely spent doing Easter fun things with family people.

Just a couple of weirdos.

All the weekend activities left me pretty exhausted. But I gotta muster up because now we have to chase toddlers who are all hopped up on leftover chocolate bunnies and jelly beans!

How bout you? Get in a bunny run? Get any Easter candy? Did you nearly fall off a waterfall too?

-Scott

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

My Last Race Ever!!!*

Yup, it’s true. This weekend is my I’ll be running my last.race.evah.*

*In my current age group.

Yup, I have a birthday coming up, which is going to catapult me into a brand spankin new age group. So this weekend’s race will be my last in the 35-39 division. Hopefully I can go out with a bang!

Sadly tho, I won’t be running any of the St. Patrick’s Day themed races in Dallas. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some St. Patty’s Day fun, but me no likey the huge crowds at those races.

I’d be a giant in leprechaun village.

Instead I’m running the Chain Reaction 5k.

I chose this race for a few reasons: 1. I live nearby. 2. Registration was affordable. 3. All proceeds go to a good charity. 4. A couple times per week I run the trails this race is utilizing, so I’m familiar. 5. It looks to be a small race.**

**With small races, odds go up of placing…even in my super competitive current age group!

That all said, even though I run in this park all the time, I’m not sure how they’re going to host a 5k there. I know for a fact that the main trail is only about 1 mile around. I reached out to them for the course map, which they very kindly sent me. But to be honest, the map cornfuses me.

I can’t make heads or tails of this route.

They say it’s a two lap race, but I don’t get which directions it goes. And also, the map clearly shows that we go off pavement to dirt mud trails for a section. That’s not good because it’s been raining non-stop here in North Texas.

This is what I kept telling myself all week.

I again reached out to the race folks, who assured me the race is all on pavement. If that’s the case, then the map is wrong, so I’m even more cornfused.

Anyways, I’m probably over-thinking it. I need to just go to the race and have fun trying to run fast. But what would runners do if we weren’t obsessing over running details. Am I right?

And those who know me know I also obsess over tacos. So now I’m off for some pre-race veggie ones!

This will help me run fast, right?

Stay tuned for the recap where all the mysteries will be solved!

How bout you? Can you figure out that course map? Are you celebrating St. Pat’s? Do you have a prediction for my performance?

-Scott

Hot Chocolate 15k Recap – Trains, Hills, & a New PR!!!

The Dallas Hot Chocolate 15k was my 2nd ever race at that distance. And I’m glad to report that it went much better than the first one. In fact, I earned my shiny chocolate themed medal by running a new PR!

The medal looks like a chocolate bar, but it tastes like brass.

There was supposed to be sold out with 13,000 total people running the 5k and 15k races. That means a lot of traffic getting to the event. Luckily my friend, Jewely talked me into taking the train down with friends rather than drive.

Of course we needed a pic on the choo choo.

We definitely saved a lot of time and stress by taking riding the rail. All we had to do was sit there and watch the world go by.

You can’t take a selfie around us without getting photobomed, duh!

As we got closer to the race, the train got more and more crowded. We were lucky to have gotten on at an earlier stop, when seats were still available.

Train’s getting full. Luckily they had stripper poles for people to hold on to.

The temps that morning were in the mid-40’s, but with a 10-15 mph wind it felt like 35 degrees!!! So when we got to the event, we stayed warm before the race by staying indoors!

B4 da race. I never understood arm sleeves. Are they for people that don’t care about cold shoulders?

The 5k started first. But due to traffic and such, people were late. The race was nice enough to wait for them, but that also meant the 15k would start like 15 minutes late. It was not fun standing in the cold waiting for the starting horn to blow! But eventually, we were off!

My run buds Clay and Dawn were on the course cheering. Clayton got this shot of me. Dueces!

The course itself was TOUGH – lotsa hills! Most people don’t think of Dallas as hilly, but this race made sure to find as many as they could!

At mile 5ish, we had about a pretty steep incline for about half a mile. At the top of the hill, some spectators had set up a whiskey station to give shots to the runners. Haha, with the pain I was feeling, I was tempted to take one, but decided to plug along instead.

The red parts are my slowest sections, coincidentally, they were also on big hills. Ha, when I saw that hill around mile 8 after turning the corner, I dropped a few choice words aloud!

And can I just say, I love the support of the running community. Towards the end of the race, a few of us strangers started encouraging each other with words of encouragement. It helped us finish strong!

You can watch a short video of my and my new besties crossing the finish line BY CLICKING HERE!

I wanted to run a sub 7:40 mile pace, and I did!!! ~ 7:39 per mile ~ a full 20 seconds faster per mile than my last 15k! That came out to more than a 2 minute PR!Also, I’ve said this before, but I hate my age group. I finished in the top 3% overall, but in the top 15% of my age group. Grrrr, I can’t wait to get to a new age group next month!!!

After da race with our sweet rewards.

After the race, they had a fun little after-party going on with a DJ, chocolate treats, etc. Here’s a 6 second video recap I made:

To be honest, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so all the chocolate was a bit too much for me to handle. But on the way home I decided there should be some celebrating with a grown-up treat…

A chocolate stout still counts as chocolate, right?

In the end, I was sassified with the results – especially considering the wind, hills, & not knowing how to pace this distance. And most importantly, it was a fun time!

How bout you? LIke that bling? Gotta sweet tooth or a beer tooth? Ever ride a choo choo train?

-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?

Animated Running, Trail Nimbleness, Yoga Bliss, & I’m a Sunglassed Winner!

What’s up, Playas? I know the holidays are upon us, but I feel like things are kind of getting settled around here. Not normal, I know. But now that the Dallas Marathon is over, people in these parts are kind of on hiatus, running wise. Not me though!

Before I get to what’s up, lemme wrap up my Dallas race. The proofs came in and I had some fun turning them into animated gifs…

At the finish with a mystery run partner.

If the animation was too much for you, here’s a still.

And one funny thing I found: I didn’t know it, but I was running for a while with one of my training buddies. I didn’t realize it until I saw the pics! Ha, I guess we were too focused on being in beast mode.

Me and a not mystery runner.

Me n Liz (Ironman shirt & visor). We ran many miles together this training season.

Anyway, on to this weekend: 10 solo miles on Saturday, followed by a muddy group trail run on Sunday. The highlight being that I was particularly graceful and nimble as I crossed a creek.

It only took me like 8 minutes to cross, but I didn’t want to fall in like my friend did before me!

Anywhoodle, after the trail miles, it was on to yoga. I was pumped when I saw which instructor it was – this lady is awesome…and she kicked our booties!

Can you spot me?

I am seriously sore after all the yogaing.

I swear we did more than just this pose.

Oh, and I just got some good news…At the Dallas Marathon Race Expo, I posed for a photo at a local running store’s red carpet. And guess what?!?! They liked it so much they said I won a $50 gift card! Booyah!!!

The winning photo. As my one friend put it, “two sets of shades because the sun never sets on a badass” Truer words have rarely been spoken.

So there it is, kiddos. Tryin to keep it real in the face of holiday chaoticness. Boom!

How bout you? Ever get surprises when you see a photo? Can you imagine how graceful I was crossing that crick? Yoga much lately?

-Scott

25 Solo Miles, Race Advice, & Yoga Pal

First off, congrats to everyone who raced this weekend! In particular, I had a ton of friends (including my sister) at the Chicago Marathon. Looks like everyone had a great time…I’m guessing it’s due to my advice I gave them…

Took this pic at a marathon in New Orleans the other year. It’s still relevant today.

As for me, I don’t have a race for two weeks, so I’m still getting ready. I got up on Saturday for my long run and it was raining…back to bed it is! When I woke up a second time, the rain was gone, but so was my group I was meant to run with. I had to do 15 miles by my lonesome.

Just me, my shoes, and my thoughts…scary!

I’ll tell you what, it’s much more of a mental struggle to run these distances by yourself. The miles don’t fly by like when you’re having conversations with folks. But that will make us stronger come race day, right?

On Sunday I got up to go run trails, but my running co-horts were either out of town or sick, so once again I was on my own. I ended up going 7-8 miles. For you math majors, that’s a good 22-23 for the weekend. If you include the 3 I ran on Friday, then that’s even more (I wasn’t a math major).

Afterwards it was on to power yoga.

I’m in there somewhere. Hint: I’m a dude.

And speaking of running and yoga…my run/yoga buddy moved to NYC over the weekend.

That’s her (in pink) and other friends at a recent race.

She’s going to be working in fitness, and will be a yoga instructor. Livin the dream in the Big Apple. We had a going away happy hour.

Is any city nicknamed the “Big Grapple”? There should be.

So there you have it, another exhausting weekend. Fun, but busy.

How bout you? Did you race or have friends race? Ever long run by yourself? Is it really okay to poop your pants?

-Scott

Update on Reflections of a Lost Runner

Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote a post about a little tucked away memorial to a person who had passed away. You can read the post HERE.

I had done some research and found out she was a runner. I pass this memorial on my favorite running route and always pause there.

This is right near the spot where the memorial is located. Cloudy day, but you can kinda see the Dallas skyline in the background.

Since I wrote that post, I’ve gotten a few messages from friends of her. If you read the comments in it, you’ll see some of them. It seems she was very much loved. I’m glad to hear that she made such an impression on people…So much so that they are still searching for her online so many years after her passing (That’s how they come across my blog post). That said, I still had many questions about who this person was…

…Fast forward to this week, and I received another message. One of her friends shared some more details about her. Here is what she wrote:

“Scott – I was a good friend of Sabra’s and her sister, Monica. I met them through mutual friends and became close to them when I joined Luke’s Locker’s marathon training programs in 2000. They’d been running marathons for years, and when I joined the group they took me under their wings and helped me prepare to run my first half-marathon (White Rock half). Although they were both much faster runners than I was, they were so sweet to run at my pace to keep me company and give me pep talks. I told them both at the time that I’m not sure if I would have made it through that first race without their support. We were also good/social friends outside of running. Sabra’s death was tragic – a motorcycle accident caused by a driver who ran a red light.

She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside, just like her sister, who was her best friend. Monica spearheaded planning for the memorial bench that you’ve discovered, and a number of us running friends contributed to its erection at the park. The phrase on the bench was Monica’s idea and it’s absolutely perfect. So many friends spent hours – years – training with Sabra at the lake and we wanted a place where friends and family could come to visit her. I shed a few tears of sadness when I stumbled upon your post, but also a few tears of happiness to know that her memory lives on at the lake and that others have discovered the special spot where she spent a lot of time and touched so many lives.”

Panorama mode

I’m thankful that she reached out to me, and that I am then able to reach out to you with this information. But I’m most thankful that Sabra’s friends know that even though she’s gone, people are still thinking of her…even people that never met her.

No questions today, but if you have any thoughts on this, please share in the comments.

PS – If you ever run at White Rock Lake in Dallas, and want to know where this memorial is, holla at me and I’ll fill you in.

The Ebola Race (Cancelled) & High Impact Yoga

I’ve been a bit out of it ever since I got a case of the Ebola sniffles last week. I’m just now starting to not be light headed all day. Despite this, I was still supposed to run a 15k race the other day – that happened to be near where all the Dallas Ebola stuff is going down…But it had got cancelled. So I ran 14 miles instead.

It looks like a horrible balloon…a horriballoon.

The race didn’t get cancelled because of the Ebola stuff, it got cancelled due to a storm. This storm came through 36 hours before the race, left behind many downed trees and power outages. Too bad too, cause the storm also brought with it some cool temps. The 14 miles I did run, felt easy peasy booty squeezy.

The next day I got up early to meet friends for trail running and yoga. The trails were nice.

So we’ll just follow that path then?

The yoga, however was not what a sick person who just ran 6-7 miles and hadn’t eaten needed. It started with a whole series of ‘mountain to swan dive’ repeats. If you don’t know what that is – basically: stand up, bend over, repeat. Yowza, I was dizzy.

In case you wondered who was in the class.

The practice went on to be pretty intense. There was lots of shaking, sweating, and grunting going on – it sounded like being in a dorm. Seriously though, it was a great workout.

And of course, I had to help nurse myself back to health with some tacos.

They look good, but tasted better.

Onward to more!

How bout you? Ever have a race cancelled on you? Any tough yoga classes lately? Are you celebrating Taco Tuesday?

-Scott