Christmas (Weather) in July! I Opened a Running Present.

This week has been amazebutt. North Texas got rain and a few days of cooler temps! I have taken full advantage.

I’ve run pretty much every day this week (including in the rain). I’ve taken the dogs/kids on walks each night. It’s all been so refreshing.

Bailey was not impressed with my imitation of her tongue panting.

Today was going to be a rest day, but when I woke up and saw temps in the 60’s – I had to run. We don’t get these chances very often – Just early this week it was 100 degrees – that’s a nice change of pace! Of course, the humidity was 95%, but it still felt pretty cool with the temps and cloud cover.

I’ll take it!   Normally this time of year we are trying to cool down with…

#FROYO #BOGO #YOLO

I’m hoping the temps linger on a bit longer – I’d at least like to get in the weekend long runs if possible. Here’s hoping!

How bout you? Taking advantage of the weather where you are (I hope it’s pleasant)?  Weekend plans?  Anyone going for frozen yogurt?

-Scott

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

Weekend Trail Run: (Wo)Man down!

It was a pretty good little American Easter weekend.  I got a run in, a few fam/dog walks, and a sunburn from doing yard-work.

With two dogs and two toddlers, It’s never as peaceful as the photos make it seem.

For Easter we got together with the fams and some friends to hang out and eat food stuffs.  Pretty good times all around.

I think the chicken that laid these must’ve been ill.

Blowin Easter bubbles.

Another highlight was the 7.5 mile trail run.  I got up early Saturday to meet some friends at a park.  It was perfect weather – the kind where you are in short sleeved clothes but still have steam coming off you when you get all sweaty.  And even better, my little nagging calf injury thingy didn’t bother me at all!

There were lots of people in the park who were camping, biking, and even a few taking off in hot air balloons.

I don’t care what anyone says, those guys are full of hot air!

Funny thing happened on the run.  One of our friends fell down.  We can laugh because she didn’t get hurt…but then again, we’d probably laugh at her anyway.  She was right in front of me and I saw it all happen.  A tree root jumped up and grabbed her foot.  She claims she could’ve stopped her fall, but was too lazy to do so.  She probably just wanted a break.

I thought we might’ve lost her for a second, but I was eventually able to locate a pulse.  It took me a while to even find her because her cammo shorts made her really blend in amongst the nature.

Anyway, pretty good little weekend there.  Not too shabby.

How bout you?  Ever fallen during a trail run?  Color any eggs this weekend?  Weather in your parts nice enough for walks, bubbles, and balloons?

-Scott

 

 

100.5 Mile March!

In March I participated in the Fitfluential #FFMarchMiles challenge.  They wanted people to run/walk/hike to 100 miles in March.  I’m not currently training for any big races, so I was doing this for fun.  And it came down to the final day, but I got it done.

I was at 99.5 miles.  To get to 100 I took the kids and dogs on a walk.

Just a few thumbsuckers.

One mile later my feet had carried me 100.5 March miles!  It’s not as much as the gaudy monthly numbers I was putting up while training for the Dopey Challenge, but I’m happy with it!

Other than that, voting continues in the Earth Day video contest where my video is a finalist.  If you wouldn’t mind voting and sharing/tweeting, I’d be thankful!  My video is “C” and you can vote here: http://www.heb.com/page/offers-contests/earth-day-video-contest

Just look for the little girl with a bag mobile.

How bout you?  How many miles was your March?  How old is too old for thumbsucking (your own, not a strangers)? 

-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?

Run Disney Tip: Wakey Wakey Early Early!

Today is a rest day in my Disney Dopey Challenge Training.  It’s really weird having a rest day in the middle of the week.  It was tempting to go to the gym, but I’m going to stick to the schedule as I know what’s coming the next 4 days.

Anyway, I thought I’d give some tips today about running a race at Disney World.  Whether you’re running this year, or at some point in the future, I hope this helps.

Me and my sis running this past year’s Disney Marathon. Yup, it starts way before sunup.

I’ve run the marathon 3 times, so I kind of know what to expect.  First off, you must get there early.  And by early, I mean like 2:00 am alarm clock early.  They usually have to close some of the roads to stage the races, so if you don’t get there early, you could be stuck in traffic and risk missing the start.  This is from their website…

“…there will be SIGNIFICANT DELAYS starting at 3:30 a.m. due to road closures…Roads begin to close as early as 11:00 p.m. on the evenings before the Half Marathon and Marathon. GPS devices or other sources will be inaccurate due to road closures.”

So yeah, when we drive to the start line, we get there by 3:00 am-ish.  The races don’t start until 5:30 am, so you’ve got some time to chill.  Luckily they have live music, characters, etc. to keep you entertained.  Though it’s kind of surreal that early in the morning to see all that.

The boy and me and my sis before the 2013 Disney Marathon. It was early.

If you take a bus from a resort (like we did this past year), you have a little more wiggle time, but not much.  And keep in mind that where they drop you off, you still have a considerable distance to walk to the staging area.  More time on your feet = not what you really need.

Now, once you’re at the staging area, I recommend you stay there as long as you can.  They will try to encourage you over and over to make your way to the corrals, but I prefer to lay there and chill.

Once time to go to the corral, know that you will be walking about a mile, shoulder to shoulder with people.  From their website…

“You must be in your corral at the start line by 5:00 a.m. or you will not be allowed to start. Please note, it takes 20 minutes to walk from the Family Reunion area (Epcot® Wonder Lot) to the start line.”

If you’re not expecting that, it can be kind of disheartening.  You’re already worried about saving your legs, and here they have you adding a mile to your race!  But now that you know, I like to use this as my warm up.  Take it easy on the walk, and try to get loose while doing so.

After the death march I like to do my dynamic warm up before getting into the corral.  The port-a-potties are few at the corrals, so expect to go in the adjacent wooded areas!  All they while they have entertainment going on. They do a sort of live morning show there where they have celebrities and such giving you encouragement – all broadcast on some big screens.

All that’s left is to start the race…

I jumped really high to take this photo. Or I stole it, can’t remember.

I can’t stress enough to get there early.  Last year I got the chance to watch my mom run the Half Marathon.  You wouldn’t believe how many runners were running everywhere to try and get to the start.  We even set up at mile 4, and there were people trying to get on the monorail to get to the start while still getting dressed.  It was crazy!  So get there early folks!

Are you running any Disney races this year, or in the future?  How early do you get to the start line for a race?