I Ran in a TORNADO!!!*

First up, some good news. I’ve been feeling pretty good on my runs lately. Official Chicago Marathon starts in a few weeks, but the pre-training is in full effect. This week’s highlight being a run with WRRC.

Sometimes Asians let me run with them, which is good cause they like to replenish carbs afterwards.

Now for some tragic news – I skipped 2 runs last week! Eeek! I couldn’t help it doe. It’s been raining like a mofo around North Texas. I mean big nasty storms, like several times a week, like every week, like for months. Just look at the graph from our water supply source lake…

That’s a wet couple months.

Don’t get me wrong – all the rain has been great as we’ve been in a massive drought for YEARS! Just look how our lake was only 50% full just a couple months ago. Now it’s over 100%! So unbelievable!

Buuut, the storms have cancelled/postponed a couple races I was signed up for, like one this past weekend…

Bummer yo.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid to run in the rain, because as we all know…

This is what I kept telling myself all week.

But when you’re in the middle of a run and tornado sirens start going off, and then lighting starts cracking over your head, and then the heavens open up, and then the flash flood water is up to your ankles, and then you start laughing at your irresponsible situation…you really start to question your sanity.

“With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.” – Jimmy Buffett

So I’ll keep doin what I can – enjoyin the cool rain, appreciatin the resulting greenery, and sqeezin in runs like Charmin.

How bout you? Ever get caught in a bad storm mid-run? Have any races cancelled? Who’s sexy this week?

-Scott

*OK, maybe it was just a tornado siren.

Key West Half Marathon or Bust!

Things have been hectic, per usual. This time it’s as I prepare for sunny Florida and the Key West Half Marathon.

Can’t wait to be 90 miles from Cuba again.

I gotta tell ya, it couldn’t come at a better time. The weather around North Texas has been, shall we say, less than stellar. Cold, Rainy, Windy. I’m over it. Hard to run in this garbage regularly without going mental.

What’s been staring me in the face on my 6am runs.

Despite the conditions, I’ve continued to stick to the plan – and by plan, I mean not skipping any runs/workouts. My last “long” run was this past weekend with WRRC. We went all over Dallas. Totaling over 15 miles, at a decent pace. Hopefully this means I’ll be in decent shape for the race!

So there ya go. Next stop: beaches, boats, bars, & ballads. I’ll try to keep up with the blog, but if not, you can always find me posting nonsense on my Instagram. Stay tuned for vacay/race updates!!!

How bout you? Getting your workouts in despite crummy weather? Anyone else heading to where the weather suits your clothes? Will anyone else be in Key West for the half marathon???

-Scott

Run + Taco + Soccer + Yoga + Celeb + Swan Balloon

It’s been a crazy few days, kids. We had an uhmaizeeng cold front come through. One day it was over 100 degrees, the next day I woke up and it was in the 60’s! All us North Texas runners were absolutely giddy!

I met up with WRRC to run. The group I fell in with went 12 miles at an 8:30 pace, and it felt easy peasy lemon squeezy!!!

It almost looks like a dog.

Afterwards I wanted breakfast tacos, of course. So I hit up a taco joint called Taco Joint.

Crazy eyes. Migas taco. Weird shrimp lookin thing behind me.

I gotta tell ya, it was like a party up in therre. It was before 9am but it was PACKED with runners from different run groups – as well as a few doctors fresh off the overnight shift. And the bar was open, and the drinks were flowin. It was seriously poppin.

I couldn’t partake tho cause up next I was coaching the boy’s soccer game.

Kick the ball in the goal over there.

My parents came out and took some photos.

Aaaand KICK!

Luckily the boy’s good running form helps him out in soccer too!

He’s flying.

And the day didn’t stop there. My buddy messaged me that he had some extra tix to the FC Dallas pro soccer match. I took him up on it.

My bud with the hook up.

My dad and brother also joined me. It was a rare men’s night out!

The Evans Lads.

And FC Dallas won the game!!

Go team go! I think that guy in front of us is taking a selfie, too bad the field is in front of him. #turnarounddude

The next morning I was up early again to join my runnin bud Serene for a trail run.

The squiggly part is where I was I was looking for my keys.

After the trails we went to yoga. Someone brought their pet.

He’s a natural at ‘down dog’

Then I gotta tell ya that something random happened. I ran into Dallas Cowboy legend Charles Haley at the store. Big guy.

Too bad I’m a Browns fan.

Finafreakinly our neighborhood had a block party. Complete with balloon animals.

Stop looking at me swan.

I was pooped (not literally). Such a fun weekend, but so much tired. I laid on the couch to wind down with the DVR, but my eyelids promptly closed. Out cold. Dreams of sugar plums (whatever those are).

How bout you? Great weekend? 9 am party-ers out there? What’s your spirit balloon animal?

-Scott

Dopey Training Week 4 (I think) Weecap

Not a typo in the title, I just invented the word for week recap.  Anyway, last week’s runs went fine.  The mileage is still low, which is frustrating, but good too.  The weekdays only had my run 10 miles total.  Then came the weekend’s back to back runs.  Saturday called for 3 miles, I went a tad further.  Sunday called for 12 miles, I didn’t go a tad further.  Sunday was hot again and humid again.  I met a friend at White Rock Lake (9 mile loop) before sunrise…it didn’t matter, the weather was still pretty miserable for running.  We did pretty good the first 7 miles, but by then the sun was up and blazing.  It was a bit of a struggle the next 3 miles, then a noticeable struggle the last 2.

Now I follow some big time runners on Twitter – Hal Higdon, Jeff Galloway, etc.  And I can’t remember who, but one of them likes to tweet that your “wall” hits at the mile of your previous long run’s last mile.  I’m finding this to be true.  So that partly explains my struggles the last couple miles.  But I also know the heat plays a role too.  And I found myself wishing for fall temps.  I have hope with the start of English football and American football, and the fact that the calendar says “September” that it hopefully it will start to cool soon.

But we got her done.  That’s what counts.  Injury free, that’s what really counts.  So on to the next week.  Keep on keepin on.  Bring it!

Run the White Rock Lake Loop

So I normally don’t blog about my workouts.  I workout nearly every day and sometimes twice a day.  If I were to write about each one, I’m sure I’d bore a lot of people.  But this particular workout, a lot of karazy stuff happened.

On Saturday I decided to do a lap around White Rock Lake.  I think every Dallas runner should do this loop at some point their lives.  It’s roughly 9 miles around and it is pretty scenic with views of the Dallas skyline, trees, kayaks, sailboats, picnicers, wildlife, tamelife, and other runners/bikers.  This time though, there were lots of surprise and cornfusing sights.  I’ll run them down in order of how I saw them.

1.)  Right when I was pulling in to park, Logan Sherman came flying down the trail.  We hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks and so he was kind enough to stop and chat with me for a minute before offering some encouragement and the taking off in a blaze to finish his 20 mile run (he’s getting ready for the Boston Marathon).

2.)  On the run, I passed a Goth lady with bright red hair in a wedding dress with her military uniformed husband taking their wedding photos.  Good for them.

3.)  One lonely pelican floating near the shore.

4.)  An ornery looking snapping turtle just off the trail giving me the stink eye as I ran past him and/or her.

5.)  A group of pro football looking dudes (some wearing NFL jerseys) taking photos of two horses they had tied to a tree by the lake.  Still trying to figure that one out.

6.)  Every fisherperson I passed seemed to be smoking cigs.  Is that a thing?  Do fishing and smoking go together like Spam and eggs?  PS. I’ve never eaten Spam and eggs, but I’m told it’s a thing.

7.)  A truck shaped like a giant shoe.

8.)  After I finished, I was stretching and noticed a lady hiding behind a tree with a camera.  I figured she was a private detective and hoped she wasn’t looking for me.

9.)  Then I saw a marriage proposal…it was accepted.

10.)  The lady hiding behind the tree was taking photos of the proposal.  Mystery solved.

So there you go.  Not you’re typical workout.  But I was glad to see it all ’cause it kept my mind entertained.  Oh, and sorry I don’t have any photos of this schtuff, but I refuse to workout with my phone…gotta keep phocused.  You’ll have to take my word for it.  But it is all true!  I can draw you sketches if you like.

Anyway, give the White Rock Lake loop a chance if you get a chance.  It’s a good trail, and you never know what you’ll see!

Peace out internet!

 

Too Cold to Hold 5 Miler (part 1)

So on Sunday I ran the Too Cold to Hold 5 mile race.  They also had a 5k and 10 mile, but I stuck with the 5 miler as I had never run that distance in a race before – guaranteed PR, haha!  I wanted to run fast and race it as it was a relatively short distance and for the past several months all my races have been between 10 and 26.2 miles.  It felt good to go fast, even though I wasn’t in my best speed shape.

Too Cold to Hold, Too Blurry to See

I didn’t know how fast I could go since I hadn’t done any speedwork in months, but I had one goal – to run under 40 minutes.  I figured that was plenty doable, and I figured right.  I ended up going 37:25, around a 7:25 per mile pace I think.  It was good enough for a top 40 overall finish and placing 5th in my division.

The weather was good – though warmer than I expected.  And there was not the usual blustery winds coming off White Rock Lake.  There was a nasty hill about a mile into it, but I’m glad it was there and not at the finish.  Only major problem was the big cluster of people at the start.  Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big fan of corrals, but this race didn’t have ’em.  All three races had the same start time, so the first mile definitely included a lot of bobbing and weaving around walkers and people going slower.  Always frustrating, but I didn’t get their early enough to forge my way to the front of the start crowd.  So part of that’s on me.  My bad dawg.

Anyway, we had a group of friends and Thursday Night Social Runners out there.  Several of us either PR’d, won age group awards, or had a distance record.

We should’ve ordered brighter shirts for TNSR.

Afterwards the real party started (as opposed to the fake party).  They had lots of free food and drinks (incl. beervecas).  But as always, our group remained serious and committed to professionalism, as seen in this photo.

I decided I needed the duck-lipped-hand-on-hip-one-bent-legged pose that every female seems to have on facebook.

We moved the morning to brunch, where things got super fun.  But I won’t bore you with pics of scalloped risotto and drasians (drunk Asians).  Some things are better experienced than witnessed in social media pics.

Anyhoodle, as soon as they send out the race photos, I’ll try to share a few if I look good (aka duck lips).  Hence, that’s why this post is only part 1.

Peace out Internet!

New Race, Past Race

So I went ahead and regis-turd for the Too Cold to Hold race at White Rock Lake in Dallas.  I would’ve taken a screen shot of the online registration page, but it wasn’t very exciting to look at, and I assume you believe I registerd as I have no reason to lie about this.

They have a 5k, 5 Mile, and 10 Mile.  I decided to go for the 5 Mile.  Why?  Couple o’ reasons.  Firsty is that I’ve never run a 5 mile race and want to give it a go.  Sloppy seconds is that after all the long steady training runs I did leading up to the Disney Marathon, I really just want to run short and fast finally!  (And I know that 5 miles isn’t as short as the 5 kilometers, but to me it seems short after going 26.2, so back off!)  Thirsty thirds is that I’m still letting my body recover and so I figured I’d keep it to single digits mileage for now.

Speaking of which, can I just say that I see too many people not taking enough time to let their body recover after a big race.  There are some folks out there who can run a marathon every day, but most people can’t.  These races take a toll on the average person’s body, and it needs to heal itself.  Even if you don’t have an injury, there are still breakdowns in the body after races and long runs that go all the way to the cellular level.  But I see so many people jump right back into it right away.  Take a freakin break already.  There will still be races after your body is recovered and your legs are springy again!

Now that said, I feel pretty good after my race.  No significant injuries to speak of.  Still have good energy.  But I’m in this for the long haul, so figure it’s better to listen to my body.  It will tell me when it’s time to go long again.  I’ve still been running, lifting, yoga-ing, but also enjoying the relative break.  Of course, I still need to get ready for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in two months, but I’ll be fine.  (Again, sorry for lack of this race’s registration screen shot, but see my reasons for not doing so in sentence two.)  I’ve partnered with a very exciting new training group, but that’s a story for another soon to come blog post.  But know that through this group, I’ll be more than ready for the Dal RnR 1/2.

Finally, I’m still working on collecting all my thoughts and pics and vids from the Disney Marathon, but I’ll get to it’s recap eventually.  I’ve got other stuff going on in my life, so you yahoos will have to wait.  In the mean time, here’s a recap video Run Disney made about the marathon.  Check it out when you got 4 minutes.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bdFXVDZzVQ&list=PL4C524BF1027443FA

It quickly shows a lot of what went down.  Man, Disney does it right!  They don’t do anything small, that’s fo shizzle.  Peace and running grease!

Tour des Fleurs 20K #blog

September, 2011.  A bunch of us ran the Tour des Fleurs 20K.  It’s a 12.4 mile race that goes around White Rock Lake and some of the surrounding neighborhoods.  This is a decent event, but it wasn’t a great race for me. Don’t get me wrong, any time I get to race, it’s a good day, but this was tough.

I had no idea there was a camera present, that’s how I always look when I run.

First off, it was insanely humid and muggy.  In fact, when I finished I crouched down like a hidden tiger and was disgusted as I noticed the waterfall of sweat that was pouring out of my shorts like a faucet.  Second off, I was dumb.  My sister and I took off from the start like it was a 5k.  Went out waaayyy too fast, and paid for it later.  Once we hit the hills of the neighborhoods, I was hurting.  Battling the heat, hills, and non-negative split had taken a toll.

There was on final hill once we got back on the trail that circles the lake, and I had had enough, so I started walking.  Just as I did, I heard a voice behind me, “Come on, buddy!”  It was my friend Ann.  She had run a much smarter race and was able to finish strong.  She encouraged me to start running again and I was able to suck it up and finish with her.

Proof that Ann helped me finish. Get it? Proof? Come on.

The race starts and ends at the Arboretum on the lake, and is fairly scenic.  The post race party inside the park was fun.  We reunited with friends and fams and checked out all the flowers in the Arboretum.  My only question is why they call it the Tour des Fleurs.  Kidding, I get it.

The Three Fleurmigos.

They also offer a 10k.  So there’s something for everyone, or at least for people who are able to run those two distances.

Peace out Internet!

The Final White Rock 1/2 Marathon #blog

I’m skipping a few race recaps to crank out this one because this weekend is the Dallas Full and Half Marathon.  Thought my recap from last year’s race might be timely.

I have lived in the DFW Metroplex for quite a while now, but I have never ever never had the urge to run the race formerly known as White Rock, and now the Dallas Marathon.  Why?  Every year I watch the live coverage on TV, and every year the weather seems to be horriblay!  That’s numero one.  Numero two is that I live here, and I can run around that area anytime I want.  I guess I always figured if I do a marathon,  it may as well be someplace scenic for me.

Buuut, last year I had been training with a bunch of folks who were training for this race.  And I got a free race entry for the half.  That helps.  And let me just say that my fears came true.  The. Weather. Was. Awful.  It was like 40 degrees American and pouring down rain.  Miserable.  I saw people shivering beyond control.  Several friends had severe blisters from wet socks.  And I met several peeps who told me they simply dropped out of the race part way through.  It was tough.

When I finished and changed clothes and picked up my soaking wet clothes, they must’ve weighed about 20 pounds American.  But, I did finish.  My time was just OK, but it could’ve been a lot worse.  I was never so happy to finish a race, just to get out of the elements.  It took a long time to warm up, and the free post race beers may or may not have helped.

Check out the baloonatic.

After the race, it was forever changed.  New name, new course, new new stuff.  So I can at least say I ran in one of the most historic races in Dallas before it disappeared.  I’ll be down there this week during the inaugural Dallas Marathon.  I need to run 20 miles for my training and figured I’d do it when a bazillion other folks are also running.  Plus people cheering and aid stations help out.  I’ll be on the look out for my peeps that I helped train for the half.  I know they’ll do great!  If anyone sees me running around, give a shout out!

Holla!