Gordo Running

     (If you sang the title in your best "Live" voice, you'd be correct.)  I had that thought during a conversation with a couple different friends lately.  One was lifting while I was on the treadmill (hey, it's over 100 degrees outside!) and asked what I'm training for.  what happens when I run in 100 degree weather while wearing a tank top He seemed a bit surprised that I didn't have a specific race coming up as I was doing a hard tempo workout.  Another friend has been texting me updates on her daily runs.  I think she does this to mainly keep herself accountable but it serves in motivating me too.  As in "Well, if Jammie got up early to run, I might as well at least hit the treadmill for a few miles..."     Between the two of them, it's given me the itch to train for a big "A" race again.  I am starting to look forward to waking up early on the weekends, feeling a bit beat up, just to go run for hours. I look fo...

I love lists and rankings.  I'm not quite sure why, but I always have.  When I was a kid I spent way too much time comparing the backs of sports cards.  Back then I could tell you how many home runs Mark McGwire hit in 1988 (32) or which season Dominique Wilkins had his highest scoring average (1985-86, 30.3) right off the top of my head.  Now, I've got to look them up.  Even today, I'll pore over the NCAA top 25 football releases and Fight Matrix's fighter rankings, which go up to 1000 in some weight classes.  When Mila asks what I'm doing, the answer is always "nerd estuff."  I really think that I missed my calling and should be working at some analytics place. Saturday morning writing at Coffee 101 Oh well.  In the meantime, I've been compiling results and rankings for San Angelo races.  It helps that I'm the one that uploads them on the Road Lizards page , but I also search for results from any other local race I can find.  Webs...

I have been thinking a lot lately about legacy.  In my "unadvertised" last post  I talked about my grandmother's legacy.  At her memorial service a few days later, many of my family members echoed my thoughts.  My Uncle Curt seemed to be reading my mind as he stated that a legacy is not a list of accomplishments but rather how you enhanced the lives of those around you. Family members and friends shared stories of varying emotions that shared a common thread - Grandma Sam was impactful. And, that was a large part of her legacy.  She made you feel important.  Not everyone has that ability.  I'm sure that all of her children and grandchildren would legitimately feel "Oh, I was her favorite for sure."  And, in our own way, none of us would be wrong.  That's another part of her legacy - love.  People have their own definition of what kind of legacy is important.  Switching from family to sports, I want to first talk about two of the mo...

This post was originally just a big block of text.  Super boring.  I'm adding recent pics and a video just to break up the text, not that they have anything to do with what's being written Mike McClellan's awesome drone video from the Shannon Trail Series race #3. No, this post isn't about dispensing sage advice on running a faster 5k.  I'm not the expert on that really.  This post, which is a collection of thoughts I've had for the past few years, could be summed up quite easily "don't be a jerk face."  The rules I have in this post are about making running more enjoyable for you and everyone around you. 1. Don't disparage slower runners.  Does it really matter if you're faster than someone else?  Does it make you a better person than them?  This is something I have seen mostly with "local elites."  (To be honest, way more in San Antonio and in the military than in San Angelo)  These are those people that might be able to...

You know, I have seen a lot of posts and heard a lot of comments about how awful 2017 was.  Is it simply hyperbole or recency?  Am I bad for not totally agreeing?  Sure there were bad moments, but I'm not about to post some meme that "2017 broke me."  Anyway, in running it was a year that came in like a lion and went out like a lamb.  I ran the Houston Marathon on the second weekend of January but only ran five miles over the last two weeks of the year.  I set some PRs, travelled around Texas to run, and made some memories.  As we start 2018, I wanted to take some time to look back at my 2017 "year in running/blogging." January 90 miles races: Hot Chocolate 5k Houston Marathon (4:03:44 PR) most viewed blog: Shannon Trail Series Race #2   160 views running pic of the month: Mike cheering on runners at the Shannon Trail Series Race #2 Running Highlight: finishing Houston not only with a PR but the support of my TNT Runners homie...