Category Archives: Sports

My 20th Half Marathon: Raleigh City of Oaks

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Post race party in Manteo

Post race party in Manteo

I have so many things to look forward to in late summer and early fall. Football season, good surf in North Carolina, and of course, race season! I maintain my running year round, but really start to focus on training right around Labor Day.

This year was no different. I started doing 10+ mile runs in late August and my training peaked with a 13 mile run in early October. October was a great month to train as the weather cools down here in North Carolina, but the distance caught up with me and I had to nurse some runners plantar fasciitis on my right foot. I somehow managed to still get in 100 miles last month. Continue reading →

Farmdog Surf Camp: Day 4

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IMAG1309I was up early today to enjoy this cool, October-like weather on the OBX. I decided to get in a 5.8 mile sunrise run to the Wright Brothers Memorial and back. The air was brisk and void of humidity, which meant I could actually breathe while running. I headed down Bay Drive, then over to First Street and along the trail leading to the Wright Brothers National Park. As I turned the corner from the airport, I had to stop and take some pictures. As I ran up the monument trail, I had to take more. Continue reading →

Farmdog Surf Camp: Day 3

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IMAG1300Surf camp day three in one word: Cancelled. My second choice of words: Bummer. I got the call from Aaron at 8:30 am, surf camp was cancelled today due to rough and unsafe surf conditions. I had a suspicion that this would happen with the storms that came through the night before.

We had a cold front move through the area on Tuesday evening with some nasty storms. The winds switched North East and cooled things down by at least 10 degrees. With the change in weather, there was a building North East swell with a stiff current. Continue reading →

Farmdog Surf Camp: Day 1

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IMAG1277This is it, day one of surf camp. Zander was excited—until we actually got in the car and started heading to Nags Head about 20 minutes before camp started. His nerves got the best of him and I had to walk him off the ledge.

We did a quick surf check across the street from Farmdog’s and everything got better. It was about knee to waist high, clean, and it looked like a perfect day to learn how to surf. Continue reading →

Another great Outer Banks Half Marathon

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OBX November sunset

OBX November sunset

Happy belated Veteran’s Day. We spent Veteran’s Day weekend on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was ready to run my second Outer Banks half marathon. Race season kicked off last weekend with the City of Oaks marathon. I ran the half in 1 hour and 43 minutes. This weekend, I was looking for a better time, but was concerned because of a leg and foot injury that’s been nagging me.

We arrived on the OBX Friday evening, November 9, 2012 to a freak blackout. As we drove through Mann’s Harbor, we noticed it was really dark. The radio was talking about widespread power outages from the Virginia border all the way to Hatteras Island. We noticed Roanoke Island was pitch black except for the airport, as we traveled over the Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge. Continue reading →

And the Fall 2012 race season has begun

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The Fall race season kicked off this weekend with the City of Oaks Marathon. I ran my 15th half marathon, The Rex Healthcare half marathon.

This race is always interesting because of daylight savings—usually plenty of rest! But daylight savings seems pretty pointless in the 21st century, but regardless, we still have to deal with the false sense of time change. (That’s for you Damon!)

Caitlyn's first half marathon

Caitlyn’s first half marathon

At about 5:00am in the morning, the sound of thunder woke us up. Who ordered the race day thunderstorm in the early morning? The rain kept the temperatures up. The predicted 38º ended up being 42º – which was fine by me.

Mom, MB, and Caitlyn were on-hand to watch the race. They saw me start under the NC State Belltower, then were at the 10k finish line (6.2 miles) to send me off for the remainder of the half marathon. Continue reading →

Get Your Pirate On – My First OBX Half Marathon

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It was five years ago this weekend that I caught the running bug—thanks to my buddy Iain Gray, who ran the Outer Banks Marathon back in 2006. Merri Beth, Zander (6 months old at the time), and I, spent the weekend on the Outer Banks to cheer on the runners. It was a great experience and inspired me to get into running.

Last weekend, I had my best half marathon to date. I finished the City of Oaks race in 1 hour, 42 minutes and I was in the top 20 of my age group. I’m ecstatic with the results. I’ve come a long way in four years. I’m blessed to be able to run these races and love the feeling when I cross the finish line.

This will be my first year running the Continue reading →

Running the City of Oaks

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This year will be my fifth time running in the City of Oaks half-marathon. My finish times have ranged from my first ever half-marathon at 1 hour and 54 minutes to last years personal best of 1 hour and 46 minutes.

I’m excited about the new course this year that takes us through Southwest Raleigh and starts and finishes at the NC State Memorial Bell Tower. The course will take us through Continue reading →

An NC State Christmas Present

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Next week, I’ll be in Orlando, Florida attending the Champs Sport Bowl. The game will be between the NC State Wolfpack and the West Virginia Mountaineers. If you saw the headlines from ESPN today, you noticed that WVU’s top cornerback, Brandon Hogan, is out with a torn ACL.

NC State Christmas

NC State Christmas

But I want to get one small request in before Santa visits this Saturday. Continue reading →