This is the second Saturdays with Scott and he was acting out quite a bit. If he doesn’t learn to behave, this may be a short lived blog feature;). 

Jen: I write a lot about how I feel when I run. I feel connected to God, to my body, to my own mind. How I get into the zone and love the longer distances. So, how do you feel while you’re running?

Scott: I don’t enjoy running like true runners do. You know, all of you “runner’s high”, PR seeking, hyped up on endorphins junkies. I enjoy the challenge, and I enjoy the training and I’m not miserable or anything but one thing I discovered is I really like the 10K – 15K distances. That’s my sweet spot. So the second half of a marathon for me is just to be endured and finished. I’m not really having fun at that point.

I really respect the sport and have utmost awe and admiration for those that are really good at it. I remember seeing a guy finish when I did my first half and it was like 1:04 or something. How did this guy run for one hour at 13 miles an hour?  I know my body. It’s never gonna do that.

Jen: But you love the running community and runners in general. I’ll never forget my first half when you went with me to the Expo. You weren’t running at all then but you were really impressed with all of it!

Scott: Oh, the community? AWESOME. The camaraderie and the esprit de corps – there are very few places in society where you see everybody getting together with a bunch of strangers and yet they are instantly united and excited about the same thing.

Jen: I would say that’s what got you excited to train – not the running part.

Scott: Seriously, I like runners. They’re amazing people.

Jen: So, when you race, what is it you love about it? You just finished the Goofy Challenge in January (he ran the Donald half on Saturday and then the Mickey full marathon on Sunday) and I know you said never again, but were there moments that you really loved?

Scott: No.

Jen: Not even the finish line?

Scott: The finish line was a relief. And yes, it was an accomplishment and I’m glad I did it. But I wouldn’t do it again. The guys who can push themselves the entire way, the ultra runners who can do 50 or 100 miles, I still can’t wrap my brain around that. I like being out on the course, enjoying the atmosphere and just taking it all in. I’m never going to be very fast. It’s what’s interesting to me about the Olympic Tri. I’m still out for 2 – 3 hours but it’s doing different things. For me, running can get kind of boring.

Jen: Do you want to talk about the time you ran the Disneyland Half on a broken toe?

Scott: Nah. That was kind of stupid. I shouldn’t have done that.

Jen: Glad to see you recognize that now. Sheesh.

Scott: In all seriousness, my race times are the result of the amount of time I put into training and I’m OK with that. I train to finish strong and not compromise my physical health. I’m not going for a PR or to break a record. And for me it’s important to stay at a level with my running where I can pretty much run a half with just a few weeks notice at any time. That’s important to me. If you’re gonna sign up for a race, you owe it to yourself and everybody out there to train to get through it and not get hurt.

Jen: Thus the signing up for Star Wars Disneyland Half last week (editor’s note: with our DVC membership we got early registration. Opens to the public on June 10th).

Scott: Exactly. And you’re still dressing up like Princess Leia, right? I think I’ll be Luke’s Uncle in the fourth movie.

Jen: What was his name?

Scott: Um . . . um . . . OWEN! It was Uncle Owen!

Jen: yeah, I think we’re done here. Thanks for the chat, Babe. Any final thoughts?

Scott: No.

And there you go. And to think, we only got into like 3 fights trying to get this thing done;). Happy running!

Jen