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Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
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Sh*t Runners Say, Dad Version
By Daddy Clay Friday, January 27th, 2012
I ran 20 miles last Saturday, and plan the same for this weekend.
Why? Why would anyone do that? Especially a guy with a busy family?
I’ve heard a lot of dads (and some moms) try to answer this question. None have been all that satisfying to me. My own attempts to answer, perhaps representative, are no less so.
Obvious (non) answer: Marathon training. Okay. Again. Why? Read the rest of this entry »
Say What?
By Daddy Brad Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
My neighbors heckle and cheer when I jog!
Every so often I do my marathon training runs in the late afternoon and early evening right before dinner. As the winter weather in Austin has been delightful of late, my eldest son Walker has accompanied me on his bike for many of these jaunts and it has turned into a great father son activity. We usually leave our house around 5 pm when the light is nice and many others in our neighborhood are out jogging, walking or enjoying the magic hour on their front porches and front yards.
Surprisingly, during certain runs over the past several weeks Walker and I have received a fair share of strange comments or what appeared to be overly enthusiastic encouragement. It was a little odd but nothing too over the top. There was the gentleman who chided “nice tattoos.” Neither Walker nor I have tattoos. Another made an odd comment about family time and heart attacks that I couldn’t quite decipher. I just smiled and waved and kept running. Walker thinks it’s a hoot that people are so interested in our fitness.
On the positive side there was this younger guy in his mid twenties, 2 blocks over on Split Cedar Cove who appeared to be REALLY REALLY excited that I was finally getting in shape. Every time we ran by his house he would let out a HUGE “WHOOHOOO” pump his fists and scream “Rock on Bro!” I was thinking of asking him to head my race support squad for the marathon because that’s just the kind of vocal encouragement I am going to need toward the end of a long grueling race.
But just this afternoon as two mountain bikers whizzed by and belted out what I initially thought was a very random quip “Yeah Buddy 08′ Yeah” I finally figured out the mystery.
Tattoos, missed family time and 2008; it all makes perfect sense and it makes me chuckle.
Several years ago Daddy Clay and I lost a bet with our good buddy Jim from BabySwede up in Cleveland. As losers of the wager our penance was to conduct a DadLabs Live Show wearing Ohio State and Cleveland Browns gear. Being Southern Gentleman we always pay our debts, so Daddy Clay donned the Brownie’s swag and I sported the Buckeye’s garb and we let loose one whale of a Live Show all OHIO’ED OUT.
It just so happens the Buckeye shirt is very comfortable, made of NIKE DRI-Fit material and is perfect for a running. People are heckling me (or cheering me) because they think I’m a Buckeye! Ewwww.
I am a big Texas LongHorn fan and so in retrospect it strikes me as funny that I’ve been running around my Burnt Orange neighborhood for the past several weeks completely clueless, in a bright red Buckeye shirt emblazoned with a huge OHIO STATE Logo across the front. I didn’t even think about it and never put 2 and 2 together. Lucky my kid was along for most runs or I might have ended up in ditch somewhere as payback for 2006. Hell I probably deserved it.
For the time being I don’t mind running in my Buckeye shirt, it’s real nice and I only have one other DRI-FIT shirt as the DadLabs pay-scale is much like a Sooner’s IQ (Extremely Low). But when those boys get off probation, Urban Meyer works his magic and the Horns meet the Buckeyes for the 2014 National Championship, I’m gonna burn that thing and sprinkle it on the front lawn of my buddy over on Split Cedar Cove.
No offense Jim.
Charity Case: Team DadLabs Running Marathon to Benefit Non-Profits
By Daddy Clay Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Do not laugh.
We admit that that Dads here at DadLabs have not always set a sterling example when it comes to health and fitness. All you have to do is look back in the DadLabs catalog to find countless episodes featuring ursine hosts lumbering around the set, pausing only to chug a beer or tuck into barbecue. We were fat. And worse than that, we used our kids as an excuse for being huge.
No time to run with little kids in the house, right?
No more excuses.
Thanks to a series of weight loss challenges here on DadLabs, we’ve shed a few pounds, committed to healthier eating habits, and found exercise routines that have been rewarding and fun. And our kids have noticed. Setting a good example for them is a great motivator.
Now we’re so motivated, in fact, that we’re going for the big one.
The Austin Marathon.
But we’re depending on you to help us accomplish our marathon goals. We want to finish the 26.2 without knee demolition or un manly tears, sure. But we also want to raise funds and awareness for two great non-profit organizations: Colin’s Hope and Hand to Hold. Starting today, we’ll be pestering you regularly (so you might as well get it over with and pledge) to make a donation to Team DadLabs. Our goal is to raise $5000 to be split evenly between the two worthy charities.
No gift is too small. Anything gets us closer to our goal. And it’s easy, just visit this page to make your tax deductible donation.
(In case you aren’t familiar with them: Hand to Hold supports parents of preemies and Colin’s Hope works for drowning prevention and water safety. Please check out their respective websites. And the great videos we’ve made in partnership with these organizations.)
We are very grateful that to the dads that have joined us for past challenges. And the training that Team DadLabs is now doing works hand in glove with our current fitness Challenge — The Marathon to Fatherhood Fitness. If you want support reaching your fitness and weight loss goals — whatever they are — please join up.
So we’re headed out on the road, with Brad, Danny and I all commencing official training this week — rigged out quite nicely by our good friends at New Balance. We’ll be updating our progress here from time to time, and more regularly on the fitness challenge forum.
Cheer Like a Mother
By Daddy Clay Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
“It’s okay. He’s just watching the other game.”
-Opposing Dad
A dad of a kid on my kid’s team is really working himself up, fulminating on the sidelines, lobbying the refs for a foul call against an opposing player. He’s really loud, and his accusations have clearly gotten under the skin of the parents of the opposing team. They are starting to jaw back at him, when one Profound Dad offers the above nugget of wisdom. Read the rest of this entry »
