Run at the Rock 2009!!

Anyone living in North Carolina knows that Saturday was a cold and rainy day. Despite the weather and being one person down we went forward on all cylinders, hitting what I call the "fifth gear." Don't get me wrong though, we were all scared to DEATH of what the trail would deliver. Turns out the trail delivered 7 miles of what most consider to be a slip and slide of mud. But we made sure that we recieved our money's worth of mud and dirt (check out the header pic of my 2140 trail shoes).



It was great to see Amy just rock (literally) her first trail race. We are so proud of her!! Her Cascadia trail shoes are no longer teal and I am sure they no longer have that new shoe smell.



As for Olivier he rocked it as well with a time of 1:52 for the 14 mile race, placing him 18th. He was the only one of us to brave the 14 miler, while I opted out and just did the 7 miler. All in all we had an awesome time!



Results and photos: http://www.runattherock.com/

"Here Amy is thinking....I am going to kill Lee for talking me into this race!!"

Preparing for Sunday's Trail Run

Tomorrow morning brings us a trail run of epic proportions!! We are preparing for the Run at the Rock trail race and waking up early weighs heavy on my mind. This picture helps describe how I prepare for such an occassion.

In the words of Todd Shields, "My occupation is to BRING IT!"

soon, my friends...soon

What's on your Feet?? Shoe of the Week (week 3)

If you join in on a trail run you are sure to see wide variety of kicks. But when it comes to the trail and Mega Milers you are sure to see the Brooks Cascadia 4. The ladies of Omega pull this bad boys off with style!! These shoes eat the trail for brunch, and without a doubt can eat up a dance floor as well.

Rumor has it that if Forrest Gump decided to run across the country again he would choose to wear some Cascadias. If you were to google "Jack Bauer Cascadia" on you tube you would witness Sir Jack running down a bad guy in the National Mall of Washington DC, and yes he would be wearing Cascadias. Heck, my dog Nershi would want a pair of Cascadias if they came in his size. Well in due time my little one, in due time!

So when you see Amy or Crystal be sure to check out their "kick a kicks"!

Widespread Panic - Tie Your Shoes

This is "Dan Good" approved, based solely on the title of the song!!

Todd's IPOD-Pearl Jam "The Fixer"

This album will be taking over todd's IPOD classic pretty soon. If you look close enough in this video you will see Dan crowd surfing!

Get your trail shoes ready!!

This Sunday, September 27th, we are heading back to the trail. Now that it has finally cooled off the mega milers are ready to pick back up. We will cover anything from 4-6 miles depending on what floats everybody's boat.

So clean off those trail shoes and join us at the Harrison Avenue entrance at 10:15 or at Omega Sport at 10....what can I say, we like to sleep in!!!

. . . c o m i n g s o o n . . .

. . . S t a y t u n e d f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n . . .

What's on your FEET!! Shoe of the week

Brooks Trance 8 (2008)
purchased at OOOOOooMega! Omega WhaPow! (shout out to the radio ad)

This shoe may not look too good or smell like fresh deodorant, nonetheless they have been my go to shoe for the last couple months. They have accompanied me when I run the road, run the trail, play disc golf, cut the grass, and cut a rug to some sweet jams.

***A day in the life of the Brooks Trance -- 09-08-09

-Morning- 4 mile run with Nershi

-Early Afternoon- 18 holes of speed disc golf in Zebulon

-Afternoon- Cut Grass at Hopkins residence

-Night- Air out in the garage awaiting a new day of adventure

Who knows it may not be too long before I start sleeping in these bad boys. Just like many shoes before this one I sure will hate to see the day I retire them but until then I will keeping going on the MoGo!!!

L-Dog

L-Dog's IPOD

This will make you run faster!! GUARANTEED!

What is on your Feet! Week 1

While the mega milers take the back to school month easy, we have been occupying our time with other adventures. (Do not worry we will resume our activities next Sunday, August 29th)

Whether it be disc golf, mountain biking, sleeping, eating or running; we can assure you all of which can be done outside and we have documentation to prove it.

In the meantime here is a feature that we are starting up weekly:

WHAT IS ON YOUR FEET!! Shoe of the Week

With this weekly feature we will look at what is on the "mega milers" feet when they run, walk, work, sleep, or shower.

Week 1-Daniel the DTRAIN
Below is a video showing of the dtrain throwing a monstrous distance driver to hole #14 at Cedar Hills disc golf course off of Spring Forest Rd.

The DTrain is showing off the Vibram Five Fingers and based on his performance on the course I am tempted to purchase my very own pair or just steal his...

My day off!

With no group run for the next two weeks I thought i would post a couple of videos taken from my trail run with nershi last tuesday.

The way of the Mega Miler!

This Sunday we were very excited to be taking our traveling sideshow out to Umstead Park for a trail run. I have always felt more at home on the dirt and roots and I was super excited about sharing that joy with Crystal, Amy, and Jamal.

Still, we could not take our first run at Umstead alone, so we decided to join in with some friends. We met up with Olivier, Ryan, Brian, Chris and Matt, each of which brought great enthusiam to the day. It made for a great time to be around all types of runners. Some running for fun, some training for ironmans, and some who have never run the trail before.

Sorry there are no picture or videos. The trail brought such a demand that I had no time for videos. Maybe it is time to purchase a head cam, then who knows what we will be capable of in documenting our runs!

I also think the bug might have bitten Amy while on our run today. She got back to the store with the urge to buy a trail shoe and now she is going to be the proud owner of the Brooks Cascadia. Watch out now!

I guess this will not be the last time the mega milers hit the trail!!!

Here is a pic that we took from the top Mt. Raleigh at Umstead Park...ok maybe not

Here is a picture of our view instead, still pretty exciting (is that a snake!!!)

We RUN then we IHOP!

No one said that all the Mega Milers are supposed to do is run. Crystal sure took that to heart we she gave birth to the idea that after our Sunday run we should grub it down, and we would do just that!




We set out on our new favorite, a 3 mile loop, and we decided to add an extra mile to the mix just to get our money's worth. While our feet said "KEEP RUNNING" and our stomach's said "FEED ME!!"


We missed Randy during the post run breakfast but he made sure he left his mark by setting the pace during our 4 miler.

So as we made our way to the "Flying Biscuit" only to find out the wait was to long for us to have time to eat and be at work. When all else fails one must look to the northern star, and it is behind that northern star that you see IHOP!!



What a great way to start a Sunday!! We are already looking forward to next week.

Kickin A with the A List!!

Are you afraid of the sun?? If not then come and join us for one our Mega Miler Fun Runs!! This Sunday, July 19th, we are takin it to the streets again...

Meet: Omega Sports at North Hills

Time: 8 AM (unless you are Jamal and you need to stretch an hour, then get there at 7)

Distance: 3-6 miles

You never know who may show up!

(I understand he may be a little busy with this really epic bike race)

(Sorry Jack Bauer will be unable to attend the run, he needed a day off. Needless to say he was pretty emotional about the whole thing.)

Where is Lee Roy?

Hello, Hello is there anybody out there?

Do not judge me for I know not what I do!

Thanks for a great run guys.

I would like to send a shout out to Lee Roy for being such a motivating person.

The Fantastic Four!

Jamal , Amy and Crystal are discussing ways to combat stinky feet

Today we embarked on the 2nd Mega Miler group run and although it was 200 degrees, we still kicked it!

With the heat we decided to run a 3 mile loop. Rather than doing the usual greenway route we decided to take it into the neighborhoods, giving the dogs a reason to bark.

We were excited to have Jamal join in on the fun and we knew with his presence we were bound to finish with a sprint. I am not sure if it was because of our desire to finish strong or just our need to get into a place with A/C, all i do know is in that last 200 yards we were flying in fifth gear!!

Get your shoes and socks ready Freddy!

I do not know who Freddy is but i do know it is time for another group run!!!

This Sunday, June 28 we are meeting at Omega Sports-North Hills (Raleigh) for a group run.

Regardless of whether you run, walk, or crawl, you are welcome to join in! We will cover around 4 miles, but i am certain we can tack some more on or take some away if anyone feels it is necessary.

Meet in front of Omega Sports at 8am. Hope to see you there!

The First Group Run...

The excitement was in the air as the crew arrived at Omega on Sunday morning. As usual the Todd squad was there bright and early. Although I have tried, I can never arrive at that place before him. I think this young grasshopper still has much to learn in the area of early arrival.

With the heat rising by the second we decided to head out a little after 8 am. It is always encouraging to run with other people and having that opportunity is what challenges us to go farther. After almost 5 miles the decision to go farther was an easy one so after 6 we called it a day.

All in all the first run had a great turnout and we had a blast takin it to the streets!!!

I forgot my camera so the interviews will be posted later in the week. Until then here a few pictures (some taken with the iphone) to give you a taste of what went down

This is the spread you can expect at any Mega Miler Run!! Not really but we did have some high quality H2O. In this picture you see Amy, not only can she lay out the grub for benefit nights but she can also run 2 days in a row in 90 degree weather. In other words she can bring it!

Any good run should always be followed with some picture time...and if you look closely you can see Todd in a classic ninja pose hanging from the ceiling (nathan would be proud)

Here you see Sue and Randy with a little bearded man on the side. Those two know how to dominate a hot morning run!!

Also expect every run to be followed up with a sweet light show and heavy jams from a face melting band. (concert and light show subject to change depending on date of run)

NEXT RUN IS JUNE 28th....All you have to do is show up and run!

June 14th run from Omega.....

Thanks for the run this morning from Omega. Good to run w/ Todd, Lee, Randy and Amy. It was a great time to get together, run and catch up w/ one another. Amy congrats on your 5k yesterday~you rock! Are we running next weekend?
See ya on z run,
Sue

The First Group Run!!!

In a couple of weeks we will be starting up our group run out of the Omega Sports at North Hills.

On Sunday, June 14th we will be running a 4 mile out and back and for those who want to run longer we will offer the 4, 8 or 12 mile option.

On Sunday, June 28th we will be doing a 4 mile loop and again for those who want more we will offer 4, 8, or 12.

The only thing we require in order to run with the Mega Milers is that you run with clothes on. There have been many a story of streakers showing up at group runs across the area and I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to streakers. Just look at the poor guy in the picture below us. The people at the finish line had to blur out parts of the picture before publishing it to the net.

all joking aside...If you would like to join us on the 14th or the 28th please email me at leehopmusic@yahoo.com (if you do not rsvp you can still join us, no worries!)

From one EXTREME to another...

The last couple of nights I have enjoyed some classic night runs with Nershi. All I had to do was throw in some grooves and some fast kicks and I was certain it would be alright alright alright!

It was this past thursday night that I tried the less is more approach by running in the 7 ounce Asics Gel Hyper Speed. This would turn out to be a super fast run in a super fast shoe. I am not that fast but in these shoes I felt like I was running in socks with laces. Although I have low arches I was suprised at how good it felt have very little under my foot. With my favorite Dog in the lead and my favorite band (Umphrey's Mcgee) groovin in my ears this turned out to be a fun one!

"I tried telling Nershi that those shoes would not fit him!"

Friday night I decided to take out the 12 ounce Brooks Trance which would deliver a nice ride as well. The support this shoe offered was quite the opposite of the hyper speed. But it was the green superfeet that made me want to dance. Please don't misunderstand me, I wasn't quite as firey as Kevin Bacon in footloose but instead more like Patrick Swayze teaching the whole town to dance in that 80's classic we all love...Roadhouse....ah no I mean, Dirty Dancing.

Below are some videos showing how Nershi and I prepare for our daily runs!

WEEK 2 of The NCRC May Series was ELECTRIC!

It was time to make a return visit to where it all began last week and that was Umstead Park. Jim was amped to take it the next level and I knew he was capable of kickin some dirt with those Adrenaline ASR's.

This week we ran 4 miles and as always those 4 felt like 40...ok maybe not 40 but it sure felt longer than 4!

It is always a joy to see new people face the trail in battle and it is even more a joy to see them return for the next week wanting more. This is most definatley a result of the wonderful events and gatherings offered by the North Carolina Roadrunners club. Big thanks to Jennifer and the NCRC

Here are some pics of the goodtimes we had...

Showing off the Brooks Adrenaline ASR

Here I am taking some time to give a shout out to my Omega peeps

Everything is a blur when we run on the trail

"I sure hope Jim is not lost"

Our first run?

So, has everyone weighed in on this? When is the first run?

From the Island

How are all the Omegians doing?
Nice website Lee Lee!
Sue, stop wanting to run earlier than 8am. Some of us like our beauty sleep!
I am psyched about our group.
I also agree that Sunday mornings would be great or really any morning. The evenings will be getting to hot for this yankee blood.
Well, I will see you all soon.

NCRC May Trail Series- Week 1

As always the North Carolina RoadRunners club put on some pretty cool monthly runs at a variety of places. For the month of May, we at Omega had the opportunity to help sponsor, so in preparation for the new Mega Milers Run Club I thought I would give an update of the fun we had out at Umstead Park during week one.

It was a joy to be out there with others of a like mind not to mention we had Jim Bo Capps of the Omega family having his first battle against the trail. As always the trail won but we certainly had a great time. The first week gave us a 3 mile run and with each week they add a mile into the mix, thus closing out the month with a 6 miler...

Here are some pics to give you a taste of the fun we had out at Umstead. If you want to join us it is every thursday during the month of May at 6:30. The meeting place is the harrison ave entrance into Umstead Park.

Here is Jim dancing to the oldies

The Brooks Cascadia did not take "no" for an answer!

No that is not Kevin Costner

"Are we lost already?"

"You should be in a stability shoe"

"I cannot wait for some Char-Grill"