Groucho Team Blogger Luke!

1. Well let's see, I was born and raised in Conestoga a suburb on the west side of Philadelphia. Growing up I spent a lot of my time maxing and relaxing and playing on playgrounds. And I used to love shooting hoops outside of the local elementary school. But then a couple of guys who were up to no good, started making trouble in my neighborhood. I got in one little fight and my mom got scared...

Hmm?

The Fresh who now? The Fresh Prince? Never heard of him.

*cough*

Anyway, so...

I don't run with headphones because I find the music too distracting, but I do love to make playlists for getting ready to run. I really don't want to like 30 Seconds to Mars, but after hearing "Kings and Queens" playing during every slow motion montage of Versus' Tour de France coverage (OMG, that just happened, how can that be part of a montage already?!?!??), I was kind of hooked. Jared Leto may be an ass (random story: I have a friend who went on a date with him, but that's neither here or there), but it's a catchy song. Other artists on my current pre-run playlist: Mumford and Sons, Eminem, Drake, Boston, Taio Cruz, Sara Bareilles. Don't judge.

I ran a marathon in 4:00:11 last year, and those 11 seconds - well 12 I suppose - drive me nuts. Using the Boston Marathon philosophy (where a 3:10:59 counts as a 3:10 somehow), it's technically a 4:00 marathon. Um. No. My two attempts this year (Twin Cities and Mankato) both failed rather impressively, which I attribute to starting my training late (see discussion of trip below) and not eating enough gummy bears in the weeks leading up to the races. So those 12 seconds will haunt me for another year.

I've recently moved back to Minneapolis after living in Cincinnati and New Zealand. One of those was awesome. One of them was not. I'll leave it up to you to guess which is which.

On my back to MSP from Cincinnati, I took the scenic route on an 11,000 mile road trip going as far west as Big Sur, as far south as Austin and as far north as Canada. Highlights included: An 18 mile run into the Grand Canyon, including a 6 mile stretch in the base which was amazing; Setting up a tent in snow at Lake Tahoe; Mountain biking in Moab; Falling into a snow drift up to my waist in Glacier; Clutching a metal chain on the narrow Angel's Landing in Zion National Park with a 1,000 foot drop off of either side of the trail. In other words: Awesome.

I'm psyched that Groucho Sports has given me this opportunity to explore...well, all of it. The love of the sport. The dedication (obsessiveness?) of seeking to be better. The connection to other people (bow chicka bow waaaah).

And most importantly, remembering to have fun.




** You can also find Luke on Facebook, Twitter, OkCupid, and Garmin Connect