TC 1 Mile

Last night I ran my 8^th TC 1 Mile. This has gone from a small race to kick off training for Twin Cities Marathon to a huge race which has hosted the USA Road Mile Championship a few times.  Typically I run the first wave which is the non-competitive Friends and Family wave for two reasons. One, because I in fact have friends and family, and two, as it’s the first wave and therefore I can get to Brit’s sooner to have a beer. For a quick reminder, the last two years went like this.

Me running in 2011

Me Running in 2012

This year I ran with the Twin Cities Track Club so I ran in the Team Circuit wave which meant I’d have a lot of people in front of me. No breaking the tape this year. Got downtown, ran my warm up to pick up my packet, drop off my bag and then back to the start line. Did some strides, a little stretching and it was time to go.  My main goal was not to kill myself. 10 days out from Fargo Marathon I didn’t want to do anything stupid, blow up a muscle and be out for next week, but I did want to test myself so I was going to try to run as comfortably as I could while pushing myself. The course goes straight through downtown on Nicollet Ave which provides random people to watching and think, "what the hell are these people doing?"  Last year was a bit more fun as there was a country concert going on and the wannabe cowboys/cowgirls were really confused. Overhead one asking their friend if I had just run a marathon. Shortest marathon ever! No pacers. No water stops. Hell, I didn't even get a medal! Anyways, first quarter is right up a hill but probably the most aided stretch by the wind. Was hoping to hit about 5:00 minute pace and went through in 71 seconds, just ahead of goal.  At that point everyone had spread out and I just focused on not being passed and trying to pass as many as I could. Crossed the ½ mile mark in 2:25 so still ahead of pace and was actually feeling good. For the first time in these race my legs felt fresh, quick turnover and I didn’t feel like I was going to cough a lung up.  Missed the time for the ¾ mile marker but was focused on just pushing down the last hill, making the turn and pushing to the finish. Had one runner from Run N’ Fun right ahead of me who was not sounding great, so obviously I made it my goal to pass him, which I managed in the last 100m or so. Ignore the 10 other Run N' Fun guys that beat me, TCTC for the win! Kept looking at the clock thinking, "that can't be right, no way I'm going to finish that fast." Could read the time at about 4:30 but was completely unable to gauge how far I still had to go so I didn’t know what I’d come across in. Last mad dash and I crossed t he line feeling good. Watch time was 4:53 but official chip time was 4:51:3. Placed me 51st overall. 6^th in my age group and was somewhere between a 3-5 second PR from my best high school mile.  It’s finally official, 30 year old Mike is faster than 17 year old Mike, and an added bonus is 30 year old Mike then was able to go to Brit’s to have a Furious and watch the elites run by, which is impressive to say the least. Sadly, my “horse” for the TC 1 Mile Derby Garrett Heath finished 2^nd behind Nick Willis. Had Heath won I would have won a pair of socks. Guess I'll have to just buy my own socks. Gambling fail.

Boston

It's been 7+ hours since the bombings at the Boston Marathon, so everyone knows what happened. Between this and the New York Marathon being cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy major marathons in the US have had a rough go it seems, but it's a reminder of how lucky I am to be able to run and take part in these events. To spend time not worrying about the bad things. When I was in New York people had lost their homes, power was still out to part of the city, tempers flared as people waited hours to get gas.  Thousands were there to run the marathon, and when it was announced the race was cancelled, completely understandable too, runners were disappointed, but bonded together to help in anyway they could.  Groups popped up to run in central park and donate clothing, food, whatever else could be spared. Now after the attack in Boston people are stepping up again. The Red Cross is turning people away to donate blood because of the influx of donations. There are people opening their homes for runners and families needing a place to stay. Heck, watching video of the explosion you see volunteers running towards the danger along with first responders helping in anyway they can. This is not something unique to runners, just to good people. There is still good out there and it's amazing to see in this tragedy. Too often we forget about that until something big like this happens. In November, the NYC marathon is going to take place, and I expect it to be bigger and better than it's ever been and the third Monday of April next year, on Patriots day, there will be another 27,000 runners in Hopkinton toeing the line to run the Boston Marathon. As of now, I want to be there. I thought it'd be a while until I ran Boston again, but now it feels like it's more than just running a marathon. It's going to mean something not just to me, but to all those cities from Hopkinton to Boston, to all the spectators who go out to cheer, all the volunteers who again give up their time to help a bunch of privileged runners, in their fancy shoes, their wicking shirts and short shorts do something silly like run 26.2 miles, but also to me, to be part of that group that says screw you! You won't stop us.

Beer number two

Once again, after weeks of waiting, my second batch of beer is complete! This time I  used a Black IPA kit from Norther Brewery. This one didn't require me to sit around with a bunch of grains feeling like I'm making oatmeal since it comes with an extract, that's basically the sugar needed for that good old yeast to chew up and spit out alcohol. Anyways, finally bottled and waited for it to carbonate it and it's actually pretty good. Just look at it! It's actually carbonated. There are little bubbles. You can see them, right there. Plus there isn't a bunch of stuff floating around in it like my last batch. Overall, it's a success. I'll probably keep brewing even if logically it makes no sense. Cost about $10 to get the kit and 3 hours of my time and I get 10 bottles out of it. Not the most cost effect way to get beer. I can go to the liquor store, grab a 12 pack of something professionally made and pay $12 bucks or so, but there is less fun in that. The logical thing would be to get a bigger kit and I can brew 5 gallons at a time, but I'll hold off on that.

Shut up and take my money

Saucony released a picture of the new Kinvara 4.  This is the limited edition Boston Marathon colorway which will be at the expo and I want it. Which is odd as I'm sadly not running Boston this year, I don't wear the Kinvara and I don't really need new shoes, but look at them! Well, look at what you can see. They look sweet. They generally look more Irishy than last years New Balance 890 limited edition shoes that I did buy and don't have the traditional blue and yellow colors for the marathon, but they are still awesome. Probably because they are new shoes, look different and I'm pretty much a shoe whore.




  
Though, not enough of one to accept Adidas' latest offering which is this lovely shoe. On pure looks, it's not a bad shoe. I like the red, black and yellow look. There is a weird gap in the midsole at the arch, but generally it's pretty cool. My problem with it? The fact it's called the Crazy Fast Runner Shoes. Really Adidas? Who is this for? Crazy people who like to run? Who is defined as a Crazy Fast Runner? There should be some sort of qualifying standard for the shoe. "Oh, so you'd like these shoes? What's your 5k PR? 15:26? I'm sorry, that's fast, but it's not "crazy fast."

Touring the tap rooms

I managed to make it to four different tap rooms this past weekend in the Twin Cities. Dangerous Man, 612Brew, Indeed and Fulton. Here is a quick run down.\

Dangerous Man: Do you like Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire? And I mean did you like them before they got all popular and stuff...Vampire Weekend is popular right? Well, then this is the brewery for you! Seriously, their logo is a guy with a big beard, there was more flannel there than the Annual Pacific Northwest Lumberjack Convention and more thick rimmed glasses than Buddy Holly's place. I might be exagerating a bit, but of the ones I went to. On the plus side, the Chocolate Milk Stout and the Cream Ale were tasty, sadly you have to go to the tap room to get it since they don't sell it in stores or bars. Lame.

612Brew: Want to see what the place you'll eventually be murdered at looks like? Go here.  Turning into the parking out, outside of the cars, you'd think you were talking the slow walk to your death. Nothing but an overpass and empty warehouses. Then you get inside and you have been transported to a dance club. The lights were low and the music was blasting. I'm trying to recall which beer I liked from there but honestly, none of them stood out much.  The mural was pretty sweet though.

Indeed Brewery: Not sure how to describe this place. Imagine a big Vikings hall, and I mean the Norse Vikings from Scandinavia, not the Minnesota Vikings, otherwise a sex boat scandal would have broke out or Randy Moss would have gotten angry about the food or something (There was no food). Big space, a lot of wood and while some interesting beers not the best beers. The Day Tripper sounds like everything I should like. A beer that is ridiculously hoppy, but it's just too much. Then there is the Hot Box Imperial Smoked Porter.  Ever wondered what it might be like to just suck down a camp fire in liquid form? This is it, and it was not good.  Of them all, the least favorite.

Fulton Brewery: I've been here before, but not since they updated their place. By updated I mean they tore out their bathrooms and just had Bifs inside. Easily the most industrial and stripped down of the tap rooms.  Just a big empty space, a couple of tables and the bar serving up beer.  These guys went to St. Johns so I feel like I should like them more than I do.The beer isn't bad. Sweet Child of Vine is actually a really good IPA, though a little sweet.Outside of that nothing really does much for me.

All in all, I learned that there are a ton of beers you can have locally in the Twin Cities area, but not all of them are that good. To be fair, not all the beers made by anyone is good. Some places don't make any good beer. I am worried how long any of these places will manage to stay open. There really is only so much beer people can drink right? Maybe I'm wrong.

Roll Out!

February comes to an end and with it a new personal best for mileage at 302 miles and outside of one day spent traveling to California I ran every day. I guess I could have ran around the airport, but that would have been weird, not to mention I doubt the TSA would have enjoyed it and I don't need to give them a reason to pat me down, they seem to enjoy stuff like that.  I'm already well above the pace I need to reach my goal for the year (which I may be adjusting) and with March my training logs gives me some sweet motivation to keep my mileage up. Who doesn't get motivated by Autobots? Even Bumblebee is motivating, and he's lame.

On the shoes front, I figured that I could use a new pair since I'm burning through the ones I have now pretty quickly. Ordered a pair, got them, realized they were too big, then finally looked in my bedroom to see two stacks of shoe boxes and determined, I don't need more shoes right now and sent them back.  There has to be a point where I just admit I have some sort of problem with shoes, but I'm just going to ignore that for now. As soon as the two pairs I'm wearing now are shot I'm buying a couple more. It's not my fault they are so cheap. Some new shoes are coming out for Adidas and Mizuno that I'm excited to try out, just need to figure out a way to trick them into giving me free ones.

The Best Beer in the World....so they claim

Little over a week ago I was in California and got a chance to have what is considered to some the best beer in the world. Pliny the Younger is a triple IPA brewed by Russian River Brewing Company in lovely downtown of Santa Rosa, CA. There is a Barnes and Noble right down the street that I got to stare at for hours and hours.
The beer is released for two weeks, on tap and only at their brewery and a few select locations. This requires a special trip to the brewery to check it out.  Long story short, after waiting in line for six plus hours, over the course of two days, finally made it in to try some, and my impression? Not bad. To be fair, after that long of a wait, it would have to taste like tears from god, assuming there is a good, and unlike Chuck Norris, he does in fact cry, to be worth the wait. The beer was everything you want in an IPA, citrus, a ton of hops and you can't even notice it's 10.8% alcohol, but the best ever? I don't think so. I'd rather just swing by the liquor store and pick up some Surly Wet when it's out and enjoy that.  Just goes to show you, beer is completely subjective and you should drink what you like. If it's good to you, that's all that matters. Unless it's that new apple lager stuff, then you are just wrong and there is no hope for you.

On my own beer front, I bottled my own beer today and now just have to wait about 2 weeks for it to carbonate and it's ready to drink.  Probably won't be as good as Pliny the Younger, ok, definitely won't be, but still fun to try despite having to wait six weeks from the start to finally drink anything.  The other down side is also that my place smelled like grains for the week after I initially brewed it.  Yankee Candle won't be selling that flavor anytime soon.