AM: 20 mile running reunion in St. Pete with a split tempo planned. Starting at the beginning of mile 8, we dropped the pace down to around 6:54 average (over the course of the next 4 miles), mostly unbeknownced to my running mates. Then after some quick water, I finished that up and got Sean to sign on to a 6-mile tempo aiming at 6:15 averages. Hunter ended up joining for a couple and then both eventually dropped out at the beginning of mile 5. Selfishly I wish they had stayed, but I luckily found a nice groove. Ended with a 6:14 average which was nice to see.
What a great run- the miles flew by. Talking with Sean, Drew, some new girl, and Christina for most of the run was wonderful. I felt very thankful to be around such a great group of people and friends. I really can sense some incredibly things for this group in the next couple of years, as long as we stay dedicated.
PM: The Beer Mile!
This was a random discussion on Tuesday during trivia night with my friends where I mentioned and 2 of them were interested. I then gauged some of my running buddies who I knew were drinkers, and fortunately found some more interest. So, I planned the private event for Sunday afternoon at 5, and at one people 10 runners were planned. Eventually only 6 toed the line, but we did have a couple of spectators.
The course: a 0.25 mile loop around a pond in Clearwater. Had to find a place away from children and schools... so my options were limited. This actually ended up being PERFECT. Interesting course with some weird curves, perfect spot to place beer bottles, and trash cans readily available to throw them out so we didn't litter anything. The course was surprisingly accurate, and if anything, slowed our overall times because of the curvature.
The rules: Drink a full 12-oz light beer, dump the rest over your head upside down to show it's empty, run a loop. Repeat 3 more times. If you vomit at any point or spit the contents, you must run an extra lap that will be added to your time.
The field:
Me- Was worried since I had a long, strenuous run in the morning whether this was a good idea at all to even attempt.
Alvaro- One of the fittest of the bunch. Consistent runner, but not sure about his drinking ability coming in- wild card on his beer chugging abilities. Sub 5-minute miler.
Cory- I thought probably the best drinker in the bunch. Great sprinter- sub 56 second speed per 400m, so I figured the "drinking breaks" would help him. Former sub 5-minute miler.
Tyler- Former College track/cross country runner in college. Good drinker, not sure if he could chug beer. He hasn't run much since the spring, but he is also a former sub 5-minute miler.
Devin- The only girl brave enough to go for it. Automatically wins the women's title. :D
Charles- The tallest, strongest of us all. Great, consistent runner, and certainly a good drinker. Thought he would do the best at holding onto the beer and running good times.
The race: With a storm rolling in, we decided we had to start at around 5:20 after about 20 minutes of prep. I felt bad (sorry Jim!) that a good friend of mine had gotten stuck in some traffic and was still a couple of minutes out, but I had everyone just kind of waiting around, so I just decided to start. We all started with a beer in hand and the timer began after a small countdown from me. Unfortunately, Charles had snuck out to help his son with something, and we started accidentally without him (I swear!), so I had to split off a 15 second time for him, as it took that long to get back over and start on his beer, and made a mental note to keep him updated on this.
Beer 1/Lap 1: It was a decent first lap. Tyler destroyed everyone with the first beer chug with Alvaro and I right behind and we all came in to lap 2 pretty much together. Cory had already vomited from chugging too quickly and was pretty much just leaving the start line, which made us laugh a bit. Sorry Cory. Before beer 2 got much under way, Charles came in and began on beer 2 within 12-13 seconds, meaning he was up 2-3 seconds on the 3 of us. Lap 2 was rough. I was already full. I honestly had no idea where the other 2 beers were going to fit. The running was surprisingly the easy part, just with a lot of burping. Beer 3 had Alvaro and I were even again, and Charles rolling in still about 2 seconds ahead of us. I think he mistook this to mean he had lost time, so he really started going after that beer, so I just decided to take huge gulps and pray it stayed down, which gave me my first lead as I dripped foam onto my head and took off with Alvaro right on me. Beer 4 was rough. I really thought I was going to vomit on it as I picked it up. Alvaro and I glanced at it disgustedly. Where I was going to fit it I had no idea. I took one sip and honestly couldn't swallow, so I just sat there for 5 seconds. Alvaro and I were on the same page I think, and just decided to go for it- hoping not to throw it up. A couple of huge gulps later, I dumped the empty bottle over my head and took off. After about 50m, Alvaro's quick cadence quickly caught my attention in my ears and I decided to sprint hard the next 150m and hoped he backed off, since I didn't have much left. Fortunately, I kept a good clip somehow the rest of the way, and pulled in a couple of seconds ahead of him.
Final rounded times (adjusted for Charles too) from my watch splits, now that I had time to read them all and do the math-
1) Mike- 7:18
2) Alvaro- 7:25
3) Charles- 8:25 (adjusted for start split)
4) Tyler- 9:43 (penalty lap included)
5) Devin- (approx) 30:00
6) Cory- (approx) 35:00? (Penalty lap included)
Final Thoughts: 10/10 would do this again. Felt terrible, as it progressed, but it is something I'll never forget doing. Great people great time. Next time- I'll invite all of my run buddies, make sure the alcohol is 5% (we had Bud light, which is 4.2% I think), and have a designated arrival and start time closer to each other. Say, 15 minute apart. Also, no ice or coolers were actually needed, cold water bottles are a must, and available trash cans are as well. Lastly, demonstrate the dump the empty beer on the head rule before starting.
| 