Last Best Beer Run 5K "Race" Recap

I am not a fan of the 5 or 10K distances for races.  I'm not sure why, but maybe it is because I'm not fast.   I may not like the 5K, but I LOVE craft beer and this was the finale event for Billings Craft Beer Week.  Let's see... Running and Beer.  Yep, I'm in.

I would like to thank Travis Hutchinson who is a local member of our running community, Competitive Timing Guru and the RD (race director) of this event.  I don't know if Travis has ever put on a race before but I'm sure this one had to be a challenge, particularly in a city with open container restrictions.

Packet pick-up for this event was at Last Chance Pub and Cider Mill.  This is not one of my usual hang-outs but they have pretty good food and a lovely atmosphere.  If you haven't been there, I recommend it particularly during the cold season when they have the fireplace going.

A little fun a packet pick-up - Trying to win a prize for posting on Instagram

We did not get great weather.  It rained like crazy all day Friday and turned to snow by Saturday morning.  Thankfully it was more of a drizzly snow that didn't stick and tapered off mostly during the run.  Unfortunately, I think the chill kept away some of the runners and the after party definitely suffered - not drawing in as many non-runners as I am sure the RD would have liked.

Mitch doesn't drink beer and didn't want to run the no-beer 5K so he volunteered to ride his bike as a course sweeper.  Since he was the only cyclist that didn't bag out, he was also the race leader.  He got to be first and last in a race!  How many people can say that?  Thank you, Mitch for being a volunteer.

The concept of the race was to drink *4oz of beer at the start and then hit 5 "aid" stations along the course where you drink a *4oz cup of beer (two at one location) before moving on.  I didn't take my phone on the run because of the weather but this is the beer station at the start, hosted by Yellowstone Valley Brewing.  They served Huckleweizen - not my kind of beer but I was glad they picked something "light."

Other local breweries that were awesome enough to dedicate time and beer were High Plains (Laurel, MT), Montana Brewing Co., Canyon Creek, Thirsty Street, Uberbrew and Carters.  At the finish line there was also the Last Chance Pub and Cider Mill and Red Lodge Ales (Red Lodge, MT).  Angry Hanks was supposed to be there but for some reason they did not make it.

I did not experience any issues, but there were some hiccups for the front runners because there needed to be a volunteer or at least some arrows at a couple of spots along the course.  Mitch wasn't able to clearly tell which way to go and neither could the runners which resulted in them taking a somewhat revised route. By the time I got there, there were volunteers at those areas so we were sent the correct direction.

I got precisely 3.11 miles.  I think my finish time was about 32 minutes.  I forgot to turn off my watch right away so I stood around for a minute or so before I looked down at it.  Strava has me with a total running time of 28:36 (9:21/mile) which doesn't include the time I was stopped to drink beer.

Running with beer in my belly was harder than the eggnog mile we did this winter (which wasn't easy either).  As soon as I started running the beer was working its way in to a foam that instantly made me feel full.  I started out at a fast pace because I wanted to push myself.  I didn't look down at my watch at all during the run but based on effort I know I was giving it a good pace.  After the first mile though, I was slowing down.

Overall it was a blast.  My only wish was that I could have run with someone since it was more of a fun run than a competitive event. 

The swag is great.  I love the t-shirt which has a cute design and is soft, comfy material.

At the finish line, we received a *5oz glass and we were allowed to fill it as much as we wanted at the after-party.  I didn't drink very much after the run because my gut was a mess of beer foam already and I needed lunch.  This glass might be one of my favorite finisher awards ever.

I hope the Last Best Beer Run comes back next year.  If it does and I am around that weekend I will definitely be back.

Today is long run day, it is nearly 9:00am, I haven't picked my route and I am still sitting in my pajamas. It is time to get moving.

On another note, Mitch and I both got rejection letters for the Bridger Ridge Run.  It is a long shot to get in the first year on the lottery.  If it works out, perhaps we will volunteer some time this year since we now have nothing going on in August and I've already put in for the time off.

Have a great week!

*Denotes correction from original draft

Race Recap - Revel Mt Charleston 2019

In case you missed it, the post covering most of our trip to Vegas can be found here:
http://www.runwhichway.com/2019/05/our-vegas-adventure.html


Revel Mount Charleston - April 27th, 2019



Click Image to visit website

We arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday evening so we would have plenty of time to visit the Expo on Friday.  On our travel day we put on over 30,000 steps between the airport and walking the Strip that evening.  I think this detail is important later.

Friday, April 26th

Even though we went to bed after 2am on Thursday, we got up by 7am on Friday.  This was planned because we wanted to get to bed very early since we had to get up around 1:00 am to be ready to catch our bus to the marathon start. We figured if we didn't get much sleep and got up early enough that getting some sleep the night before the race would be easier.  It was, but in retrospect it probably wasn't a good strategy.

Race Expo - UNLV Cox Pavillion

The Expo for Mt Charleston was a little bigger than the one for Revel Rockies which we did last year.  It was well organized, had several vendors and was held in a very spacious building.  The volunteers working the packet pick-up were helpful, friendly and efficient.

A few things worth noting about the Expo:

• There were quite a few vendors including Aftershokz, doTerra, Sprouts and several places to buy GU, electrolytes and gear.  We bought some salt tablets (since we forgot ours), a few GUs and a hat for me.
• There was an information booth with details about the race and you could get a wrist band for the beer garden after the race in case you didn't want to carry your ID.
• There were photo booths where you could hold up signs for fun pics (we didn't participate in it this year).
• They had a "tattoo station" with temporary tattoos
• The Expo was scheduled from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm which reduced the crowds significantly.
• Sprouts gave out free snacks (bananas and such).  I liked that they did this and I think it would have been a great idea for them to have food trucks on site.

Awesome Swag -

Good swag is fun to get!  We do quite a few events that give little to no swag so when we do a race that has plenty of goodies it makes my heart happy.  I'm not sure why this picture is sideways since I've tried rotating it a couple of times.

The GOODR sunglasses are my favorite swag and since Mitch doesn't care for how they fit I got two pairs.  We got to pick from blue and black frames and I now have both.  Revel is etched small on the lens.  I have to say that the bottle of probiotics is the most unusual thing I've ever got in a swag bag.
Note: The Trail Junkie sticker wasn't part of the swag.  I picked it up at the Nevada trail runners booth.

Course Preview -

After the Expo we drove out to preview the course as is our prerace tradition.  Revel Mt Charleston is a point to point course that starts at the Mt Charleston Lodge and runs downhill on a two-lane road for 21 miles before turning towards the city.  The views are pretty but we didn't get pictures.

When I say "downhill" I really mean it.  This race has over 5,000 feet of elevation loss.  There are a couple of small up hill sections but they are brief and not significant.  Many people complained about them but I didn't think the hills were nearly as rough as the one big hill in the middle of Revel Rockies.

Click Image to visit Revel Mt Charleston website

While we were out on the preview drive, we took a little side trip up another hill.  There are some great trails in the area so we went for a short excursion on the Robber's Roost Trail.  We didn't go far since we'd already put too many miles on our legs. 

We had dinner at the Draught House where I had beef stroganoff that was delightful.  After that we went back to our hotel and hit the sack by before 8:00 pm.

Saturday, April 27th - Marathon Day

We paid an extra $40 each to ride the bus from the Strip to the start line.  Our recollection from Revel Rockies was that the long ride on a school bus was uncomfortable and they had really nice buses for people that bought the premium ride.  It was convenient to drive a few blocks down the Strip to the hotel where the bus picked up rather than across town where the free buses were.  While they were more comfortable than a school bus, they weren't as "fancy" as the ones we saw in Denver last year. 

I was pretty irritated that we spent the money.  1.  They didn't even bother to check receipts to make sure riders had paid for the ticket.   2.  They used the same bus service for the free ride and we would have had the same kind of bus either way.  It was almost a complete waste of money.

At the marathon start, Mt Charleston Lodge was kind enough to open their dining room so runners could stay warm and sold coffee and hot chocolate.  We pulled up a small spot on the floor and waiting for the start.  Unfortunately, they love dropping runners off an hour or more before the start, which I'm sure is so everyone gets a chance to use the porta-potties.  Mitch recognized John Fegyveresi - a Barkley Marathons finisher from 2012 (we've seen the documentary a few times).  He wasn't 100% sure so we didn't go say hello, but later looked him up to verify that he was in the race results.

My Run -

To get a Boston Qualifier I would have needed to run 8:22 minutes/mile for the full duration of the race.  I knew going in that I wasn't going to get it.  I just wasn't running that fast in my training.  But I had some secondary goals I was shooting for - a 4 hour marathon (9:07 min/mile) seemed attainable.

Immediately I had trouble with getting my legs to turn over with any speed even going downhill though keeping a pace around 8:45 was sustainable and I did so comfortably as soon as I got over the first hill which came within the first half mile.  The temps were in the 50's - comfortable running weather.  That was short lived.  The temps were in the low 80's by the time I was done.  I really don't mind heat, but it does slow your pace especially when you don't get time to train in it.

Aid stations were set up every two miles.  They all had water and PowerAde and the latter stations also had GUs and/or fruit.  Two of the aid stations were out of cups by the time I got to them and I was about mid-pack. The volunteers did a good job improvising and I was thankful I decided to wear my hydration vest.

I hit the proverbial wall at mile 12 - SO. EARLY.  I was still maintaining a 10'ish minute/mile pace and hoped to get past the bonk in time to still pull off a 4 hour time but things only got worse.  My pace got progressively slower, I had to take more walk breaks and it hurt to lift my legs to run.  By my final mile my pace was in the 14s and I finished in 4:41:38.  It was slower than Revel Rockies last year and no where near any of my goals.  I don't think the impact of this hit me until days later.  I was very tired but thrilled to be done and excited to have another marathon in the books so at least I enjoyed the afterglow a bit (even though I don't look like it in this picture).

The finish line at this race was hands-down better than Rockies and they even kept all of the vendors and booths up through the end of the race.  Rockies was starting to dismantle well before the last runners came in and I think that is bad business when you advertise a certain course time.

The food at the finish was pizza and by the time I was there, it wasn't worth eating.  It is the same thing they served at Rockies and you would think that they would figure out by now that pizza doesn't keep well.  They also had snow cones for sale and the beer garden served a variety of Lagunitas.  I wasn't walking well so I relaxed in the shade of their tent and enjoy my beer before heading to get my drop bag where I kept the sunscreen.

Then I headed over to the finish line and watched Mitch run in.  He did awesome and it was dang hot by the end of his day.

Overall, Revel Mt Charleston was a great event.  Well organized for the most part (not counting lack of cups at 2 aid stations) and the course was one of my favorites as far as road marathons go.  The Revel races are put on by a company called Brooksee, LLC and their races are designed to be fast.  Mt Charleston is currently their fastest course and I agree that the elevation loss was a perfect grade to have been right for me to get a great time had my day gone better.

I know several "runner errors" that sabotaged my efforts for this run -

• I did too many miles of my training through the winter on my treadmill which was old and the paces weren't accurate.  It also meant I wasn't getting nearly enough downhill miles to prepare for the beating my body would take on this course.
• My sleep strategy leading up to race day was poorly executed.
• I put on roughly 50K steps (that's almost a marathon) in the two days preceding the race so my legs were tired going in.

Unavoidable elements that also influenced my day include the hot temperatures and airplane travel that was required to get there as well as work stress & travel that disrupted my training schedule in the final weeks.

I've never been as beat up physically after a marathon as I was after this one.  The first couple of days after I had to be very cautious while walking because my quad would just give out causing my leg to buckle at random times.  It took about 5 days before I could move around without pain.

As some time has passed and I've had time to digest the unfolding of my goal race for the year it has been a hard reality to come to terms with.  I trained for this one event for 32 weeks.  I followed a plan specific to helping me hit the paces I needed for a Boston Qualifier and though toward the end I felt my speed was still lacking, I knew I was closer to getting there.  I was faithful to the plan with some exceptions due to illness and made some modifications for work travel but even if you count those times, I did 26 weeks exactly as prescribed.  I ran 6 days a week and during the peak of training was putting in over 60 miles/week.  I ran in the dark.  I ran in the cold.  I did long miles on a treadmill.  All of it with just this one goal in mind.  For over a half of a year I ran, ate, slept and breathed running with the hopes of getting a time to qualify for Boston and in the end I came up short.  Way short.  I didn't even hit a time that made me feel like it was attainable and I'm having a difficult time being okay with it.

I know I need to go back to the drawing board.  I need to reassess and determine what I can do to improve. There won't be a next time without a back-up plan, that much I know.  I've done 6 months of training and put all my eggs in one basket this season and I don't have a secondary race planned to see if I would do better given different circumstances or a better day.  I'll walk away from all that training empty-handed this year and that's a mistake I won't make again.

So here's to learning from it all and using those lessons in the future.  Now I get to move on to trails and crazy distances in the mountains with my husband.  At least these blog posts will get infinitely more interesting and have prettier pictures.

While I really don't love race pictures and Revel's were no exception, here are a couple from Mt Charleston because you can see the beautiful views that I didn't take the time to get shots of during the race.

Today we are putting our application in for the Bridger Ridge Run lottery.  Wish us luck!

My Next Big Idea - But He Might Need Convincing

If you've been following my blog for at least the last month, you know that we have a fairly full race calendar for 2019.  Even since the last update Mitch added a small trail run at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park in April.  That brings us to 6 races plus the potential for one more in August if we get picked in the lottery for the Bridger Ridge Run.  In this schedule I have 2 main goals:  get a Boston Qualifier and finish The Rut.  All the rest are just for fun.

What I really want now is to do a 100 miler.

Yeah, pretty much.  I lost it quite a while ago when I decided to sign up for the 2016 Rut 50K as my very first ultra.  The journey from then until now has been full of beautiful adventures, working through fears and many miles of pure joy (and a few miles of pure Hell.... let's just be real).

One might say that I could take the time to build up and do a 50 miler and/or a 100K since my longest ultra to date has been 55K.  But that's not really my style.  I like to just rip the Band-Aid off, I guess.

I've been pondering this idea for quite some time, which means I've been devouring YouTube videos, books and articles.  The hundred miler I would like to do is the Javelina Jundred in Arizona.  100 miles in the desert in October.  Still hot that time of year in Arizona, which is a little bit of a deterrent but what draws me to this race over others that I've researched is the party atmosphere and the minimal elevation gain (compared to anything closer to me).

Aravaipa Running Website - Javelina Jundred (click Image)

Mitch already knows I want to do a hundred miler but yesterday I tossed out the idea that I wanted to do this race... this year.

I might have gotten the side-eye over that idea.

We have a lot of racing this year.  It might make more sense to  wait and do it in 2020.  But that is almost 2 years away.

And in the famous words of Veruca Salt: 

So I might need your help convincing Mitch that 2019 is the year of the 100.  Just pop on over to the RunWhichWay facebook and leave a little comment and help me talk him in to it:
https://www.facebook.com/RunWhichWay/

Just a few highlight arguments for doing it this year:

• I'm already doing lots of miles training for the other races we are doing this year
• We both still have good jobs with adequate paid time off (I can make this one work... really)
• Carpe Diem!  Because you never know what tomorrow will bring 

If you can think of just a few more that might help. :-)

A quick recap of this week's training -

Monday - Rest Day
Tuesday - LBC Legs and 10 treadmill miles
Wednesday - LBC Back/Bis/Abs and 2 icy cold miles in -3 (more like -15 with the windchill)
Thursday - 10 treadmill miles that I broke up in to two runs: 5 in the morning, 5 after work
Friday - LBC Shoulders with Mitch and  15 miles in my neighborhood.  This was supposed to be Saturday but the weather was decent and Saturday was supposed to be sub-zero again.
Saturday - 5 miles with speed intervals on the treadmill.  Mitch ran 10 on the treadmill for his long run and we marked it on the calendar as the day he ran more miles than me.  Go Mitch!!
Sunday - I want to get 5 more miles today but I haven't decided when/where/how I will get that done yet.

Stay tuned... For the next couple of weeks I will put out a "Throw Back Thursday" post that will cover some of the highlight races from last year.

Running in the Dark - Is it Spring Yet?

It doesn't matter whether I'm getting up to run in the morning or tackling my training after work.  This time of year means running in the dark if I'm going to be outside.  The higher mileage and nice weather this week means I did a lot of miles in the dark.

It also meant I had to overcome my fear of running alone in the dark because Mitch isn't doing the same amount of miles with his plan as I am with mine.

On Wednesday I was scheduled for 10 miles.  We've had temps in the mid-30's so the treadmill just didn't seem appropriate.  Mitch joined me for the first 2 miles and the rest I did on my own at Swords Park. 

 

I took my headlamp but didn't turn it on until it was really quite dark.  By the time I got done there was no light left at all.  I ended up only doing 8.5.  This is because at the turn-around point there is a tunnel and I was not comfortable running through it or on the other side of it by myself.  Baby steps.

On Friday I had another 10 mile day scheduled.  I broke this one up in to two 5 mile runs (as the training plan says is okay).  The first 5 were in my neighborhood before work in the dark and the second 5 was at Swords Park with Mitch, after work.  In the dark.

My long run was scheduled for Sunday, but I moved it to Saturday so I could enjoy the beautiful 45+ degrees and sunshine.  I did 17 miles, mostly along the Yellowstone River.  It has quite an ice jam built up at the bridge at Duck Creek.

I can't post a picture here but I'm a wear tester for Brooks.  The shoes I'm testing right now are amazing for long runs!  I was quite tired at the end of 17 miles but my body didn't feel as beat up as usual after that distance.

After running, we went to Montana Brewing Company for lunch.  I discovered their Chips & Chicken and it is a game changer.  My favorite thing to order on the menu is their Chicken Enchilada.  This is the next best thing and a fraction of the calories so I didn't blow all my hard work from this week.  I mixed about a tablespoon of the ranch, a tablespoon of sour cream and the container of salsa to make the dressing. 

I'm so ready for winter to be over.  We've been very fortunate with our weather this year and even missed the big polar vortex that froze much of the country just to the east of us.  But starting this morning, we get a bit of our own bitter cold.  It's going to be just a few miles on the dreadmill for the next few days.  I don't mind running in the cold or the dark or the snow and ice but when you put them all together its just a recipe for injury.

My week of training in review -

Monday:  Rest day
Tuesday:  6 miles of Fartleks on the treadmill and LBC Legs (LBC = Lean Body Challenge)
Wednesday:   8.5 miles and  LBC Back/Biceps/Abs
Thursday:  3.6 easy miles and LBC Legs
Friday:  Two 5 mile runs
Saturday:  17 miles
Sunday:  Rest day

Total Miles for the week:  45.3.  I'm already at 181 miles for 2019.  I'm impressed with myself!

 

 

 

I have been up very early every day for the last 3 weeks.  This meme nails it for me:

 

 

 

Who else hates going out in the dark by themselves?

 

What is the weather like where you are at?



The Rut is On and The Big Step Forward

I'm backtracking just a wee bit.  My last post was so long and topic focused that I didn't get a chance to tell you the COOL stuff.

Monday, January 7th was the registration party for The Rut 50K!

I took Monday off for a dental appointment.  I don't handle big procedures well at the dentist so I need to be under the influence of a sedative.  That means no answering emails for me unless I plan to respond without a filter.  That's probably a really bad idea, especially if you consider that I was still in my funk that day!

The Rut opened registration to the masses on Tuesday, but they held a locals only party on Monday in Bozeman and Missoula.  Bozeman is not too far and we love going there!  We've been planning it for weeks.

Of course, if you're going to drive all that way you might as well plan a dinner date while you are at it, right?   If you're ever in Bozeman, you need to have dinner at Montana Ale Works.  So good!

The Rut locals party is hosted by The Mountain Project in Bozeman.  The mural on the wall is pretty awesome!  Free beer is my favorite, especially if it is craft beer (seen here: Shake-A-Day by Big Sky Brewing).  Yes, I know that drinking beer on a day that I was taking sedatives was probably not the best idea, but it was hours later and Mitch did all of the driving!  He doesn't have the same love of beer that I do so I always have a sober ride.

It's official.  We'll be running the Rut 50K again in 2019!  Yep... Mitch too!  He's become almost as crazy as me.

The Rut has 4 race distances:  50K, 28K, 11K and a VK.  The 28K and VK sold out in less than an hour after the registration went live on Tuesday morning.  The 50K and 11K sold out in 2 days!  I'm so glad we went to the party and took out the stress of making sure we were online quick enough to get in!

I have a ton of amazing pictures from the 2018 race even though we didn't complete it so I have to share! This is why I LOVE running mountain trail races.  Enjoy the views!

Lone Peak - 50K and 28K climb this ridge!

We had an AMAZING room!

We got to meet Scott Jurek!

I Love this man so much!!!

I made it over Headwaters Ridge before I couldn't hit time cut-offs anymore.  Brutal!

 To read my race report from the first year I did this race (2016), check it out HERE.  That was an insane day!

Okay.  So in my previous post I mentioned that I am up to something big.  Well, at least it's big for me.  I've been considering this for months and I've known for a while that I want to do it for sure but because it's a financial and time commitment I have been putting it off.  On Friday I took the leap!



 (I can't get this picture to turn correctly!)

I have some pretty extensive goals around putting this coaching certification to work in the future.  I'm beyond excited to get started on it and it is my plan to work through the course in a 6-12 month period of time.  I'll have a better idea of the timing once I start studying and have a grasp on how intensive the modules are.  Some are relatively short, but then some are really long (like the module on the Muscular System).



I'm off to get in my workout and do some meal prep!  I hope you all have an awesome rest of your week!