Not as much humor these days in regards to the long runs. This weeks’ 14-miler in 75 degree heat was nothing to take too lightly. Knowing that I need to be more focused on my Chicago plan than ever before, making the right choices and sacrifices are critical. I have learned to live like a monk on Saturdays – the day before my long run.
So what was I thinking last week when I responded to my sister’s email? We don’t get to spend a lot of time together, so on the surface, getting the families to hang out in St. Louis over the weekend sounded like a good idea. Then she suggested we take the brewery tour.
If you have ever been to St. Louis for anything “touristy”, the Anheuser Busch brewery tour is a must-see! (Especially now before the InBev purchase goes through and they shutter all of the fun stuff). The tour has a bit of everything, but at the end you go to the hospitality room and you get free beer. I would be fine with that part alone – to hell with all of that walking.
So anyway, off to the brewery we go. I think we arrived about 2 PM. The hostess gave us our tickets and told us that our tour would start at 3:50 PM! I am looking at my boys thinking they will tear this place down by then. So we decided to go find a little bar/restaurant to kill some time. My soon to be four year old Cole was not in a good mood. He was tired and for some reason was in flip-flops (his Mother was in charge of wardrobe) – maybe not the best choice of footwear for a walking tour of a beer factory. To make matters worse, he found a razor in our master bathroom that morning and thought he would be like Dad and shave - never a good outcome for little boys. He had a half-inch cut right above his lip. You would have thought be lopped an arm off.
Off we go to find a bar. I had to carry Cole because he didn’t want to walk in flip-flops. He had a washcloth pressed to his lip that had stopped bleeding about four hours earlier. In this area of St. Louis, there is a bar on every corner, except the corners where we were. We ended up walking about four blocks just to end up back at a place that is adjacent to the brewery property. Carrying that little sack of potatoes was killing my legs (and he is the lighter of my two boys). So we decided to have a couple beers. A definite violation of my “day before the long run” policy. Time passed and we went back toward the brewery.
We started our tour and I carried Cole each step of the way. Finally at the end, more free beer at the hospitality room. Then it was off to dinner. Where did we go? Another great area of St. Louis – “The Hill”. For some reason, they made it my choice. And for some other reason, I drove right to “Ragazzi’s”, home of the “Fishbowl Beer” – another bad choice! What is a fishbowl beer you ask? It is a beer in a mug the size of a small fishbowl. You can barely pick it up! So after stuffing myself on pasta (carb loading could be considered a good choice I guess) and having a fishbowl, we headed back home. A bit tipsy, sore legs, and stuffed from dinner – I had about seven hours to recover before my run.
At 5:25 AM I sprang out of bed and headed toward my running stuff. Strangely, I felt pretty good. I was out the door by 5:45 AM and on my way. After my “camel plan” (doing the run with almost no water) last week nearly killed me, this time I was smarter. On Saturday morning, I hopped on my motorcycle and took plastic water bottles out and hid them along the route. A helpful hint here – if you are making marks in the rocks on the side of the road to remind you where you hid the little fellows, make sure you don’t leave your leg on the muffler of the motorcycle – it gets rather hot!
To make a long run story short – it was perhaps one of the strongest I have ever had. I found all of my hidden bottles in tact and clear - not yellow, and felt more confident than ever about my progress toward the BOA Marathon. Maybe I should just live my life the way I always do during this training program. Maybe it’s OK to make a few bad choices along the way!
So what was I thinking last week when I responded to my sister’s email? We don’t get to spend a lot of time together, so on the surface, getting the families to hang out in St. Louis over the weekend sounded like a good idea. Then she suggested we take the brewery tour.
If you have ever been to St. Louis for anything “touristy”, the Anheuser Busch brewery tour is a must-see! (Especially now before the InBev purchase goes through and they shutter all of the fun stuff). The tour has a bit of everything, but at the end you go to the hospitality room and you get free beer. I would be fine with that part alone – to hell with all of that walking.
So anyway, off to the brewery we go. I think we arrived about 2 PM. The hostess gave us our tickets and told us that our tour would start at 3:50 PM! I am looking at my boys thinking they will tear this place down by then. So we decided to go find a little bar/restaurant to kill some time. My soon to be four year old Cole was not in a good mood. He was tired and for some reason was in flip-flops (his Mother was in charge of wardrobe) – maybe not the best choice of footwear for a walking tour of a beer factory. To make matters worse, he found a razor in our master bathroom that morning and thought he would be like Dad and shave - never a good outcome for little boys. He had a half-inch cut right above his lip. You would have thought be lopped an arm off.
Off we go to find a bar. I had to carry Cole because he didn’t want to walk in flip-flops. He had a washcloth pressed to his lip that had stopped bleeding about four hours earlier. In this area of St. Louis, there is a bar on every corner, except the corners where we were. We ended up walking about four blocks just to end up back at a place that is adjacent to the brewery property. Carrying that little sack of potatoes was killing my legs (and he is the lighter of my two boys). So we decided to have a couple beers. A definite violation of my “day before the long run” policy. Time passed and we went back toward the brewery.
We started our tour and I carried Cole each step of the way. Finally at the end, more free beer at the hospitality room. Then it was off to dinner. Where did we go? Another great area of St. Louis – “The Hill”. For some reason, they made it my choice. And for some other reason, I drove right to “Ragazzi’s”, home of the “Fishbowl Beer” – another bad choice! What is a fishbowl beer you ask? It is a beer in a mug the size of a small fishbowl. You can barely pick it up! So after stuffing myself on pasta (carb loading could be considered a good choice I guess) and having a fishbowl, we headed back home. A bit tipsy, sore legs, and stuffed from dinner – I had about seven hours to recover before my run.
At 5:25 AM I sprang out of bed and headed toward my running stuff. Strangely, I felt pretty good. I was out the door by 5:45 AM and on my way. After my “camel plan” (doing the run with almost no water) last week nearly killed me, this time I was smarter. On Saturday morning, I hopped on my motorcycle and took plastic water bottles out and hid them along the route. A helpful hint here – if you are making marks in the rocks on the side of the road to remind you where you hid the little fellows, make sure you don’t leave your leg on the muffler of the motorcycle – it gets rather hot!
To make a long run story short – it was perhaps one of the strongest I have ever had. I found all of my hidden bottles in tact and clear - not yellow, and felt more confident than ever about my progress toward the BOA Marathon. Maybe I should just live my life the way I always do during this training program. Maybe it’s OK to make a few bad choices along the way!
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2 comments:
...or perhaps your older sister is a better infulence than you give her credit for...
Hi Doug! Thanks for the message. I'll send ya some pointers on blogland soon!
I've had the bad experience with a motorcycle muffler once... OUCH!
Congrats on the great run. Sounds like a fab time in St Louis...
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