The approach to this piece of writing has been a perfect summation of my last week: chaotic. Let's see, this is the...third (?) rewrite of these events. And, what has happened since then?
The marathon of which I spake has now been completed.
The restaurant at which we ate last Thursday that was the beginning of this particular posting is owned (now) by the Next Iron Chef.
The beer of which we drank at Bridgid's is still of New Jersey (shhh, Turnpike) fame/infamy.
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And the last two beers that I drank before the Marathon, Yards ESA (once at Bridgid's and once
at TJs, both cask), was the first beer that I drank afterward at Kite & Key...it was also on cask.
Let's look back on some of the original and twice modified verbiage.
Not my typical final days before a marathon, but then again these months of training have been anything but typical. So why not go out for a semi-decadent dinner at Distrito (Jose Garces' "modern Mexican" restaurant) in University City? Yeah, sure. A Dock Street Rye IPA was my one beer of choice with dinner. Then follow it up with a stop by Bridgid's for some Exit 1, Exit 4, and Exit 11 (and of course a gravity-fed Yards ESA for good measure) from Flying Fish. Definitely.
The first words I heard from head brewer Casey Hughes when I walked in to Bridgid's (after "Thank you so much you wonderful and supportive beer writer/blogger guy for coming out to support my lovely beer-drinking event!"...or something like that) was "Aren't you training for a marathon? The Exit 1 has calcium in it, so it's good for your bones." Sold...cuz Casey said so.
I suppose this means if today goes well, I'll owe a little nod to Casey and the bivalves of his Exit 1. And, the Exit 4, bottles of which took less than an hour to go through at Bridgid's. This beer continues to get more difficult to find.
Well, let's see. This decadence of which I speak almost 48 hours prior to the race? Perhaps I'm (and Casey is) on to something. I registered my fastest marathon time ever by 2 minutes (almost a 1% improvement) and bettered my Philly Marathon time by 17 minutes (a 6.5% improvement).
What else did I learn Thursday night in a bar full of brewers, writers, and reps? There's a brewery doing a new beer (a redux of sorts) that I'm betting will get people pretty excited. Still a little too early to write specifically about it. Yards will not be canning their beer anytime soon, though it would make for a convenient way to airline contract negotiations. And, the next of the Exit Series will not be a sour tomato hefeweizen. The rest is just purely conjecture.
I leave the breaking of news to the big boys and girls of beer PR.
Otherwise, come Monday, it'll be alright...and these sort of running-related posts will diminish. That should please some of you.
Well, come Monday...most everything was okay. Feeling just a bit under the weather. Tuesday brought a little bit of muscle soreness. But, all in all, the recovery from this marathon (barring an x-ray confirming a stress fracture) was pretty a-okay. Thanks to everyone who "participated" along with me in their support! The chiropractor and massage therapist did their jobs; Patty did hers; I did some training; Mother Nature did hers; TJs did their job with, count 'em, two heaping plates of pasta; and you all who came out and cheered me on and joined me for brunch all did your part. There's no doubt that it was a big help to my psyche.
Now I must get myself to planning some more fun beer runs.
Oh, and have I mentioned that I have the best neighbors in the world?
The approach to this piece of writing has been a perfect summation of my last week: chaotic. Let's see, this is the...third (?) rewrite of these events. And, what has happened since then?
The marathon of which I spake has now been completed.
The restaurant at which we ate last Thursday that was the beginning of this particular posting is owned (now) by the Next Iron Chef.
The beer of which we drank at Bridgid's is still of New Jersey (shhh, Turnpike) fame/infamy.
.jpg)
And the last two beers that I drank before the Marathon, Yards ESA (once at Bridgid's and once at TJs, both cask), was the first beer that I drank afterward at Kite & Key...it was also on cask.
Let's look back on some of the original and twice modified verbiage.
Not my typical final days before a marathon, but then again these months of training have been anything but typical. So why not go out for a semi-decadent dinner at Distrito (Jose Garces' "modern Mexican" restaurant) in University City? Yeah, sure. A Dock Street Rye IPA was my one beer of choice with dinner. Then follow it up with a stop by Bridgid's for some Exit 1, Exit 4, and Exit 11 (and of course a gravity-fed Yards ESA for good measure) from Flying Fish. Definitely.
The first words I heard from head brewer Casey Hughes when I walked in to Bridgid's (after "Thank you so much you wonderful and supportive beer writer/blogger guy for coming out to support my lovely beer-drinking event!"...or something like that) was "Aren't you training for a marathon? The Exit 1 has calcium in it, so it's good for your bones." Sold...cuz Casey said so.
I suppose this means if today goes well, I'll owe a little nod to Casey and the bivalves of his Exit 1. And, the Exit 4, bottles of which took less than an hour to go through at Bridgid's. This beer continues to get more difficult to find.
Well, let's see. This decadence of which I speak almost 48 hours prior to the race? Perhaps I'm (and Casey is) on to something. I registered my fastest marathon time ever by 2 minutes (almost a 1% improvement) and bettered my Philly Marathon time by 17 minutes (a 6.5% improvement).
What else did I learn Thursday night in a bar full of brewers, writers, and reps? There's a brewery doing a new beer (a redux of sorts) that I'm betting will get people pretty excited. Still a little too early to write specifically about it. Yards will not be canning their beer anytime soon, though it would make for a convenient way to airline contract negotiations. And, the next of the Exit Series will not be a sour tomato hefeweizen. The rest is just purely conjecture.
I leave the breaking of news to the big boys and girls of beer PR.
Otherwise, come Monday, it'll be alright...and these sort of running-related posts will diminish. That should please some of you.
Well, come Monday...most everything was okay. Feeling just a bit under the weather. Tuesday brought a little bit of muscle soreness. But, all in all, the recovery from this marathon (barring an x-ray confirming a stress fracture) was pretty a-okay. Thanks to everyone who "participated" along with me in their support! The chiropractor and massage therapist did their jobs; Patty did hers; I did some training; Mother Nature did hers; TJs did their job with, count 'em, two heaping plates of pasta; and you all who came out and cheered me on and joined me for brunch all did your part. There's no doubt that it was a big help to my psyche.
Now I must get myself to planning some more fun beer runs.
Oh, and have I mentioned that I have the best neighbors in the world?
2 comments:
Congrats on the marathon! I did the 1/2 marathon. Didn't set a PR, but it was the first time doing this course. And it sounds like drinking beer 48 hours before the race was good for you; perhaps if I'd limited myself to a couple of beers it would have worked to my advantage, too. Instead I drank way too much! Oh well, love good beer!
Liquid carbs are a good thing, right? Especially if taken in light doses in the hours leading up to your distance run. (don't the guys on Le Tour do this?!)
I even took a couple of ounces on Main Street on the edge of Manayunk, courtesy of the Hash House Harriers. Never took one of their offerings before (Yuengling Lager and Sam Adams Light), but figured those carbs were tasting better than Gu by mile 21.5!!
Congrats on the 1/2. Keep up the good work on the road and on the blog!
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