Beer Mile

I was hesitant to even post this... however, I remind myself that not all races can be stellar performances. And this race was about as far from stellar as one can get.

I realised on cracking my first beer and having it squirt me in the eye, that having pre-warmed beer was not a good idea. I tried to gulp it down as fast as possible, but I felt like I was drinking pure foam. After what seemed like an eternity (I'll find out the actual time when I download my data) and after over half the field was already on the run I managed to finish my first beer. My first lap of the track went well, I managed to burp up some of the gasses and pass a good number of people. My second beer was just as foamy as my first, but I think I managed to choak it down a little quicker.

That second lap I was already feeling like my gut was full and that I didn't want to run, but I managed to push through and pass a few more people. The third beer did not go down well at all. It too was foamy like the others and I again tried to get it down as fast as possible, but my stomach seemed to want to have the beer going the other direction. After what could have been as much as 45 seconds or a minute I did manage to get it all down without any coming back up. I was not so lucky on my next lap however, about 100m in I ended up puking about half a beers worth of pure foam, and again another 50 m later. I finished that lap, and was concidered dropping out when Bruce Martell showed up and was cheering me on. So I forced the next beer down and again puked on the proceeding lap. So instead of finishing after the 4 laps I did a penalty lap finishing in a total time of 10:23.

I had no intentions of doing this race again, but with such a slow time I feel as if I need to redeem myself. Next year I will not use warm beer (I also will not use lighthouse lager).

Harder than it should have been

I raced Stewart Mountain 10 mile XC this past weekend. This has been my third time racing this run and despite running it on a stress fractured foot my first year, I think this may have been the hardest one yet.

The run itself is certainly not an easy one (a good reason why I like it so much). It is a one loop course of winding rocky/rooty/hilly trails around Thetis lake and out beyond to a small but steep mountain (Stewart Mtn), up the mountain, steeple chase down the practically untrailed backside and then back allong the same trails only to have to finish the last km with three steep hills that are almost enough to slow runners to a walk. This year had the added difficulty of having frozen/slippery surfaces to navigate. That is not why I found it so difficult however.

The night before the race I had been out celebrating the victory of our ultimate team winning the intermural league. I didn't get too carried away, but I certainly wasn't exactly being conservative either, and I paid for it out on the race course. And to make matters worse (although I know it made for a better race) Bruce Martel, the guy I just beat in GS, was there and looking for some revenge. We had a good race up until the mountain but after we crested the top I didn't see him until after I crossed the line.

I had been wanting to improve on last years time by a couple minutes, but instead I was slower by 1 min. I suffered a lot that race, and I will remember to keep pre-race celebrations to a minimum for future races. At least it gives me something a little easier to shoot for next year!

Here are some pics from both SM and GS:
top of Stewart Mountain


My brother at the top

Bruce at GS

The Gunner Shaw "Puddle"

Visible suffering

My time at SM was 1:11:26. 6th OA.