10K training, Day One (an icy run!)

Just three days ago, I was wearing capris and a tank to run in; and then yesterday, it snowed pretty much all day long, and the temp dropped into the 20's. The roads were terrible when Jerry drove to work last night--his commute is normally 20 minutes, but it took him an HOUR to get there. I was supposed to go to dinner with some friends, but Jerry had gotten mandatory overtime, so I wasn't able to go; as it turns out, I'm actually glad I didn't have to drive on the roads last night.

Surprisingly, the snow accumulated and stuck around overnight. It didn't stick to the roads, though, so I was glad for that. This morning, I was thinking about running on the treadmill, but decided that I'd better run on the roads while they're still clear. So, I dressed really warm (the "feels like" temp was 14!) and headed out for a three-mile easy run.

It was awful! The roads looked clear, but they were actually very icy, so I was basically tip-toeing around as I ran, trying not to faceplant into the concrete. Thankfully, my pace was just supposed to be easy today anyway--between 9:16-10:12 per mile. With all the ice dodging I had to do, I wasn't surprised to see my pace was even slower than that. I was feeling really good, and wanted to run faster (my legs felt energetic) but I didn't want to fall.

I finished out the three miles, and my overall pace ended up being 10:10, so it was within the easy pace range after all.

The jacket I'm wearing is the Brooks one that Runner's World sent me for my photoshoot last year. I can't remember exactly what I weighed during that shoot, but I think it was about 138-140, and the jacket was definitely snug. I was happy to discover that it fits really well now! I hadn't been able to wear it at all since the photoshoot. This was the picture they used in the magazine:

Photo by the talented Peter Hoffman

Today's run marked the start of my "official" 10K training plan. I made a minor adjustment to it yesterday, in order to get rid of one running day, and only run four days a week. I'd had a fifth "optional" run day on the original schedule, but when something is optional and I don't do it, I feel guilty. I don't want to feel guilty for "only" running four days a week! So, I just adjusted the plan to be four days total: one short, easy run; one interval/speedwork run; one tempo run; and one long run.

Here is what the first 11 weeks looks like:

This is meant to prepare me to run a sub-52:00 10K. I'll probably start at the slower paces for each run, and gradually work my way to the faster end of the ranges by the end of the training plan. Then I have another (similar) plan for the next nine weeks to prepare me to go from a 52:00 10K down to a 49:00 10K. Hopefully, all goes well! The tempo runs and speedwork will have warm-ups and cool downs attached, of course. I may end up having to make adjustments as I go, but this is similar to what I was doing before, when I got relatively fast.

When I was working on my training plans, I realized that 2016 is a leap year. In 2012, I ran the Leap Year 4 Miler, which was an evening race on February 29. The next "annual" race would take place on February 29, 2016. I cannot believe it's almost been FOUR YEARS since that race! I did the race with Renee and Alicia. These were the sweatshirts they gave out for our registration fee:

I love getting sweatshirts for races! I really hope that they have this race again; I haven't seen any info about it online, so I don't know if they will.

I'm getting really excited about the thought of doing 5K's, 8K's, and 10K's again. I have to be somewhat selective, because racing gets expensive, but it's going to be fun to watch my times improve (well, hopefully--haha!).

I'm thinking of traveling for my goal 10K race next year--there is a Cinco de Mayo race in Portland that would be fun, and it's May 1st, so I think I could be ready by then (also before it gets too hot). I know I went to Portland this year, but it has become my favorite city to visit, and I really can't get enough! I could also drive up to Seattle for a couple of days as well, which is another city I'd like to visit. I have a ton of sky miles saved up right now, so it's fun to plan a destination race!

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Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! I don't have any submissions yet for this week, so if I don't get any, I won't be posting tomorrow. Remember, whatever you share doesn't have to be an enormous milestone like running a marathon or losing 100 pounds... anything that you've accomplished and are proud of is worth bragging about! Here is how to submit a photo (please send it to the MM email, and not my regular email--it helps me stay organized). You can send them any time during the week. Thanks Friends!

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Ramblings

I haven't had much to write about lately, and it feels weird. I don't know what I used to write about every day! Yesterday, Jerry was off work, so I decided to make that my high-calorie day for the week. Noah had a friend come home with him from school, and we went out to Anson's for pizza. Jerry and I shared a small Reuben pizza, which is my favorite. It has all the stuff you would expect on a Reuben pizza: thousand island dressing, corned beef, sauerkraut, and cheese. It was delicious!

It looks super messy because it was super messy--the best pizza is a messy pizza ;)

When we got home, the kids asked if we could separate their bedrooms. We have three bedrooms, and the kids had been sharing one because they didn't want to be separated (we tried giving them separate bedrooms before, but they were scared at night). They've been asking lately to have their own rooms, and on a whim last night, we decided to move things around.

We had a futon in the spare bedroom, so we had to move that out. We put it where the treadmill was, and then moved the treadmill to the garage. I kind of like the idea of having the treadmill in the garage! It'll be much cooler in there during the winter, obviously, which is good (I like the cold, but the snow/ice is hard to run on--so now I can run in the cold, but on the treadmill).

We just built the garage last summer, and it is Jerry's pride and joy. Prior to building it, we had no garage, no basement, no attic, and not even a storage closet. Basically, we couldn't store anything at all. Jerry and the kids dreamt up this idea of building a three car garage with one third of it being a "man cave". The garage was finished a year ago, but we hadn't got around to making the man cave part until this summer, when my friend Andrea was moving. She gave us an old couch, a coffee table, and a TV. My mom found a big area rug that someone was throwing away, so we took that. And Jerry turned a corner of the garage into a nice little place to relax!

This is a picture from Halloween (I watched Scream while passing out candy)

Anyway, now we have the treadmill right behind the couch in there. I still need to come up with a shelf or something for my laptop, so I can watch Netflix while I run.

Eli moved into the spare bedroom, and was thrilled about it. Even though the room is smaller, he was really excited to have his own space. Apparently, he missed Noah a little though, because sometime during the night, he went back into Noah's room ;)

I'm not sure what possessed me to start this project yesterday, but I am slowly but surely going to update my entire blog before the end of the year. Yesterday, I updated my blog header (the font on the old one was fuzzy-looking, and I'd been wanting to fix it for a long time). I don't have Photoshop, and I haven't the first clue about creating stuff like that, but I managed to figure it all out and use a program called GIMP to create a new one from scratch. It took forever, but I am happy with how it turned out! I also created a new header for my Recipes blog--the old one had a picture from 2010 on it, so it really needed updating.

There are a ton of pages on this blog that need updating, and it's something I'm always procrastinating working on. I'd like to have it all done within the next month or so, though.

Oh! While I was doing the blog headers, I did a lot of Googling about the problem I was having with the Photos app on my computer. Basically, I would download a photo from an email (or upload one from my phone) into the Photos app; but then when I would try to upload it to my blog, or into another email, it wasn't there. It was driving me CRAZY. For months, I've been just taking screenshots of photos for Motivational Monday because I couldn't get it figured out. I got a comment from someone else who had the same problem, so I wanted to share the solution here:

Today, I found the answer. *Cue angels rejoicing* Someone in a forum asked the question, and it turned out that the answer was fairly simple. I leave my browser open ALL THE TIME. I never turn off my computer, and I just put it to "sleep" when I'm not using it. But the browser is always open, because I use it so often. Your browser "thinks" that the current date is whatever date you opened that browser window. So, when you download a photo to Photos, then try to upload it in the browser, the browser "thinks" that it's days/weeks/months ago, so it doesn't "see" the photo. To get the photo to appear, you just have to close the browser and open a new one. I have no idea why it happens with Photos and not iPhoto, and it's still rather annoying, but now I can stop doing screenshots of pictures!

I feel like I just rambled on about a whole lot of nothing... but like I said, I haven't had anything to write about recently. I hope everyone is having a great weekend! (It's snowing like crazy here right now).

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RECIPE: Cheesy Chicken & Rice

This is another recipe I came across on Pinterest. It was called "slow cooker" recipe, but considering you have to cook the rice on the stove, I don't really consider it a slower cooker meal. So, as written below, it is not a slow cooker meal. Regardless, it was REALLY good--and my kids loved it, too!

Cheesy Chicken & Rice

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
8 oz. box of yellow rice mix (I used Goya brand)
1 can of yellow corn, drained
4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Cook the chicken breasts however you'd like (I boiled them, but you could cook them in the crock pot for a few hours). Cook the rice mix according to package directions. Shred the chicken when it's done cooking, and then combine the cooked rice mix, chicken, cream of chicken soup, corn, and cheese. It will be hot enough to melt the cheese. Makes 6 servings (approximately 1 cup each).

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Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas (Recipe)

I went through a short phase of trying to eat only whole foods for a month, which led me to a website called "100 Days of Real Food". I found this super simple recipe for whole wheat tortillas on there, and I decided to give them a try. They were AMAZING. I was really shocked at how much better they were than store bought tortillas.

Here is a printer-friendly version!


Whole Wheat Tortillas

2-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of oil
1 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water

Combine all ingredients into a dough until it is smooth. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll them into balls, and then flatten them on a cookie sheet until they resemble tortillas. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, and spray with cooking spray. Cook the tortillas one at a time, about 30-45 seconds per side, and transfer to a plate. Keep refrigerated if you don't eat them right away.

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RECIPE: Mushroom Onion Rice

This recipe is typically called "Stick of Butter Rice", because it calls for a full stick of butter. I found this on Pinterest, and made it as-written (with a full stick of butter); but I thought the whole stick seemed a little excessive, because there was butter left in the bottom of the bowl I was eating from. I tried this with "light" butter, and it didn't turn out as well. Finally, I settled on using about 2/3 of a stick of butter, which was perfect.

Mushroom Onion Rice

1 (10 oz) can condensed French onion soup
1 (10 oz) can of beef broth
5 Tbsp. butter, sliced
1 cup uncooked white rice
8 oz. can of mushrooms, drained

Preheat oven to 425. Combine all ingredients (the butter can just remain in slices) in an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake for another 30 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

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And so it begins...

Last night, I was completely wired at the time I would normally go to bed; so I stayed up until midnight and worked on a training plan to PR my 10K next year. I looked at my training from 2012-2013, when I got relatively fast, and saw that it took 20 weeks from when I started training to when I ran that 10K PR. I wasn't even training for the 10K, though--at first, I was training for Ragnar, and then after Ragnar was over, I just kept in shape by following a half-marathon plan.

My pace for my long runs each week leading up to that 10K went like this: 9:55, 9:53, 9:36, 10:12 (ran with a friend), 9:26, 9:30, 9:20, 9:12, 9:02, 8:48, 9:18, 8:52, 8:44, 8:39, 8:51, 8:44, 8:44, 8:33, 8:47. I started with 6 miles the first week, and toward the end, I was running 12 mile long runs each week, all at a sub-9:00 pace. I only ran a handful of sub-8:00 miles throughout my entire training, but somehow, during that 10K race, I managed to pull off a 7:55 average pace. It boggles my mind now--and it seems SO impossible to ever get to that point again!

This was the best, and most excited, I've ever felt after a run! Probably
because it was so unexpected and I wasn't actually trying to do it. 

Anyway, my current PR is 49:23, so I'm aiming for 49:22 or better. I wrote out a plan that is 20 weeks long--the first 11 weeks will focus on training for a 52:00 10K time (if I was to jump into PR training right away, I wouldn't even be able to hit pace for the workouts). Then, the following 9 weeks will focus on training for a 49:00 10K (assuming I'm successful at getting my 10K time down to 52:00).

I have the schedule written for five days a week, but my Sunday three-mile run will be optional--so I'll most likely just be running four days a week. I'll be doing speed work on Tuesdays and tempo runs on Thursdays. I'm actually looking forward to doing those again, especially because I'm not marathon training! The distance (for even the training) is so much shorter.

Even though I don't have a goal race picked out yet, I'm going to start following the schedule next week (I'm excited to get started). If all goes well, I should be able to shoot for a spring race. I was planning to aim for a fall race, but training through the summer is killer. I think I would have a better chance of hitting my goal in the spring. And if I don't, then I can try again in the fall.

Today, I decided to do a short tempo run--10 minutes at easy pace, 10 minutes at tempo pace (8:23-8:36/mi), and 10 minutes at easy pace. I actually brought music with me today--that was the first time in about two years that I listened to music while running! I hoped it would motivate me a little while I was doing the tempo segment. I thought I sent my workout to my watch, but once I got outside, I realized it hadn't been sent, so I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to set up the workout. Finally, I just set the run/walk function to beep at 10 minute intervals, and I would just manually press the lap button every 10 minutes.

The first 10 minutes, I just kept reminding myself, "Keep it easy, keep it easy..." because I knew it was going to feel really hard for the second 10 minutes. It was SUPER windy, and right around the time I started the tempo pace, I turned a corner and was heading almost directly into the wind. It was tough!

I'm used to running by mileage rather than time, so I wasn't sure exactly where I would end up at the 15-minute mark when it was time to turn around. Turning around gave me a bit of a relief from the wind, but it was still coming in sideways. That 10 minutes at tempo pace felt like forever! Finally, at 20 minutes into the run, I was able to slow down again.

Almost immediately, my abdominal muscles cramped up really badly. This is something that has been happening on the last several runs I've done, and it's never happened to me before, so I have no clue why it is now. My entire abdomen, from the bottom of my ribs down to just past my belly button, gets extremely tight and painful. It's not my internal organs--just my muscles. It even happened the second I started running the Chocolate 5K with Eli, and that was at a really slow pace.

Today, the cramping was so severe that I had to take a walk break. Once the cramping subsided a bit, after a minute or two, I started a slow jog again. When I got home, and checked out my stats, I saw that I did manage to stick to my tempo pace despite the wind--average for that 10 minutes was 8:26/mile.

Today was humbling in that I realized that I have a LOT of work in front of me if I am going to PR the 10K. I'm in nowhere near the shape I was in then. Since I did it before, I know it's possible... it's just going to take everything I have to make it happen! ;) And in some ways, I'm really looking forward to putting all of my effort into this goal. (Remind me of that when I'm complaining about speed work in a few weeks, haha).

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Week 14 Weigh-in

Yesterday, I spent pretty much the entire day driving. I drove Joey to and from Lucky Puppy, his doggy daycare (three hours total); and I drove with a friend of mine to the boudoir photographer's studio to look at her pictures (two hours total). I also had to drive to get the kids from school, which is another 40 minutes or so. I had nothing to write about yesterday, because I spent so much time in the car ;)

Anyway, I had another awesome weigh-in this week!

I was 134.5 on the scale, which is down two more pounds from last week. My body fat was 22.9%, which is down 0.5% from last week; and my waist was 25.75 inches, down half an inch from last week. Every pound makes a huge difference in my body at this point, and it feels awesome (kind of strange, but awesome). For example, I have a couple of pairs of jeans that are too tight in the thighs at 138 pounds, but they fit well at 136-137 pounds. Then at 135, they are too loose in the waist.

My average daily calories for this week was 1457. I wasn't able to do a high-calorie day this week, which kind of threw me off. I planned to do a high calorie day on Saturday, but my lunch plans fell through, and I wasn't sure what else to eat to make the high-calorie day "worth it". Anyway, I plan to average 1500-1600 per day this week, and have a high-calorie day. Only 1.5 pounds until goal!

A lot of people have been asking me if I include my high-calorie day in my average daily calories--at first, I wasn't including it, but it was difficult to explain over and over; so from now on, I'll just include all seven days in my average.

My daily steps averaged just under 8,000... still not great, but up about 1,000 from last week. I did deliberately try to get in more steps, so I'm going to try and do that again this week. Maybe I can get in over 8,000.

I can't even describe how good it feels to be back at this weight! I went to the thrift store today to get a few pairs of jeans and a couple of cardigans (I'm on a cardigan kick right now--I like wearing a tight t-shirt and jeans with a cardigan). I probably tried on a dozen pairs of size 3/4 jeans, and all but one pair fit me. I feel like I did when I was losing the weight in 2009-2010... I would look at a pair of jeans and think, "Those are tiny! There is no way I can squeeze my butt into them!" And then I put them on. And I still didn't really believe it. When I was at the cash register to pay for the stuff I was buying today, the cashier held up my jeans and said, "Did you get these from the kids' section or the women's section?" Haha!

I've been looking for a goal 10K race for next year. As I mentioned before, I am going to keep my distance at or under 10K, but I am going to try and get faster--and if I could PR my 10K, I would be thrilled. Getting back to goal weight was the first step. Next, I need to pick a goal race and come up with a training plan specific to a 10K. I'm glad to have this goal to focus on, so that once I reach goal weight, I won't feel like it's "the end" and I'm done. If I keep working on goals, hopefully I can keep the weight off.

After a great weigh-in today, I'm feeling optimistic! :) Anyone else want to check in on how you're doing with your goals? I know there were several people who said they wanted to stay accountable on Wednesdays as well!

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Motivational Monday #129

Happy Motivational Monday! This has been another good week for me as far as calorie counting and exercise goes. I'm super close to my goal weight now, so I'm being extra diligent where I can. I'm hoping to see 133 before the end of the month!

This post is going to be super short, because I only got one submission this week for Motivational Monday. I almost decided to save it for next week, but it's super inspiring, so I figured one story is better than none. I'm sure you will find it as inspiring as I did! Enjoy :)

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This is an email from Jennifer:

"In August 2014, my doctor informed me that I was on the verge of being diagnosed with onset diabetes. I weighed 288 lbs, I was barely fitting into size 24 clothing, I had developed severe sleep apnea, and could barely walk around the block without terrible pain in my legs and back. I decided it was time to take my life back and dedicated the next year to improving my health and doing something I have always wanted to learn to do…RUN!!! 

With support and encouragement from my husband, daughter, family, and friends, I joined the Running Room in Ottawa. In September 2015, I ran my first 5K in the Army Run; and one month later, reached my goal of losing 100 lbs, fitting into a size 14! In 2016, I hope to run a 10K and reach my final target weight of 150 lbs!"

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Congratulations on your weight loss and your running accomplishments, Jennifer! You look amazing.  Make sure you update us when you run your 10K and reach your goal weight :)

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Kona Chocolate Run 5K

Jerry's employer pays the race entry fees to some races for employees (and/or their families), which is really great for a family of four! They had a sign-up at work for the Kona Chocolate Run, so Jerry signed the four of us up. He had to work last night, so he got home at 6:30 this morning and then we headed up to the race at 7:00.

The kids were both nervous, even though I told them there was no reason to be. Noah was hoping to run a good race (possibly even beat his time from the Halloween 5K last year) and Eli's goal was to run the entire race without walking. Since I ran with Noah for the Halloween race, and Jerry ran with Eli, we decided to switch this time; Eli and I would stick together, and Jerry and Noah would run together.

The morning started off on the wrong foot for sure. We were told that parking was going to be $5, and I wanted to stop and get some cash (I only had $3 on me). First, though, we had to go to the Middle School to pick up our packets. We had requested a men's medium jacket for Jerry, a women's small for me, and two men's small jackets for the kids with our registration. The registration said that if you sign up by a particular date, then the jackets were guaranteed, so I wasn't worried about getting to packet pick up yesterday.

Well, Jerry ended up getting the very last men's medium, which was good; but they didn't have any men's small jackets for the kids. So the race wanted to give them a women's small (which is cut for a woman--tapered waist) or a men's large... seriously?! At $200 for our family to do this race, they really should have "guaranteed" that we would get the sizes we requested several weeks ago. The kids ended up with the women's small jackets.

Trying to get from the packet pick-up to the starting line was a big mess, too. Jerry and I were both frustrated and said we'd never do one of these races again (we will, of course, but it was not fun until we got to the starting line! ha). We had to go find somewhere to get cash for parking, so we went to a CVS where I bought M&M's and got cash back. Turns out that we didn't end up needing any money to park!

There was a wave start, but we weren't told what wave to get into, so we just hopped in the middle of the crowd and hoped we were in the right place. Both of the kids were super nervous! I kept reminding them that it was just for fun, but I always get nervous before races, too, so I understood.

Once the race started, we split off from Jerry and Noah, and I let Eli set the pace. When we weren't even a half-mile into the race, Eli asked me, "How much farther?" Hahaha, I knew it was going to be a long race after that!

We knew there would be one water station at around mile 1.5, so I just tried to get him to focus on that. I told him that walking through water stations doesn't count as a walk break, and he liked that. So every time we turned a corner, he was on the lookout for the water station. At mile one, he said he wanted to do a walk break. I told him that we could if he really needed it, but that I knew he could finish the race without walking, as long as we went slow.

When we got to the water station, we walked through nice and slowly so he could drink a couple of cups of water. Then, we started running again, and he said he felt much better. He still asked me how much farther every quarter mile or so. I tried to take a selfie of us at one point, but he just wasn't having it ;)

I was trying to talk to him the whole time, to keep his mind off of the fact that he was running. I told him the story of my sub-50:00 10K, where I chased down the pacer in the last few miles and passed him just before the finish line. I reminded him of funny stories about Joey or the cats (I've never seen Eli laugh so hard as he does when Joey does something funny).

Finally, we had just a half mile to go, and he was really struggling. The course does a lot of turns, so you don't actually see the finish line until it's right in front of you. When we got close, though, he said he was thinking he might sprint to the finish line. I told him to go ahead, and I'd be right behind him. He took off, and ran as fast as he could at that point. He finished in 35:42, and I was right behind him in 35:43. He ran the entire distance without walking (minus the aid station, which, as I told him, doesn't count)--and he was super proud of himself!

We walked over to meet Jerry and Noah where we planned to meet up after the race. Noah wasn't feeling very well, but he finished in 30:32 (Jerry in 30:34). We got in line to get our chocolate goodies (hot chocolate and chocolate chip bagel slices from Panera, pretzels, and rice krispies treats to dip into melted chocolate, and chocolate milk). The kids wanted to sit down on the spot and eat.

When they were done eating, we headed out. It was a good race, and the kids really enjoyed it once they got over being nervous. Eli said that even though it was hard, he had fun.

The medals were pretty cute! They were shaped like a chocolate bar with a bite taken out of the corner.

I just looked up the kids' times from last year at the Halloween race (it was the same exact course as today's) and Noah had finished it in 30:31--just ONE SECOND faster than this year! He's bummed, because if he had known that during today's race, he would have picked up the pace just a little ;) Eli's time last year was 36:24, so he beat his time by 42 seconds.

I really like doing races as a family like this--it's a fun, active thing to do together and feel good about all day afterward!

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Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday, so if you have a submission, please get it to me tonight if possible. Hope you all had a great weekend!

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Michigan Beer Mile

First, I just want to say that the following is a very light-hearted post; but I am not trying to ignore what's going on in Paris right now. I'm just not sure what to say about it. I'm sad and tired of these horrible things happening. It makes me afraid for my kids and the world they have to grow up in. Each time something like this happens, it just plants another seed of fear in my stomach. So, while it may seem insensitive to go on like nothing is happening, I'm just not sure how else to react. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those people affected by the tragedy in Paris.

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I've heard of people doing "beer miles" before, but I'd never seen one or even knew of any around here. The thought is completely unappealing to me: Drink a 12-oz beer, run a quarter-mile lap; repeat three more times, for a total of four beers and four laps (one mile). No vomiting allowed ;)

My brothers are stupid crazy enough to do it, though. And of course, I had to go watch!

I picked up Nathan, and my mom drove Brian there. It was at Flat Rock Speedway, which normally has car races. I was surprised at how many people were there, because it wasn't heavily advertised. My brothers registered on the spot, and we stood around for 40 minutes or so while we waited until the race started (3:00 pm).

Nathan said his plan was to run his best, while Brian said he was just going to run for fun--and clearly, he wasn't planning to try and win the race, considering his choice of clothing ;)

Brian is in the jorts and boots

I was very curious about how the whole race would work. For the $45 registration fee (it was $35 yesterday, but when you register on-site, it's $45), you get a shirt, hat, a couple of beer koozies, and the four beers for the race. Not bad!

To keep all the runners' beers organized, they gave each runner a piece of paper with their bib number, so you could set your cans on top of that:

I think there were a total of about 25-30 runners. There was a 10-meter area just before the official start line, and that was the "beer drinking" area, that didn't count toward the quarter-mile lap. Everyone started just before that line, and then when the announcer started the race, everyone opened their beers, moved into that area, and drank them. Then they had to turn the beer upside down over their head, to prove that they drank the whole thing, and then they could start their first lap.

Nathan was actually the first person to finish his beer and cross the official starting line! I knew he'd be pretty fast, but there was a guy that blew past him in the first lap. The race was fun to watch! There were some people who took it pretty seriously, but there were also a lot of people that were obviously there just for fun. Brian was one the latter:

I watched a couple more people pass Nathan. He said he started feeling pretty crappy for the last two laps, and the hardest part was running with all that carbonation in his stomach. Brian was running at an easier pace, but he said it was harder than he expected it to be.

Nathan came cruising through the finish line in 8:07! (Drinking four beers AND running a mile in 8:07? That's really fast!) He placed fourth overall. The winner finished in around 7:30.

I'm not sure what Brian's finishing time was:

Both of them said the race was much harder than they expected it to be, and that the worst part was the carbonation of the beer making them burp as they started each lap. It was fun (and interesting) to spectate, but I still have no desire to do a beer mile!

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