Business Trippin'

Two weeks ago, I went on a five-day business trip to the Denver area.  I am quite a bit behind in my blogging, but I wanted to write about it before it fell completely out of mind.  It was definitely a business trip, with no time for sightseeing or fun. And business went well, and I would like to think I had something to do with that.  

I do try to keep myself entertained a little, though, and one of the ways I do that is to always bring my running gear and try to find a place to get out for a few miles.  Luckily, despite Lone Tree, CO being business parks, retail, and suburbs as far as the could see, I found a nice place to run very close to my hotel. 

The Willow Creek Trail, maintained by South Suburban Parks and recreation, winds along Willow Creek (duh) through parks, developments, abd some corporate parks to provide a safe, paved, pleasant place to run.  In many places, underpasses keep runners or bikers away from traffic.  The 2.5 mile portion of this trail I ran out and back for my five-miler was somewhat hilly, but no worse than I would find in PA.  I DEFINITELY felt the altitude difference, feeling much more fatigued on the way back, despite pleasant temperatures and an easy pace.  I only was able to get out once, but I am thankful to have found a nice place for a run if business takes me back.

I also try to sample some local brews when I am a business trip. One per day, mind you. This is not a vacation!  This was the best new one I tried. 

I also like to send my wife #businessporn. It is not really porn, unless my wife really does find selfies of an unimpressive male specimen in business clothes, accompanied by captions such as "Is this a business meeting...or a sexy party?" or "Your new issue of Businessman Magazine just arrived" to be exciting.  I suspect that she does not.  But I work from home most of the time, usually in shorts and a t-shirt,  so even at almost 40 it feels like I am playing dress up.  I'm just playing it VERY well.

 

Yeah, right.

The business trip consisted of three days of meetings and then, on Friday, a half day of debrief and action planning.  I left that last meeting feeling that I had businessed very well and texted my wife and a few work friends about how gangster I was.  I guess I was a little too cool for the Denver airport, because, after I passed through the full body scanner, security had me wait so they could give me a pass with the metal detecting wand. As I see my laptop, shoes, and Business Guy bag, with all my favorite in-flight electronic devices in it, sitting mournfully at the end of the conveyor belt, I was filled with a righteous indignation as the guy in front of me removed the 200 things he had in his pockets (Read the signs, people! ) one item at a time.  I will say the Rock Bottom Brewery location at the Denver Airport before my flight home was a most welcome site.

Race Report: 2015 Sole of the City 10K

I guess the Sole of the City 10K, held every April since 2012,  has become an annual tradition for my wife and I.  We've run each race since its inception; in 2012 we did very well, she PR'd (part of a ridiculous string of consecutive PRs of various distances) and I finished just under an hour.  Despite our participation in every Sole of the City 10K, I was very determined before the start of the race that we would never run this one again.  At least I'd picked up our packets the night before, so we didn't have to take stuff back to the car and then walk back to McHenry Row.

You see, the Sole of the City 10K is a logistical nightmare for someone coming from as far as York.  The race begins at the McHenry Row shopping and residential complex in Baltimore's Locust Point neighborhood, near Fort McHenry and the Baltimore cruise terminal. Knowing that parking for this race is a nightmare, because the McHenry Row tenants (understandably) don't want race traffic parked in their garages, Chris and I were determined to get down to the race an hour early.  We tried parking in the Phillips Seafood lot next McHenry row, heading behind the building where the parking attendant indicated.  Already, people were leaving this lot because it was full.  We then parked in an empty space in Phillips front lot, unable to believe our good fortune, only to be told that this was employee parking.  We ended up parking quite a few blocks away in an Under Armour lot.  It honestly wasn't that far, but I was so frustrated at that point, that I determined that this would be our last Sole of the City.

But then the race happened.

The gun went off, and I quickly remembered what I like about this race:  Its unique course around downtown Baltimore.  Don't get me wrong, lots of races run down Key Highway and back, and Key Highway is part of this race, but also gets over to Fells Point and Harbor East, which aren't part of the Kelly Shamrock 5K, or the Kids Peace Orioles Trick or Trot 5K, or (I'm told) the Baltimore Women's Classic.  The course has been changed the past two years from the first two, when it was a pretty flat loop first around Inner Harbor and then through the Federal Hill area, making for a fast first half of the race and a tough second.  Now, I think it is probably equally hilly the whole way through, although the fifth mile is mostly around the Inner Harbor and is quite flat.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  In sum, think the new course is nice.

And, despite the heat, I felt great.  It was in the mid 60s at race time, which felt very warm to me.  I'd run 6.2 the previous weekend when it was in the 40s.  This was HOT, and I was not prepared for that.  I felt very good through the first three miles, which took us down from McHenry Row; around the Inner Harbor via Key Highway and Pratt Street; then down Wolfe Street toward Fells Point,  and pretty good through mile 4, at which point we had crossed through the Harbor East area and approached the Pier 6 Pavillion.  The heat started to get to me around the 4 mile marker.  The fifth mile, around the Inner Harbor promenade to the Science Center, was the flattest, but without shade and I was dying.  I took one walk break at the fifth mile and another at about 5.5, and made it to the finish in 1:11:04.3, a little over 3 minutes slower than my 6.2 a week before. 

Have I ever mentioned that I don't like running in warm weather?  Note the gross uneven sweat pattern.  Now I'm worried that I have some sort of weird sweating disease.

Considering the heat, I'll take it!  The best part was that my legs felt great, it was the heat and my still getting back in condition that hurt me.  This distance was a stretch for me, so I was really happy with this result.

Race Review
So, despite my frustration with the parking, I think Charm City Run does a very good job with this event every year.  The course is interesting, there are sufficient water stops (mile 2 and mile 4 markers), the finisher celebration is good, and the swag is excellent. 

Men's (navy) and women's (aqua?) Under Armour hoodies.

The weather is a crapshoot in Mid-April ,(it was MUCH cooler the next day) but CCR can't do anything about that. 
 
There is one small thing that maybe they can (pun intended) do something about: light beer.  Look, there's no better beer than free beer, but why is it always low-calorie beers that sponsor these races?  I think a lot of runners "run for beer" and I run so that I can try new and exciting beers, with actual flavor. Beer snob though I am, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that the cold Miller Lite tasted damn good on a warm day after a tough race.

Gotta respect the O's can, but get me something with some hops!

That said, I stand by remarks about parking, and I wonder if this race has outgrown its location.  Baltimore area runners should know that Charm City Run has a store on McHenry Row by now.  Maybe it's time this race moved downtown where there are plenty of garages. 

But, even if it doesn't, I'll probably be out on the course running the 5th annual Sole of the City 10K.

Mudhook Brewing Co.: York Just Got a Little Cooler

I ran, it was humid...yadda yadda yadda. Let's go off-topic again and then I'll blog about running tomorrow.

I've spent most of my life living in the suburbs of York, Pennsylvania, and for a town of its size, I actually think York is cool.

York is within reasonable distances of larger towns and cities like Baltimore, Philly, DC, even New York, and Harrisburg (not that Harrisburg is in the same class as the others), but I think it's also got a lot to offer on its own.

York is "The Factory Tour Capital of the World"; it served as the home of the Continental Congress when the Articles of Confederation, the United States' first attempt at a constitution, was signed, making it the first capital of the U.S.; the Revolution are Atlantic League Champs, it has a great rail trail (I have to mention that!); it has lots of golf courses (though not as many as it used to) and I think for that a town of its size it has lots of good restaurants!

Some of my favorites are Cobblestones, with a great bar menu and an excellent beer selection; White Rose Bar & Grill, which has very good food and a beautifully renovated outdoor dining area; and Field House, a sports pub in Newberry Township (going a bit north). This list is by no means exhaustive, of course.

York just got another great addition -- a brewery! Mudhook Brewing Co. opened this month at Central Market, and Chris and I checked it out for the first time on Saturday before our Revolution game.



In short, we were very impressed.

Mudhook currently offers four beers:
Panfish Pale Ale
Live Bait Amber Ale
Redeye Irish Red
Deep Sea Stout

Each glass is $4.50, and so the sampler at $5.50 seemed a good deal.


We liked all four beers! Neither one of us normally likes pale ales, but we both enjoyed the Panfish Pale Ale. The Amber Ale was the hoppiest of them, and the only one of them that could pass for a Troeg's brew (I say that as a frame of reference, not as a negative -- most of Troeg's beers are too hoppy for my taste). We still enjoyed it, but it was our least favorite of the three. The stout was excellent in my opinion. It was very smooth and refreshing. I do love Guiness, but Guiness is thick and heavy, and is not my choice for a warm summer day. The Deep Sea Stout had a good stout flavor but wasn't as thick and heavy. Very good.

The Redeye Irish Red was both of our favorite, and when we finished the samplers we each got an extra glass. Delicious!

Our food was very good, too. Mudhook Brewing Co. has a good selection of appetizers, and a dinner menu featuring burgers (you had me at burgers), chicken sandwiches, and hot dogs. You can select one of several topping combinations on your sandwich. I went with "Mushroom Madness", mushrooms, onions, and swiss cheese. Although burgers are my favorite food group, I went with the chicken since I'm supposed to watch my beef consumption due to gout. It was excellent, and the fries were good too.

We didn't have room for dessert, but the menu features a stout float, which intrigues me.

Everything about the place was great. We'll definitely be back!

If you want to learn more, you can visit the brewery's website at www.mudhookbrewing.com and it's facebook page here.

I guess I should mention that I'm not affiliated with the brewery or anyone working there in any way, nor was I compensated in any way for this review. I just wanted to share my opinion of a very good new place in York.

Beer and Running: Perfect Together

It's going to be hard to get the miles in this week, since I'm now a cardboard nobleman.

(That's Lord Chesterfield to you.)

For all my joking about carb-loading in my last post, it seems as if (as common sense suggests) that abstaining from the hooch before a race is probably a good idea.

Beer and Running from Runner's World

A friend who has run multiple marathons (and PR'd this weekend at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth Minnesota!) advised me to have a beer the night before my first half marathon to take the edge off, and so that's been my tradition before any of my big races: A microbrew from the Philadelphia Brewing Company before that first half; a Lager draft before Broad St; and a bottle of Peroni the nights before my 2nd shot at the Philly Half and the Shamrock Marathon. It's one of my favorite parts of race weekend, and one of the parts that I'm really good at. I've never spilled my pre-race drink and I've always taken care to be properly hydrated, too. I'm sure I'll have a brew the night before the Philadelphia Marathon,too. I just hope it's not a five-and-a-half foot Lord Chesterfield Ale.

After the race, on the other hand, all bets are off.


And always, as O's announcer Gary Thorne would say, "Please drink.........................responsibly."