The last run until the next run...and beer stuff too.

Well the Orcas Island 50K came, I raced it, and got my butt kicked and my face stomped in. Rather than taking a week or so to recover I decided that I was fit enough to hit the ground running. This was a big mistake. I didn't officially take a rest day until the Thursday AFTER the race. Each day I ran I noticed a slight twinge in my knee, along with something that felt like the precursor to PF as well as the residual affects of my ankle rolling adventures both prior to and during the Orcas Island race. I'm a big proponent of active recovery but I think I took it a bit too far in this case. I ended up shortening my long run the weekend after Orcas from my originally planned 20 miles to 11 and then took a bit more time off the following week, shortening some middle distance runs and cutting one out entirely. My long run the following saturday consisted of an abbreviated 16 miles as I proceeded to roll my weak ankle (Again) and had to limp off tiger mountain. Once I got back to the car, slightly broken but not completely beaten, I vowed that I would return to conquer the spirited beast when my ankle was up to the challenge. Last weekend was the first long run I had where I actually felt halfway decent and was able to hit my target of 20+ miles. (I actually ended up doing 22 with around 1800 feet of elevation gain) Unfortunately this in no way prepares me for the potential suck-fest I'm going to have April 30th. I've signed up for a 50 miler and may end up bumping myself down to the 55K. (A paltry 34 miles....HA!) The near monthlong break I'll be taking in March while my wife and I are on vacation isn't going to help the fitness level either. (Though we will be hiking 26 miles at altitude...so maybe I'll be okay) On that thought I'm pretty sure the cheeseburgers I've eaten over the past few weeks haven't assisted in my training...or recovery for that matter. They were very tasty though.

In any event...the race definitely hurt...but the past month of training has probably been the most difficult month of running I've pushed through in quite some time. Not just physically but mentally as well. The weather has been less than stellar so I've been somewhat lacking in motivation. Once I get out the door I'm fine...it's just taking that first step out into the cold rain that usually has me retreating indoors to drink another steaming cup of coffee.

On the beermaking front I'm still working my way through my last batch. Turns out I can't muscle down 48 bottles of beer quite as quickly as when I was in college. (Even then I was pretty slow) I'm a little over a case into this batch and it's probably been over two months since I last brewed. I'm hoping that I can get a quick batch in after we get back from vacation in April. At that point I will christen this blog with it's first real brewing entry. I'll post fun pictures of my destroyed kitchen, portraits of me hating on the sanitation process, and maybe even post an hour and a half video showing me stirring the wort. Should be exciting times. If you are real lucky I'll make it rain...rain hops that is.

So yesterday was the last run until my next run...which probably won't occur until April. If I'm lucky I might be able to pull off the ultrarunner shuffle for short sections of the Inca trail but I'm pretty sure my lungs would burst if I tried a full on run at altitude up thousands of feet of elevation.

Welcome to my Blaaaaahg!

In a truly hypocritical move I decided to start a blog. I've been highly critical of the Blogsphere over the past few years primarily due to me spending 5 minutes watching a CNN program in which they spent the entire show browsing blogs. (That and I think BLOG still sounds pretty lame. Henceforth I shall refer to it as an Imperative Post of Awesomeness. IPA For short)  Since then however I have found myself following several athletes and friends IPAs. In a flash of insight I determined that not all IPAs are worthless and that people truly have interesting things to say. I've decided to add my voice to the masses.

This will by no means be an online diary as I have no wish to give my zero followers insight into how my mind works. (Not well) Instead I will dazzle you with my wealth of knowledge on the topics of brewing, ultrarunning and nutrition. In actuality you will read my posts as I attempt to acquire a greater understanding and appreciation for these three awesome hobbies. My primary objective will be to decrease the frequency in which I drag my wife into running conversations by instead posting about my latest running exploits. I decided I'm not a good enough runner to have an IPA focused solely on my race for mediocrity so I threw in two other interests, brewing and nutrition, to give myself some additional IPA fuel.  A secondary objective would be to motivate anybody who happens to stumble across these posts to take up one of these hobbies.

I decided IPA is a stupid way to refer to a blog. It works better as a beer. Back to the term blog...for now....

Oh hey it's snowing! Time to go for a run!