#2sp brewing

Gettysburg Battlefield Training

Days 1-4

At the encouragement of @two-o-nine, I got myself a copy of Hanson’s Half Marathon Method and am going into the Gettysburg Battlefield Half (11/5) with a real plan. And that plan started last Thursday.

First day was an easy 3. My goal for the half is a finish time of 2:22. So, that puts my Hanson’s easy pace at about 12:24. I was wondering how it would be running that slow. I mean, I’m not fast, by any stretch of the imagination, but even that is pretty slow for me. However! It was nice to run a little slower, focus on my form and breathing. And I can see how this will be a nice change after harder runs.

Day two was a rest day. Woohoo! So I chose to go swim a mile at the Y. They’re holding a “Lazyman Ironman” - get in 2.5 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and 26.2 miles of running in a month. I only have a few days left, but I’m not sure I’m going to make it. The swim and the run are covered. The biking is a bit behind and I don’t think I can finish it all in three days (I have until Wednesday to finish).

Yesterday called for 3 easy. I chose to participate in the Vincentown (NJ) Duathlon instead. I’ve been digging the duathlons this year. I arrived in plenty of time to get my packet, rack my bike, and be ready for the pre-race meeting. As I was leaving the firehouse with my packet, I saw the “Things Triathletes Forget” table (they had been at the Upper Dublin Tri/Du as well). And I thought, “Haha. That’s funny. Look, helmet rentals. Who would forget their...CRAP.” Luckily I had $10 in my wallet to cover the wonderful helmet rental.

The course was nice and flat and beautiful. And on the runs, that was lovely. On the bike, it was a little tedious. Especially since there was a headwind in almost every direction. I dont’ know how that was possible, but someone else mentioned it. So a hill or two would have been a welcome opportunity to coast. The only downside was that it was in farm country. And farm country means no shade. And it was HOT. By the second run I opted for a generous walk-run interval. My favorite person on the course was the Boy Scout (literally) taking care of the water stop. When I came by he said, “You can stop here for a few minutes if you want.” So I did. And I stopped to take pictures of the horses (because I’ve learned from @er1nruns that it’s perfectly acceptable to stop and take pictures of horses on your run).  And I still made the 5K within my easy pace.

Today called for easy 4. But since I got 5, plus 15 biking, in yesterday, I opted for Beer and Yoga at 2SP Brewery with some friends. Which also meant time with the cross-eyed brewery kitty.

May the Fourth Be With You – From a Non a Star Wars Lover at RAR Brewing’s Star Wars Fest RAR during the Star Wars Festival on May 3rd I went to the RAR Brewing “May the 4th Be with you fest but on the 3rd” but I am not a Star Wars fan.  I don’t mean I don’t like Star Wars I just never fell in love with it.  I loved watching the 3 OGs that came out years and years ago.  I will drop quotes and…

GABF Roundup 2017: Ryan’s Quest for Gold

For the first time I was able to attend the Saturday evening session of the Great American Beer Festival, long after awards had been announced and little medal stickers were slapped up on beer signs throughout the hall. So I made a big list of all of the 2017 GABF Gold Medal winning beers and attempted to try them all. Now, of course, not all of the 97 gold medal winners in the 98 categories…