Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Brew Lounge Marathon

Someday, we'll all need to get together and do a Brew Lounge (drinking) Marathon. I've got a bit of cooler cleanout to do. In the meantime, I'm off to run in a Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon to be exact. While my focus is 100% on the marathon, I'll see if I can squeeze in 0.5% on the D.C. beer scene. You've probably noticed me absent here the last couple of days and that will continue for the next few. In the meantime, go check out what any of my friends have to say about the big wide world of craft beer. Stay tuned, there's much more fun stuff coming from The Brew Lounge! Cheers!

5 comments:

Adam said...

Great minds think alike :-)

Congrats on a race well run!

Anonymous said...

Bryan, good luck mate, but I have a few questions for ya: do you really enjoy running? Or do you reluctantly it for health reasons?

I don't know if you are one of these types or not, but what is up with the neo 30-40 yr old fitness freaks and their need to train for marathons, bordering on obsession...in order to truly have achieved life.

My friend Linda is doing this, and feels this way. But I'm like, after its over then what, is it back to smoking and eating TV dinners? Just noticed this in a lot of my friends' "trying to be healthy" MO.

If you finish in the top 20 I'll send your story to all of them and then maybe they can run with you. :P

Bryan Kolesar said...

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for the note; It's an interesting question(s) that you pose. I'll assume that hopefully you're not taking issue with those who exercise to maintain as healthy and balanced of a lifestyle and body as possible as they get older. Of course, finding the right exercise is an individual choice. And the level of fun that an individual gets out of exercise is also personal. I'd like to think that everyone would exercise to help maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle and that they would have fun doing it, but that won't always be the case. But, when the option is being a couch-dweller, then I'm happy knowing that someone is exercising, even if they're not totally enjoying it. As for those who exercise, then go back to smoking a cigarette or some other unhealthy vice....well, I'll leave that one alone. Trying anything to be healthy, in my opinion, is better than doing nothing at all. Just because someone sustains a vice is no reason that they shouldn't exercise to whatever degree they wish. The perfect life is an elusive one and I don't want to box myself into a glass house by trying to describe what that life looks like.

But, back to me (because that was, I think, the gist of your question). I love to run. I am not fanatically obsessed by it. Yes, I did complete my second marathon on Sunday and by the end of the day had "gone back to" drinking beer, specifically Dogfish 60 Minute IPA.....even two of 'em. I know you already know this, but beer can be a more beneficial part of a healthy lifestyle than many people imagine. I've written about my personal reasons for running before and the pleasure that I derive from it. The Blind Tiger has started somewhat of a running club in NYC, and I too have thought about a similar concept here in southeastern Pennsylvania. While I enjoy running by myself and the ability that it gives me to get lost in my thoughts, reflections, and ruminations, it can also serve a social aspect as well. Getting through this year's Marine Corps Marathon was made easier by running approximately 20 miles with a high school friend that I rarely get a chance to see. We reminisced while at the same time pushed each other to a better finishing time than we may have otherwise been able to do each on our own.

The fact that I fall into the 30-40 range that you mentioned I believe is coincidental with what you describe as the 30-40 year old neos who are doing things like marathoning. When it comes specifically to running a marathon, it is sometimes referred to as a "thinking person's" distance. In other words, it takes time to develop the maturity and the discipline that it is required to run a marathon. In fact, when looking at the elite marathoners of the world, you will see that there are some that do not really come into their prime until they reach their upper 20s and early/mid 30s. Experience and a self-awareness of how to treat their body to get it to optimally run 26 miles is not something that teenagers and those in their early 20s seem to be as inclined to.

I do agree that there is a small, perhaps growing, number of people out there (you called them "neos") who seem to have this, in my opinion, annoying propensity to performing these physical challenge kind of things...almost in a checklist type of fashion. Skydived? check. Ran with the bulls? done. Deep sea diving? of course. Run a marathon? yup. Triathlon? sure thing. Ultra marathon? why not, it's out there so I must do it. The part that bothers me is that they tend to approach it with this "I've just got to do it" mentality. It's like an arrogance that speaks to the fact that they can either afford to undertake the challenge no matter how expensive or that they've got the cojones to do it or both. To me, just paying money and putting in some time to do something is not worthy of praise. Pouring your heart and soul into achieving something and then continuing to pursue getting better at it is much more admirable and what I attempt to do everytime that I run.

Then, I reward myself with a beer :)

p.s. While I will never win overall or in my age category, meeting my own personal goals (which I did on Sunday) is all that matters to me. Though, let me know if your friends want to go for a run!

Anonymous said...

I like your idea of a running and beer club. I'm also a runner, homebrewer, and live near Philly.

Your spot on with your answer to roan22's questions. I've been running since my late teens (I'm 41 now) and am just getting into the longer distances, and I agree with your statement about the maturity needed for the longer distances. Not that younger folks don't have it as there are a lot of top runners in their 20's & 30's, but most of us average folks don't get it until later.

Anonymous said...

have you ever checked out fox point park and trail right on the delaware river south of chester? i passed it coming back from baltimore>>its in delaware i believe north of wilmington off the highway