I run for beer

A couple months back, Barry proposed that we do the Harpoon 5 miler this year.  He’s not a runner, but he’ll occasionally do a shorter distance race with me.  Since this one was offering free beer at the end, I think it was an easy choice.   Having just completed the half last weekend, I thought this would be a great race to do just for fun.  I use the term “fun” loosely here, given that it was a steamy 80-something degrees with strong sun.  It’s a good thing I wasn’t setting out for a PR because my time was crap.  Unfortuanely, I OVER hydrated after last week’s debacle and I had to pee so badly at the 3 mile marker that I was forced to sit myself down on the curb for several minutes and get a hold of my bladder before I could start up again.  Not fun.  Not fun at all.  Our end result was:

Gun time 47:01, My watch time: 46:35, Splits: 9:10, 8:32, 9:00, 10:56 (ouch!), 8:54, My place: 725/1409 overall, 287/718 in my age group, Barry’s place: 727/1409 overall, 331/494 in his age group.

 I feel like I learn something new every time I race.  The Harpoon race taught me that:

1. You should never over-hydrate on a course with no bathroom stops
2. Post-race beer sounds a whole lot more appealing pre-race
3. The thing most likely to make me hurl after a race is a table piled high with bratwurst, especially if it is only 10:45 a.m.
4. A case of beer is a nice prize for the winners, but perhaps a little impractical if you’re taking the T home

I just have to give some kudos to Barry here too.  He completed this race having run zero point zero miles since the last race he did with me about a year ago.  He’s clearly more of an athlete than I.  Granted, he’s not the smartest athlete and he’ll be hurting like heck today, but I still give him credit.