Dude, that's a sweet belt buckle!

I owe Aaron a dollar, so I did what any good pal would do... I bought him a shiny new awesome belt buckle. For a buck! Man I'm a good friend.

Cork Town St Pats 4 mile race

31:04 (according to my watch) 7:34 pace - standing in line for a 2nd free beer :)

*Edit: Final race results: Melanie: 38:32 (9:38 pace) - Me: 30:58 (7:45 pace).

The race was good. Taking off at the starting line was the same congestion you see at most races. I had to weave around a few people for the first half mile to finally settle in a comfortable pace. My first mile was around 7:06, so I knew I had to slow up some or I wouldn't be able to maintain a decent pace. The race took us right downtown, around campus martias and back again to cork town park. The way back was rough, but hearing people cheer was actually motivating. I also could smell beer in the air, since the bars were letting people spill out onto the sidewalks and drink for the day. I rounded the corner and saw the finish line and started to speed up. I couldn't bring myself to a full sprint at first, but managed to about the last 50 ft. or so, which paid off. My goal was to break 31:00 - and I did it. By two seconds, but still.. goal accomplished!!

Free beer was cool after the race. At first, I didn't want anything to do with it.. but I downed a water, and then the beer sounded good. They were serving Detroit Dwarf - by Detroit Brewing Co. Very nice touch giving out Michigan beer, I thought they were going to hand out coors light or something.

After our free beers, we met Aaron and Kevin at Slows. The place was hopping and Stone Brewing was there on the patio selling some awesome beers. They had a new one, that hasn't come to Michigan yet called Levitation. The streets were full of people drinking, walking around with open beers, etc. It was like the cops let everyone have a free-for-all for one day.

We watched some of the parade which was basically a bunch of bands, bagpipers and small floats. We had a great time though, I have some videos I recorded of it, but haven't put them up yet.

We went to Fort St. on the way home so Melanie could get her sour kraut balls. We went back to the DRB and had a few beers, played cornhole and teased Dan for missing his final playoff hockey game (he showed up an hour late for it). The Irish stew came out awesome too, definitely a keeper recipe. More pics here.

Irish Stew @ the DRB

I might be having a few people over Sunday afternoon, so I whipped up a recipe I found online (Irish Beef Stew - Simply Recipes). It was pretty simple, but it calls for 1 cup of red wine. I hate when recipes call for that. What are you supposed to do with the rest of the bottle of wine?! Dilemmas. :) Anyhow, it turned out looking pretty good. It wasn't much to taste yet, because I didn't follow the recipe exactly, I threw it all together after browning the beef and tossed it in the crock pot. I'll turn it on in the morning and the DRB should smell awesome by the time we get home from the race.
Speaking of, I'm ready as ever for the race. I ran 4 miles yesterday in a time of around 7:55 min. per mile, which is pretty much what I was shooting for. Hard to believe I'm running that fast, because the first week or two of February, I couldn't run an 8:30 pace without dying and wanting to lay down in the Sav-a-lot parking lot.

So that's that. Run 4 miles, drink some beer at the finish line, head back to the DRB and eat some Irish Beef Stew with friends. Sounds like a great Sunday!

You need a rest!

A couple buddies talked me into running the Cork Town St. Patties race on Sunday, March 15th. I had taken a month or so off after the Turkey Trot race/training, and was feeling pretty lethargic. Not to mention, it was mid-winter in Michigan with lots of snow and plenty cold. I can't remember what motivated me to get my running shoes back on, but I did. I thought it would whip me into shape if I ran every single day, no rests... (idiot).

On Sunday, February 1st, I set out to train for the Cork Town St. Patties race. My goal was to run every single day until race day. I started out on my treadmill, only to have the motor burn out the same week I started. I kept up my running though, outside, in the cold and snow.. (no kidding, I ran a few miles in blizzard conditions one day).

Jen said a couple times "You need to rest," after I complained of my legs hurting or being so exhausted. I couldn't seem to pick my pace up either, I think because my energy level wasn't able to rebuild itself.. especially when I started running twice a day.

Finally, after 35 days straight, I took a well needed rest. I got back on the road the day after the rest, and ran a strong 5 miles at a really good pace. I told Jen about how fast I ran and how good I felt after the run, and how I think that rest day really helped.. and I got the response I hear from her so often... "I told you so!" :)