Beer Drinker Appreciation Society 2 - Closed (Page 3)

Nice!  

good news, love that race, really great venue.

Good to be seen.  Have a great trip.

Tried to get a bio together and failed so I thought I would cut and paste my bio from January and throw it in here.

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To the matter of my formal application to this Society….

Beer Focus: I like beer, I would leave it like that but the truth is I like all beer, cheap beer, expensive beer, malty beers, fruit beers, IPA's, cold beer, warm beer, I even once had a 2.5 % grapefruit concoction that I claimed to be very disappointed with but in the end it contained some beer and really that is all it takes some times. I go in waves. Sometimes I am drinking sometimes I am not. Currently, yes, drinking a bit.

Name: Darren. The bigDH part was perhaps when I was much bigger.

Story: I have been here for 5 years, since 2008. I was in a mentor group then. Frankly it sucked balls (spoiler alert, this one won't). Anyways. I was a one and you are done type of guy. For triathlons I did a sprint, an oly, a HIM and an IM. I did another HIM in 2009. But I haven't been in a pool since 2010 so, yeah, don't even know where my suit is. As Al Picino says in Dead Poet's Society though, "I have been around you know." Currently and for 2010, 2011, and 2012 I have been entirely run focused. I ride my bike to work quite a bit but don't really train on it. I run tons. It is sick and unexplainable how much I run. I am slow but I show up everyday and put in my miles. I got a bunch of stuff going on......

Family Status: I am married to the love of my life and we have an almost 4 year old and an 18 month old who thinks he is an almost 4 year old. I am a lawyer and run my own shop and life is busy and stressful and most days I don't know which way is up.

Current Training: I am running and biking. It is sick. I got a serious addiction here. Once you learn to use the logs you can look it up and see what I have been doing, frankly you don't want a piece of it. In 2012 I managed darn near 2 hours a day of bike/run. But coles notes version is that I ran about 85k a week this year (not a small amount was up and down steep slopes and mountains), (although this is a work in progress and well, I am doing my best but we will see), and I rode my bike more to work on a piece of garbage touring bike and then a slightly used cross bike this year then I did when I was training for my ironman on a TRI BIKE in 2008, so yeah. I have come a ways. I am at times proud and ashamed, but that is how it is. So yeah, for this year my only goal is to get to 90k a week on the running and, well the biking, I mean I am almost at 190 hours this year so if I could keep it around there next year that would be something, which I will because I hate driving but that is another story. Also throw in some yoga, I fell down on my goal this year due to my insane commitment to running and riding my bike to work, hopefully get back at it.

This Year's Racing: There is only one race this year and that is in September and it is 100 miles in Lethbridge. I don't mean to sound stupid but seriously, I am going to finish that B I T C H this year if it kills me. I got some running races too, a marathon, a 50 mile trail race maybe something else. To be blunt, I am going to run until I collapse.

Weight loss: I have lost some weight, 5 years ago I was 250, now I am 185. But, you know, Dave rules this world. I wish I could say I didn't care but the fact is carrying 185 lbs out there it no good for a runner so I am going to get though the first quarter and my marathon in May, and maybe look at dropping down to 179 for September.

What will make me a good group member: I make goals and achieve them (or do my darnedest) and I expect the same of others. If you say it, frankly I will expect you to do it. You say something like “I am going to do an Ironaman” and 10 weeks out you still haven’t got in a 20 miler I’ll call you on.

What will make Dave a good mentor: This guy rocks. Okay. Listen to me. I started a group back in January 2012 and Dave and a couple other guys carried it. They kept me going. I mean I STARTED IT and they kept me going. Sure we talk about beer, and whisky, and various other vices………

Clearly this group has taken off with its catchy name and irrepressible personalities, however… You want to have a chance. You want to succeed. You want to get off the couch and see what you can do. You come here. This guy is key. And he brings friends.

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So there it is.  Unfortunately things have not gone as planned.  My days as a stud runner have been put on hold due to injury.  Although I am still getting out now and then.  I still am planning a trip to Lethbridge in September.  I have come around to being a bit more holistic in my approach to racing though in that I no longer see a race something to be conquered more as something to be experienced, the good the bad and the ugly.  I hope this perspective will serve me in the coming 4 months of training and during the race.

In other news, work is off the rails busy.  If a disappear it isn't because I don't love you all.

Also, I am coaching my daughter's soccer, which rocks.

That is outstanding!  I have been coaching my sons teams for the past 8 seasons and as much as I want to yank all my hair out at the games it is sooooo very worth every second.  Make sure to enjoy every second when you are out there.  What age group is she in?  I started coaching in U6 (now in last season of U8).  We do spring and fall plus 1 season of all stars.  He is trying out for the competitive traveling team in 3 weeks but that means I'm done coaching if he makes it.  I may still pick up another U8 team to still give back since I enjoy it so much.

Speaking of soccer...at practice tonight I was walking around fine with both knees but sitting here at the PC it is a bit tight.  No pain just a weird rubbing tight feeling.  Really busting out the weights and it seems to be improving.

Kev - basically everything mellows and evens outs... Alpha acids only last for so long and the longer the beer sits,  the more the beer mellows. But the maltiness grows - it all becomes this cool balance.  The beauty of aging is that everything comes together to make a better beer.

Here is an article on it http://draftmag.com/cellar/required-reading-the-chemistry-of-beer-aging/

Rus - I'm sorry - I can't read any of the words...All I can look at is the beautiful bottle of beer in your profile.

Back in action thanks to the link from Thor!

I would hate to miss hearing about all those overtraining injuries of the group

Crossfit continues. Good session on running form. That is certainly something I need. Feeling good with a tight diet. Down to 195 lbs. I think I was 194 when I was 19.

I should have taken a clean pair of undies with me to the LBS.  Went to the big store about 1hr away to get pedals and saw my first P5 and Shiv in person.  Holy freaking wow they are sexy.  Very worth the drive to see.

Well tomorrow is the sprint I was supposed to do.  My friends will be there but that's fine I'll get the one in July.  

Went on a run for the first time since Jan 19th and it felt great.  Gonna ease back into it so I don't end up out again.  Still waiting on the bike since when I pedal I fell that rubbing in the knee.

Thanks Thor for bringing (ricky)Bobby back into the fold. I'm glad someone is looking out for the group.  

So glad to hear you've regained your svelteness!  Keep it up!

Alex - I'll run my sprint tomorrow being sure to keep you in mind.  I'm gonna take a page from Boston and write your name on my arm with a sharpy (as well as BDAS). Sorry you aren't going to be kicking a$$ but you will in July.  

Hell yes - we are LIVE!  In the next few days - we'll get some new blood into the group (hopefully some of them will agree that fruit beer can be delicious)!  I will be going into Boston today with my niece but let's make sure we give everyone a really kind welcome!

I've slacked off a bit this week, which is ok since it was a taper week anyway.  Hoping to do well tomorrow in my tri with a goal of beating my time from last year - 1:23:13.  It's definitely doable but tomorrows forecast calls for rain and wind.  Gonna be a good time.  I plan on just toughing it out - I'd hate to be forced to drink that warm coors light

Have a great day everyone!

It's 6pm!  Don't keep us in suspense - how'd it go?

I thought I had posted about getting a green light to sign up for a HIM this year.  Since then, I've been benched, and now I am getting the OK to do an OLY this year.  The rational behind this logic is more time with family and to work my a-- off over the summer to help pay down debt. 

How is this Tri related?  Well, I was on track 2 yrs ago when I started this to do an IM this year, and now that's not happening.  The key to the above sentence was I.  After discussing goals with my wife, We can move forward with a plan.  This is important, because I want to be an IM finisher that has the support of his wife, not one that does it to the detriment of my family.

So now, the schedule moving forward is to keep a base level o fitness this year .9s/25b/7 mi runs, and do an OLY in July/aug time frame. 2014, I will train for a September HIM, 2015, May HIM, and July IM.  This goal of IM just got pushed back a few years, but things in life that are worth doing are well worth the wait, and it is important to my family to do them together.

Thanks for the support BDAS.  I really enjoy hearing how others approach this hobby/sport, and maintain a functioning healthy life as well.  You all are great. 

Sorry for not being clear - it's today.  I'm on my way there now.  Cloudy but no rain... perfect!  I'll post when I get home.  

No Coors Light!

x2 - Plus Cynthia's hubby gets lucky.  Nice work

Mission Accomplished!  New PR in this race despite the hardest rain in which I have ever raced.  1:21:13 unofficially.  No Coors light for me

More later.  Thanks as always for the support and inspiration!

^ x2 

Well - I just checked the results from the race today.  Official time was 1:20:59. My goal was to beat my time from last year which I did with 2 and 14 seconds to spare.  The best part was the fact that I crushed the 5K with a time of 27:59.  Last December, I ran one last 5k time trial to see how far I had come and clocked my fastest 5K of 2012 - 28:26.  So the fact that I was able to run a faster time even after a crappy April means a lot.  I won't lie - it hurt but I'm thrilled.  

I'll post a race report tomorrow (now that I have my times) but I just want to thank you all for the support!  It means a lot!