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...not fun.

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Not fun? I thought it was a blast.

The brewery is really nice. Definitely worth a stop.

Other New Glarus beers I like. With your timing some may or may not still be around or have just come out:

Fat Squirrel (probably won't be out yet)
Staghorn (oktoberfest, might be out)
Totally Naked
Bubbler
Moon Man
Kid Kolsch
Dancing Man Wheat

I don't really like fruited beers, but theirs are rated very highly. Their Thumbprint series beers are usually really good too. And there are experimental beers you can only get at the brewery. They'll be in the shop downstairs.

For non-NG...Central Waters makes really solid beer, especially their BA stouts. I'm also a big fan of One Barrel Brewing. Wisconsin Amber from Capital brewing is a mainstay when we are up there. 3 Sheeps has some good stuff, but if you find The Wolf, that is the prize.

If you get to madison Young Blood and Karben4, Ale Asylum are solid, but can't remember how much they distribute.

If you see anything from Rhinelander Brewing, avoid it at all cost. Their beers are terrible. All of them. Seriously. I'm not sure how they stay in business. Probably because there's not much in Rhinelander.

I'm leaving a bunch off, including some good ones, but you are going for a race, not to put on 20 lbs.

AggieLAX said:

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Quote:

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...not fun.

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Not fun? I thought it was a blast.

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have to edit...didn't even remember what i posted and thought you were quoting coop.

That first part wasn't bad the first couple times. try it for 6 hours and let me know if its still fun.

AggieOO said:

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try it for 6 hours and let me know if its still fun.

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Fair

Anybody going to be out at Possum Kingdom? I'm pacing, but I'm going to try to get out there a little earlier than I need to.

Appreciate it. It's all a work in progress.

And good luck tomorrow. I'm sure you'll crush it.

A ton of DNFs at Possum's Revenge because of the heat. A couple sounded serious. I had to calm my runner down a bit and had him take a long break. I got him settled down and he was good to go again. We ended up picking up 3 extra people (one lady who was getting herself turned around, one guy who was just having a hard time, and another guy whose light died) and I paced 4 people into the finish about 30 minutes before cutoff. I was out there much later than I anticipated, and started running much later than I anticipated, but I guess that comes with the job.

aggiespartan said:

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A ton of DNFs at Possum's Revenge because of the heat. A couple sounded serious. I had to calm my runner down a bit and had him take a long break. I got him settled down and he was good to go again. We ended up picking up 3 extra people (one lady who was getting herself turned around, one guy who was just having a hard time, and another guy whose light died) and I paced 4 people into the finish about 30 minutes before cutoff. I was out there much later than I anticipated, and started running much later than I anticipated, but I guess that comes with the job.

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Nice work. I'm sure it was greatly appreciated.

I managed to accidentally grab my sister's small bag along with my wife's stuff after a wedding last night. It contained her car keys, so I got to make a 3 hour round trip this morning to get it back to her. No long run today, so have to sit down and rearrange my training this week.

They all seemed very appreciated and they all ran across the line together. Everyone seemed to be in pretty good spirits after.

It looks like 33 finished and 30 DNF'd.

I know it's not very likely, but anyone else here doing Javelina?

I am not, but there are a handful of folks from my local running club who are doing Javelina 100. I can get you in touch with them if needed.

How'd silver state go?

219 people signed up for Cocodona.

So much fun. It feels great to be an ultra runner again. I was about 30 minutes slower than my 2018 race, which seems about right considering that I don't have a big fitness base anymore and it was a bit warmer this year. I'm really looking forward to a full summer of running now.

any other races planned or just building fitness and seeing where things go?

aggiespartan said:

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I know it's not very likely, but anyone else here doing Javelina?

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I'm way down on the wait-list so likely not. I was wanting that to be my big race for the year but I didnt plan well enough.

However, I pulled the trigger and signed up for the Rocky 100 in Feb for my first 100 miler.

Will probably try to get at least a 50k in and maybe the Dinosaur Valley 100k in Nov.

The latter. I've got some things in mind, but with the family schedule I'm going to wait a little while before registering for anything.

I am doing a road relay race in two weeks though. That's going to be painful.

I hear you. Balancing training for AC100 has been interesting with kids activities, but that's life now so I just have to roll with it if I want to keep doing these things. Doing long runs when traveling for work helps, but sometimes I get loaded up with meetings and it screws everything up. I had plans to set up perfectly for my work trip next week...then I got two full days, plus dinners dropped on my schedule. Scrambling to figure out how I'm going to move things around.

After BFC, the wife gets priority for a while, which is why I think cocodona '25 is out for me. Plus, there's only 9 spots left anyway.

And Cocodona is sold out.

I may ask again a little later. I might be looking to see if anyone wants to share a crew tent.

Dafstun said:

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aggiespartan said:

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I know it's not very likely, but anyone else here doing Javelina?

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I'm way down on the wait-list so likely not. I was wanting that to be my big race for the year but I didnt plan well enough.

However, I pulled the trigger and signed up for the Rocky 100 in Feb for my first 100 miler.

Will probably try to get at least a 50k in and maybe the Dinosaur Valley 100k in Nov.

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I did the Dino Valley 50k last year. It's just so many loops.

A is A said:

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Anyone ran High Hope ranch?

I'm pacing a buddy doing the high hope 100k (more for me getting free miles on a race setting than for him). I threw in a morning 10k race for me.

How are the trails? Good race?

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For those that are interested in a recap

My buddy cancelled on the 100k so I upped to the 25k.

Not sure if anyone here has ran High Hope but it was decent. Beautiful wildflowers, 50% was grass jeep trails. not much single track. They had a 5k loop and a 10k loop. So the 25k was Big, Little, Big.

It was extremely hot and there were a LOT of DNFs at the 100k level. Audrey, a 16yr old was leading the 200k until about 2/3 of the way through. She ended up getting second.

I've only had 3 trail experiences, so far Wildflower at Bastrop SP is by and far the best race I've been to. I'd follow that up with High Hope, then Rattler in a distant 3rd.

I have not raced, but run Hill Country State Park and I'd put that at 1B.

The spring energy saga just keeps getting worse. Jason Koop has some of their gels tested, and all 3 flavors he sent to the lab came in under calories and carbs on the labels. They've taken Awesome sauce off their website, and turned off commenting on their social media. As far as I've seen, they haven't owned up to or apologized for anything. I wonder who is going to be sponsoring cocodona next year.

At least they pulled it bc when Koop posted that, they were still selling it.

Nothing amazing, but threw together a video from the 6 hour race put at Spider Mountain

I bought a bag of Tailwind from the feed that tasted very chemically. It tasted different than the single servings of the same flavor that I had. I tried shaking it up to mix it more and that didn't help. I contacted their customer service and they sent me a new bag, no questions. They did ask the lot number and where I got it, but that was all after they already got the new bag packaged and sent. So if you get a bag that tastes or smells off, make sure you contact them.

need to crowd source something here for a project. Help me with some dumb/annoying/common/whatever questions and comments that ultra runners always get.

Examples:

I don't even like to drive that far.
You are going to ruin your knees.
What do you eat?
Do you sleep?
How long does that take?
What do you think about?
Do you run the whole time?
WHY?

Can you stop?
What do you do at the rest areas (aid stations)?
What does your husband think about that?

Looks like I'll likely be at Arkansas Traveler pacing. I had originally thought about signing up for the race, but I have Javelina at the end of October. Should be fun! Really kind of honored that I was a first choice for pacing.

It's a great race.

I almost signed up for it but Badger 100 was better timing for me. I'm looking forward to the atmosphere at Badger though. I've only heard good things, and I'll get a hug from Scotty at the finish!

Finished up "Half Marathon Week" today. Started on Tuesday of last week due to personal schedule not really allowing a Monday start. 13.1 miles a day is a good chunk of mileage, but its not anything insane. That said, this was super challenging due to family obligations, work schedule, travel, etc. I originally chose this past week partly due to the fact that I had work travel and its typically easier to run when I'm on the road b/c I don't have family stuff...and I'd rather be on the trails than sitting in a hotel anyway. Then my colleague decided to schedule multiple work dinners, which made things less than ideal. I also figured I'd get to run several of these half marathons on trails, which would keep things more interesting and be easier on the body for recovery. Here's a quick breakdown on the week:

Pre-start: We spend Memorial Day weekend Camping in Big Bend. Drove back on memorial day, got home somewhat late, unpacked, did laundry, re-packed, and got a short night's sleep.

Day 1: Headed to the airport and flew to el paso. Straight from the plane to work meetings. After meetings wrapped up, I had a customer happy hour/dinner. Its one of my biggest customers, so I could really skip. They also like to have drinks. We ended up at a place that is basically a wings restaurant, customer's choice. I had 3 beers, 1 shot of tequila, some nachos, couple jalapeno poppers, couple wings, and other random bar food. Finally got back to the hotel after 9p. Almost considered canceling the entire week. Had zero motivation, but luckily my brother-in-law was also doing this "with" me and he'd already done his first run. It was around or after 10p by the time I started the run. As you can imagine, the dinner and drinks don't exactly scream "great run nutrition." So I ended up running a bunch of short loops around downtown El Paso due to some GI distress. Felt terrible for a lot of the run. Finished around midnight if I remember correctly. Probably fell asleep somewhere around 1:30a.

Day 2: I had to start work around 7a since I was on mountain time and had work stuff on central time. Obviously did not get much sleep. Another full day of meetings, then we headed 45 minutes outside El Paso to a steakhouse for another customer dinner. Meal was steak and baked potato. I ordered the smallest steak I could, at the baked potato, and avoided any additional sides. I also had three beers, but figured I had plenty of time before I had to run, so might as well join in with my customer for a few beverages. Got back to the hotel after 9p. Thought about every way I could possibly bail on this stupid challenge, but figured if I could get through this second one, it would only get easier (lol). Left from downtown and run uphill to some of the neighborhoods closer to the mountains. Ran up a dirt road to the top of a smaller mountain, circled around and then went back up and to the hotel. Kept the pace pretty easy, but I actually felt pretty good. Finished somewhere around midnight again, in bed around 1a.

Day 3: I was able to sleep a touch longer, but had a breakfast meeting with a partner. It was suppose to end at 9a, but ran long, as these things do. Finally got back to the hotel a bit before 10a, changed clothes and headed to the paved path along the Rio Grande. Fairly short turnaround. I had originally hoped to do this one on trails, but I had a smaller window before my flight. Ended up doing an out and back on the path. 100% exposed and nowhere to refill water. I only had two bottles on me, ran out of water, and it was 102 degrees by the time I finished. I rushed back to the hotel, showered, threw my stuff in the suitcase, and raced to the airport. Luckily, the El Paso airport is pretty chill. Once I got to the airport, I got the notification that my flight was delayed. So I changed my flight to a "later" flight that was direct to Austin, but now landed at the same time. It was more than 4 hours out, so I couldn't check my bag. Jumped on a work call while I waited and my phone started blowing up with more delays. Ended up changing flights two more times and ultimately ended up back on a flight connecting in Dallas, which was a gamble. Landed in Dallas, turned my phone on, and got the notification that my flight (and all other flights) into Austin was canceled. It was almost 9p and I didn't feel like searching for a hotel, so I called a friend who lives fairly close. We went to get food and beers, and I crashed at his place.

Day 4: After a terrible night sleep, I was back at the airport. Flew back to austin, drove home, took a couple work calls. Wife had an event with my older daughter in the evening, so I had the three year old. She wanted to go get pizza, and I can't tell her no...especially after just being gone for four days. So we got pizza, but I tried not to eat too much. Got home, helped get both kids in bed, and then headed out for another night run. For whatever reason, I felt great and ran my fastest half of this little challenge. I didn't run any of them "fast," but this one just felt easy. I finished up about 10:30p, shower, and was in bed before midnight.

Day 5: Wife and older daughter had another event, so once again, I had the 3 year old. She slept longer than expected, so we got a much later start than I was hoping. We headed out to brush creek with the running stroller. I pushed her in the stroller and any time we passed a playground, she got to get out and play while I chugged water, wrang out my shirt, and shoved calories down my throat. Let's just say I might have been more happy than she was when we saw playgrounds. I somehow always forget how much harder running is with a stroller. We finished around 1 pm and it was blazing hot. I calculated that I drank almost 2 gallons of fluids during the run.

Day 6: Wife had brunch plans with a friend, so I had both kids in the morning. They wanted to play outside, so I sat outside with them trying not to sweat too much. Wife got home, and then we had to head to a kid's party, but at least it was at a splash pad. The sun and humidity were terrible. Afterwards, the wife wanted to go to a brewery, so I obliged. Couldn't be any worse than the first two days. Had a few beers and some food. Got home and the kids were both tired, so they went to bed early and easily. I actually got out before sunset, which was nice, but also meant it was still hot. After a couple miles, I was already completely soaked with sweat. Made sure my route went by water fountains to refill fluids. Two different cars almost hit me in the neighborhood, one even rolled their window down and yelled at me, even though it was their fault. The other decided to blow through a stop sign as I was crossing the road. Finished up around 10:30 and immediately started the process of trying to replace fluids, knowing I had a short turn around before my final run.

Day 7: Terrible night sleep due to a faulty smoke detector that I eventually just had to turn off. Wife didn't get up for her workout, so I ended up sleeping later than I meant to b/c I was counting on her getting up to wake me up. Left later than I wanted. I immediately struggled. Mentally, I just didn't want to be running. It was insanely humid and I could tell it was going to get hot. My mind kept wandering to how I could get out of this final run. Or how I could split it up and find a treadmill in some air conditioning, which really says something b/c I HATE treadmills. It was a mental struggle until I was about to hit mile 11. At that point, I knew I only had two miles left and I'd be done. I heard my watch beep for mile 11, looked down and read "mile 10." I had somehow convinced myself I was farther along than I actually was. That pretty much ruined me mentally. I just started walking. Luckily, I turned and there was a breeze blowing on a downhill section. The combination got me to run again. I made it down to a water fountain, took a quick break, answered some work emails, and then headed out on the final couple miles. Finished it out, and I've never been so happy to know I have a rest day tomorrow.

I ended up doing all 7 days on the road, which did not help my mental state. Four of the seven were at night. I actually like running at night, but the dinners and such were not conducive to longer runs. And the early mornings didn't help either. I could have altered some of my family stuff to make it easier on me, but family comes first so running had to be squeezed in where it could. Overall, muscularly, I felt fine the whole time. Lack of sleep definitely impacted things. Head/humidity definitely impacted things. This little challenge was way more mentally taxing than physically taxing. I'm sure it'd be way easier to do in December or January, but I'm doing a summer race, so it is what it is. I'm ready to have a few beers tonight and not run tomorrow.