DRAFT Magazine

It’s almost time to say goodbye to RAGBRAI 2010, and I didn’t get to blog nearly as much as I had hoped. But if I did, I really wouldn’t have experienced a true RAGBRAI, am I right?

(Actually, I was dealing a lot with the aftermath of the flood at my house. But I like to sound dangerous.)

Not to worry if you missed out, a full recap of my ride will appear in an upcoming print issue of DRAFT. With that you’ll get to meet the colorful characters and charming situations of Iowa that I’ve grown to love, such as:

Team RoadKill

The guy biking from Montreal to Argentina - who took a detour for RAGBRAI.

Bananaman

Leisure suit dudes

Naked pond dives

Epic flippy cup tournaments

Why one team got banned from RAGBRAI

Day drinking with Team Bad Boy

…And many, many more.

The tweet at the top of this blog comes courtesy of a member of Team Trouser Mouse. And he’s right, some of their antics might best be left unsaid to protect the not-so-innocent.

So I’m sorry you won’t be getting the 100% full story. I guess for some things, you really just had to be there.

Team Definitely Savage Obviously Not Subtle

First, an apology goes out to the ladies of Team Definitely Savage Obviously Not Subtle. They were gracious enough to do a video interview with me in Pocahontas, Iowa (”The Princess City”). But after two hours of trying to convert the file outside my campground, I gave up.

Suffice to say the interview boiled down to this: 1) Beer is good. 2) Biking across Iowa with beer is even better. 3) You should be here. 4) If you’re not, be jealous.

A few more miles down the road I ran into the Wilson family of six — all on one bike. They were incredibly friendly and talkative when I pulled alongside them, despite the fact that they had to haul a bike, a tagalong and a trailer up hills. Greg Wilson told me that was still easier than trying to coordinate babysitters for all of RAGBRAI. They just passed 1,300 miles of training together when I met them.

The Wilson Family -- all 6 of them

In the tiny town of West Bend we came across the World’s Largest Grotto, a surreal sight in the middle of cornfields. And right next to thousands of cyclists holding beer. The massive structure had petrified wood and $14 million worth of stone. One cyclist remarked that “the priests must have been on acid when they built this.”

West Bend Grotto photo by Jeff Miller

I met a nomadic young engineer named Willy who has bike toured 8,000 miles in the last five months, including a zig-zagging 4,500-mile trip from New Orleans to San Francisco. His buddy, Brett from Denver, was riding with his dog Moxie Crimefighter in the back of his bike. Coincidentally, Willy went to a conference rival of my high school in Wisconsin. Small world.

“I hope I’m not offending you,” Willy said at one of our rest stops, pulling out a paper bag-covered bottle. “But I’m not drinking beer. I’m drinking 40 proof fortified wine.”

Today’s short 60-mile ride was a brutal 103 degrees with no cloud cover or shade, making the beer at the end especially crucial to our survival. Thankfully, we were welcomed into Clear Lake with shouts of “FREE BEER!” Never has those words sounded so sweet. Turns out, a local bought a keg for bikers to entice them to pay $10 for a shower. I think it was working.

Until tomorrow, I leave you with this mobile public service announcement.

When Brooklyn Tony from Team Brew Ha Ha gave me a RAGBRAI beer guide, it actually wasn’t the first time a dude on a bike handed me a beer guide while I was biking myself.

Actually, Brooklyn Tony handed me two guides — “one for your gumba” — along with a history lesson.

“Before Milwaukee was the brewing capital of the world, Brooklyn was,” he declared. “Brooklyn — and especially Williamsburg — was heavily influenced by German immigrants.”

Then he reached into his bike jersey and handed me a guide to the best beer stops during our weeklong bike tour of the state of Iowa.

But I couldn’t say he was the first biking beer guide evangelist I ever met, because Earl from Team Good Beer handed me his team’s guide a few miles back. Both were quintessential RAGBRAI moments of bonding with strangers over bikes and beer.

“Beer and biking go together pretty great, don’t they?” Earl asked me while we rode behind a guy in an Old Style jersey.

“They make the beer taste sweeter and the ride more rewarding,” I agreed.

“And the company better,” added Earl, who is part of a 24-member team at RAGBRAI.

Today we finished about 70 miles with about 4,000 feet of elevation and a few thousand beers along the way. Someone was even offering free beer to all 15,000 cyclists in the middle of a field on the side of the rural road.

And even if you don’t bump into a Tony or Earl, you can text “FATTIREIOWA” to 839863 to get text updates of where to find Fat Tire each day on the route. I was lucky enough the Shuttle Guy had it on ice when I arrived at camp

Tonight I’m hanging out in tent city in Storm Lake, home of the Beavers. Tomorrow’s route includes some optional mileage that would make it a century.

So of course I’ll do the longer version, because you know what more mileage means. More beer.

I figured it was a good time to pack up the bike and grab the first shuttle outta Dodge because THE ENTIRE CITY OF MILWAUKEE IS UNDER WATER.

The Great Milwaukee Flood of 2010 chose a really bad time to hit one day before I departed to Iowa for the legendary Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, aka RAGBRAI.

I spent 15 hours yesterday gutting our completed soaked first floor, including all of our carpeting and dining room floor. Check out freaking insane video of a city street turned into a Class III rapids in front of popular liquor store Otto’s.

The good news is after all that, a beer has never tasted sweeter.

Fortunately, we had friends and family come to our rescue, and we’re safe and sound. My wife, 12-week old daughter and I will be staying with my in laws for the forseeable future, and now there’s nothing to do but hope the fans and dehumidifiers work their magic while we wait for the place to dry out completely.

There will be plenty of work ahead, but for now RAGBRAI will be a welcome diversion for awhile. If it ever stops raining.

For the uninitiated, RAGBRAI is a massive week long party on wheels that rolls through Iowa each year. Beer, burgers, homemade pie, fresh corn on the cob and conveyor belts of pancakes power some 15,000 of cyclists from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River. It is a traveling circus that just happens to be surrounded by corn fields and pig pens.

I rode four days of it a few years ago and was blown away not just by the size and scope of the event, but by the amount of beer consumed. Today will be no exception.

This morning our Shuttle Guy bus gets into Sioux City for Day 1 and the expo, and to kick things off Tim Hynds from the Sioux City Journal was kind enough to write a beer guide for all the visiting cyclists. That’s how you get RAGBRAI started right.

On the ride, several teams get custom jerseys and give themselves a beer-theme team name. It’s my goal to be on the lookout for them all week and blog about it daily here.

Jeff of Team Beer Me

It didn’t take me long to find one during our 10-hour bus ride from Chicago to Sioux City. My seatmate,Jeff, will be experiencing RAGBRAI for the first time via Team Beer Me. They made Fat Tire their unofficial sponsor and logo.

(Random side note: Jeff is from Fighting Irish football hero Rudy Ruettiger’s hometown of Joliet, Ill., and his dad wrote Rudy — you know, that Rudy — a recommendation letter to get into Notre Dame. These are the kinds of stories you hear on RAGBRAI.)

I’ll post here daily, but if you want to get updates from me throughout the day, follow @thebeerrunner on twitter.

See you in Iowa.

1. Fantasizing about the beer you’re going to drink when you’re done is what gets you through the final miles of a hard run or bike ride.

2. You judge a race director’s performance in part on the quality of beer he or she offers at the finish line.

3. You’ve cured a hangover with a run.

4. You’re in way better shape than your drinking buddies (unless they’re also beer runners).

5. You consider hops part of carbo loading.

6. You’ve calculated your recommended daily beer allowance.

7. You’ve thought about quitting your job for some nomadic beercycling.

8. A certain Todd Sneider tune is the power song on your iPod.

9. You subscribe to both DRAFT and Outside magazines.

10. When planning a destination race, you take into account not only the views on the course, but what local breweries are in the area.

11. You reserve a bottle of something extra special as reward for a PR.

12. You’ve been profiled on this blog.

13. You forwarded this list to a fellow beer runner.
What did i miss? Let me know any other common beer runner traits in the comments.

Seems like you’re doing something wrong if you run 19 miles on a 13.1 mile course. But I just did that, and it was one of my favorite races ever.

It actually had nothing to do with the wine at the end.

Lagunitas as the Wine Country Half Marathon

Since March I’ve been coaching the Wisconsin chapter of Team Challenge, a half marathon training group raising money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. This morning about 1,000 Team Challenge members from around the country met in a vineyard to run the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon.

Many of these runners are racing because a loved one or they themselves have Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis, an irritable bowel disease beset by random and severely painful flare-ups of the digestive tract. There currently is no cure.

In one case, one of my runner’s training was disrupted when his son accidently destroyed his medication, and he fell behind on treatment. Another runner — who has one of the most positive attitudes of anyone I’ve ever met — was told by her doctor last year that she needed her colon removed. Thankfully, her condition has improved and she hasn’t needed surgery.

Many join the team because they’re raising money to find a cure, not because they necessarily like to run. Several are first-time racers, and some have never really run before.

At the first practice I told everyone we were going to run easy for 30 minutes. We would have to go slow to build up to 13.1 miles.

One runner later confessed to me that his mouth dropped open when I told him we were running for 30 minutes. I need to train before running that long, he thought. The first few practices were tough. Some runners later told me they couldn’t move the rest of the day after our progressively longer Sunday runs.

But as any runner knows, something happens when you faithfully put in your miles, bit by bit. One day you go out to run and realize you feel better than you ever thought possible. You may even wake up some morning to find you actually enjoy running.

Finally race day was here, and my job was to run back and forth on the course to run with as many teammates as possible. It was a unique challenge that required me not to run for time, but to cover as much distance as possible.

In reality, we coaches were incredibly lucky. I got to keep crossing the finish line over and over again, the best part of the race. And I got to see the look on people’s faces as they realized what they accomplished.

As a nationwide group, Team Challenge raised $2.2 million in this one event alone. I won’t soon forget the sea of orange Team Challenge members rallying around the finish line to bring home the final finishers. This is one of the most inspiring events I can recall.

Then the party began. They gave each finisher a wine glass, and you took that around from table to table for wine tastings. Yes, I had some finish line wine.

But then I found the lonely keg of local Lagunitas IPA, and immediately changed course. It’s one more reason to come back next year with Team Challenge.

Melvin Chu (above, far left) started the blog Runners Drink Beer after a happy discovery. He found he ran faster in the morning after consuming a few beers the night before.

“I’m not talking about a kegger or full-on assault of the liver,” he says. “But after 3-6 beers I have more energy and stamina the next morning.”

Several others in the Dallas area have bought into this idea, and soon enough Runners Drink Beer blossomed into a social running club. And Melvin’s secret continued to work for him.

“After a few 5K’s, I tried beer the night before and knocked a minute and a half off my PR,” he says. “It could have been an easier course, better weather, or you got faster, but who are we kidding? It’s the beer.”

Melvin talked to The Beer Runner about balance, how he lost 50 pounds and the “sense of accomplishment that you earned this beer.”

Who makes up your group today?

I met Kyle Hemmer, who started marathon training with my best friend for their first marathons, and it went from a blog to a social running group. We had some shirts made, set up a few happy hours, and the idea took off. Our goal is to pass along news to the running community, monthly events for the group, and get to know the running community. We’ve met so many — from elites to new runners – that we are all no longer unrecognizable face at White Rock or the Katy Trail.

Do you have any favorite RDB events that you’ve held so far?

I can’t say I have a definitive favorite, but three stand out. 1) St Patty’s Day Parade. Once a year, you’re allowed to drink in public. This is also preceded by the Dash Down Greenville 5K. 2) Warrior Dash 3.5 mile run through mud and various obstacles. 3) Franconia Brewery Tour. They offer tours every Saturday and free beer. I kept getting refills of their Winter Seasonal - a 9.7% beauty — which snuck up on me very fast.

Do you have a favorite post-race beer?

Post-race, I’ll drink any beer in front of me. You have that sense of accomplishment that you earned this beer. When you’re hot and sweaty, anything will do. The majority of the time, a nice crisp pilsner or lager tends to hit the spot - refreshing and light enough to throw back a few.

Do you have a beer picked out for after your upcoming Chicago Marathon?

I know there will be approx 25 members of RDB from Dallas going for the race, and plans are in the works for the Dallas members to have an after-party at one of the Chicago deep dish establishments (Gino’s East, Giordanno’s, or Lou Malnati’s). I have plans to hit some of the local breweries - Goose Island, Metropolitan, Half Acre, and Argus. Can’t visit Chicago and not have any local brews!

You’ve lost 50 or so pounds since lifting weights and running. How do you keep the weight off?

Lifestyle change. So many people claim that they’ve tried every diet with no success. Diet should be a noun, as in what you eat, versus a verb, as in a temporarily action. Until that person makes up their mind, they’ll never see success. They have to want it, own up, and stop making excuses. I finally hit that point post-college when I topped out around 200lbs. I realized I had to make a change and made a conscious effort to exercise and eat better. I lift weights twice a week and run 5 days a week.

What does your diet look like?

Breakfast is normally a bagel and protein shake after a workout. (Fast digesting, high GI carbs to refuel, plus protein to aid in muscle recovery) Lunch and dinner is some variation of whole wheat pasta or bread, brown rice, green vegetables, and some protein with a moderate amount of fat. I certainly don’t hate eating out or eating poorly. I love burgers, pizza, fries, and lots of other things one shouldn’t be eating. I decided to give them up for healthier foods. I feel and perform better when I eat well. The only thing I will never give up is beer. I like it too much. It’s all in moderation, though.

What words of advice do you have for others who want to be a runner who drinks beer?

Balance is the key. Juggle exercise while enjoying life. Go out, eat well, train hard, and enjoy beer as your reward. Many people get one-track minds when they start - it’s all work all the time and utter dedication, which ultimately will burn them out. You have to enjoy life and give yourself a break. If I was Ryan Hall, well, that might be a different story. But I’m just an average guy who likes running and beer. I enjoy what both bring to my life - a sense of balance and something to look forward to.

Anything else to add?

RDB welcomes everyone to become a fan of us on Facebook. We also appreciate the opportunity to explain who we are. It was just a small idea that took off by a couple of guys who like running and beer. I’ve enjoyed every minute and have grown fond of the relationships with members of the running community. We look forward to bigger and better things in the near future. Also look forward to following DraftMag and BeerRunner!

I posed that hypothetical on Twitter, and I think I scared some people with the mere concept. Myself included.

Flickr photo by FridgeUK

“That’s a cruel question,” said Jon.

“For me it was pregnancy,” said Genevieve. ”That would be the only reason.”

“A free lifetime supply of whiskey maybe?” said Jonathan.

The most common reason people said they would give up beer? Death.

I was curious about what it would take because I just read a blog by a London runner who announced he was giving up beer — for good. After going without beer for four months during marathon training, he lost his belly and took 25 minutes off his marathon time.

Now post-marathon, he decided to return to his beer-free lifestyle. He explains:

I all-to-easily slipped back into my old drinking habits a month after the marathon. My belly is starting to return, I am noticeably more lary when drunk and remember almost nothing of the previous night when I wake up the following day. So bad is my memory loss that I actually (sometimes gingerly) have to ask my girlfriend if I embarrassed myself the night before. My running has also suffered. Admittedly, I have been running much less. But I feel twice as sluggish, heavy and sometimes uncomfortable.

My initial reaction is, this guy is doing it wrong. Being a beer runner is about living a balanced, well-rounded life. It’s about mixing beer appreciation with mud, sweat and tears to enhance both experiences. And if one side of the equation gets thrown out of whack, you figure out how to even it back out.

At the same time, what competitor hasn’t wondered what they could accomplish if they were completely focused and dedicated to the task? I can respect that.

If you knew you could take, say, 30 seconds off your 5K, or three minutes off your 10K, or half an hour off your marathon if you gave up beer, would you do it? Could you do it? Would it be worth it?

So, hypothetically speaking, what would it take for you to give up beer?

About 10 years ago Adidas created a running ad campaign celebrating the quirks and oddities of runners. The tagline said it all: Runners. Yeah, we’re different.

As a cross country and track geek, I immediately identified with the ads as an outsider, and posted them in my high school locker. (But not the one above - that would have just been weird.)

To me, they represented how running was more than just crossing the finish line in a certain time. It was its own culture with distinct rituals. And if you’re not one of us, sorry, you just don’t get it.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one they resonated with. The campaign boosted shoe sales and was a finalist for a prestigious advertising award.

I look back at these ads very fondly, but I’m not sure they would have the same impact if they had run today. The reason? Running has gone mainstream.

Time Magazine reports that there were 467,000 marathon finishers last year, up nearly 10% the previous year and the highest number of finishers to date. The article speculated that so many people talking about running on Facebook inspired (or guilted) others into running.

But Beer Runners? They’re still… different. They exist in a cultural no-man’s land between the stereotypical beer drinking hedonist and stereotypical self-denying running hardass. Many wouldn’t think these two can co-exist.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had the pleasure to meet more Beer Runners through this blog than I thought possible. It’s been an eye-opener even for me to see how many of you are out there.

Still, when I tell the average uninitiated person that this blog is about appreciating craft beer and a healthy, active lifestyle, their reaction is usually one of major skepticism.

So listen up Adidas, Nike, Newtons, Sam Adams, Dogfish Head, Fat Tire and anyone else who has some marketing dollars. I propose a new ad campaign for a proud, new and growing audience:

“Beer Runners: Yeah, we’re different.” Because we are.

Suzi Storm after losing 80 pounds

When people hear she’s lost 80 pounds, most  want to know how Suzi Storm has been able to take off the weight and still be “a pretty heavy beer drinker.”

“I get this question A LOT,” she said.

She used to drink 12-15 light beers a day, which she wrote about openly on her fantastically named blog OK, Just One More Beer. (Subtitle: “My journey with Weight Watchers, myself, & that 30 pack of beer sitting in my fridge.”)

But she learned balance, started running and now drinks primarily on weekends to satisfy her taste for beer.

“It’s not easy, that’s for sure,” she said. “But I am a firm believer that you should never give up the things you really, truly enjoy in life. I know when I can indulge with my beers, and when I can’t.”

The Beer Runner: What are your beer runner credentials?

Suzi Storm: When I first starting drinking alcoholic beverages, I preferred wine or liquor. One day I bought some beer as a thanks to the guy who fixed my car, but he wouldn’t accept it. I ended up drinking it and falling in love with it…and the guy as well. I didn’t become a runner until the summer of 2009. I always envied runners but I could barely run for the 30 seconds without feeling like I was going to die. But I ran my very first 5K on October 25th, 2009.

BR: How long has it taken you to take off the weight?

SS: I am a proud member of Weight Watchers. I started attending their meetings in September of 2008. In the spring of 2009 I took a little bit of a hiatus but I would say my weight loss really started to begin to fall off in the summer of 2009, coincidentally enough, about the same time I started running. I’m only shy of about 7 more lbs till I hit my healthy goal weight.

BR: Would there be anything that would make you ever give up beer?

SS: If my doctor said “Suzi, if you take one more sip of beer you’ll die.”…then yeah, maybe. Other than that, not a chance. There’s nothing more relaxing and enjoyable to me than hanging out with loved ones & sharing some beers together, whether it’s watching the Yankee’s play on TV or having fun outdoors. I don’t drink beers to get drunk. I drink beer because I enjoy the taste and the sense of camaraderie that can come along with it.

BR: How has your racing been going?

SS: I have done six 5K races since October. Living in Central New York presents challenges for running in the winter, but considering that I just started out, I give myself a lot of credit for  running ½ of those in the snowy weather! My last race was Paige’s Butterfly 5K where I actually had a PR and ran 31:32!! And according to a site, the course was actually 3.4 miles. This September, I’m doing the Philadelphia Rock N Roll ½ Marathon!! This will be my first ½ marathon and I could not be more excited. I will admit it is a little scary, too. I don’t do too well with training plans but I have been going to the beat of my own drum and so far it seems to work. I’m up to 11 miles and the miles are getting easier and easier. I feel as long as I keep myself healthy and my running consistent, I should be more than ready. If I can run a 2:30 or around there, I will be happy. I don’t want to put too much pressure for my first “big” race.

BR: Do you have any other ultimate fitness goal?

Suzi before WW

SS: The triathlon world is heating up and it’s never something I EVER had ANY interest in doing, but I do love to run, I love to bike, I love to swim…so could it be in my future maybe…Who knows? People ask me if I plan to run a marathon and at this time I don’t have an interest. I don’t run to be a distance runner. I run because I love to run. If there comes a day when I love to run 26.2 miles, then maybe I will sign up for a marathon. Also, I’m close to hitting my goal weight for Weight Watchers and I’m interested in being a meeting Leader. Helping people find their inner strength to better themselves in a healthy and positive way is something I would love to do on a more regular basis.

BR: What kind of beer do you drink?

SS: Every year my family and I go to the CNY Brewfest in town and we have a blast!! That’s where I won the Quaker Steak & Lube Triple Atomic Chicken Wing Challenge. I credit all the beer for me being able to stand the heat. I’m not too eclectic in the kind of beers I drink. I’m pretty much a Coors Light / Bud 55 kind of gal…or as some like to call…a wuss, LOL. But my uncle has brewed his own beers and I would love to create my own light beer someday. Maybe I’d call it the ‘Slim Suzi’ and market it to women. I’d also love to run a race that involved beer in some way.

BR: What piece of advice would you give others that love beer but want to lose some weight?

SS: Learn about what works for you. What items can you cut down or give up so you can enjoy beer but still lose weight? A few of my friends drink heavier dark beers that obviously pack more calories, so instead of having a couple beers AND desert, they consider beer their treat. I chose to limit beer to weekends. This works for me, and it took me awhile to learn that. It’s a process, but believe me, you can make it work! And of course…running always helps to burn those calories.

BR: Anything else to add?

SS: Have fun. You only get one life, so make the most out of it!! Remember how special you are and how taking care of yourself is the most important thing. Do the things you enjoy in life because you never know when you’ll get to enjoy them again. There is a feeling you get when you take care of yourself and make healthy choices that I cannot explain, but it seriously one of the best feelings in the world! And of course…after that long hard run, enjoy your efforts with an ice cold beer.