Not a marathon, but close enough

While Heidi was off kicking ass at her marathon, I was engaging in a biathlon of sorts.

The first discipline was running, the 5K Race for the Cure. I'm proud to report that I ran the whole thing all the way through without collapsing. I don't exactly know how long it took -- the timer said 46 minutes exactly when we (The Modern Beau and myself) crossed the finish line, but we were so far back in the starting pack of 10,000 people that I'm pretty sure we didn't actually cross the start line until six or seven minutes into the race. We also spent the first 10 minutes of the race trying to run around the pokey walkers -- I'm pretty sure I ran an extra half-mile just trying to get around people. Note to the Susan G. Komen people: give the walkers a separate start time from the runners.

But, the point was just to finish. I think the MB ran extra-slow to stick with me and make sure that happened, not that I was going to let myself fail. I still plan on doing a race in November, so I can focus my training on trying to finish with an acceptable time.

The second discipline was a sort of combined drinking and standing, which is more difficult than it sounds when you've just run a 5K and you're outside in 80-degree heat. The Knoxville Brewers Jam was a few hours after the race, and I had to go in the spirit of Rocktoberfest and it was for a good cause. There were tons of great brewers and the crowd was big, but not overwhelming. While I managed to stand for five of the six hours of Brewers Jam, I did not make it all the way around the circle of booths as the MB and his roommate did. I probably sampled seven different beers before my stomach said it could not hold any more food or beverage. The sad part was I never felt drunk aside from the twinge of a headache I had.

I found a fantastic pumpkin brew from the Carolina Beer Co. and my favorite cider, Ace Cider, was there (their non-apple ciders are out of this world ... even the MB, who normally refuses to drink cider will drink Ace).

The MB was much more ambitious than I and committed to a big birthday party AFTER the Brewers Jam. I don't know how he does it. I wanted to go, but instead found myself at home and falling asleep on the couch watching some football before going to bed early, early. I was trying to fight all symptoms of a hangover knowing I had to work today (and I was mostly successful, save the slight headache.)

My pedometer said 22,905 when I went to bed last night, which is close to 9 and a half miles of movement. I think I successfully combated all the calories I drank yesterday, which spells a Rocktober victory for me.

How is everyone else's Rocktober going?