The Hangover Run

Background

So if you go and read up on ultramarathon training, one of the techniques you'll come across is the so-called back-to-back run. The idea behind the back-to-back run is to run long on consecutive days. The first day's run tires you out so that on the second day you simulate the fatigue and depletion associated with the latter stages of an ultramarathon. In this spirit I have come up with an innovative new concept called the hangover run. The idea behind the hangover run is to drink on the first day and run long on the second day. This allows you to simulate on the second day the naseau and general feelings of crappiness associated with the latter stages of an ultramarathon.

A fortuitous convergence of events this weekend allowed me to test this method first-hand. The last article in which I read about back-to-backs mentioned something like a four hour run the first day and a two hour run the second. So in my test I substituted four hours of drinking beer for the first day's run.

Day One: SF Brewery Tour

My sister-in-law for some reason decided to organize a tour of Santa Fe breweries. Bless her heart. Of course I decided to participate in the name of exercise science (and not because, say, drinking beer on a Saturday afternoon is something I would otherwise enjoy). We started out at Santa Fe Brewing Company. After a sampler tray and a pint of OctoberFest we took a tour of the brewery, then sat back down for a second round.

Santa Fe Brewing Company tap room, where it all started

This is where things started to get a little fuzzy. We left SFBC and headed over to the Second Street Brewery - the original, not the bright/shiny version at the Railyard. After some food and a couple samplers there we made our way to Marble Brewing Company on the Santa Fe Plaza for what I believe was round five but I might be mistaken on that point. Eventually I got dropped off at home, where I promptly grabbed both kids and fell asleep on the couch. Despite 20 minutes of vigorous snoring and a solid dinner I had a good buzz going for the rest of the evening.

Day Two: The Run 

Sunday morning I awoke at about 4:30 am with the goal of getting myself out the door by 5:00 am for a two hour run. I picked as my route a large loop that would take me up Bishops Lodge Road, around Circle Drive, back across Bishops Lodge and Hyde Park via Gonzales and some back roads, and finally over to Cerro Gordo and the top of Canyon Rd. Then a slight detour to pick up the car I had left at the MIL's the previous day. Total of 13 miles and change and something like 1200 feet of climbing. My legs generally felt sluggish and depleted, but no naseau or stomach issues. I was actually able to push a good tempo back down the hill and made it down to my car in well under two hours.

Observations and Conclusions

The objective of this experiment was to try and replicate feeling awful during a long run.  In that regard I don't think my experiment was successful. I certainly didn't feel great during the run portion, but that could be attributed to several other possible causes, e.g. newborn-induced sleep deprivation, or the string of tempo runs I did earlier in the week. And I certainly wasn't hungover.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to repeat the experiment and try to control all the extraneous variables more carefully. *Darn*

Some highlights:

• SFBC Wild Ale #6. Fermented with yeast from apple trees. Almost like a cider.
• 2nd Street Irish Red. Very tasty.
• Marble Brewing Company Oatmeal Stout. Smooth and creamy.

Disappointments:

• SFBC Chicken Killer. At 10% this just wasn't drinkable for me.
• 2nd Street Sour Cherry. Tasted like Nyquil. I kid you not.
• Marble Brewing Company Blue Corn Brown. Blah.

Gallery

Below are the remaining pictures from Day One. They are much more interesting than anything Day Two could offer.

Santa Fe Brewing Company sampler tray
Front, L to R: Happy Camper IPA, Nut Brown, Pen Porter, Chicken Killer
Middle: Java Stout (off the tray), Hefeweizen, Dirty Blond, Pale Ale
Rear: OctoberFest (can), Wild #6, OctoberFest

The aftermath

Where it's made

Finished product (Java Stout)

Now that's my kind of cold storage locker

Second Street Brewery sampler tray. Cream Stout in the middle. I think the
Irish Red is at 12:00 and the Sour Cherry at 3:00. Don't remember
anything else.

Marble Brewing Company sampler
L to R: Oatmeal Stout, Blue Corn Brown, ... ??