oskar blues 4 miler:::: brevard, nc

oskar blues 4 miler

brevard, north carolina
sunday march 17, 2013

time:::: 37:38

i was so excited when i saw this race because brad LOVES oskar blues and we haven't been able to make it down to their brewery since it opened in december. i figured the promise of post race beer might just convince him to join me for the race [so far i had only been able to talk him into 5Ks]. i was right, he was in!

i didn't realize we'd have to miss church to go though. i ASSUMED that since the race was at the brewery that the start time would be later [you can't serve alcohol in NC until after noon on sundays], but i was wrong. whoops.

here was my original outfit [and our unmade bed]:

at the very last minute i changed into my usual capris... it was a little chilly outside... and while i've ran 4 miles in this skirt before, unfortunately my legs have changed shape a little since i haven't been lifting legs, so i was worried about chaffing]. we made it down to brevard and got checked it and picked up our packets. i loved the race shirts [and they're north face technical shirts!]

john tuttle, an olympic marathoner, started the race for us. the race was really fairly flat for a race here. there was one big hill, but it wasn't bad and there was a nice downhill following it.

during the first mile i felt horrible. when my watch beeped my first mile i figured out why... i was running way too fast for me!

don't get me wrong, i'm pumped that i'm even able to run that fast [i had no idea that was even possible for me!] but i wasn't running this race seriously, it was just something fun for us to do together [and by "together" i mean we both had a bib. i saw brad at the start line and then again at the finish. he's way to competitive to stick with me]. i had run 3 miles since the marathon, obviously i was not training!

i slowed down so my heart didn't explode and started to feel a lot better. there was a water stop around mile 2 then we finished the loop back to the brewery. i finished strong [even though i really wanted to walk at about 3.8 miles]. the race was run entirely on the roads, and while it wasn't terribly scenic, it was a really great, relatively flat course.

after the race we got some water and we decided to wait around for awards [we should definitely do this more often, especially for smaller races!]. they also had 'medals' for us which i though was super cute. they were unique!

fyi - brad did have on some green... one measly stripe on his shorts. he's a party pooper. and there were like 5 people with the same RNR savannah shirt on, random!

during the awards,  i won a door prize (25 bucks to a local outdoor store, black dome!) and brad found out that he missed 3rd place in his age group by 3 seconds! it sucked a little, but i think it actually encouraged him a lot. he's really competitive and i think he knows if had trained for more than 1 week for this race that he'd have easily placed. i hope it'll give him the bug to start running with me more!

after awards we went to get breakfast [i'll post on this later this week, i want to start posting more info on local eats] then came back to the brewery tasting room [the tasty weasel]. we enjoyed some fresh oskar blues brews.

such a great day and i cannot wait to do this race again next year. pisgah running organized the race and i thought they did a wonderful job! great course, well organized, and wonderful volunteers.