Craft Beer And Running

[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/user-239162736/episode-006-craft-beer-and-running/” title=”Episode 006 | Craft Beer and Running” image=”http://b0c.2c5.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Liquid-Deception-Vanilla-Hazelnut-Porter-300×210.jpg” color=”#000000″ background=”#A53322″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” social_linkedin=”true” social_email=”true”]

Transcript

Hi, and welcome back to another episode of “Augustino Brewing Podcast.” I am Augustine Iacopelli, and we’re going to talk today about something that is near and dear to my heart. I love my craft beer, but I also love my running. Fortunately, there are a lot of opportunities for us as craft beer drinkers to both drink plenty of wonderful, full-bodied craft beer that is complex and wonderful, and also stay healthy.

One of the things that I know that my wife and I have discussed on a number of occasions is how much we love beer, and how much we don’t ever want our doctor to tell us that we cannot have beer, or that we have to dramatically cut down on our beer drinking, because that would, for us, be pretty close to the end of the world. Life would become less worth living at that point, if I can’t have my craft beer every day, or nearly every day.

We have to live a good, healthy lifestyle so that we can enjoy nerding out on our beer. Let’s talk about one of the thing that we do. We are pretty avid runners, and involved in the local running community here in Wichita, at Augustino Brewing. One thing that I’ve found as a runner who enjoys craft beer is that there is a lot of benefit to being a runner and a drinker.

First and most obvious is that if you are active, and you have that active lifestyle, and in our case we’re runners, it winds up helping offset some of our craft beer drinking by also running. For us, and kind of the calculation that I keep in the back of my mind, is that I get to have one extra craft beer for every about 2 ½ miles of running I do, because it’s about 2 ½ miles of jogging, give or take. Obviously, your weight comes into account and everything like that, but about 2 ½ miles or so burns off about one craft beer.

If I go out and I do a good run, it’s always nice to come back in and feel all of the good runners’ high side effects of putting in a good run, and then getting to enjoy either off my taps at home, or just pop open a wonderful craft beer, after a run. On top of that, diabetes is a big, big deal and a big problem in this country. Millions of Americans are diagnosed with it, and the problem with diabetes is, it’s also a pretty expensive disease. Not only is it bad for your health, but it’s bad for your wallet. Craft beer is an affordable luxury that becomes a lot less affordable when you have health problems. By running, you’re able to help avoid some of those health conditions that might afflict you otherwise.

One of the things that I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten into running is that there is a very similar camaraderie for craft beer, as there is for running. Any time I bring my Augustino beer with me to an event, I make a lot of friends immediately. It’s because it turns out that there are a lot of runners that are also wonderful craft beer fans. It makes going through the struggles that sometimes come with a race or a long training run more worth it, because at the end you have a nice cold beer waiting for you.

There are some considerations when drinking craft beer as an athlete, of course. One of the things that I do want to state, and this is a debate that I’ve had between myself and a number of other runners throughout the years is, I believe in my ability as a runner in spite of maybe not having the best-built body for running. I think it’s totally legit to have a nice craft beer the night before a race, because hey, let’s carb up a little bit, or at least use that as our excuse.

I’ve done it before almost every single race I’ve ever run, and it’s a wonderful way to settle down for the evening before a race. I personally highly recommend getting a great beer the night before you go out for a run. You also need to gauge your own body before making that decision.

Another thing that you need to consider when you’re drinking craft beer and you’re a runner is that you cannot expect to become a decent runner if you’re drinking craft beer and eating heavy foods like pizza and calzones and other really heavy dishes. Then, instead of having one higher-calorie item with another higher … You’re having two high-calorie items together. That’s why at Augustino Brewing, we’re going to certainly have some of those comfort foods on our menu, but we realize that it’s important to have a lot of healthier options available for individuals who are maybe a little more health-conscious about what they want to eat while they’re drinking.

The next thing is that you have to consider, and this is something that has burned me so many times throughout the years, when you slow down your running, when you go into a taper, you need to slow down also your drinking of craft beer, or your eating of calories. Maybe instead of getting a full meal at Augustino Brewing, you come on over and split an appetizer with somebody, and have a great craft beer there. That’s a great option.

The big thing is, you need to make sure that you keep everything in moderation. Whether it’s craft beer, whether it’s high-quality food, keep it in moderation. It also helps to substitute out some of your craft beer with a craft coffee, if you’re a coffee drinker. I find that alternating between drinking coffee and drinking espresso drinks satisfies me, but of course the espresso drinks, as long as you’re not putting too much sugar in, not putting too much cream in, you keep the calorie load considerably low on those type of beverages. It’s a good way to kind of balance some of those higher-end drinks in a way that you’re not going to tip the scale, so to speak.

Another thing that is really important in terms of getting into craft beer and a healthy running lifestyle is to find an area beer/running group. They are all over the place out there. All you need to do is go to Google and search Google for it. There are wonderful organizations that pair up with craft breweries and with other pubs, and they’ll meet at those locations, go for a short, fun run, usually a slow run, go at your own pace, and then you get back to the pub and enjoy some great craft beers.

One of the things that you want to do is just hit Google, search it out, and you’ll find a group. Here in the Wichita area, there’s a group called Joggers and Lagers, and they meet every Thursday, give or take. Sometimes they skip over, usually the fifth Thursdays they don’t have a run. They’re a great group of people, usually about 50 or so show up to each run, so there’s a lot of people, a lot of camaraderie, a lot of energy.

Augustino Brewing, as it turns out, is going to be a key sponsor of the group in 2016. Please check them out, and hopefully that’s a sponsorship that we’re able to make ongoing, because we value living a healthy, craft beer lifestyle. It’s really important to us as owners of Augustino Brewing, and we try to live that out in what we support.

Another thing that I would recommend in terms of improving your running, because believe it or not, the beer running groups aren’t always the best way to improve your running, is to join a non-beer drinking running group, and they’ll also point you in the direction of other fun runs that you can be involved with.

I wanted to thank you for listening, and if you have any questions, always feel free to reach out to us at Augustino Brewing. Have a great day.