Cambridge 5k + Oktoberfest!

And yes that is one combined event…the epitome of “will run for beer”.

How is it October already?  really??  September flew by!  It’s kind of scary actually. 

This was another one of those weekends where I didn’t really have many hard plans, but there were a ton of different things I wanted to do!  Luckily the rain kind of dictated my weekend…that could be a good or bad thing. 

Brian was supposed to have a softball tournament in Cambridge and I also really wanted to stop by the Boston Local Food Festival. 

Softball was canceled = yay!  Brian is home earlier!
Food Festival…eh, it was kind of crappy out and I got a better food offer :)

Sorry but most of the time, my family’s parties are way better than any food festival out there.  My family will also use any excuse to have people over…case in point: my cousin was home for the first time since going off to college in August, so my aunt invited anyone over for lunch!

(Hmm I don’t remember any welcome home parties…;)

Meal of choice: homemade egg rolls!  And other homemade Chinese food! 

Best eggrolls ever!!  And dumplings

With a plum sauce for the eggrolls:

I really REALY have to make these sometime!  But may need help eating them ;)  I’ve never seen a “small batch” of egg rolls.

Another favorite…

Shanghai pork and noodles!  The noodles are kind of like lo mein, and usually there is sauce from the pork to put on the noodles but this time the pork soaked it all up.   Still amazing though. 

Another aunt made this delicious chicken salad.

I’m not sure exactly what it was made with but it was refreshing, there was lime to squirt on top as well as peanut sauce on the side!

Unpictured were the desserts:  rice crispy treats, apple crisp, and homemade pineapple upside-down cake! 

Needless to say I ate way too much salty foods and then dessert.  So worth it though. 

Onward to Sunday!

A couple months ago I saw a tweet or email about this Cambridge 5k + Oktoberfest!  Cambridge Brewing Co was the brewery collaborating with this 5k so I knew I’d have no problem getting Brian to sign up with me :)

We didn’t get around to picking up our race packets before today, so we went in early to do just that, and I was hoping we’d get there early enough to head over to the newer Flour bakery in Cambridge!

I really liked this race, by the way.  It was SOLD OUT, but still didn’t feel overly crowded :)

Race packets: Check!

Then

Success…

Ok so EARLIER at home I had 1/2 slice whole wheat bread with PB&J plus some hot water with lemon.  That was around 7:30am. 

We went to Flour at 9am (race starts at 10am)

For someone who hasn’t been running very consistently in a while I think I was getting a bit too lackadaisical about a 5k.  I mean it’s only a 5k.  I’m not worried...famous last words.

So we shared that delicious sticky bun AND a slice of quiche.  So good.  SOOO good.  It was totally worth it.

And so then we headed back and lined up.

(the finish line!)

And we were off!  It was a nice relatively flat course and it was just a really FUN run!  Lots of people dressed in German outfits, and most just trying to finish so they can have free beer!

Brian and I ran together.  I didn’t wear a watch or my Garmin, and had no intention of trying to get a good (for me) time. 

Per usual, I was hovering right at 10 min/mile, which is a nice easy-ish pace for me. 

Not gonna lie…in the last 10 min or so that breakfast wasn’t sitting so well, so I stopped to walk for about 30 seconds.  Much needed.  We were also so close to the end, so I just sucked it up and hoped for the best. 

Beer was the last thing I wanted when I finished, but as soon as I had some water, the beer was looking better and better.

CBC had 3 beers on tap for us runners, in a roped off area.  I went with the Great Pumpkin Ale.

I really liked this beer!!  Lucky for me this is the first beer the CBC has bottled to sell, and we have a bottle here at home. 

It was pretty much all-you-can-drink in our special runners area!  I figured we’d get 1 free beer and had to buy the rest!  NICE!

 

I had 2 of these pumpkin ales, which was plenty enough for me to be feeling it :)

An hour or so later, Brian and I decided to actually go to Cambridge Brewing Co for some lunch.

Brian checking out the beers on tap…

Beer #3 for me…

This time I had a Belgian style farmhouse ale brewed with pumpkin.  Not spiced at all (aside from peppercorns), and I couldn’t really taste pumpkin but it was a really good beer.

I had the tuna melt with a side of greens

Hit the spot!  I also loved the fennel that was in my salad AND my tuna melt!  I really need to incorporate more fennel in my life.  So good.

Brian had a burger and fries

I stole bites, of course.

All in all we both had an awesome time!  Saw some friends, drank some great beer, and had a nice little run :) 

It was also kind of nice doing a 21+ race!  Sorry high schoolers :)

Driving home (well Brian drove home), I realized we never got a picture of the two of us!

Fun stuff!  I’d definitely recommend this race!  

Hope you’re having a relaxing Sunday night!  I’m dying to get to bed.  As much as I love day-drinking, I hate the day-hangover that comes with it…headache city! 

Have you been or are you going to any Oktoberfest celebrations this fall??  Any other races + beer I should know about? ;)