The Rocket City Marathon - 2016/12/10
With the election just in the rear view mirror, I admit I was a little apprehensive to visit Alabama. I've been to the south before and have had no issues so far. This election cycle seems to have changed the landscape of America for brown people (et al) like me. It turns out I really had nothing to worry about. The majority of my encounters were all positive, and the few crazies were no different than what I would see at home.
The Sights:
There isn't too much to see in Hunstville, but I did make it out to the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum. It's absolutely mindblowing to look at these dates again and see that the civil rights movement was really not that long ago.
The Marathon:
This training season has been really rough. I ran into a lot of issues (such as throwing out my back), but the worst of all was getting a nasty cough a month before the race. I tried to pick up my training a week after getting sick, but that just ended up making things much worse. I settled for 16 miles as my longest run, and I took several weeks off
At the start of the race, it was a very cold 23 degrees F. The temperature didn't budge until a couple hours into the race, and by the end it was a tolerable mid 40s. Even though the race was on the small side, the course had a fair amount of people, entertainment, and cheerleaders. I was able to get a glimpse of NASA and the botanical gardens. By far my favorite part were unofficial mimosa and beer stations.
Considering my training season was trash, I did pretty well! More importantly, I finished the damn thing. Looking forward, I hope I can get a solid training season, free of injuries, sickness, and anything else that could hold me back.
The Food and Beer:
Deep country fried goodness! If you love fried food (who doesn’t?), the south is THE place to visit. Deep frying sounds like it would be a sloppy oily mess, but it that's only if it's done wrong. So many places I've bee to give me fried food that’s just caked in batter, soggy, or swimming in oil. In the south, the food is generally fried to perfection, and tastes light despite being cooked in oil.
My first (and favorite) meal was the chicken tenders from the appropriately named Tenders. Chicken tenders may sound basic, but how many times have you seen a kids menu that has chicken tenders on it and you just want it so bad? Tenders truly NAILS the chicken tender. They were juicy, tender (duh), lightly breaded, seasoned beautifully, and came with a thousand island like sauce. It was so damn good I went back a second time!
On my short trip to Birmingham, I stopped by Saw’s BBQ and had the Chicken with white BBQ sauce and their stuffed tater. The white BBQ sauce was really odd, more like a mayo or ranch dressing. The stuffed tater was ginormous, about the size of both of my fists.
One of my last meals in AL was G's Country kitchen. It was true southern, soul, divy home cooking. On the menu it simpley says pork. Sam ordered it and the portion was TWO huge deep fried pork chops (I love the south)! I had the meatloaf with a side of fried green tomatoes and collard greens. We washed it all down with their sweet tea and grabbed a banana pudding to go.
Unfortunately, I didn't really get much of a chance to do any legit beering activities. The beers I did have with my dinner the night before the race were:
Yellowhammer Belgian White (local)
Straight to Ale Monkeynaut IPA (local)
Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
Terrapin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout
Overall:
Marathon 20 is in the books! I'm just 5 away from being halfway done. Although the trip was extremely short (as they usually are), it was a fun time. If I were to go back I would spend more time in Birmingham, as well as visit Montgomery and possible Mobile. If you've never been to the south, do yourself a favor and give it a chance. Up next is Louisville, KY. I will make it my mission to drink all the bourbons! Forget the energy drinks during the race, give me shots of bourbon! BOURBON!