\u201cSo\u2026 how many beers was this run worth?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
That simple question is how the #BeerCounter was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
From Numbers to Motivation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-1024x475.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nStrava is great at telling us how many calories we\u2019ve burned. Useful? Sure. Motivating? Meh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calories are abstract. Beer, on the other hand, is refreshingly concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of staring at calorie numbers, I started translating my activities into something far more relatable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- A short easy run \u2192 maybe one beer<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- A solid trail session \u2192 two or three beers<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Long run with lots of vertical \u2192 officially a five\u2011beer workout<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, the effort felt more tangible \u2014 and a lot more fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Strava Integration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The idea was simple: take data that Strava already provides and turn it into something different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using the Strava API, every activity can be analyzed after upload:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Distance<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Elevation gain<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Duration<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Effort (or estimated calories)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
From that, the BeerCounter calculates how many beers that effort \u201cearned\u201d. The result shows up directly with the activity, tagged with #BeerCounter, so it\u2019s easy to spot later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No claims of scientific accuracy here \u2014 this is not nutrition advice. It\u2019s motivation, with a wink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nYes, This Runs on a Raspberry Pi Under My Desk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For anyone wondering how overly serious this project is: the entire #BeerCounter runs on a humble Raspberry Pi that\u2019s sitting under my desk. No cloud infrastructure, no Kubernetes cluster, no high availability setup \u2014 just a small board quietly humming away between cables, dust, and the occasional kicked power strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It fetches activities, does the math, and publishes the results while I\u2019m out running or, more likely, thinking about running. Slightly absurd? Absolutely. But somehow very fitting for a project whose main job is converting effort into beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhy Beer (and Not Pizza)?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Because beer is universal in the endurance\u2011sports world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Post\u2011run beers at races. Post\u2011ride beers at huts. Post\u2011anything beers with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beer here isn\u2019t about excess \u2014 it\u2019s about reward. It marks the end of the effort, the moment you sit down, take your shoes off, and say: \u201cYeah, that was worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And honestly: thinking \u201cthis climb equals another beer\u201d has pushed me up more than one hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTrail Running, Numbers, and Keeping It Fun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Trail running already gives us enough metrics to obsess over: pace vs. elevation, vertical per kilometer, weekly mileage, training load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The #BeerCounter is my small reminder to not take all of this too seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Run first. Enjoy later. Count beers if you must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you see #BeerCounter pop up on one of my Strava activities, now you know what it\u2019s about. And if you\u2019re wondering whether your last run was a three\u2011beer or a five\u2011beer effort\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well \u2014 you probably already know the answer. \ud83c\udf7b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSee you on the trails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Running, for me, has always been about balance. Time outside, some suffering uphill, nice views\u2026 and yes, enjoying life after the run as well. Somewhere between long climbs and sore legs, the question inevitably comes up: \u201cSo\u2026 how many beers… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow-4DgCw:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,9,12,11],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-beer","tag-beercounter","tag-motivation","tag-running"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nStrava is great at telling us how many calories we\u2019ve burned. Useful? Sure. Motivating? Meh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Calories are abstract. Beer, on the other hand, is refreshingly concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of staring at calorie numbers, I started translating my activities into something far more relatable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- A short easy run \u2192 maybe one beer<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- A solid trail session \u2192 two or three beers<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Long run with lots of vertical \u2192 officially a five\u2011beer workout<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Suddenly, the effort felt more tangible \u2014 and a lot more fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Strava Integration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The idea was simple: take data that Strava already provides and turn it into something different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using the Strava API, every activity can be analyzed after upload:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Distance<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Elevation gain<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Duration<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Effort (or estimated calories)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
From that, the BeerCounter calculates how many beers that effort \u201cearned\u201d. The result shows up directly with the activity, tagged with #BeerCounter, so it\u2019s easy to spot later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No claims of scientific accuracy here \u2014 this is not nutrition advice. It\u2019s motivation, with a wink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nYes, This Runs on a Raspberry Pi Under My Desk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For anyone wondering how overly serious this project is: the entire #BeerCounter runs on a humble Raspberry Pi that\u2019s sitting under my desk. No cloud infrastructure, no Kubernetes cluster, no high availability setup \u2014 just a small board quietly humming away between cables, dust, and the occasional kicked power strip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It fetches activities, does the math, and publishes the results while I\u2019m out running or, more likely, thinking about running. Slightly absurd? Absolutely. But somehow very fitting for a project whose main job is converting effort into beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhy Beer (and Not Pizza)?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Because beer is universal in the endurance\u2011sports world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Post\u2011run beers at races. Post\u2011ride beers at huts. Post\u2011anything beers with friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beer here isn\u2019t about excess \u2014 it\u2019s about reward. It marks the end of the effort, the moment you sit down, take your shoes off, and say: \u201cYeah, that was worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And honestly: thinking \u201cthis climb equals another beer\u201d has pushed me up more than one hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nTrail Running, Numbers, and Keeping It Fun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Trail running already gives us enough metrics to obsess over: pace vs. elevation, vertical per kilometer, weekly mileage, training load.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The #BeerCounter is my small reminder to not take all of this too seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Run first. Enjoy later. Count beers if you must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you see #BeerCounter pop up on one of my Strava activities, now you know what it\u2019s about. And if you\u2019re wondering whether your last run was a three\u2011beer or a five\u2011beer effort\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well \u2014 you probably already know the answer. \ud83c\udf7b<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSee you on the trails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Running, for me, has always been about balance. Time outside, some suffering uphill, nice views\u2026 and yes, enjoying life after the run as well. Somewhere between long climbs and sore legs, the question inevitably comes up: \u201cSo\u2026 how many beers… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow-4DgCw:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,9,12,11],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-beer","tag-beercounter","tag-motivation","tag-running"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trailrunning.madmap.at\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}