I had a pretty good weekend, and frankly I couldn’t think of much to bitch and moan about today.
Then I remembered the annoying orange. This bastard is such a pain in the ass, but every other fruit gets the punishment. Pretty much, if you ever meet this particular orange, you will be having a case of the mondays from that point on (if you live through the experience).
Hey Apple!
He can even piss off Jigsaw!
Who doesn’t like a party with ~3,000 (what I heard) of their closest friends and (not supposed to be but totally worked out that way) unlimited samples of 100+ beers. For roughly 5 hours I and two of my cohorts perused the rows of taps in search of phenomenal beer.
These dudes work at Miller and use fancy words like "diacetyl" and "beer"
There were a lot of great highlights from the usual cast of craft brew characters. Founders had a great showing, with Double Trouble being the standout at the table. Not to be outhopped Bell’s brought along some Hopslam, but that lasted almost as long as it did when it was first tapped. Our good friends at Rogue decided to come fashionably late, but it proved worthwhile with their winter spirit:
The Madness was Epic
My favorite of the evening was Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch, which was so good I didn’t even bother to take a picture of the tap handle or me enjoying any of it. Cause that makes sense…..
I did, however, take advantage of a couple of great photo ops:
Chugfest
Any bottle of beer that big deserves a hug, even if it is inflatable
Even though most craft beer is domestic, I found a couple of imports
That actually hurt a lot more than I let on at the time
I’ve been to a number of beer tastings in a variety of venues. I have to say that for the most part, this was a great event. One gripe would be the pain-in-the-ass check in process. Allow me to add some constructive criticism: YOU NEED MORE THAN 2 PEOPLE GIVING OUT WRISTBANDS! This isn’t a door job at a martini club, it’s a BEERFEST. That means get us in and starting feeding us samples. Although the complete abandonment of the thirty sample punch card leveled the playing field, so I’ll take it.
While I’m talking negatives: the VIP food ran out, well, before I saw it, and I was there when the doors opened. If you can’t keep that table stocked until (at least) the end of the VIP session then don’t tease me with it on the flyer. The food for purchase wasn’t bad (pretzel and cheese, mini-burgers, etc) but just about anything looks gourmet after sampling so many different–and high alcohol content–beers.
But you don’t go for the food. That’s why Via Vite exists a few blocks away.
The conclusion: Cincy Winter Beerfest was worth every penny I didn’t-pay-because-Ryan-bought-my-ticket-on-the-condition-I-bought-the-pizza-after. You should probably go next year, unless you’re not into the whole fun thing.
Ok so I haven’t been totally honest about my race schedule. I’ve got that dailymile race widget on the right listing my next two events as The Flying Pig and the Bolder Boulder. That’s not really the case…
The plan was to run a 15k in Mason last November, and then back down to the 10k for Thanksgiving. Instead I hurt myself during the 15k (after really, overuse thing) and have been healing since. Easing back into it right now is a delicate balance of cardio and strength training. I’m barely starting to run any worthwhile distance. Consequently, there is no way I’m gonna be ready for the Pig. I think the half marathon would still be a stretch, and these next few weeks are going to be critical in establishing a base of miles to train off of.
There is a part of me that thinks I should take this summer and focus on shorter races. I have a lot of fun at 5k races–they’re short enough where you can really push yourself the whole time and feel absolutely exhausted after only 20-25 minutes (20 being my goal for this coming race season) but still recover fast and not be shell shocked by a long race.
So The Pig is out. But I’m gonna leave it up there in support of the many people who are running. One day I will make it happen.
As for the Bolder Boulder….my sister used to live in Boulder, CO–she ran it last year, and I was going to come out and run it with her this year. Well, she moved, so I’m not sure if I’m still going to fly out for a road race. If I were going to fly anywhere for a race, this would be the place and the event, and that’s the only reason it’s still under consideration. I could end up waiting until the third week in May, and if I feel up for it and the last minute airline deal stars have aligned I’ll pull the trigger.
But Boulder is most likely out. It’s a badass race, I’m leaving it up there.
I don’t know when I’m going to sign up for my first 5k of 2010. I hope I’m racing by April, but it’s only Feb 1 and I’m still only jogging 2 miles. I’m always guilty of coming back to fast from injury, but if I get healthy now I’ll have an entire summer of outdoor activity ahead of me. My goals are 5 5ks, 1 10k, and 1 sprint triathlon. Still, I would love to have The Pig on that list, and accepting the fact that it’s not gonna happen this season is giving me a case of the Monday’s.
I celebrated my birthday last Saturday with my first bike ride of 2010. It had been about two months since I had pedaled anything, exercise bike or real one. A friend of mine sent me the following text while I was at Tucker’s feasting on huevos:
ridn dwntwn if ur in.
When it’s 40 degrees and overcast on a January weekend in Ohio, it’s “nice weather”. I jumped at the chance to cruise downtown and northern Kentucky on my bike, half riding, half hopping around on various elevations of pavement. A few hours outside was just what I needed to follow a meal I gormandized (I like new words). What I didn’t consider however, was what I was going to do in regards to not taking the elevator while still getting my bike back into my apartment.
That thought struck me as I headed back home and rode the uphill along Eggleston Ave. I was really cranking, and just as I thought about how tired my legs were getting, I remembered I still had a hike ahead of me.
I’ve been known to run/walk briskly up steps with my bike. Last summer I would ride up Reading Rd from Central Pkwy and turn up towards Gilbert. I would run up the steps next to Channel 9 with my bike on my shoulders and hop back on at the top in Mt. Adams/Eden Park.
At the tail end of this ride however, I wasn’t feeling the need to drag my bike up 6 stories. Instead I put it in the elevator and ran up the steps. I actually made it upstairs right as the doors were closing–forget the fact that my chest was heaving as I searched for air. Frankly it was still better than lugging that thing up with me.
As I sat in my apartment catching my breath, I wondered whether or not that counted as cheating in my year without elevators quest. I came up with two reasons why it’s not.
1. I’m not out to rid my life of elevators (I’m still taking them down). I’m doing this whole thing for fitness (and to see if I can). The goal is to walk up every time I have to ascend to my apartment, so in that regard, mission accomplished.
2. As an extension of the previous thought, I’m not doing this to save energy/the environment. Yes, taking an elevator takes energy, and yes, I am saving the planet one trip at a time when I walk. However that is merely a side benefit, I’m doing this for ME. So I don’t feel one iota of guilt about using the elevator (and consequent energy) to get my bike up to the sixth floor. The guy who did the year without a car said that at times he would ride his bike to go purchase something large, and have a friend with a car actually transport the purchase. If that’s not cheating than I am definitely in the clear.
But I did get a nice taste of what the summer will be like when I ride 3-5 times a week.
A buddy of mine told me he had a video gem that he had been saving for youtube for a long time. It was embarrassing enough that it’s taken 10 years for him to actually post it. Thankfully he did so on my birthday, and it was one of the best inadvertent gifts I received.
Enjoy, ’cause puberty was a great time for all of us.
