Jumpin' At The Woodside

Evening and Happy Friday! Tonight I'm listening to JJ Grey & Mofro's latest album "Georgia Warhorse" which was released this week, and enjoying a Smuttynose Imperial IPA - Big A IPA . Actually, I've been listening to a cut from JJ's new album and then a few tracks shuffling from The Woodside playlist, and then going back to the next JJ Grey track. After JJ's moving "King Hummingbird" the shuffle brought up two Ben Folds' classics ("One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" and "Battle of Who Could Care Less") followed by the theme from The Magnificent Seven and then Michael Franti & Spearhead with "High Low." I'm almost done with my 3rd week of marathon training. I ran three times this week for a total of 10 miles, and next up is a 5 mile run tomorrow. This is a "down" week, and then next week it's back "up" with a 9 mile run next Saturday. This week I decided to try a new running...

Yesterday while searching online for upcoming events at McAlpine Creek Park that could possibly inhibit my runs there, I stumbled across a few sites with ghost stories about the park and other North Carolina locales. The stories claim that the skeletons of a man and a woman were found near an Old Mill House. People have reported seeing the young couple or sometimes the woman alone, only to see them vanish upon approach. I've never seen the Old Mill House on countless runs in the park, nor ghosts for that matter. Although after more searching online I found that the Old Mill House is allegedly located where the park extends on the other side of the highway. There are reasons for not venturing to that area of the park that have nothing to do with ghosts! Every city and town have their bad neighborhoods, and let's just say that the zip code in question has a bad reputation. Ready or not ghosts, I'll be back among you this week with a 3 mile run on Tuesday, a 4 mile run on We...

Good evening, happy Saturday! I closed out my 2nd week of marathon training with a 7 mile run today! I decided to fore go running it entirely in the park. I left from the house and ran down to the park instead of driving down. I completed a couple miles there then made a long loop back to the house. The neighborhood I ran through was nice and had very little traffic, but of course had to be mostly hills coming back. The final mile had a nasty couple of hills right up to my finish. My iPod locked up about 5 miles into the run. In the past it's done this when I miss hit a button. This time it just stopped working. I managed to reset it while still running, but my run data up to that point was lost. Time for a new iPod I think! Part of me wanted to toss the iPod into the woods, while the other part was happy for the distraction. I think it actually helped me rally toward the finish. My reward for closing out my 2nd week of marathon training was Great Divide's - 16th Anniversary W...

I got my 6 mile run in yesterday. It wasn't easy, but I got it done. Now I just have some cross training today -- rowing on the Bowflex and some yard work -- to close out the week. Monday is another rest day and then 3 miles each day Tuesday - Thursday. Friday rest and then 7 miles on Saturday. With the longer runs, I had to extend the run playlist on my iPod. Here's a new addition to the playlist, and yes that's Dave Matthews leaving the stage before the The Stones go into " Saint of Me ." - Salud!

Happy Friday the 13th! What better way to celebrate this so-called "unlucky" day than with a Lagunitas - Lucky 13 . It's rich, malty and hoppy all at once, similar to a Rogue 2X Dead Guy . The Lucky 13 has slightly more malty flavor, but still very good. I managed to stay with my marathon training so far. Granted I'm only in the first week, but it's a long process and I'll take small wins where I can get them. Tuesday through Thursday I ran 3 miles each day. Today is a rest day and then tomorrow is a 6 mile run followed by cross training on Sunday. I've been having some tightness the last couple months in my right glute even before I started Hal Higdon's training schedule . I think it's due to my changed seated posture at work, and I made an effort this week to sit upright and not lean back in my chair. That and some stretching has made a big difference. Actually my run on Wednesday night was so painful that I didn't think I was going to make ...

I haven't made a commitment yet, but I'm going to start training this week for running the Las Vegas Marathon or Half Marathon on December 5. I'll see how my training progresses, and then determine if I'm going to commit to the race and at what distance. I'll be following Hal Higdon's Marathon Training Schedule . I'm actually a week behind, but I'll either make up a week later, or only do the half marathon, or who knows? I'll be the first to know if my body is up to the test as I go through the schedule. To get a head start, I ran three miles today and will do some cross training tomorrow - probably some rowing on the Bowflex. Then Tuesday - Thursday I'll run three miles each day, rest on Friday, and then run six miles on Saturday. Each week progressively adds more miles to the schedule. If anything, at least I'll be on a more regular running schedule and will help increase my distance. - Salud!

Good evening and Happy Friday! Some storms brewing out there even after we had buckets of rain last night, but so far they're staying to the south and only getting some rumbles of thunder now and again. I'll get back to my backlog of blog posts hopefully this weekend, but in the meantime I wanted to get my regular Friday post in. What day is this? Tonight's brew is a brand spanking new fall seasonal from Sierra Nevada. The Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale , as you might have guessed named for the falling leaves, was out early and I couldn't resist. A little more malty than I usually like, but it has that great autumn/Octoberfest flavor you've come to expect from these seasonal offerings. Team Building Last night was a "Team Building" event with the guys from work. We had dinner at The Liberty in the bar where Josh Daniels, from the New Familiars , was playing an acoustic set of cool covers from the likes of Tom Petty, Van Morrison and John Mayer. The Liberty has ...

My 26th Dave Matthews Band show was here in the Carolinas on a very hot and humid Wednesday evening in July. Jimmy Joe Pete and I left work early to do some tailgating before the show. It was hot out there! But, not too hot for kickin' back with a couple Lagunitas IPAs . We probably should have brought some portable shade in the form of a canopy or umbrella, but we stuck it out. At least my beer was cold in its Philadelphia Phillies beer cozy I picked up on my road trip to Pa. earlier in the month. Once inside the venue, we happened upon a few good people watching occurrences. This girl ( below ) was killing a chin-up competition as a balloon drifted away from its owner. This couple ( below )... well I really don't know what to say about them except to note that the kilted dude had a second Miller Lite hanging around his neck. I guess that's how they do it in Scotland. I was a little discouraged about our seats. They were in the center, but farther back than what I've c...