Jumpin' At The Woodside

Happy Friday greetings and welcome to Autumn! While it's been in the 90s here all week, with the arrival of Fall, tonight's brew is The Bruery's Autumn Maple . "Brewed with 17 lbs. of yams per barrel (in other words, a lot of yams!), this autumn seasonal is a different take on the "pumpkin" beer style. Brewed with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla, molasses, and maple syrup, and fermented with our traditional Belgian yeast strain, this bold and spicy beer is perfect on a cold autumn evening." It tastes like an "autumny" dark Belgian ale and lives up to its description. Definitely an excellent brew for a "cool autumn evening." Last weekend I got to see The Black Crowes on their latest tour and what could be their last as they've decided to take an indefinite leave following the tour's completion at the end of the year. It was a great show and broken into two parts. They opened with an acoustic set ( photo above ) followed by ...

Happy Labor Day Weekend! After spending the last couple holidays out of town it's good to have a three-day weekend to catch up on things around The Woodside. The weather has been great this weekend - no humidity, highs in the mid-80s and overnight lows below 60. First time I had the windows open and the air conditioning off in months! I had my 9 mile run on Saturday and it went well. Not to say it was easy, but I felt like my conditioning has started to payoff. My previous longest run was 7 miles so this was a big step for me. I also marked another milestone yesterday, I now have over 800 total miles on the Nike+iPod! To celebrate, I enjoyed the Stone 14th Anniversary "Emperial" IPA last night. It was very good, full of "citrusy" hop goodness. I'm also "celebrating" a new desk chair at home. I was having some on and off again back and glute issues that I finally narrowed down to my desk chair here at The Woodside. Seemed like whenever I spent more...

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 ...