Monday, March 29, 2010

Pales in Comparison

One might think that the title of this post refers to a second comparison of pale ales; one would be correct, but that's only part of the story: I played basketball with my oldest friend (er, friend I've had the longest), Donnie, this afternoon at the Mason YMCA. We've always considered ourselves better than average ball players, at least for a couple of non-jumping white dudes; our playing today, while not anything anyone else would want to watch (including my wife, who watched for a few seconds before turning her attention elsewhere), reminded me how much fun it is to play on the same team as someone who knows your tendencies and vice versa...we make a pretty good team.

Relevance to me: Donnie has stories he could tell about me that...well, I'll stick to basketball.

Relevance to beer: I think we may have had a beer together at some point. Maybe two.

Relevance to running: We've played hundreds of hours of basketball together and used to ride bicycles fairly often, but we've probably run together only a handful of times.

Running log for today: After a rest day yesterday, and after playing basketball in the early afternoon, I ran 2.8 miles to the Nuber Y, worked out there, and then ran the 2.8 miles back home for a total of 5.6 miles

Beer log for today: None today, but two pale ales yesterday: (1) Harpoon IPA and (2) Flying Dog Doggy Style Pale Ale. Both were "nice," but neither provided the punch in the mouth that Sierra Nevada gives or the subtle heaviness that White Hawk delivers (per my 3/25/10 entry).

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Jefe

I'm stretching things to try to tie my favorite Three Amigos character to my day, but here goes:

Jefe means "boss" in Spanish, though until just a couple of years ago, I assumed Jefe was the character's given name.

Conversely, my last name, Twombly, is derived from an older (Middle?) English noun meaning "valley between two hills" (or else "house between two hills"...we narrowed it down to the "between two hills" bit); a good friend of mine, however, thinks Twombly is actually adjectival and defines it as "that state one enters after maybe two beers...not drunk, but 'just a little Twombly.'"

By his definition, I'm currently "just a little Twombly" as I type this, because of the two hefeweizens I had this evening.

Relevance to me: I am my name.

Relevance to beer: Beer makes me more myself, apparently.

Relevance to running: Friends don't let friends run Twombly.

Running log for today: (1) In His Steps 5k this morning - 20:21. REALLY good time for me...though it may not "count" since the course officials directed some of us counter-clockwise rather than clockwise around the main loop of the race; the distance was the same either way, but, technically, we ran the course backward (see note about not running while Twombly). First run in new shoes (Mizuno Wave Ronin 2's - like running barefoot, except with better traction). (2) 5 miles on the paved Wolf River trail; it was really windy out, but sunny and warm. Very nice!

Beer log for today: Again two hefeweizens: (1) Yazoo Hefeweizen, which was light and fruity and had an almost champagne-like effervescence. I tend to prefer slightly weightier hefes, but the Yazoo was quite refreshing - probably a good session choice. (2) Sierra Nevada Kellerweis, which was a bit heftier and cloudier (more my style for this type of ale).

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Within the Pale

I picked up a growler of Ghost River Glacial Pale Ale for a buddy's birthday. I hope he enjoys it--Happy Birthday and Many Years, Jim!

Relevance to me: (1) I bought it. (2) If I could do it all over, I'd probably like to get a job working at the Boscos/Ghost River brewery. (For an extraordinarily articulate write-up of the brewery tours that Ghost River offers, go here.)

Relevance to beer: Yup.

Relevance to running: (1) At last Saturday's Grand Opening event, Breakaway Running (now on Germantown Parkway at the Wolf River) served Ghost River Glacial Pale Ale. (2) The other Breakaway location (Union Ave. in Midtown) offers free Ghost River beer to everyone participating in their Thursday evening group run.

I love the Breakaway folks.

Running log for today: "Speed" training at the Y during my lunch hour...0.5 mile warmup then 3.1 miles at just under 7:00 minutes/mile. I showered, but I was still a hot (and sweaty) mess when I returned to the office.

Beer log for today: An evening for pale ales: (1) Sierra Nevada (very tasty with fish--happy Feast Day!) and then (2) White Hawk IPA. I picked up a bottle of the latter from the "beer cage" at Southwestern Distributors off Appling in Bartlett...$1 per bottle for anything that happens to be in stock. The beer itself? Nice bite--and stronger than it tastes...I might even prefer it to Sierra Nevada, but it's hard to say (despite sharing a style, these two pale ales differ fairly strongly from each other). Regardless, a full six-pack may be in order soon.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

WTF

"Wilco Tango Foxtrot" beer, that is.

Relevance to me: (1) It's a limited-release ale from the Lagunitas brewery in Petaluma, Calif, which happens to be just north of SF/Oakland, which we'll be visiting (God willing) this summer for my wife's sister's wedding. (2) I love the band Wilco. While I realize that Tango and Foxtrot were part of the NATO phonetic alphabet well before the genesis of Wilco (the band), I'm pretty sure that the inclusion of Wilco rather than the standard Whiskey (as well as the Foxtrot) represents a not-so-oblique nod to the band. (Duh.) (3) I have, more than once, listened to Wilco while drinking beer. Just for the record.

I have put in a request with Mandy (my sister-in-law) to pick one of these up for me before our arrival in June.

Relevance to beer: Need I say it goes without saying?

Relevance to running: (1) After kicking his addiction to painkillers, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy got in shape by running 4 or 5 miles several times per week. (2) Wilco's "Heavy Metal Drummer" is a great "pick-me-up" headphone song during races.

Running log for today: About 7 miles through the neighborhood before work this morning...some residual soreness from my Monday long run, but nothing worrisome.

Beer log for today: None (fasting day)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

I'm Not/I Am

I'm not

* any sort of expert on beer
* a fast runner

But I am

* enjoying expanding my beer palate one pint at a time--and sharing those learning experiences with good friends new and old
* trying to find a balance between becoming a better (read: more effient, more safety conscious, more durable, and maybe even faster) runner and not letting said improvement dominate my time--also sharing those learning experiences with good friends new and old

With this blog, I aim to document the I Am's listed above. But I'm not committed to doing so on any regular schedule.

Cheers!