Category Archives: Monthly Running Stats

Greetings from the…

Posted on May 3, 2012 by shelby| 6 Comments

…land of no internets.

Since I’m still trying to figure out the best internet solution for the new house, I’ll be coming to you live from the Starbucks down the road for the time being. I think it’ll work out well, because I haven’t unearthed the coffee maker yet anyway.

Thanks so much for all of your congrats on our anniversary! It was a great little getaway. We stayed at the H2 Hotel in Healdsburg – the newer, more eco-focused sibling of the venerable Healdsburg Hotel down the street – and I can’t say enough good things about it. (And they’re not even paying me, imagine that!) A few of the highlights:

  • Free bikes for guest use. I had actually looked in to booking one of those wine tours/limo thingies because I knew we wanted to visit several wineries and not have to deal with driving – I’m so glad I didn’t! Doing our own thing on bikes was much more fun (and FREE).
  • Most ridiculously comfortable bed ever. My husband stayed at the Healdsburg Hotel several years ago on a business trip and always talked about how it was the most comfortable bed he’d ever encountered. I don’t know if H2 uses the same beds, but it certainly didn’t disappoint.
  • FREE COLD WATER. I’m sure this was part of their eco schtick, but instead of having bottles of water in the mini fridge, there was a glass jug filled with chilled water and a note that invited us to refill at our convenience from the ice-cold filtered tap in the hallway. I am sure I annoyed my husband by remarking several times a day that this was the BEST THING EVER. Seriously: why can’t every hotel do this?  I always get dehydrated when I travel because I’m too cheap to pay for the $6 bottle of Aquafina and I hate drinking lukewarm tap water from a skeevy coffee mug.
  • Amazing free breakfast. I wanted to fill my suitcase with Rosemary-Pine Nut Scones.
  • Location and price. Froufy little wine country towns like Healdsburg aren’t cheap, obviously, but compared to the other “upscale” options in the area, it was quite reasonable.

Anyway. Enough about that. On to the running…or lack thereof. This was last week:

And the month of April:

That’s officially my lowest monthly mileage number in two years. Even last June/July/August, as I was cursing my way through my first Southern summer, I managed 120+. Ouch.

But oh well. I think that’s just how it’s gonna be for the next few months. I don’t want to curse my way though this summer; I want to hit the fall feeling refreshed and strong and ready to tackle high mileage. In order to get there, I need to get my strength up and body fat down and that means working hard at other things for a little while.

Speaking of which…next week, Gesina and I are starting this monthlong bootcamp that she found on Livingsocial. Should be a good time for my glutes and pecs, which haven’t seen a squat or a pushup in months.

Well, my coffee cup is empty; time to get on with my day. Thanks for bearing with me and my sporadic posting during all of this transition and travel!

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Posted in General Running Chatter, Monthly Running Stats, Travel, Weekly Running Recap

All quiet

Posted on April 2, 2012 by shelby| 17 Comments

I love writing, but sometimes I feel like I have a limited supply of words to lay down. And unfortunately, I’ve had precious few of them left over for blogging over the last couple of weeks.

I’ve been working really hard on this other writing project. Okay…that’s an exaggeration. I’ve been intending to work really hard on this other writing project while being constantly distracted by Draw Something (user name: shelbyvanpelt – and no, I’m not very good at in spite of my love for MSPAINT, but it’s highly entertaining nonetheless.)

In any case, you haven’t missed much. For instance, I calculated my March mileage and it was ho-hum.

Starting the month off with a foot tweak and a bad bout of flu, I knew I wasn’t going to hit the 200+ mark, but still…I didn’t really bounce back from that like I should have.

This past week involved a lot of easy running. No speed work, and not even a real long run.

To be completely honest, I feel like I’ve already moved on from this marathon, and I’ve been spending way too much time thinking about all of the things that I want to do post marathon. Other fitness-y things that aren’t running. Because I love running, but I feel like I have a limited number of miles to give, and I’ve been coming up short all spring.

Gah. I’m just all out of sorts lately!

You know what will help with that…

Red Brick is one of the local craft breweries here, and I recently picked up a pack of their HopLanta IPA. Hoppier than a bullfrog with a stubbed toe, the label claims. Cute.

So I wasn’t blown away by this beer, but it wasn’t bad either. I’d call it medium hoppy, with a good dose of breadiness and not so much bitterness. Easy drinking and enjoyable. I expect it tastes better when served fresh from the tap on a warm patio on a summer afternoon…as opposed to out of a bottle from my fridge. 6.7% ABV.

Bottom line: Standard IPA that performs well at the local/regional level. (Purchased at Your DeKalb Farmer’s Market, $8/6)

So I want to get back to writing here daily or at least several times  a week, because I miss having that daily ritual…what should I write about? Are there any controversial topics in the running and/or booze world about which you’re dying to hear my uninformed opinion? No? How about random questions for a FAQ/NAQ? Fire away, friends.

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Posted in Beer Reviews, Monthly Running Stats, Weekly Running Recap, Writing Life

(Swim) Suit Up!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by shelby| 27 Comments

So my foot still hurts, but I’ve decided I’m not going to get mopey about it. As many of you said in yesterday’s comments, it could be something as dumb as user error on the shoelace front.

(Although, to those of you who have experienced bizarro foot pain on account of shoes being tied too tight: did the pain continue after you took your shoes off? My foot seems to be crankiest when I’m walking barefoot on a hard surface. So obviously, I’m avoiding doing that.)

Anyway. NO MOPEY FACE! Whether this hiatus ends up being a couple of days or a couple of months, I’m not going to sit around and watch my fitness level tank. Yesterday. I lifted weights for almost an hour (!). And today, I sucked it up and paid for a day pass at the YMCA so I could use the pool to get my heart rate going a little.

However, before I could do that I had to – as Barney Stinson would say – SUIT UP.

The last time I was in a pool that didn’t have a swim-up bar was probably 4 or 5 years ago. But I knew I had a two-piece speedo lap suit, cap and goggles somewhere, so last night I tore the apartment apart (always an awesome thing to do when you’re in the process of moving) until I found them.

Cap and goggles? Still fit fine. But that suit? Not so much. Apparently I have, ahem, expanded in the lower region. My ass in the bottom half of that swimsuit called to mind marshmallows and rubber bands. Together.

It was kind of mortifying, and made me further realize something I already kind of knew: that even though I’ve been logging a ton of miles and running great workouts lately, my overall fitness and body fat/composition could use some work. But that’s a topic for another day.

One trip to the sporting-goods store later, I’d procured an ugly lap suit from the clearance rack that fits much better.

My ass is totally a Monet.

And then this morning, I swam.

You know what? It wasn’t actually that bad. After a few awkward laps, I fell into a rhythm and although I’m sure I’m a slow swimmer with terrible form, it was a decent workout. Since swimming is pretty damn monotonous, I broke it up in to sections with a few “recovery” breaststroke laps thrown in:

  • 6 lengths easy breast
  • 10 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 20 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 20 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 10 lengths crawl
  • 2 lengths breast
  • 6 lengths hard crawl
  • 6 lengths easy breast

The whole thing took about 55 minutes. Afterward, I asked the lifeguard how many lengths are in a mile and he said 66 so I guess with 86 lengths I swam about 1.3 miles? Swimming/tri people, does that seem correct?

Other observations from the pool:

  • I cannot swim straight. I’m either right on top of the big black line or brushing my elbows against the plastic lane divider thingy. (Why are swimming lanes so narrow? Someone should pull a Kramer on that shit.)
  • And hence: I am so glad I had a lane to myself today. I am only going to go to the pool during really weird off-peak times.
  • Because: I’m terrified at the prospect of having to share a lane with an actual swimmer. Seriously, every time I  approached the end of the pool I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn’t see a pair of legs hanging there, about to disrupt my crooked flailing.
  • And sharing with multiple swimmers? The circle thing? Absolutely terrifying.
  • For some reason, I can only breathe on my left side. It’s like my head won’t turn all the way to the right or something. (I’m not an ambi-turner!)
  • And since I can’t quite go two full strokes without coming up for air, so I end up breathing on every stroke, which, I believe, adds to the whole package: flailing, wandering around the lane, gasping for air. I’m sure I look awesome in the pool.
  • People can say what they will about running being intimidating. At least there aren’t LIFEGUARDS watching you make an ass of yourself on the track.

It’s a good thing I got a properly fitting swimsuit.

And finally, February stats:

It was a pretty good month. Well, aside from this foot thing.

(Which I’m still really hoping is a temporary thing.)

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Posted in General Running Chatter, Monthly Running Stats, Workout Recaps

5K short

Posted on February 1, 2012 by shelby| 8 Comments

Last night, I got home work and entered my run from earlier that day into my log. The page reloaded, updating to add the miles to January’s total, and it came up with this:

I groaned. So close. I was briefly tempted to head down to the treadmill and bang out 3.1 miles to make it an even 200.

But then I was even more tempted by the beer I’d bought on my way home. Because really…it’s just a number. It’s not like 200 monthly miles is any sort of real milestone for me. I was 200+ all through the fall last year. It just sucks to be so close.

In spite of the missing 5K, though, January was a decent month. I’m feeling good and looking forward to cranking it up a bit more in February, starting with the mile repeats I’m going to do this morning just as soon as my bagel digests.

(As a side note: so far, I’m really liking RunningAHEAD! Thanks to everyone who recommended it. Look at this pretty chart:

It color codes my workouts for me! I would never have the energy to make something like this on my own, but it’s kind of fun to have.)

Anyway. About that beer…

My fridge is packed with stouts, porters, and barleywine-style bottles right now, but all I wanted last night was something fresh and hoppy, served ice cold. So I picked up a six-pack of limited-release Saranac White IPA.

As suspected, this beer is a IPA-wheat hybrid, brewed with Citra hops and wheat malt. It poured a little cloudy with a big fluffy head.  Lots of orange and spices, with some mellow hops in the background. More wheat beer than IPA, really – but it hit the spot nonetheless. 6% ABV.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for something a little summery in the dead of winter, this is your beer. (Purchased at Peace Street Market, $9/six)

About those mile repeats. I must get going before the coffee pot lures me in for another refill. Happy Wednesday!

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Posted in Beer Reviews, Monthly Running Stats

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2,011 in 2011: the failure

Posted on December 31, 2011 by shelby| 13 Comments

The best thing about setting meaningless and arbitrary goals is that when you don’t meet them…nothing bad happens. Hooray!

I suppose there’s the possibility that I’ll drink enough champagne with dinner that I go streaking through the streets in the hours before the clock strikes, thereby logging another 6.7 miles. But given that we’re staying in and laying low tonight, I’d say it seems unlikely.

But hey – I cracked 2K for the year! Not bad, eh? I don’t really know how many miles I ran in 2010, but I’m quite certain that I ran more in 2011. So I’ve got that going for me.

Here’s a quick look at the other meaningless and arbitrary goals – as outlined in this post from last December – that I (mostly) failed to accomplish this year:

1) Learn to bake bread: PARTIAL SUCCESS

I owe any progress on this one entirely to Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day. And I still whip up a batch every so often. But I never really progressed beyond the basic Round Peasant Loaf. Oh well. The Round Peasant Loaf is still pretty delicious.

2) Learn to drink Scotch: FAILURE

Did I ever show you the photo of the time that I tried?

That’s the same face I was making during my flight out to Seattle last week, when the guy next to me kept ripping these terrible farts – and then, to my horror, apologizing. Every time! Awkward! Because what are you supposed to say to that? Just pretend it wasn’t your fart and look around with a disgusted look on your face like the rest of us, dude.

Anyway, Scotch. Yeah, still not my bag. But I’m sure I’ll keep trying.

3) Learn to spell: SUCCESS?

This was a stupid goal to begin with because obviously I already know how to spell. I’m just lazy. Like, I noticed that I misspelled JUBELALE in my last post but am I going to go back and fix it? Probably not. (Also, I’m not sure it counts as a misspelling if it’s not a real word.)

So really the goal should have been LEARN NOT TO BE LAZY. But then I wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Overall, though, I’m giving this one a green light if for no other reason that I believe Words With Friends has improved my grasp of the English language. Or just allowed me to learn a bunch of random words that I didn’t realize were actually words. Whatever! I know how to spell them!

4) Learn to fix a (bike) flat: FAILURE

Utter failure. Except to pull it away from the wall it to remove the cobwebs collecting around it, I haven’t touched my bike all year. Pretty sure both of the tires are flat now, too. Doh.

5) Learn to jump turn: MOSTLY A FAILURE

I did end up getting out west to ski last spring. Each year, I think I probably do a little better with my form. But I’m still mostly a disaster when it comes to even the smallest moguls. It’s hard to have skiing goals when you live in the southeast. #southernerproblems

6) Learn to carve a bird: FAILURE

For Thanksgiving this year, I literally just tore the meat off of the turkey and plopped it on a serving platter, as it was just the two of us so who cares about having pretty slices? And personal hygiene?

Still…I’d love to take one of those knife skills classes or whatever. Maybe next year.

7) Learn to taste wine: SUCCESS

I drank a lot of wine this year. And I went to a Wine Bloggers Conference. Learning FTW! Still definitely not an expert, but I’m starting to feel like I can talk reasonably intelligently on the subject.

8) Learn about beer: SUCCESS

Again…definitely still a novice, but I have learned so much this year. I’m counting it as a success.

9) Learn to apply mascara: SUCCESS

This one was easy. As soon as I started buying the good shit from Sephora instead of the crappy shit from Target, I stopped looking like I had fleas all over my face. I can handle spending 20 bucks on mascara a couple of times a year.

It’s true: money really can buy happiness.

10) Learn how to poach an egg: FAILURE

I don’t think I’ve even attempted this since I wrote that goal.

11) Learn to do a headstand: TOTAL FAILURE

I don’t think I’ve even attended a yoga class since I wrote that goal.

So, to summarize: My successes this year stemmed from drinking, shopping, and dicking around on my iPhone. Sounds about right.

In all seriousness, though, 2011 was a pretty good year. I trained pretty hard in the spring and ran a pretty decent half marathon. Then I trained pretty hard in the fall and ran a legit marathon PR (and a BQ to boot).  The latter ranks pretty highly among my favorite running experiences ever. So far, anyway.

So, really: who cares if I fell 6+ miles short of my yearly mileage goal? Or that I avoided my yoga mat and my bike like they were covered in cooties? Or that I can’t drink whiskey without making a ridiculous fart face? I’m taking some pretty good memories from 2011 when we say goodbye in a few hours.

As for 2012, there are some Big Running Plans and Mega Life Changes on tap in the months ahead. But I’ll save all of that for another post.

So…cheers to the new year! Be safe, have fun, don’t drink so much flavored vodka that you end up falling asleep with your head in a paper bag filled with your own vomit. (Not that I’ve ever done that…. #college)

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Posted in General Booze Chatter, General Food Chatter, General Running Chatter, Monthly Running Stats

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DNF!

Posted on December 2, 2011 by shelby| 16 Comments

As you may have guessed from my strategic silence on the subject: sadly, I did not, in fact, write the Next Great American Novel in the month of November.

But I did get around 15,000 words in to my project. That’s not even a third of the program’s 50,000-word goal, but I’m okay with that.

It’s weird. I’m not usually okay with failure, but somehow, this is different.

I really thought I had a great chance of making the NaNoWriMo cut. The first 5,000 words came relatively easily. But then the pace started to slow down. It took me almost three weeks to write the next 10K – after having banged out the first 5K in just a couple of days.

It was tempting to force it, to make the pace go faster for the sake of word count…but you know what? I found myself actually really enjoying fiction writing, and I feared that forced acceleration would have killed my plot and buried my enthusiasm, damning the whole endeavor to a permanent plot in the Graveyard of Ideas Past.

So, yeah. At some point, I guess I quit caring about what happened as of November 30. I’m not at all knocking the whole NaNoWriMo thing – I never would have even started this project without it! – but I wanted to keep plugging along at my own comfy pace, rather than forcing something for the sake of validation on TEH INTERNETS.

Will you see my novel on your Kindle someday? I really hope so! But I’m going to take my time and make sure I have a good product.

(I would estimate that drawing MSPAINT ANIMALS occupied at least 30% of my time during my WriMo experiments. Probably not necessary, but oh so fun.)

Anyway. That’s that. As November ended, I wrapped up a month of 15,000 fiction words and 200+ miles:

November was pretty much a repeat of September, according to the almighty statistics. I guess that’s okay. I still maintain that I felt better in October, with higher mileage, but I’ll admit that it’s been a bit of a relief on my daily schedule, logging 40-50 miles a week instead of 60-70.

Okay, I have an important #firstworldproblem that I need your help to solve. I am currently in the midst of packing for CIM and I am torn on which shoes I should wear on Sunday…

On the left is the Brooks Ravenna 2. This is the shoe I’ve been training in since September. (I’d been a loyal Brooks Ghost wearer until this summer…but the Ghost 4 that they updated in June is too wide for me!  So I went to the Ravenna. I’m a very mild over-pronator anyway, and although I can generally get away with wearing neutral shoes, it’s not an inappropriate shoe for me and I’ve had no issues with it. The pair pictured is a replacement pair that only has about 30 miles logged.)

On the right, though, is the Brooks PureFlow. I picked these up when they first came out in early October and I must say that I’m rather enamored! Brooks’ PureProject line features lightweight shoes with a lower heel-t0-toe drop (4MM), lighter weight, and more “connected with the ground” running experience – although I’d say that this particular shoe does have a good amount of cushion. I would compare them to Saucony Kinvaras.

So I prefer the ride of the PureFlow to the Ravenna. And I’ve worn the PureFlow on a 16-mile day with no issues. I would say that, overall, I’ve worn them for about 25% of my mileage over the last two months. So it’s not like they’re racing flats…but for some reason I’m still nervous about bringing a lower-heel-drop shoe to the starting line on race day.

Help?

If I can’t decide, I might just end up wearing one on each foot, as in the picture above.

(And also, look at my left ankle in that photo? Never, EVER wear one of those reflective slap bracelet thingies on your bare skin. It was warm but dark the other night and I slapped one onto my leg. I avoided getting hit by a car, but within a mile the thing had attacked my ankle like a piranha. Never again!)

In any case, I’m guess I’m probably packing both in my suitcase for this weekend. Along with a lot of other crap, which may blow the whole “carry on!” plan and force me to explore the sucker’s dungeon of Checked Baggage.

After the race on Sunday, we’re hanging out in California for a couple of days. I mentioned before that after that, we’re headed to a wedding. I may not have mentioned that the wedding is in Maui.

Please don’t hate me.

If all goes well on Sunday, I won’t be able to walk anyway, and will be relegated to a beach chair and forced to ask people to bring me food and drink.

(Please…please don’t hate me.)

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Posted in Monthly Running Stats, MSPAINT FTW

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How to piss people off at mile 17

Posted on November 6, 2011 by shelby| 31 Comments

Okay, not intentionally. But I have to admit I felt like kind of a jackass today.

Because, well…I picked up the relay baton at mile 16.5. And then proceeded to bounce along the race course on my relatively fresh legs, passing tons of poor people who had been running for two-plus hours at that point. Most of whom looked like they’d rather be chewing glass than climbing the notorious hills that plague this most difficult stretch of the City of Oaks Marathon course.

“GREAT JOB YOU’RE THE SIXTH WOMAN!” people yelled. And I cringed. “WOW YOU’RE LOOKING SO STRONG!” they screamed. That’s because I’ve only been running for four miles, I yearned to disclaim. Even though I had a giant “RELAY” bib pinned to my singlet, I felt like a big fat fraud.

However: it was so fun.

Until this morning, I had never participated in a marathon relay. And honestly, I was sort of skeptical of the whole idea. Because I’ve been the marathoner in that situation: a merge with another race/course, usually late on in the game…and right when you’re at your absolute stabbiest, you must contend with hoardes of 5K walkers or whatever who have been doing their thing for like 30 minutes and they’re pumping their arms and chatting and having a grand old time and you kind of just want to kill them.

(I sincerely hope that no one wanted to kill me today. I tried to just do my thing and not be obnoxious.)

But after that slightly disastrous ATT 10 Miler a couple of weeks ago, I needed a confidence boost, and even though I may have pissed some people off – I got that today.

9.4 miles. Elevation change: 2,100 feet. Time: 1:12.

(A little off, as I was already swaddled in a space blanket and halfway through my bottle of water when I remembered that my Garmin was still running. I think my split was probably right around 1:12.)

Yeah…not the 8-minute marathon pace I’d planned. But I’d also planned that my legs would feel like crap after Saturday’s 18-miler. And they didn’t.

Around mile 7, I emerged from the course’s most intimidating climb – a nearly 3-mile stretch that slowed me to a walk more than once when I ran it on training runs this summer. I decided that I felt good. And I could see this other relay chick up ahead and decided to catch her and pass her.

And that’s how I ended up cruising (surprisingly comfortably?) at a sub-7 minute pace for the last two miles of this thing. That felt good. Maybe all of this training and higher mileage is actually doing something for me.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one who had a standout performance today. The entire team absolutely rocked it. I’d estimated we would finish in 3:30. We busted out a collective 3:17.

(Three of four – we’re missing Pat, our lead-off leg, who had to skedaddle but ran his 6+ miles at 6:20 pace and put the rest of us in a great position! On the left is Lindsey, leg 2, who claims that her 5K pace is 8 minutes but cruised through her 4-mile leg in 31 minutes – and just a week after running a marathon. In the middle is me, always and forever the midget in group pictures. And on the right is leg 3, Jack, who predicted he’d run 8:35 pace and kicked that square in the ass by averaging 8-minute pace on a horribly hilly stretch of the course. Which also resulted in a near awkward situation because I was, ahem, out in the woods watering a tree when he came up road approaching the hand-off point..thankfully, someone yelled at me to get my shorts on and get over to the exchange zone.)

Anyway. I’m still not sure how I feel about marathon relays in general, but I think in this situation, it was okay. City of Oaks is a small race (capped at 1,000 marathoners and 100 relay teams, with an additional 2,000 half-marathoners for the first 13) and I think at some point, from the marathoner’s perspective, on balance it’s helpful just to have some more people out there in the later miles, even if they’re obnoxiously fresh-legged relay people – like me.

And at the risk of being all sunshine and rainbows here…I feel pretty awesome about my CIM training this week.

That, right there, is most definitely a weekly mileage record for me. Holy hell! With two high-quality workouts in there, too. And I’m knocking on the fake wood of my Ikea computer desk when I say that my legs actually feel pretty great right now.

And to all of the marathon runners that I cruised by at mile 17-26 today, let me say this: you’re braver than me.

I can’t imagine taking on a course like this, with hellish hills from mile 10 until 23, for a full marathon. Nope…I’m a huge wuss who is totally fleeing the hills and getting on a plane to California to run flat when I take on 26.2 in December.

Yep, City of Oaks is a really tough course. And I’m sorry if I was obnoxiously bouncy and happy at mile 23. But…don’t hate the player, hate the game.

Because, damn…it was fun to run fast and feel good. :)

Miles until 2,011 in 2011: 290. Weeks until CIM taper time: one. NaNoWriMo Word Count: 4,390 / 50,000.

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Posted in Monthly Running Stats, Race Reports

Tagged

Big miles

Posted on November 1, 2011 by shelby| 11 Comments

Well. October got it done.

Running is always an individual thing, I know. I’m sure for some people, 232 miles in a month is peanuts, but for me, it’s a lot!

I think having a December marathon on the agenda lit a little fire under my ass last month. No more impromptu lazy days. No more skipping workouts in favor of pajama pants and TV. No more drinking one too many beers and feeling like crap the next day and using that as an excuse to lay around and eat potato chips. (Oh, the sacrifices.)

Anyway. For all I know, Kara Goucher’s toddler is running circles around me, mileage-wise, but I feel pretty good about last month. It was a solid month.

351 miles to go until 2011 in 2011!

Tonight’s dinner was completely fashioned out of things already laying around in my refrigerator and it happened to be delicious:

Baked double-dipped chicken fingers. Dipped in buttermilk and rolled in crushed Ritz crackers and shredded Parm. Twice.

The result was a delightfully thick breading that readily soaked up the honey mustard sauce I whisked together for dipping. I realize that this chicken is basically a low-rent version of Shake ‘n Bake, but that’s okay. Sometimes, it’s just food.

I selected a brew from my home state to go with dinner:

This Gale Force IPA, from Scuttlebutt Brewing Company in Everett, WA, was ever so slightly…soapy. And, um…soapy is generally not a quality that I look for in a beer.

Seriously though…I thought I was going crazy until I looked the thing up online and saw that I wasn’t the only one who got a little hint of Irish Spring in this bottle. It didn’t ruin the beer entirely for me, as there were some other more pleasant sensations rolling around in there too: good carbonation, a little tart granny smith apple, just a hint of pine… and OH HEY a really cool label featuring a tarty mermaid….

But overall I have to give this one a pass. Whether or not I need to wash my mouth out with soap is a legitimate point of debate, but I don’t need my beer to do it for me.

Bottom line: Skip it. (Purchased at Total Wine, $1.75/12 oz)

Well, it’s past my bedtime, so I’m out. At least Scuttlebutt took care of mouth cleansing for me tonight; I don’t even need to brush my teeth!

Good night!

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Posted in Beer Reviews, Monthly Running Stats, Recipes

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Low roller, high mileage

Posted on October 3, 2011 by shelby| 9 Comments

Vegas. Where irresponsible behavior is not only accepted, but expected.

Vegas. Where all types of people come together.  Social barriers are temporarily dissolved by a shared desire to relinquish cash and drink watered down cocktails.

Vegas. Where the absurd seems normal.

Vegas. What happens there stays there…along with your paycheck!

Vegas. Where another drink at the bar at 3 AM is always a reasonable idea.

I love Vegas.

I’m happy to report that I was pretty good this time around, though!  I came home with an intact bank balance and all of my shoes.

The wedding on Saturday night was a blast. After a short but sweet ceremony in the Planet Hollywood chapel, we headed upstairs to the couple’s spacious suite for a casual cocktails-and-cake reception. The view was pretty unbeatable:

After pretending we were a rock stars for a couple of hours, I poured some Champagne in a to-go cup (did I mention that I love Vegas?) and we hit the strip.  See beginning of post for details.

Congrats Stef + Jeff!  Thanks for giving the fam an excuse to get together in one of my favorite cities.

I did manage to get a run in on Saturday, on the treadmill.  Sunday, ahem, was definitely a rest + travel day.

I’m pretty happy with 50+ miles on only five days of running.  I’m going to cut back a tad this week as I have a 5K on Saturday morning.  Plus, I’m a proponent  of alternating a slightly lower volume week in every 2-3 weeks when I’m trying to build up my mileage.

September goes down as my highest month so far this year…

Definitely on track for 2011 in 2011!  Bring on the cooler weather and the miles.

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Posted in Monthly Running Stats, MSPAINT FTW, Travel, Weekly Running Recap

Because it’s there

Posted on September 4, 2011 by shelby| 15 Comments

As of the end of August, I’d run 1,221 miles this year.

By some standards that is a lot; by others, it’s paltry.  By my own standards, I guess I would say it’s middle of the road.  Honestly, I don’t really know, as this is the first year, ever, in my 17+ years of running that I’ve ever actually tracked my mileage continuously.

Recently, I mentioned to a friend that I thought it would be nice if I could hit 2,000 miles for the year.

His response: “Why?”

Uh…good question.

In order to run 2,000 miles by December 31, I’d need to run 776 more.  That’s 194 miles each month.  45.6 a week.  That’s not much more than I’ve been running for the last few weeks, so I don’t think it’s an unrealistic goal, but the question does remain: why?

Well…why not?

Really, when it comes down to it, all running goals are rather useless and arbitrary.  For most of us, anyway.  I mean…I’d love to run a sub-20 5K, too, but the Olympic Committee is not going to come knocking on my door if that happens.  It’s just a number that’s out there to chase. A reason to lace up my shoes when my lazy body resists.  A sense of accomplishment when logging a workout.  A daydream to occupy my thoughts while pounding out miles.

And since I’m not sure about my ability to run fast at the moment, perhaps I have a better shot at arbitrary glory if I run more.

“Because,” I replied to my friend, “then I can say that 2011 was the year I ran 2,000 miles.”

“Why not try for 2,011?  It would sound better,” he said.

Consider it done.

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Posted in General Running Chatter, Monthly Running Stats