Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Running, thoughts on Galloway, Guinness

Running over the weekend went very well. I did two 3 mile runs, with no discomfort (apart from my calves, which are just plain out of shape now). The only interesting thing I saw was a policeman who had pulled over an old lady for presumably speeding.. (I'm familiar with the stretch and know my time will come, given that I speed through there twice a day).

The problem with that was that it's right in front of a known large abandoned property. I sometimes cut through there for my runs, but recently some "No Trespassing" and "Posted" signs had gone up. With the law right there, I figured I shouldn't risk it, even though the odds of him leaving his vehicle were low.

The Galloway thing seems to be working for me. I spent some time on his page and poking around various forums on the Interwebs, and my main problem with his plan is my own mental hangup.

I had always told myself, "If I run a marathon, I'm going to run the whole thing". Now, I read about his plans, and I'd be walking in it. That's purely a mental block on my part. There's no shame in walking part of a marathon, and who's to say I'd be able to run one myself? It's not just the marathon, it's races in general. I'm sure I could go through a 5K doing 100% running with little or no ill effects, but what about a 10K? According to him, that would be a no-no.

But, maybe I'll continue with his plan. I'm going to start including my walk time in my mileage calculation and see what my pace really is. I'll keep track of total distance covered, and see where I am.


And, without further ado, here's today's Alcohol Tuesday entry. It's beer, but I'll try to include a couple of tidbits for you non-beer drinkers. (And maybe I'll grab some wine for next week.. )

Today's entry is Guinness, the 250th anniversary edition.

First interesting tidbit for non beer drinkers: in 1759, the man, Arthur Guinness, signed a lease for the brewery. The interesting part? He signed it for 9,000 years. Not only that, the annual fee is £45. That's a man with some vision.



The above pic shows two glasses, one a good pour, the other, well, not so much.

The astute Guinness drinker will now say.. "What? You're not drinking it from the bottle?"

Indeed not. This was the first thing that I noticed was different in the 250th anniversary edition. There is no rocket widget in the bottle.

Second tidbit for non Guinness drinkers.. The bottles and cans typically have a 'widget' inside of them (a rocket widget for the bottles, a ball for the cans). This is so that when you drink from the bottle, you get a consistency similar to a draft pulled for you at a bar.

The beer itself had more carbonation than the standard Guinness. I'm not sure, but maybe the nitrogen aspect of the carbonation was removed (also explaining why the widget disappeared).

Compared to a standard Guinness, this was a little more malty. Also, disappointingly, the somewhat smoky flavor that exists in regular Guinness was not really present in the anniversary edition.

Change the carbonation, add the malt, and remove the smoke, and you've got yourself a stout which is OK, but not great.

The anniversary edition will run you about 10 bucks for a 6 pack of bottles.

My take on it is this. I'm glad I tried it, but I'll go back to the regular Guinness. (The 250th edition will only be around 6 months or so, anyway)

Ah, if only I was as knowledgeable about something more useful than alcohol. Oh well. :)

Keep on rockin!

13 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

probably a good idea not to cut through the property if the police were right there, and i know what you mean about knowing your time will come. I know the cops sit in one specific spot, and TRY to remember to slow down a bit... fingers crossed for both of us :) Glad the walking breaks are working for you despite the mental part... they work for me, but i'm also not competitive, so i have no shame at all in taking them... i just enjoy being out there, know what i mean? but that's just me.

Denise said...

I always thought it was odd to train to run a marathon by taking walk breaks. But I've heard really good things about his program and know someone who BQ'd with a 3:25 using his method. I'd take a 3:25!!

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Running over the weekend went very well ...

Hahahaha! Better run over it two or three times to make sure it's dead .. especially with Johnny Law right around the corner!

When I couldn't run due to tendinitis earlier this year, I took long, fast-paced walks. And you bet I counted that in my yearly mileage.

I got a 6 of the 250th anniversay Guinness for Teh 'Bride. She liked it, okay. I didn't have one myself, so I can't venture an opinion.

Guinness is just so much better on tap. It's best on tap in Ireland.

Anonymous said...

If you did cut through the "no trespassing" zone and the cops saw you, you could have gotten some nice speed work in!

tfh said...

If I do another marathon, I'm trying Galloway. From my observation, many of the runners who insist that walking is cheating end up running at a walking pace, anyway. Or worse, limping. But yeah, I agree: walk breaks are probably not the way to PR in a 10k.

No Longer Using said...

what are your thoughts on car bombs? i used to love these. have never had guiness as a stand alone. i bet galloway's plan really helps with injury prevention! it's hard to change the way you think about things like walking, but a marathon is such a long distance that it is a whole different animal. at least to me.

X-Country2 said...

I always thinking walking is allowed through water stations. It's just a choking hazzard to try to run and drink. (At least that's how I justify it up in my head. :o)

Runner Tammy said...

I am a big fan of Galloway. I have essentially "run" several complete marathons and run/walked many others. The run/walk definitely helps put spring in my step after the break. I will admit I do the same thing in 5 and 10 kms (run/walk), but I also carry my fanny pack on these events so I kind of stick out like sore thumb.

What is the speed limit of your local speed trap? I drive by a place that is 30 miles. My cruise control accepts 25 mph or greater so I now just rely on cruise control. Gotta save my tickets and points for bicycling lawlessness!

RunToTheFinish said...

I certainly didn't plan on walking over half of San Diego...and it wasn't the same for me as running, but I was damn proud to finish.

I saw a chiro today and I'm hoping the IT band starts to get better, he found what he thought was the issue coming from my back...let him be right!!

Aron said...

I have heard really good things about galloway... especially when you are coming off an injury that is probably a really good option!

RunningLaur said...

Running: i've had the opposite mental problem with Galloway. The breaks keep me more conistent and finishing strong and happy. I say stick with it while you're healing, and if anything it'll set you up with some times you can beat the second time around - since it'll lengthen your running career :)

Drinking: if you can get your hands on Carribean Guinness it has extra hops in it, supposedly to help it keep in the longer shipping process. I'd imagine it tastes similar to the anniv beer. Yay for excessive Guinness knowlegde!

joyRuN said...

I've ended up walking near the end of 26.2 miles anyway, so why not make it official?

Plus one of the runners in my pace group at the last one did that, & while I dropped off the pace group - he didn't!

MCM Mama said...

Nothing wrong with walking part of a marathon and at least Galloway plans for it.

Good to know that about the anniversary Guiness. I LOVE Guiness and it has a pretty low alcohol content, so I drank it fairly regularly while nursing. Glad to hear I can just keep buying my usual.