I Broke 7...

Last night I got home and proceeded to do my exhaustion test for my pushups. It's the pre-week 5 test. I scored a 42, which puts me in the third category again. Looking at what's ahead for day 1, I think this week might own me. Day 1 has 40, 32 30, 25, and then a max of at least 40. If I was barely getting out 40, how will I do that twice? I suspect I'll take longer than the '60 seconds' offered for rest.

I felt the need for nourishment, so I snacked on some potato chips and onion dip. Mmm. Fresh bag of chips.. mmm.

Nothing but the best food and drink goes into this body! hah



I went out for a run just after that.. Probably not the best thing to eat before running, but.... too bad.

I was debating doing a hill workout or some intervals. Since I did a long run on Sunday, I decided not to do the hill workout. I finally decided that I would do a mile warmup, followed by a 'how fast can I run a mile', followed by some cool down and maybe a subsequent fast interval...

Mile warmup went OK. Not stellar. My calves were balking a bit, so I didn't have high hopes here on any sort of good timed mile run. I don't check how fast I can run too often.. The last time was about a year ago (I looked and don't even have the date written down).. maybe about 10 months ago, because I'm sure I had my Garmin at that point. My previous time was 7:32, which I was quite pleased with, as I've never been a fast runner. (I'd never really been a runner, period. Certainly not fast).

One of the downsides of my training is that I usually only do a couple of speeds. I run a bit slower with my running buddy, and only slightly faster alone. My long runs, which should be slower yet, keep the same pace. It all averages to about 9:30/mile on a regular basis. The good news is that I could 'run forever' at this pace. (Until my legs fell off or something like that, of course). I really should mix in some track workouts or something.

So, after my warmup, I reset my Garmin, hit the 'start' button and took off. I was guessing how fast my pace should me. Not doing this too often makes it difficult to judge this. My route was more or less flat.. there was a small uphill, and a small downhill, so that cancels out. I had also found a stretch where I wouldn't have to be waiting at an intersection for traffic, in order to give me a decent flow.

After a tenth of a mile, I looked down and saw that I was hitting a 6:52/mile pace. I was immediately petrified and thought about slowing down, as what good would it be if I ran that pace and couldn't finish a mile...? I reasoned it out with myself and said that I wasn't going full bore, so I might be able to do this after all. And, so, the run continued.

And continued.

And continued.

I'm not used to running at this pace.

I got to about 3/4 of a mile, and I was breathing pretty heavy and my legs were getting pretty tired, but saw that I was still on the same pace, so I ground it out just a little longer.

It seemed like forever.

In the end, I held on, broke the 7 minute per mile barrier, and wound up at 6:50 for my mile. Woot! First time I have run that fast for any sort of reasonable distance.


I walked a bit to cool down, and then proceeded to do a two mile jog home. Calves are really tired today.

Tuesday's beer

Almost forgot..
At the game last night, I started out with:



The Cooperstown 'Pride of Milford'. It's a reddish-colored beer, and pretty potent (website lists it as 7.7% ABV). It was just OK. I prefer the 'Old Slugger' from Cooperstown. There were a bunch of odd flavors to the beer.. It reminds me of the taste of the 3rd or 4th 'Magic Hat #9' in a night. (My theory being that one is good, but there's some sort of odd flavor that develops after having a few)

It was something different that I haven't had yet, but I'll probably not have it again.

Slacking Tuesday

Well, Tuesday has come and gone. I had intentions of going for a run, but.......

I slacked off. Sigh.

What really happened was this... I was talking to a friend at work about what baseball games we would go to locally, and we both decided to go that night. Plus, it was two for Tuesday....


Beautiful night for baseball.. Most any night is a good night for it, though. I've decided on what I want to do when I grow up (read: hit the lotto so I can go do this). I'll be an usher at the local ballpark. That sounds pretty good... show people their seats, point people to the bathrooms, etc. (All while taking in the game).

Everything that is wrong with baseball isn't wrong at the local park, thankfully. The games start at a reasonable time so kids can go. The players walk right up to the kids looking for autographs and sign their baseballs. I saw one kid, probably 6 years old, getting an autograph on a Post-It pad. The player signed that, then gave him a batting practice ball. The kid looked thrilled. There was another kid who seemed a bit 'awkward'.. probably 15 years old or so. He got a few players to sign his baseball, and after every one, he was just beaming. It's just nice to see.

My friend brought his daughter and his nephews to the game.. They were very well behaved. I always worry about watching 3 kids while he's off buying hot dogs or whatever, but they are absolutely no trouble. They're there, just watching the game.

It was also fireworks night after the game:

Mashups

My wife said I should talk about music sometimes. So, today's the day, dear.

This probably won't be too in depth, but hey, it's a start.


I came across this page today, which has a plethora of links to downloads for music mashups.

Mashups are an interesting creation, I must admit. Existing songs are mashed together to form a new song. Often the tracks are slowed down or sped up so that they blend well. They're certainly not something for the purists.

One example of an extremely well done mashup is the one done between Jay-Z and Linkin Park. The two styles fit well together, and it makes for an excellent album. I wish this album was longer than the 6 songs that it is. (Maybe that's a sign they knew what they were doing - they quit while being ahead).

Over that album, the songs are mixed together and cut in and out between LP and Jay-Z. I'm a big LP fan, but haven't listened to a lot of Jay-Z. Truthfully, since LP is not too far off from the rap/hip-hop scene at times, it really isn't that big of a stretch to see them together. (The CD came with a DVD of a live performance of the mashup, as a matter of fact).

Part of the beauty of the mashups is that it may introduce you to new music. I listen to a little Jay-Z now, for instance. It also presents old music in a new light.


Anyways, I came across that page today, and decided to download some of the songs and albums. It's a mixed bag from the little bit I've gotten to listen to. None of it seems bad. Some is average, some is very good.

I'll take a couple of songs and discuss, I suppose. Track 20 off of the 'Best of Bootie - 2005' is a mashup between Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and N.W.A.'s 'Straight Outta Compton'. I have both of these albums, and enjoy both of them. Certainly, not two that I'd pair together normally. (The thought never occurred to me until today, actually). It's pretty well done, all being said. The N.W.A lyrics are put to the music of Nirvana, and it's a reasonable fit.

On the other hand, track 15 of that album is a mashup between Billy Joel's 'Big Shot' and Jay-Z's 'Big Pimpin'. The lyrics from Billy Joel are slowed down and force fit into the style of Jay-Z. It just doesn't go.

I'll give them props for trying it out, though.


So, if you get bored, check out some of those albums. You may want to listen with headphones if anyone around you could be offended by lyric contents, depending on what songs you choose.

Monday's Day of Rest

I took Monday off from doing major physical activity. I figured after my 8 miler the day before, I should take it easy. I wanted to go hiking up a hill nearby and travel through the countryside, but I talked myself out of it.
I did go for a walk.. probably a mile to a mile and a half.

On a whim on the way home, I picked up this:



(OK, maybe it wasn't a whim. It was a combination of two things: a curiosity on my part and a bad day at work)

This is a small (375ml) bottle of Patrón Silver tequila. Now, according to the Patrón website, this is a "smooth, soft and light" tequila. I got this as an attempt to better understand tequila and appreciate it more.

Opening up the box was very nice. It was wrapped in tissue paper & sealed very nicely. Each bottle appears to be hand numbered.

My verdict: I don't see the smooth part. The initial taste was smooth.. It's certainly tequila. You can taste that easily. But, it bit me up on the way down.
We (my wife and I) only tried a little doing it 'sipping' style. Still have to try it under other conditions (margaritas, shots, after a long night of drinking, etc).

I'll try it again, just to give it a fair shake. Patrón has a number of other types of tequila, so maybe it's just the Silver variety like this.

Of course, there's other brands too.

This looks like fun

Found this video off of CNN this morning. It's footage of a marathon where people run a lap, then drink a beer. Repeat. Over and over.

That sounds like it's for me!


It's put on through the Hash House Harriers. Wish there was an active local chapter here..

Weekend Beer Reviews

So, I went and moved furniture up at my brother in law's house this weekend.

Afterwards, he was kind enough to provide me some brew..

Started out with this:

Sam Adams Summer Ale..

The seasonal brews of Sam Adams are very good, and are very well suited to the different seasons.

I used to view the Summer Ale as 'fruity'. Any more, though, it's got a hint of lemon and some spice. It works quite well on a warm summer day. (So well, in fact, that a large number of these were consumed later that night, but I get ahead of myself).


The second beer provided was this:


Yes, that would be a Bud Light Lime (BL Lime). Back in my college days, I consumed a lot of BL, I must admit. Over the last few years, though, my tastes have evolved to the microbrews and better mass-brewed beer.
This brew was a surprise. A big one.
I had tried the 'Miller Chill' a couple of weeks ago.. I think that was the first of the mass-produced beer-with-a-lime-already-infused. It honestly just didn't do too much for me. Below average beer, with a hint of saltiness and a lime waved near the brewing tanks. It was alright, but not something I'd go out and buy.

This beer.. You could really taste the lime. I liked that. Bud Light isn't a bad beer, especially for what it is. Works well on a hot summer day (don't most beers, though?). The lime, though. Wow. Totally awesome.

I gave it to my wife for a sip, and she said it just tasted like beer. Pfft. I told her it was my 'expert beer connoisseur-ness' that detected the lime.


So, I was pretty pleased. A new beer this weekend. If you're sitting outside on a hot summer night, it's worth a try, at least. (I'll try anything once. :) )


Later, we all went back to my place and picked up case of the Summer Ale. My brother in law and I put a hurtin' on it. Oh yea.
He didn't care for the Highland Park scotch, though. Oh well.