Week 10 Marathon Training

Last week was decent week of training.  I missed Thursday's workout due my inability to get motivated, but I recovered nicely with a good weekend.  That's not going to happen this coming weekend, since we are planning on going to Oktoberfest with some friends.  Should be a good time.  On the plus side this weekend's workout is only a 10k at race pace and a light 6-8 mile run.  Depending on what time we leave Saturday I may get the 10k in.  Sunday's run depends on how many Masskrugs I have while we are in Munich.  We are taking the boys so I have to remain somewhat civilized or I'll have Shantel yelling at me.

Here is the workout plan:

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
10	Rest	1-hour run, including 2x1,200 C 2x400 SI	4 miles	4x800 S 6x100 S	Rest	10-K race	6-8 miles	32–34 miles

Special Beer Review Gunzburger Brauerei

When we went to Legoland a month ago I researched local breweries.  The one that popped up on most of my searches was Gunzburger Brauerei.  They specialize in Weizen but do other kinds as well.  I dropped into a local Getrankemarkt and picked up a variety.  I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't find a bottle of their Weizenbock, but it is what it is.  Here are the beers that I did pick up.

Gunzburger Radbier Marzen Spezial -  It pours a coppery gold with hints of amber. A slightly off white head never quite disappears and leaves plenty of lacing on the sides. The aroma is floralish and kind of sweet. The first mouthful is interesting, somewhat bready and definitely malty sweet Almost reminiscent of honey? Pretty interesting. The finish is clean with no after taste, a definite plus. I really like this beer, too bad I'd have to drive 2 1/2 hours to get more.

Gunzburger Weizenbier Ur~Weizen - This beer pours a dark cloudy honey-brown with hints of gold.  The head is a generous off-white/beige.  Already I'm intrigued  The aroma is faintly smoky malts.  The taste is carmally sweet malts. No citrus or fresh cut hay here.  The finish is smooth and wet with just that hint of smoky malts.  Very interesting.

Gunzburger Weizenbier Hefe~Weizen -   The regular Hefeweizen from Gunzburger.  It pours a a cloud yellow gold with a slight (for a Hefe) white fluffy head that quickly dissolves into a layer of tiny bubbles on the top of the beer.  Lots of carbonation, you can see the bubbles flowing from top to bottom of the glass in large clusters.  The aroma is of cloves and spices.  The first taste is citrusy, clovy, spices.  Cloves and another taste I can't put my finger on dominate the wet finish.  A pretty good beer.  But not my favorite Hefe.  I might have liked the Ur~Weizen a little bit more than this one.

Gunzburger Radbier Hell -   Finally the Helles from Gunzburger Brauerei.  A brillinat golden yellow with a head soft foamy head that persisted.  The aroma is very light and subtle and eluded me.  The taste is spicy balance of hops and malts with just a little kick of hops at the crisp finish.  A very tasty beer.

After running through all of these I'm even more disappointed that I didn't get the Weizenbock, their speciality.  All of these were solid good beers.  I really liked the Ur-Weizen and the Marzen.  Too bad the brewery almost a three hour drive away.

Week 9 Marathon Training

Last week wasn't too bad. As long as you overlook the fact that I skipped the long run on Sunday. I've got excuses though. It was raining and we had a kids birthday party to go to. Someone once told me that "Excuses only satisfiy those who make them". I guess you can count me satisfied. I did have good solid speed work all week, so I was happy with that. I've started doing some of it on the treadmill since it's getting darker and colder so that really helps to keep me on pace.
I've also gotten a new toy, a Garmin Footpod for when I'm relegated to the treadmill I can still get the mileage/time/HR data instead of just the time/HR data. It goes on my shoelaces or in the Nike+ holder on my Nikes.  I think I've got just about all of the accessories now for my Forerunner 305.

Enough talk of my cool toys.  Here is this week's training.  I will get the long run done on Sunday.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
9	Rest	2 miles GP 3x2 miles T (2:00) 3 miles GP	3 miles 6x100 S	4x1 mile C	Rest	5 miles	17 miles	44–47 miles





Special Beer Review - Berliner Kindl

As part of our trip to Berlin a couple of weekends ago I was on the lookout for "Berliner Beers"  I settled on Berliner Kindl, since it was the brewery that I found the most varieties of beer from.  I think I picked up one of everything except their export beer.  While not knocked off my feet I was suitably impressed.  A pretty decent collection.

Berliner Weisse Rote - I never did find the just the regular Berliner Kindl Weisse to try, just the "flavored" versions that our German Day Trips Guide Book recommended.  I ordered the red one at the Hard Rock Cafe and it was interesting.  It is flavored with raspberry syrup and the flavor was almost overwhelming, very sweet, and almost no beer flavor whatsoever.  A white frothy head that lasted a while and then left lacing on the sides.  The two best words to describe it was overwhelming and interesting.  Read about Berliner Weisse here.

Berliner Weisse Gruen - The red one was so fun, we just had to try the green one too.  This one is flavored with woodruff.  I would have to say that both Shantel and I liked this one better and waiter also mentioned it was his favorite.  A much more subtle flavoring, although you still really couldn't catch the real character of the Berliner Kindl Weiss bier.  Once again a frothy white head that lasted a while.  Really disappointed that all I found where the syrup enhanced biers (although I'm not sure you can get just a "regular" one), but if you are ever in Berlin on a hot summer day, sit outside in a cafe and order one of these, I'd recommend the green one, and do a little people watching.

Berliner Kindl Bock Hell.  I think this is supposed to be a ligher bock.  It pours a light coppery gold with a thin head that quickly disappeared, but left plenty of lacing on the side. The aroma is faint and barely penetrates my stopped up sniffer. My first impression of the taste was one that was thin and slightly watery.  Second impression unfortunately reinforced the first.  The finish is dry with some metallic after taste.  I wanted to like this bock since I am a Bock drinker from way back, beginning with my beloved Shiner Bock and lately the Bavarian Bocks, sorry but in the end this is a decent beer to try but not one I'm going to be scouring the shelves for next summer in the States.  Maybe I just missed the point of the Bock Hell.

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO BlOGGER FAILING TO SAVE HIS DRAFT

Berliner Kindl Pils - It pours a light yellowish gold with a generous frothy head that quickly devolved into persisitent lacing on the sides.  I always pour into 12 oz mug so that leaves a little bit in the .5l bottle, which I normally just drink.  Well that first swig was an almost overwhelming nutty hoppy taste.  It mellows well in the mug though where the taste was a more subtle nutty hops, not really bitter like a lot of the Bavarian Pils or Czech Pilsners I normally drink, just different.  The finish was pretty dry.  I'm not a big fan of the Bavarian Pils so this was an interesting departure and something I would definitely entertain having again.

Berliner Kindl Bock Dunkel - It pours a dark chocolaty black with a generous beige head that leaves thick lacing on the sides.  The aroma is one of well roasted malts with hints of chocolate and caramel .  The aroma's carry over into the flavor where the roasted malts dominate, more chocolate than caramel and the finish is crisp and clean with no after taste.  I like this one, enough said.

Berliner Kindl Jubilaums Pilsner - According to Yahoo Babelfish Jubilaums means anniversary.  That coupled with the foil top leads me to believe that this is Berliner Kindl's "special" Pilsner.  In other words it's supposed to be good.  Let's see.  It pours a straw yellow with a generous fluffy head that dissolves into liberal lacing on the sides.  The aroma faint but I can catch hints of bread dough and hops, not overwhelming though.  The taste is light and crisp and goes down smooth.  A faint aftertaste is where the hops hits you not too bad.  Just like their regular Pils much more subtle then the Bavarian German Pils or the Czech Pilsners I normally have.

Oktoberfest Beers

Oktoberfest starts today so I'll throw out a few Oktoberfest beer/Marzen reviews that I've been holding back and reprint some that I've already done.  I thought I was going to have one from all of the Munich Big Six but I didn't get down south like I thought I was going to so I'm missing two, make that one, you get to figure out which ones  they are it is. 

On a different note;  I AM GOING to Oktoberfest whether or not Shantel and the boys go or not.  There is no way I'm living in Germany and not going to make the trip to Munich.  Right now we are planning on meeting some old friends and making a weekend out of it.  If that falls throw I'll still head down there though.  Now on to the beers

Munz Marzen - This is from the Munz-Brauerei L. Bundschuh and Co in Gunzburg, Germany.  I picked up when we went to Legoland Deutschland in Gunzburg.  It pours a pale straw gold with a  generous white head that stayed around for quite awhile leaving lacing on the sides.  I got my flu shot today so the aroma eludes my stopped up nose.  The taste is light and malty sweet and the finish lingers and is slightly bitter.  A pretty interesting Marzen or Oktoberfest bier.

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen- This beer pours a dark copper, almost a brown, with golden tints. The generous head is a light beige that disappears quickly, but leaves light lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is malty and slightly sweet and the taste starts outs the same with a slight bite at the end. The bite is more of the heavily roasted malts then the true bitterness of hops. A very drinkable beer and probably one of my favorite from Hacker-Pschorr.

 Paulaner Oktoberfest beer - This beer came with a 1 liter glass mug to go with it. I mean how could I pass that up. A liter beer and a mug all for 1 Euro. Here's what I thought of it.  This beer pours with a dark coppery tint and nice fluffy head that lasts about 5 minutes. In essence it looks exactly like all of the pictures of the beers that those well endowed barmaids are serving to all of the revelers in Munich during Oktoberfest.  The aroma is fine balance between hops and fresh cut grass and the flavor is just as balanced with just a hint of hops and a slightly dry finish. Most definitely a very drinkable beer. I've enjoyed the the other Paulaner's I've had and this beer just reinforces that.

Gunzburger Radbier Marzen Spezial - This is another beer from our trip to Legoland.  It's from the Gunzburger Radbrauerei, mainly known for their weizen, they do a Marzen Spezial for Okotberfest.  It pours a coppery gold with hints of amber.  A slightly off white head never quite disappears and leaves plenty of lacing on the sides.  The aroma is floralish and kind of sweet.  The first mouthful is interesting, somewhat bready and definitely malty sweet  Almost reminiscent of honey?  Pretty interesting.  The finish is clean with no after taste, a definite plus.  I really like this beer, too bad I'd have to drive 2 1/2 hours to get more.

Spaten Oktoberfestbier - According to the Spaten website this was the first Oktoberfest beer.  It's the one that all the others are trying to imitate.  It pours a light copper gold and has a pretty generous head that slowly dissolves leaving hefty lacing on the sides.  The aroma is malty.  The taste is malty sweet with a clean wet finish.  A fine example for all of those other Oktoberfest beers to imitate.

Lowenbrau Oktoberfestbier - The lion's brew, that's a rough translation of lowenbrau.  Their Oktoberfest/Marzen offering pours a coppery gold like the others but the head seemed to disappear a little faster, although the lacing remained on the sides.  The aroma is still malty.  The taste is malty sweet with a more pronounced hoppy bitterness.  Interesting.  The finish is crisp and wet and with that extra hoppy kick.  Tasty but not my favorite.

Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier - This beer pours a dark amber with a slightly off white head that starts off generous but slowly dissolves but leaves light lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is straight up malts with maybe, just maybe, a hint of hops. The taste is sweet malt and this beer finishes with a slight tartness that calls for another drink. I'll happily oblige.





Croatian beer - Pan Lager

Another beer from Croatia brought to me by the same guy who brought the last one.  For some reason I thought he had brought me a Croat and a Czech beer.  Nope I must have misheard.  This one is a Pan Lager or Pilsner by the Carlsberg Group's Croatia division.

Pan Lager - The brewery's website describes this as a pilsner and I would concur.  It pours a brillant straw gold with a generous white head.  The photo doesn't do it just because that was just a bad pour on my part.  The aroma is definitely hoppy and the taste is slightly bitter from the hops.  It does finish crisp and clean.  Once again this one has two strikes against it, a green bottle and only .25L.   As a pilsner I'd have to say it was a hit, not too hoppy, but for me I'm just not a fan of pilsner's so it's more a long foul ball, close but not quite.

Croatian Beer - Karlovacko Light

One of my friends went to Croatia and brought me back a bottle of Karlovacko. Since he had told me he had brought me both a Czech and a Croat beer I initially thought this was from the Krušovice Royal Brewery that we had seen on our wandering trip to Prague but upon closer inspection this was the Croat beer, specifically the Karlovacko Light Beer.

Karlovacko Light - It pours from a green .25L bottle.  Oh no a green bottle, we all know how much I like green bottle beer and come on .25L that's barely a swallow.  It pours almost a perfect gold with a generous frothy white head that dissolves into slight lacing on the sides.  There isn't much of an aroma.  The taste is interesting more balanced than I expected with just a hint bitterness that's actually almost floral.  The finish is smooth and quite good.  OK this beer started with two strikes, green bottle, and only .25Ls but overall I'd say it was hit.  

Marathon Training Week 8

Last week wasn't too bad.  I ended up doing the speed workout on Wednesday instead of Tuesday and did it on the treadmill instead of the road.  In some ways that's better since I maintain a constant speed on the treadmill but then again thats 90 minutes looking at the same wall in front of you, not fun.  I went to a local beer fest on Saturday night and ended up paying for it on Sunday's 16 miler.  I made it at a consistent pace but let's just say I was sweating it all out.

This week the long run jumps to 17 miles and the speed workout adds a 2 mile rep to make 3x2 miles at a slightly faster than GP.  Should be a fun week.  Yippee!

8

Rest

2 miles GP 3x2 miles T (2:00) 3 miles GP

3 miles 6x100 S

4x1 mile C

Rest

5 miles

16 miles

44–47 miles

Beer Review - Schlossbrauerei Holnstein

I mentioned here how much I like being a bike rider.  It allows me to get out and see things at a pace that you typically miss while driving in a car.  That's the case with Schlossbrauerei Holnstein.  If you blink you will almost miss the village of Holnstein and directly opposite the schlossbrauerei is a rambling rustic old gasthaus that could grab your attention away from the old castle and the next door brewery.  Luckily for me they are at the top of a hill and I got a good look at both as I was spinning my way to the top.  After my ride I promptly jumped into the car and went on a quest to find a getrankemarkt that sold the Holnsteiner line. 

It took me me awhile but I finally found one, in of all places a Kaufland (think German style Wal-Mart).  I'm sure the checkout girl was cussing me in German since I only had one of each variety plus a couple of other interesting brews and the Holnsteiner beers did not have a bar code so she had to enter them manually.  She was really glad to see me leave.

OK enough of the story and on to what I thought.

Schlossbrauerei Holnstein Barons Urhell - Here is the Helles offering.  It pours a crisp clear gold with a light head that dissipated quickly but left extensive lacing on the side of the mug.  The aroma is elusive to my sniffer.   The taste is crisp and mild with a lingering finish overall it is a fine balance between malt and hops.  There might be a mild fruity undercurrent.  A pretty taste beer.  .5l brown bottle, 4.8% alc by vol.

Schlossbrauerei Holnstein Ahnentrunk - This one is a dark or dunkle beer.  It pours with a generous beige colored head that quickly disappeared. The color is  a dark brown with reddish gold hints.  The aroma is one of sweet malts and the taste is slightly sweet with spicy undertones.  The finish is dry and slightly smoky.  I really like this beer.  It was one of the first ones I found from the Schlossbrauerei Holnstein and I had drank several prior to reviewing it here. .5l brown bottle, 5.2% alc by vol.

Schlossbrauerei Holnstein Baroness Weisse.  This beer pours a light yellow gold with the slightly cloudy characteristics of a wheat beer.  The head was fluffy and white and disappeared fairly quickly. The aroma is fresh cut grass with some spicy undertones (maybe cloves?)  The taste is light with slight hints of orange peel.  The finish is crisp and dry.  A lighter weissen than normal, but that doesn't make it bad, just different.  .5L brown bottle, 5.0% alc by vol.

Schlossbrauerei Holnstein Schlossherrn Pils - As the name suggests this the Pilner offering from Schlossbrauerei Holnstein.  It pours a bright gold with a soft head that disappeared quickly but left fine lacing on the side of the glass.  The aroma is pretty subtle and eludes my stopped up nose.  The taste is slightly sweet with just a small bite of hops.  The finish is where the hops really kicks, although it is still pretty subtle as compared to a Czech Pilsner.  An interesting finish to my evening of beers.  Not bad but definitely not my favorite of the group.

Week 7 Marathon Training

This weeks workout.

7

Rest

2 miles GP 2x2 miles T 3 miles GP

3 miles 6x100 S

80-minute run, including 6:00–8:00 TUT

Rest

5 miles

16 miles

39–43 miles

The Weekend's Workout

Well, Let's just say that my Labor Day weekend plans trumped my workout plans.  I had meant to get up and do the 15 mile run Friday and just blow off the rest of the weekend.  Well that didn't happen with last minute packing and checking of things to do in Berlin and Hamburg.  Plus Shantel went to Macen's Preschool Orientation and I stayed at home with Maddox, and then it was off to Berlin.  Just way to chaotic to get anything done.

Oh well I just tell myself that I needed to give my achy knee a break and that it was good for me.  Whatever let's me sleep at night.