Beer Drinker With A Triathlon Problem

Danish Beers

2011-11-27T11:09:00.000-06:00

I have a really good friend who married a girl from Denmark. On their last trip up there he was kind enough to round up a few Danish beers for me and wanted me to try them. I was impressed with a couple of these and not so much with the rest. From what I can tell though Denmark has a pretty varied brewing culture with lots of small breweries producing obscure brews and a few big breweries producing some in mass quanties, almost makes me wish we had taken a trip up there. Oh well, here is what I thought of the beers that I did get.

Fynsk Forar Hydleblomst Ale - This appears to be a summer ale from Denmark. The label proudly proclaims it as a European Beer Star 2008 Tasting Gold Award winner. It pours a cloudy straw yellow with some hints of orange. The head is slightly off white and disappeared quickly. The aroma is spicy citrus, somewhat reminiscent of a wheat beer. The taste is sweet and caramelly with hints of fruits. A little bit of hops comes in at the crisp finish. This would be a great beer for drinking after mowing the yard on a hot summer day. It came in a .5L bottle and at only 5.0% alcohol is something that can sipped on for awhile, definitely deserving of it's Gold Award, if only I had another one .

Vestfyen Willemoes Ale - This is a dark brown ale from Denmark. It pours a dark brown with hints of red throughout the body. The head was beige in color and very thin, dissolving rapidly with just some lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is sweet and rich. The taste is of well roasted malted caramel with hints of brown sugary sweetness. Not much hops bitterness in this one. The strength of the roasted malts is pretty overwhelming.

Ceres Bering Bryg - This beer is supposedly from the Royal Brewery of Denmark. Some reviews I've read called it a sweet stout, sounds good to me. This beer pours a very dark chocolate with some hints of red throughout the body. The head was thin to nonexsistent. The aroma is very sweet. That sweetness hits you in the face immediately, giving this beer an almost liqueur like taste. The finish is wet and crisp with some alcohol overtones. Wow this beer is really really sweet. At times I almost thought I was sipping a spiced rum and coke. In fact the sweetness was almost overbearing and ended up dumping this beer after a few drinks. Alcohol abuse I know but I really couldn't take it anymore.

Wilbroe Argangsol 2011 - This beer is brewed by the Carlsberg brewery in Denmark. I've seen it described as a malt liquer on some beer rating sites but Carlsberg calls it Pilsner. I'm not sure it's a Pilsner but I don't think it's a malt liquer. To begin with this beer has 10.6% alcohol by volume, so it packs a little bit of a punch. It pours a clear copper red with a very thin head that dissolves almost immediately with some very fine lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is very sweet. That carries over into the taste which is sweet caramally malts, almsot reminiscent of a Marzen. The finish though is where you find the alcohol and it lingers and lingers, although not overbearing. A pretty interesting beer that you can only drink a little bit of.

Kulmbacher - Kapuziner Weiss Biers

2011-11-20T10:56:00.000-06:00

Kapuziner Brauerei is the wheat beer or weissbier producing subsidary of Kulmbacher Brauerei. I've tried all of the other Kulmbacher beers but haven't tried any of the Kapuziner imprint. Here is what I thought:

Kapuziner Weissbier - This beer pours a cloudy orange with a very generous head that crested the rim of the glass but held it's shape. The head gradually dissolves, leaving lots of lacing on the sides. Cloves, spices and fruits dominate the aroma. The first taste is one of cloves and hints of bananas and orange. The finish is crisp and clean with a fruity after taste. A pretty decent weissbier.

Kapuziner Weissbier Dunkel - A dark chocolately brown with a generous beige head that hung around for awhile. The aroma is of roasted wheat and slightly smoky. The taste is cloves and bananas and the finish is crisp and clean. Not my favorite dunkel wiesse but not bad either.

Kapuziner Winter Weissbier - This beer pours a dark cloudy orangish brown with a generous beige head that dissolves down to about a finger width. The aroma is spices and cloves. The taste is citrus and bananas. The finish is crisp and clean with hints of spices lingering. An interesting winter wheat.

Kapuziner Kristall Weisse - This beer pours a clear dark amber with slightly off white head that dissolves quickly leaving lots of lacing on the sides of the glass. Aroma is cloves and fruits...oranges and bananas? The taste is more of the same cloves and citrus. The finish is light and very crisp. This one was my probably my favorite Kapuziner.

Athens Classic Marathon Recap

2011-11-16T01:31:00.003-06:00

Well I've had a few days to reflect on the Athens Classic Marathon and during that time the screaming in my quads has subsided and I think I can look back with a slightly clearer head. Here's the recap.

On the morning of race day, me and the two other guys that were running the marathon got up around 4 am and had a light breakfast and a couple of cups of coffee to wake up. We then made the 15 minute walk to the pick up point where the busses would take us to the start point at Marathon Stadium. After about a 40 minute drive we arrived at Marathon. The first thing that we noticed was the light drizzle that was being blown sideways by the gale force winds. Great this is going to be fun.

We grabbed plastic bags from the volunteers to keep us dry and we quickly found shelter under the stands of the stadium. While we waited for the 8:30 bag drop, we stretched, tried to stay loose and debated how much clothes we wanted to wear. I'd purposely left my tights back in Germany, thinking it wouldn't be too bad, but I did have a have a long sleeve technical shirt and a long sleeve half zip outer shirt, my warm up pants are way to baggy for me to run in so I knew it was going to just be shorts for me.

Here's a picture of some of the other runners from Vilseck, two
of them were my neighbors and the others where from my old
Squadron in 2 CR.

Just before bag drop time I went to the porta john for that last minute download and that's where things started to get interesting. As I was trying to get all of my layers off/down my gel bottle fell off my race belt and plop! Right into the blue water of the porta john. Great. There was only going to be one gel station on the route and I'd wanted to make sure I didn't have to rely on it. Now I was going to have to ration my gel and pick up more than one packet at the only gel point at around mile 15/16.
I dropped my bag having made the decision to run in the long sleeve shirt and the half zip. We then ran into/met up with several other runners from the Vilseck/Graf area. All told there were probably 13-15 runners from the area there for the race. There were blocks that the runners had to go into to start and then it would be a rolling start. Blocks were determined by your finish time from your last marathon. This is where we all got split up as we headed to our specific blocks.

9 am start time. The gun went off and everyone takes off. I was in Block 4 and I finally crossed the start line at about 9:05. I weaved through the crowd trying to find my stride, which I finally hit when I got on the sidewalk and started to pass everyone. The first 10k is basically a gentle downhill slope. We looped around the the tomb of the Greek Soldiers who died at the Battle of Marathon and then we started a gentle up hill climb.

At the 10k mark I was feeling good running at a avg 8:30 pace which is a little faster than I wanted to be but I was comfortable. The weather had started to clear and I was starting to think I had overdressed and having some thoughts about finishing under 4 hours.

At the half way point is about where things started to go to hell. The weather had gotten worse again with wind gusts of 20-30 mph with a continuous light drizzle and the temp seemed to be dropping. I had started fighting some calf cramps around mile 12 but I had stopped and stretched and seemed to be working through them pretty well. I crossed the halfway marker just under 2 hours, still on pace for a sub 4 hour. Little did I know what was about to hit me.

According to International Association of Athletics Federations the Athen's Classic Marathon includes the toughest mid race climb in any major marathon. Here are the charts from my Garmin.

First 13 miles, not bad. Mile 14 to mile 20, this sucks. Mile 20 to the finish, it's all downhill!

The climb from the 6 mile mark to the halfway point isn't too bad. It's the almost 900ft in elevation change from mile 12 to mile 19.5 that really kills you. If you don't think that's too bad check out the grades below.

The grade chart demonstrates that many of those uphills are actually short .25-.5 mile grades of almost 10% or greater in some cases followed by an equally short steep downhill. Those short ascents and descents played hell with my quads and it was right around the 20% grade at mile 17 where everything fell apart.

At mile 17 I stopped to stretch my calves again and all of a sudden it wasn't just my calves, it was my quads, my hamstring, AND my groin. Basically my whole left leg was a taken over by muscle spasms and cramps. In all of my athletic endevours I have never felt anything quite like it. I was leaning against the metal guardrail in the median and pounding on it in pain, thinking that I was going to end up at the medic station waiting on the Sag Wagon bus to take me to the finish. The cramps gradually subsided though and I decided I would walk until I felt like I could shuffle/run again.

Statue of Pheidippides along side the route. He died after
running from Marathon to Athens to give news of a Athenian
victory.

At around mile 19 I actually saw 3 busses full of people who had called it a day and at that point I was cold, wet, miserable and the wind was whipping pretty bad and it took all of my intestinal fortitude to not call it a day. But as I've said before I'm too damn stubborn (or dumb depending on how you look at it) to quit so I kept driving on, besides in only a mile it would become all downhill too the finish line.

Can you tell I'm struggling here?

I made it to the downhill portion and I managed to pick up the pace to a shuffle/slow run and I was actually able to hold it all the way to the finish.
I have never been so happy to see a finish line in my life. I picked up the pace as I headed into the stadium but had to shut it down again as my legs started cramping again, although I did cross the finish line at slow run. I was very disappointed with my 4:59:48 finish but considering the course and weather I'll take it.

A view of the finish area at Panathinaikon Stadium
from across the street a couple of days prior to the race

This was a well run race event with over 8500 runners for the marathon. It is an IAAF Gold Label Race so it's well supported. The course is completely closed from Marathon all the way into the Athens' City Center. Aid stations were well stocked with water, although it was in bottles and not cups, with alternating stations having sports drinks and bananas. The race expo had lots of cool gear and exhibits with several booths from marathons across Europe. I was disappointed in the photography of the event. The photographers, and there were a lot, only managed to capture photos of me crossing the finish line from a distance and at the edge of the shot, even though there were plenty of photographers at ground level and at other points throughout the course. Oh well.

This was a fun race and if the weather had been different I think I would have had a better experience. Average temps in Athens during November are in the mid 60's, it was in the high 40's low 50's on race day. The sheer history of the event makes it worth doing. I'd recommend though that this not be someone's first marathon and that they train for hills (something I really didn't do) and that you really pace yourself to the half way point (something I also didn't do) because that's where this race will get you.

I really need to wash the taste of this race out of my mouth. I'm thinking but Shantel and I have both agreed that races between October and May are not good because of the unpredicatability of the weather. With that said, there is the Olathe Chamber of Commerce Oz Marathon next April 21st. That's almost May, right?

Athen's Classic Marathon

2011-11-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

Well I should be getting started in the Athen's Classic Marathon right about now. I'm looking to run a sub 4 hour race and hopefully I'm pretty close to a 3:45 but we'll see. Take a look at the elevation chart and you'll see my concerns.

Downhill for the first 6 miles and then it's uphill for the next 14 until you cruise the last 6 miles downhill to the finish line. Sounds easy right? Well that uphill will be tough on my quads and normally I would stride out the downhills but after 20 miles I'll be lucky to be doing more than shuffling which will then be even worse on the quads and knees. Sounds like a good time doesn't it.

With all of that said here's the actual run course from Marathon into downtown Athens. Hopefully we avoid any protesters!

26.2 miles of pure fun

Marathon Training

2011-11-06T12:33:00.000-06:00

Last week was a good week. I really enjoy tapering down leading up to a Marathon or long distance triathalon.

This week is more of the same. A mile of strides on Tuesday a short run with strides on Thursday and a two mile jog on Saturday, all in an effort to keep the legs loose. Since we are traveling all day Thursday I don't I get that run in and we'll be doing some walking and sight seeing on Friday and Saturday so we'll see if I get the run in on Saturday. I bet I get something in since one of the guys we are going with is a super fitness guy so he'll probably have me and the other marathoner out early every morning for one of his "light" workouts.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
16	Rest	4x400 SI	Rest	3 miles 6x100 S	Rest	2-mile jog	Marathon

Special Beer Review - Schloderer Brau

2011-11-06T07:11:00.000-06:00

This week's brewery is a local one from Amberg. We've gone there a couple of times to eat and the food is really good as is the beer. With a combination like that you can't go wrong! Here's a more detailed recap of the beer.

Schloderer Schlodi Kult - This is the helles beer from Schloderer Brau. It's a little different in that it comes in a .33L bottle instead of the standard .5L bottle. It pours a darker amber/gold with a very thin head that disappeared quickly leaving some lacing on the sides. The aroma is hoppy and reminds me of fresh cut grass, not something that normally comes out in a helles. The taste is more hoppy than other helles I've tried and the finish lingers a little bit.

Schloderer Weizen - The wheat beer from Schloderer Brau. The body color is a cloudy amber gold. The head was minimal compared to some weizen I've had, but still frothy and generous leaving light lacing on the sides. The aroma is cloves and fruit. The taste is an explosion of cloves and apples. Really good. This is one of my favorite weizens.

Schloderer Dunkel- As the name suggests, this is the Dunkel from Schloderl Brau. It pours a a very dark coffee with a beige head. The head lingers and leaves light lacing even after it disappears. The aroma is chocolaty sweet from the roasted malts and that carries over into the taste. The finish is clean with no hoppy bitterness or after taste. Not a bad dunkel.

Special Beer Review - Pax Brau

2011-10-30T14:28:00.000-05:00

Pax Brau is a small craft brewery in Oberelsbach, Germany just north and west of Bamberg. The name means Peace Brewery and one of their slogans is beat swords into beer spigots. That's an interesting take.They claim to use all organic ingredients and to only brew small batches. They had a salesman at the local bazaar put on by MWR so I just "had" to pick up a couple of bottles. I like the fact that they came in 1 liter bottles.

Pax Brau Vollbier - This is supposed to be a helles that's brewed in accordance with the Bavarian Beer Purity Law of 1516. That's a little bit of a stretch since the basic premise is that a beer can only have three ingredients: water, barley malt, and hops and the ingredient list on the bottle lists water, barley malt, hops, and wheat . Wheat wasn't technically allowed until the German Provisional Beer law of 1993. More than likely this a marketing ploy designed to get someone to buy the beer without reading the ingredient list. To heck with the technicalities on to the beer.

This beer poured a reddish amber with a generous beige head that lasted a while and left lots of lacing on the side of the glass. The aroma is slightly smoky. The smoke theme carries over into the taste where the normal balance of the helles is obscured by the smoky flavor. Evidently the hops had had a little smoke added to it and in the case of this batch probably more than a little smoke. The finish is slightly sweet and semi dry with the smoke continuing in the aftertaste. Not a bad beer and it would go great with one of my smoked briskets or turkeys.

The guy who sold me the beer at the local bazaar told me it was not like the Bamberg beers when I mentioned the smoke and the Bamberg beers I've had. He claimed there was just a touch of smoke. I'd have to disagree, I've had smokier beers from Bamberg but I've also had some that had about the same or less hints of smoke. The ingredients are listed as bio or organic, so interesting. I did like it and wish I would of picked more than one bottle. Oh well.

Pax Brau Weizen - OK the picture doesn't do the beer justice. I originally opened the bottle a couple of days ago, drank a glass and then sealed it back up. Even though it "popped" when I flipped the lid it was a little flat tonight. Anyway when fresh it pours a light golden amber with a slightly off white head. The aroma is sweet smelling fresh cut grass with lots of clove. The taste is lots of clove with hints of other spices..cinnamon maybe? Also maybe a little like bubblegum? It was really good fresh and not half bad flat. The finish is crisp. I would call this a really good craft weizen.

Marathon Training

2011-10-30T12:30:00.001-05:00

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
15	Rest	2 miles GP 4 miles T	3 miles 6x100 S	1-hour run, including 6x400 SI	Rest	Rest	1-hour run	27–29 miles

Special Beer Review - Paulaner Brau

2011-10-23T14:11:00.000-05:00

This weeks brewery beer review is from Paulaner Brewery. One of the the Big Six from Munich. I will admit that when I first moved to Germany I purposely avoided Paulaner because it was a name I was familiar with from the States. That was a mistake and as I get ready to move back I'm damn glad that I should be able to find some Paulaner. If you have a auto web translator their website is one of the more amusing ones I've been too. If not their international site isn't bad either. Bottom line though here is what I thought of the beer.

Paulaner Original Munchner Hell - The Helles from Paulaner. I original had this beer when I first got to Germany and my review is here. I'm still obviously not a pro at beer reviews but I've come a long way. Here are my current thoughts. this beer pours a clear yellow with hints of amber/red. A generous head starts thin and dissolves quickly leaving small amounts of lacing on the sides. The aroma is of malts and hints of fresh baked bread. The taste is fine balance between hops and malts with the malts wining in the end. The finish is wet and crisp. The verdict is still the same, a fine example of the Munchner Helles and I'm glad that I should be able to find this beer when I get back to the states.

Paulaner Premium Pils - This pils pours a yellow-gold with a thin head that dissolved rapidly but leaves prominent lacing on the sides. The aroma is hops and spices and that carries over into the taste. The taste is spicy hops....not bitter, but tasty. The finish has a touch of bitterness but it's almost not enough to notice. A good example of a German Pils.

Paulaner Original Munchner Urtyp - According to the German Beer Institute a Urtyp Helles is beer where the brewery tries to emphasize the authenticity of its beverage (ur means "original" and urtyp means "original type"). This beer pours a clear amber gold with a generous head that slowly dissolves leaving small amounts of lacing on the sides. The aroma is a sweet malts and that carrys over into the taste which is competing balance between the hops and malts with the malts ultimately dominating. The finish is crisp and slightly dry, making you want another drink. This not just one of my favorite Paulaner's it's one of my favorite beers period.

Paulaner Original Munchner Dunkel - The dunkel beer from Paulaner. It pours a dark brownish amber almost like a cola. The head is beige colored and foams up well just cresting the top of the glass without going over and leaving lots of lacing on the sides. The aroma is of coffee, chocolate and sweet. The taste is sweet, well roasted malts with the hints of coffee and chocolate. The finish is slightly dry. Not my favorite dunkel but it's drinkable and definitely not a bad example of the type.

Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier Naturtrub - The regular Hefewiezen from Paulaner. This beer pours a brilliant straw gold with a generous slightly golden head. The body is too cloudy to see the carbonation bubbles that keep the head alive for quite awhile. The aroma is cloves and bread. The taste is more cloves with just a hint of bananas. The finish is crisp and wet, and just makes you want to have a follow up drink. A fine example of Bavarian hefewiezen.

Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel - This beer pours a cloudy dark copper amber with a generous beige head that is plenty foamy and dissolves really slowly. The aroma is of spices and bread. The taste is bananas, spices (cloves?) and slightly toasted bread. Interesting. The finish is crisp and wet. Pretty tasty. Since we couldn't get into the beer tents during Oktoberfest this was the beer I was drinking that day. For an interesting twist on the radler or shandy concept take a 50/50 mix of this and a lemon soda. Germans call it Russ. I'm almost tempted to think I like a Russ more than I do a Radler.

Paulaner Weissbier Kristallklar - The filtered wheat beer from Paulaner. This one pours a clear golden yellow with a frothy head that quickly disappeared but was fead from a constant flow of tiny bubbles from the center of the glass. The aroma is spicy banana cloves. The taste is bananas and cloves as well. The finish is very crisp and tart, but not really dry or not really wet. A very refreshing beer and probably one that goes down well on a hot day in the middle of summer.

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 a slightly sweet malty hint of hops and a semi dry finish. Most definitely a very drinkable beer.

Paulaner Salvator - A meal in a bottle, this dopplebock also packs a punch at 7.9% alcohol by volume. It's Paulaner's take on the Catholic monks liquid diet for Lent. It pours a bright coppery red with in my pouring a very limited head. The aroma is slightly fruity and sweet. The initial taste is fruity, dissolving into chocolaty, roasted malts. The finish is dry with just a little more than a hint of the alcoholic punch that it will hit you with. Not a bad substitute for a meal, but I'm not sure I can handle more than one at a time.

As I've stated before you can't beat a free steinkrug with a rack of beer. It's even cooler when the handle is a carabiner that you can attach to backpack! Actually it's not as comfortable as a normal handle, but it's still cool.

Marathon Training

2011-10-23T11:59:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty bad posting the week's workout. I'm going to have to go back and at least post the plan. As for following the plan the last couple of weeks. I've been spot on except for the long runs on weekends. With some of our last trips around Europe and just my desire in general I don't think I'm where I need to be. Don't get me wrong I think if I had to run a Half Marathon this week, I'd crush my PR, but the max miles I've been doing is hovering right around the 16-17 mile mark when I probably should have been doing 18-20 miles. Oh well, that probably just means that I won't hit the 3:45 like I'd like but I'll still be able to finish and finish strong and respectable and that's the bottom line.

Here is this weeks workout. Turning over in my mind that I should do the 20 miles that I bailed on today, I only did 16 of it. We'll see how I'm feeling next Sunday.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
14	Rest	3x1 mile C 3x 800 SI	3 miles 6x100 S	75-minute run, including 6:00–8:00 TUT	Rest	4 miles	13 miles	45 miles

Special Beer Review - Klosterbrauerei Scheyern

2011-10-16T12:13:00.000-05:00

New Old Brewery Alert! I have seen hundreds of brew brands since I've been in Germany, many of which you have read or will eventually read about here. Klosterbrauerei Scheyern is one that I haven't heard of or can recall seeing in any of the getrankemarkts that I frequent. That's interesting since their website lists them as the third oldest brewery in Germany (Behind the two who argue about who is the oldest Weihenstephan and Weltenburger).

There have been two coincidences that have caused me to start reviewing their beer, one a friend brought me a bottle of their Helles, and two I went to a local Getrankemarkt and found their beer there with a free steinkrug attached the rack. I just had to buy a rack and pick up a bottle of the other varieties that were there. It looks like they have a line that's only available in the local area and a line available nationally, this is the only line I can get without going to the brewery. I'm just guessing, but it looks like they are trying to expand their distribution across the rest of Germany.

Kloster Scheyern Kloster ~ Weisse Hell - This beer pours a cloudy dark honey color. A generous head slowly dissolves but leaves some white froth that clings to the sides. An aroma of citrus with some hints of fresh cut hay fills the air. The taste is light, and crsip with hints of citrus and spices. Spices dominate the clean wet finish. A fine Weisse Hell.

Kloster Scheyern Kloster Weisse Dunkel - This dark wheat beer pours a dark chocolatly brown with small hints of amber. The head was a thin off white/beige that quickly disappeared. I think I smell cloves and bananas in the aroma. The taste has hints of chocolate but no one other flavor seems to dominate or jump out at me, the traditional flavors of a weisse are all there just muted and blended almost to a perfection. Quite tasty, the finish is crisp and wet and lends itself to another sip. This beer is just a little bit different, but in this case different is good.

Kloster Scheyern Kloster - Export Dunkel - The regular Dunkel. Since I liked the Dunkel Weisse so much and I've kind of been on a Dunkel kick lately, I had high hopes for this one. It pours s a dark chocolately brown with hints of reddish amber and a generous beige head that slowly dissolved leaving generous lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is sweet malt and that carries over into the flavor a chocolately, caramelly sweet malt with maybe some hints of coffee. The finish was wet and lingering but not bitter. Maybe a little different than your standard Dunkel but with me different is good. My high hopes were satisfied and I'm glad I bought a rack of this one. Everyone I shared it with also agreed that it was pretty good.

Kloster Scheyern Kloster ~ Gold Hell - The helles beer from Kloster Scheyeren, it pours a brillant clear straw yellow with hints of darker gold. The head is generous and frothy and crested the top of the glass but didn't overflow dissolving slowly while leaving decent lacing on the sides. The aroma is malty and bready. That theme carries over into the taste where sweet malts dominate, leading to a wet finish with just hints of the 5.4% alcohol by volume coming through. Not quite your typical helles but not quite typical seems to be the norm for this kloster brau.

You can't beat it when you get a free steinkrug with the rack. Yeah!!!!

I really wish this brewery was closer, that way I could get some of their more local offerings. After a while some of these German beers start tasting the same. The beers from Kloster Scheyeren were a welcome change of pace, all of them just slightly different then what you typically expect from their style.

Marathon Training

2011-10-16T11:59:00.001-05:00

I'm back dating some posts. Here is what the training plan was for Week 13.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
13	Rest	3x1 mile C 3x800 SI	3 miles 6x100 S	75-minute run, including 6:00–8:00 TUT	Rest	4 miles	20 miles	46 miles

Special Beer Review - Regensburger Spital Brauerei

2011-10-09T14:11:00.000-05:00

I had visited the Regensburger Spital Brauerei while home on R&R last year (You can read about it here) but I didn't really review the beers. So here's an opportunity to correct that, especially since I liked the beer when I had it in the restuarant. The label proclaims it to be the oldest brauerei in Regensburg. It's a shame that I'm probably not getting back down there since they have several other varieties that I wasn't able to pick up.

Regensburger Spital Helles - This beer pours a brillant golden amber with a what seemed to be a thin head that dissolved quickly, although there were generous amounts of lacing left on the side of the glass. The aroma was very subtle and missed my nose. The taste though was a pleasant surprise perfectly balanced with a hint of citrus, I actually had to check to make sure I hadn't picked up a Radler by mistake. The finsih was wet with just a hint of bitterness and left you wanting another drink. Yep, just as good as I remembered it from R&R.

Regensburger Spital Dunkels - This beer pours a dark amber brown, almost a black with hints of amber. The generous beige lasted awhile before dissolving into lacing that coated the side of the glass. The aroma is of malts and sweetness. The taste is chocolately sweet with maybe some hints of coffee? The finish has a touch of bitterness but not overwhelming, just enough to counter the sweetness that the beer started with. Probably a little stronger than your typical dunkel but definitely not bad.

Regensburger Spital Weizen - This beer pours the typical cloudy golden amber of a weizen. The head is generous and lasts a while and leaves lacings that stubbornly stick to the sides. The aroma is of cloves and spices, while the taste is of cloves spices and definite hints of bananas. There is just a touch of bitterness in the finish. An interesting weizen since there is probably a more powerful flavor of cloves and bananas then what I've typically seen.

Regensburger Spital Pils - I found this in a .33L bottle, although I think it does come in a .5L bottle. It pours a brillant clear yellow gold with a generous white head that dissappeared fairly quickly with only some lacing on the sides. The aroma is definitely hops. After the aroma I expected this beer to taste very hoppy and bitter. I was surprised, hoppy yes, bitter no. In fact there are hints of other spices in the flavor. A slightly different take on what I'm accustomed to from a German Pils and I actually like it.

One of my favorite steinkrug's, plain but distinctive looking.

Marathon Training Plan

2011-10-09T12:01:00.001-05:00

Here is this week's Training Plan.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
12	Rest	2 miles GP 4x2 miles T (2:00) 3 miles GP	3 miles 6x100 S	90-minute run, including 8:00–10:00 TUT	Rest	4 miles	19 miles	45–51 miles

Marathon Training Plan

2011-10-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

Here is this week's Training Plan.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total
11	Rest	2 miles GP 4x2 miles T (2:00) 3 miles GP	3 miles 6x100 S	90-minute run, including 8:00–10:00 TUT	Rest	4 miles	18 miles	45–51 miles

Special Beer Review - Schlossbrauerei Hirschau

2011-10-02T10:04:00.000-05:00

This week is one of the local breweries, located about 15 minutes down the road from our house is the Schlossbrauerei Hirschau. Even though it's only 15 minutes away. I have to drive it to get the beer. The local Getrankemarkts don't carry. That should give you an indication of how regionalized some of these beers are. It should also explain some of my excitment when I come across another new beer and those discoveries are really what I'm going to miss when we move back to the states in a couple of months.

Here is a picture of the castle inn that's associated with the brewery.

The crest on one of the brewery buildings.

The loading dock area.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Radler - I'll start with the Radler here. It pours much darker than other Radlers I've had lately, almost the pale gold of a helles, and has a little more of frothy white head. Does this mean it has a little more beer in it? If so then it doesn't manifest itself in the aroma or taste. The aroma is all lemon with maybe just a hint of hops lingering underneath. The taste is pure lemon and is a good break from beer. I had this one on a day where I'd already had several beers and this was a refreshing break. I'll probably ride out to Hirschau and stop and have a Radler or two when I do.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau 1812 Original - This is the helles from Schlossbrauerei Hirschau. The body is an amber gold with a thin head that quickly disappeared. The aroma is subtle and eludes my sniffer. The taste is crisp and more hops than malt. The finish definitely carries a reminder of hops. While not a Pils I'd say that it's hops level almost approaches Pils level. I'm not a fan of hoppy beers. I prefer more balance and I normally get that in a helles. Not here though.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Johannibier - I'm not sure what kind of beer this is, I think it might be a bock, maybe? What I am sure about is that it pours goldish orange with a generous off white head that hung around for awhile and continued to leave lacing down the sides. The aroma slight but I can detect the malts. The taste is slightly sweet with more malt than hops and leads to a dry finish. Pretty tasty and a very interesting beer.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Hirschauer Spezial - A Dortmunder or Export type beer. It pours a cloudy orangish yellow with virtually no head. The aroma is underwhelming and eluded my sniffer. The taste is malty with sour undertones and a shadow of hoppy bitterness. The finish is dry and demands another drink. An interesting brew.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Pils - The German Pils offerring . The body is not as pale as some other Pils coming in a more golden color, slightly reminiscent of apple juice. The head on this Pils was non exsistent, not even any lacing on the sides. The aroma was hoppy and earthy. The taste was only slightly hoppy even for a Pils, slightly surprised there. German Pils tend to be too hoppy and bitter for my taste but this was pretty mild, almost closer to a helles.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Leicht - This is no reduced calorie offering. When the Germans say Leicht it typical means less alcholol (sometimes it also just means ligher in color), so if you are looking for a good buzz steer clear of German beers that call themselve Leicht. This one comes in with 3.0% alc. It pours and looks much like it's Pils or Helles siblings and the head is thin and quickly disappears leaving lacing on the sides. The aroma is malty and earthy and the taste is a well balanced between the malts and the hops with the hops showing up in the finish that lingers ever so slightly. Once again another interesting brew.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Hefe-Weisse - The Hefe Weisse from Schlossbrauerei Hirschau comes in a slightly different bottle than it's lager and ale siblings, a longer necked .5l version instead of the short necked .5l bottle. It pours a a dark brown/gold/amber, not dark like a dunkel weisse but not straw gold like some other weizen. The head is the standard frothy white though not as generous as some. The aroma is cloves and citrus. The taste is stll cloves with a touch of citrus and overall is not a flavor explosion. The finish is dry and leaves you wanting more. This is an understated Hefe-Weisse, not bad just understated.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Festbier - I love Fests!!! At least that's what my son Macen says and I can't say that I disagree with him, maybe I like them for different reasons (it's all about the beer and the giant pretzels!!!) but I still like them. Schlossbrauerei Hirschau's Festbier or Marzan type beer poured a golden amber with a thin head that quickly disappeared with no lacing on the sides. The aroma was sweet malty with just a hint of cut grass. The taste was malty and slightly sweet with no hint of hops or bitterness. The finish lingered slightly but wasn't bad. A little less carbonated then some of the other beers not much of a tingle as I swirled around the mouth looking for taste.

Schlossbrauerei Hirschau Keller-Bier Spezial - The final beer from Schlossbrauerei Hirschau is a Keller or Zwickl beer. It pours a cloudy copper orange with a generous white head. The head lasted a while gradually dissipating into white lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma was one of malts. The taste was crisp and malty but with a tang of hops. It finished dry, basically begging you to take another sip. A pretty tasty brew.

Week 10 Marathon Training

2011-09-26T09:33:00.001-05:00

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

2011-09-25T14:19:00.001-05:00

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

2011-09-19T12:17:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-18T14:05:00.001-05:00

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

2011-09-17T13:47:00.021-05:00

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

2011-09-13T14:17:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-12T10:09:00.000-05:00

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!

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

2011-09-11T11:07:00.000-05:00

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

2011-09-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

This weeks workout.

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

2011-09-05T01:29:00.000-05:00

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.

Tuesday Speed Day

2011-08-30T13:22:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned that I hate Tuesdays. That's because it's Speed Day and the workouts stretch me just a little bit outside of my comfort zone. Today was no different and it didn't help that I dorked up the workout. Of course I didn't make it easier, I just had to make it harder by going an extra mile. But in the end it was a good workout. I actually did 10 miles within spitting distance (8:40min/miles) of my marathon goal pace (8:32min/miles). That's really good for me considering that my half marathon PR is only an 8:50min/mile average and my long runs in HR Zone 3 are normally in the 9:45-10:min/mile range. Do I think I could of held the pace for another 3 miles? Probably not but it gives me something to think about.

Now for a slightly different thought. I've blogged about taking Macen for some of my shorter runs in the BOB stroller. Well some of those runs are tempo/fartlek type runs where I run or sprint a distance at a certain pace and then I break it down and walk or slow jog for a short distance or time and then it's back to running or sprinting. Well when I break it down I've got the ultimate cheerleader with me who says "Don't Stop Dad You Can Keep Going!" I've tried to explain to him that's it's just part of the workout plan to stop and rest every once in awhile. I didn't think he was getting it until we were walking back from the PX on Sunday and he jumped off his bike and declared "It's now time to rest!" He kept walking only he was pushing the bike and not riding it. Shantel was like what the heck, until I explained where I thought he got it from. Too funny

This Week's Workouts

2011-08-29T12:54:00.002-05:00

Here is this week's workouts. I have been a little slack about posting them. I promise I'll get better. This week actually has a decent jump in mileage for the Sunday long run. The most I've done in the last couple of weeks has been 10 miles. I'll have to tweak this a little bit since this is Labor day weekend and we are planning on going to Berlin to see the sights so I probably won't get any running done on Saturday or Sunday. I'll let you know how it works out.

Week	M	T	W	T	F	S	S	Total

6	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	15 miles	39–43 miles

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen

2011-08-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

Oktoberfest is just around the corner and Shantel and I are making plans to gather some old friends we haven't seen in years together for a trip down to Munich. It's my only chance to go to Oktoberfest plus we haven't seen some these friends in more than 5 years. It should be a good time. It's fitting then that the last beer from Hacker-Pschorr that I'm going to review is their Oktoberfest Marzen, the original beer of Oktoberfest (Marzen has now beeen replaced mainly with Helles at the fest itself)

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.

This is the last beer in the Hacker-Pschorr collection that I will be able to review. I actually think I've covered them all at one point in th last 20 months with the only exception being their doppelbock. I'll miss the next doppelbock season as we move back to the states but maybe I can find it there.

I'm going to change my beer review format a little bit. Instead of single beers, I'm going to do a whole family of beers (or as much as I can find) from a brewery and then do one long post including pictures of the brewery if I can. I've already got several worked up that are just waiting on actual brewery pictures so look out for them.

BOB stroller

2011-08-25T15:22:00.000-05:00

While I was deployed Shantel bought a BOB Revolution running stroller. We had a couple of neighbors who had them and she thought it would be a good way for me and Macen, and eventually Maddox to spend time together.

Well Macen hasn't been too interested in going on runs with me, so we've only used it a couple times, mainly for short walks to the park or to once to the health clinic for an appointment. Well today we used it for a short 3 mile run.

It was a great run. Even pushing the stroller I stayed well within my per mile average and honestly the stroller practically rolls itself, that's how smooth it was. So smooth in fact that at the 1 .5 mile mark Macen fell asleep and didn't even notice when we jumped the low spots in the curbs.

Bottom line if you are a runner and you have young kids then you need a BOB. It's a great way to spend time with your kids and still get your run in. The big wheels also make it great for off road (or off pavement for you urban adventurers) stuff as well.

Marathon Training

2011-08-25T14:59:00.000-05:00

We'll I guess I ought to talk about my marathon training. Well I'm using a free training plan from runners world It has a couple of different levels and I'm using the intermediate level in hopes of breaking the 4 hour mark and hopefully closer to the 3:30 mark than the 4 hour. The plan has two off days, Monday and Friday, weekdays are devoted to speed and shorter runs and the weekends are medium to long runs. So far I'm hating the Tuesday pace runs the most.

The good part about starting a new training regimen is that I start at the beginning with a good base from the previous regimen. I'm never really starting from scratch and it gives my body an opportunity to heal.

I am going to try and throw some swim and bike workouts in on Mondays and Fridays, low impact, low intensity type stuff so that I get some " active" recovery.

Athens Marathon

2011-08-20T07:45:00.000-05:00

OK it's official I'm entered to compete in the Athens Classic Marathon. The race follows the historical route from Marathonas to Athen's Panathinaiko Stadium, which hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896. Shantel gave me the go ahead the other night but I held out to register until today, just in case she changed her mind.

One of our former neighbors will be there and there is the possibility of another couple from our street going as well, so there will be people for Shantel and the boys to hang out with.

I'm excited for this, not only is it the 2,500 anniversary of the Battle of Marathon and the run that gave the race it's name but it's the last event and trip we will get to take in Europe as we prepare to move back to the States. We'll get to some of the most ancient history of the world in the days prior to the race and then I get to go out and try to break my PR on the marathon. My PRs only a 4:20 and I'd like to run a 3:30-3:45 so we'll see where I can get my fitness levels to in the next few months.

This will also be my last major event for awhile. I will move into my off season after the race and stay there until after the turn of the new year. I'm looking to do things a little different for 2012 so stay tuned to see what those are. Until then it's more Long Slow Distance runs with some speed work thrown in as I get ready to break the 4 hour marathon barrier.

Hacker-Pschorr Munchener Gold (Export Bier)

2011-08-14T12:03:00.000-05:00

Today's beer doesn't normally stray as far north from Munich as some of the other Hacker-Pschorr beers. I picked up when my parents were here and we were wandering around Southern Germany. It's Hacker-Pschorr's Munchener Gold (Export Bier)

It pours a yellow gold with a thin head that quickly dissippates leaving very then lacing on the sides. The aroma is slightly hoppy. The taste a balance between malted barley and hops with the hops winning out in the end, although not overwhelmingly. The finish is crisp with a slight lingering after taste. Not a bad beer but definitely not my favorite Hacker-Pschorr.

What's Next

2011-08-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

What's next? Well I just don't know. We only have about 4 months left in Europe so I'm not sure I want to do another race here. A couple of the neighbors have brought up doing the Athens Marathon, it's the original course (that's right, the one where the guy DIED after he ran it!) and it's the 2500th anniversary of the running. Their wives would also go as well as their kids so there would be someone for Shantel and Macen to hang out with. One of the couples also have a little one just a few days older than Maddox so he will be there as well. It's tempting but we'll have to see how it fits in with the other stuff we are going to try and accomplish.

I'm already looking ahead to races in the Kansas City Area for 2012. I'll definitely do the Ironman 70.3 Kansas race, probably the Kansas City Triathlon, Shawnee Mission Triathlon and maybe the Kansas City Marathon. I'm also thinking about Ironman Louisville (it's amazing how quickly one forgets how painful an Ironman is). What I don't want to do is run us ragged like I almost did the last time I was at Leavenworth. I will try to limit myself to one race a month and stay in the Kansas City area with the exception of the Ironman. As usual Shantel gets final approve authority over all race schedules.

What I do need to do is get back into a rhythm and start running, biking, and swimming again, so that the base doesn't go away.

Hacker-Pschorr Munchner Dunkel

2011-08-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to run out of beers from Hacker-Pschorr but here is one more that I've picked up as I scoured Getrankemarkts in Bavaria, it's the Munchner Dunkel. It pours a dark coffee colored body with a beige head that didn't last long. An aroma of roasted malts filled even my picky nostrils. The taste of slighly bitter roasted malts filled my mouth. but a slightly caramally finish kept it from being too overpowering. Not my favorite dunkel, but not a bad beer either. Although I must admit I don't think I've had a "bad" beer in Germany.

Hacker-Pschorr Munchner Radler

2011-08-10T10:58:00.009-05:00

OK it's time to get back to posting about beer. Maddox has arrived and Ironman Regensburg is in the history books. I'll pick up where I left off with the Hacker-Pschorr collection. A fitting selection after the Ironman is their Munchner Radler. If you are not familiar with Radlers read about them here.

It pours a very pale gold, almost a clear. Lots of carbonation makes for tiny bubbles that give a white head that builds and then dissipates but never disappears leaving lacing on the sides. The aroma is sweet lemonwith a touch of beer. The taste is all sweet lemon with no hint that there is some beer in the mix. A satisfying drink if you are looking for something a little different or don't want to get drunk. Even Shantel gives it a thumbs up.

Final Thoughts on Ironman Regensburg

2011-08-09T12:28:00.001-05:00

Well it's been 48 hours since I finished Ironman Regensburg and here are some final thoughts.

You don't know what you don't know. Every race is different and I've always done shorter races where the transition area is in the same spot. The two different transition areas and a different finish areas were a new experience. I know now what I need to pack for the different transitions, i.e. fresh socks for the run, a towel for the finish bag, and maybe a running jacket for the run.

PCC/PCIs, for you non military folks that's pre combat checks and pre combat inspections. In other words check your stuff and then have some else recheck it. I forget my small towels for T1 and T2, my body glide, motrin, and sunscreen. All things I normally have on hand. Part of the problem was this was my first and only triathlon of the year, so kinks I would have worked out by doing smaller races I didn't have worked out for this one.

Have a plan and stick to it. That's especially true of the longer distance races. I had a training plan that I stuck too and I said all along that I wanted to average 15 mph on the bike and then run 13 minute miles. I averaged 15.9 mph on the bike and 13:23 minute miles. I was really tempted to push it hard on the flat portion of the bike but I've done that before on Ironman 70.3 races only to have my legs give out 3/4 of the way through the half marathon. That didn't happen on Sunday. I took it easy and maintained my average and felt great through the run. I was also tempted to push it during the run since I felt like I had plenty of gas but I kept the pace nice and easy and would walk for a minute every mile. I know that dropped my time but I enjoyed the run, finished my first Ironman and I'm able to walk and go for a short jog 48 hours later. That's much better than my first Ironman 70.3 11 years ago where I finished but I couldn't walk for a week later. The difference was the training and race plan.

Finally for all my talk about beer I didn't drink any beers during the race or immediately afterwards. Afterwards I was just DONE, so all I wanted to do was get the bike and my transition bags and head back to the hotel for a soak in the tube, where I promptly fell asleep only to wake up to cold water about 30 minutes later. I did get an offer of a beer from one of the aid stations on my last lap. I was on lap 3 and the volunteers were winding down and breaking out their beer. One of them told me to ask for a beer on my last lap and they would give me one. I guess I took too long on that last lap so that while the aid station was open that particular group of volunteers were gone. Darn the luck!

Ironman Regensburg 2011 Pictures

2011-08-08T09:25:00.002-05:00

Waiting in line at the porta john for that last minute download.

After a quick warm up swim. Feeling good and confident.

Swim finish, really good time at 1hr 46 min (for me). How did I manage to squeeze 195lbs into that neoprene suit?

Swim to bike transition.

Finishing the bike in 7hrs and change. A "cool down" run is next

Lap 2 of the marathon feeling good but slowing down.

Lap 3. Is it over yet?

Coming down the finish chute.

The Finish

Ironman Regensburg 2011

2011-08-08T08:36:00.002-05:00

Well folks it's official, I'm an "Ironman" I completed Ironman Regensburg yesterday in 14hrs 57min 45secs, not as fast as I wanted but under the 16 hour cutoff. Before I get into the race day story let me give you a little background.
Most of you know that I redeployed from Afcrackistan on 27 May. I really ramped up my training once I returned and I was posting all about it. That all kind of went to hell around 13 July, that when, if you noticed, I stopped really posting about my training, all you got were beer posts that I had scheduled to post in advance.
On July 13 Shantel and I welcomed our second son Maddox James, so that week's training was shot. I got back on track for the most part the next week only to have my Mom and Stepdad arrive for their visit the Friday before race. No issues there it was taper week anyway and I really enjoyed playing tour guide all around southern Germany and the Czech Republic for them.
So if you really look at I only had 10 weeks to prep, 1 of which was lost for the birth of our son, and the other was a taper week. That's 8 weeks of training to do 140.6 miles in under 16 hours. I don't want to hear any excuses from anyone about how hard an Ironman is to complete. It's not easy but if I can do it with only 8 weeks of real training than a normal person should be able to get off the couch, get a plan and finish one.

Now for the race day story.
Forcast for race day: 55-60 degrees with rain showers all day. I got my hopes up at 4:30am when it wasn't raining as we went out to the car to drive to the swim start. I was thinking that the forcasted rain today would be like the forcasted rain all week; just a figment of the meterologists imagination. My hopes were dashed as we were waiting for the shuttle bus to take us from the parking area to the swim start when it started pouring and kept pouring and kept pouring. It rained off and on all day until the run portion when there was still some scattered drizzling.
The swim start went off right at 7am and it was asses and elbows as 2500+ particpants did one mass start into the lake and I was right in the middle of it. Things spread out eventually as all of the "fish" left me behind. I spent most of the swim with several other blue capped men and a couple of orange capped women and I just tried to keep up with them, keep a steady pace and not stray too far from the bouy line. I succeeded for the most part and came out of the swim with a time of 1hr 46 minutes. Faster than anything I'd done in training.
The bike was wet, wet, wet. I was wearing a a sleeveless tri jersey and I was wishing for some arm warmers or a long sleeve jersey. I drove on though and I really enjoyed the ride through the Bavarian countryside. Despite the weather the bike course was lined with Bavarians out having a good time cheering on the bikers, cooking out and of course, drinking beer. I couldn't believe it, but it's not like a Bavarian to turn down an excuse to party. I finished up the bike portion with a time of 7 hours and change. What do you know, I'm about 20 minutes ahead of the pace I wanted to keep.
I started the run with 7 hours to go until cutoff time. Piece of cake I thought. Yeah right. I'd had high hopes for the run since that was really the only event that I had trained for while in Afcrackistan putting in several 15+ mile runs and I'd had several good training runs in the weeks prior to the race. Well the first lap went pretty good with about a 12 minute a mile average and a couple under 12 minutes, but I was fading, not fast but I know me and I realized that any hopes of a sub 13 minute average was slipping. Lap 2 was decent with a couple of good miles but the monkey was on the horizon and he showed up for good on lap three where the average jumped from around 12:30 to almost 14 minutes. Lap 4 I decided to make my victory lap, the pace was a shuffle at around a 15 minute average, but I knew that at even that pace I was in no danger of missing the cutoff. Why push hard when I'm not in contention for a Kona slot and the only goals I had were to finish and not finish last in my age group? I crossed the finish line at 14hrs 57min 45secs. Not stellar but I accomplished my goals and I FINISHED!!! My run split was a 5hr 55min and change.
Overall the race experience was great. Great volunteers, Great spectators, Great racers. I chatted up racers from the US, Great Britain, Poland, Germany, Italy, and Canada, everyone was mutually supportive and made the race experience so much better.
I feel good today, not great just good. This may have been my only Ironman distance race. I don't know. I know that my friend Andy will probably try and twist my arm into doing an Ironman race next summer, we'll just have to see. I'm really comfortable with the half Ironman races and I think that is where I will probably concentrate my efforts, you never know though, I may have to stretch my limits again.
I'd like to thank my Mom and Hugh for being my Ironman Support Crew. They were there for the start and for every transition and Hugh took plenty of pictures which I'll post later. They rang cow bells and kept me going. Thanks guys.

Finally I'd like to thank Shantel. This was the ony race she's missed since we've been together, she stayed home with Macen and Maddox,and she hated it but she was glued to www.ironmanlive.com watching my splits and tracking my progress at home. She was even worried when my last run split didn't get posted and was really relieved when I called to tell her that I was done. Thanks babe, I couldn't of done it without you letting me out of the house for those long rides and runs. I love you.

Race Day

2011-08-06T20:37:00.000-05:00

It's 4 hours before race start and I'm up. I've actually been up since about 1:30am just tossing and turning. I'm as ready as I'm going to get.

I've been bad about posting. But training has been on track and I'm fairly comfortable with my fitness level. Life has been really busy lately. From here on out it's all mental.

I'll check back in in about 18 hours.

Special Beer Review - Brauerei Heldrich

2011-07-21T12:13:00.001-05:00

One of the things that I'm finding very interesting as a bike rider and a beer drinker in Germany is the number of small breweries that I'm finding as I'm riding, most of them also have an associated Gasthaus or restuarant attached or nearby. I make a special mental note as I pedal by, especially if the restuarant appears to be very busy, something that I think is a sure sign I need to try it, especially if the village only has about a dozen houses or so.

That's exactly what I found as I went through the village of Edelsfeld, a Gasthaus that is always busy, a building with Heldrich Brauerei emblazoned over a door and a small getranke markt with the same name nearby. Note to self stop by here sometime. Thats what I did today. I still haven't tried the Gasthaus but this is what I thought of the beer.

Heldrich Brauerei Vollbier - A vollbier according to the German Beer Institute is a "full" beer, Helles, Pils, and Weissbier all fall into this category. This offerring from the Heldrich Braueri is a Helles. It poured a copper gold, with a light white head that quickly disappeared. The aroma is slightly sweet caramelly sweet with no trace of hops. The taste is malty sweet and light. The oh so subtly dry finish is where the hops finally comes into play. Not a bad Helles.

Heldrich Brauerei Pils - This beer pours a very pale clear gold. The head was a thin white that quickly dissipated. The aroma is slight and eludes my fickle sniffer. The taste is primarily hops with hints of spice. The hops isn't overwhelming for a German Pils, and the finish is dry. Honestly not much the hops malt balance is not much much different from the Vollbier/Helles, probably just a little more hops. A really good beer.

Heldrich Brauerei Blau Stopsel - According to Yahoo Banelfish the name of this beer translates to blue plug, well the only blue on the bottle is on the neck label, it's probably a holdover from when the stoppers were actually blue. Unlike the other two Helricher beers I've gotten my hands on this one came in a flip top bottle. I found here where it is probably a festbier, I'd have to agree. It pours yellow gold with a hea that persists and leaves tracery on the sides of the glass. The aroma is slightly fruity and sweet. The taste is sweet malts with an undercurrent of fruit, there is little to no hops present just a little bit that lingers at the finish. A very pleasant beer.

I think there are only the three varieties of the Heldricher beer, that's all i found in the local getranke markt and on various beer websites. I'm definitely going to have to check out the associated Gasthaus.

And finally, of course, the obligatory steinkrug. Shantel is starting to think it was a bad idea to let me start collecting these things.

Hacker-Pschorr Hefe-Weizen

2011-07-17T11:17:00.002-05:00

Another Hefe-Weizen from Hacker-Pschorr is today's review. This time it's their standard Hefe-Weizen.

This Hefe pours a dark cloudy copper with plenty of sediment swirling inside. The head is slightly off white and really frothy. The aroma is spicy fresh baked bread. The taste echoes the aroma with just a hint of added citrus, just subtle enough for me to not catch a type.

Not a bad Hefe Weizen, I haven't had a one in a while and I'd forgotten how good they were.

Definitely a repeat.

Hacker-Pschorr Sternweisse

2011-07-13T11:57:00.001-05:00

Next up from Hacker-Pschorr is their Sternweisse. This is a darker weizen, but not their dunkelweissen which is also an offering.

This beer pours a dark caramelly brown with golden hints throughout the body. A thick fluffy brown tinged head lingered for a while. The aroma is one of fresh baked bread with some hints of citrus and spice. Perhaps clove? The hint of spice carries over into the flavor which is also slightly sweet. The finish crisp with lingering flavors.

Not a bad beer and an interesting weizen that doesn't necessarily overwhelm with citrus fruitiness of some other's.

90 miles on the bicycle

2011-07-11T03:32:00.000-05:00

That's how far I rode yesterday! I almost can't believe it, but I got it done. That's the farthest I've ridden a bike in almost 10 years. I'd also be lying if I didn't say that the last 60-90 minutes of the 6 hour ride didn't just about kick my @$$. I'm supposed to ride further than that and then get off and run a marathon? I'm begining to think I've lost my fricking mind.

Despite the pain at the end it was a good ride and once I'd gotten off I felt better than I did while on the bike. I averaged over 17 mph for the first 3 hours and then about 15.5 mph after I stopped and refilled my water bottles.

Overall it was a good week with a couple of good swims, a good 3hr 15 min run (17 miles). I'm comfortable with where I'm at and where I'm supposed to be. I'm cruising for a 14-14.5 race so I'm still on track.

Here is what I was supposed to do with what I actually did.

Hacker-Pschorr Kellerbier

2011-07-10T12:13:00.004-05:00

I've moved on from the Kulmbacher beers to offerings from one of the Munich Big Six Breweries, Hacker-Pschorr. Even though the name is hyphenated suggesting two different breweries that combined these two contain a shared history since they were once a consolidated brewery in the 1800's that were split between two sons when the family patriach died. They became one again in the 1970's.

The Hacker-Pshorr beers come in a .5l flip top bottle. My fascination with the flip top bottle combined with a recommendation from one of my coworkers has had me searching for all of the offerings from this brewery. If you can remember I did a review of their Helles last year. I'll start this series with their Kellerbier, named Munich Kellerbier Anno 1417 after the year the brewery was founded.

This Kellierbier pours a murky orange tinted copper with just a little of the cloudiness that a kellerbier is known for . The head is slightly off white and dissipated quickly. The aroma is one of sweet malts and the taste is slightly hoppy with good balance of malts. The finish is crisp and dry.

Not a bad first selection from Hacker Pshorr.

Kulmbacher Gold

2011-07-06T13:51:00.001-05:00

The last beer from the Kulmbacher brewery that I'm going to review is the Kulmbacher Gold. This beer starts off just a little different with it's .33L clear bottle compared to the .5L brown bottles of all it's brewery mates.

It poured with absolutely no head but plenty of carbonation. The body is the true gold color that gives it it's name. The aroma of hops assaulted my sniffer as I lifted it for my first drink. The flavor is hoppy but not overwhelming as suggested by the aroma, other spices war with the hops for predominance. The finish is slightly sweet and crisp. I'm still not sure if I like it but it is definitely worth a second bottle.

This Weeks Recap

2011-07-03T14:27:00.000-05:00

Not a bad week as I prep for that fast approaching Ironman. As usual weather and life sometimes get in the way. But I'm still making progress and I think I'm doing all right.

Scheduled
Mon - Off
Tuesday - 60 minute run, Swim 6x400, 8x100
Wednesday - 60 minute Bike fartlek, 20 sec sprint with 2min rest interval.
Thursday - 30 minute run Swim 6x400, 8x100
Friday - 60 minute bike in small chain
Saturday - 3 hour run, Long Swim
Sun - 5:30 hour bike

Actual
Mon - Off
Tuesday 60 minute run Swim 6x400, 8x100
Wednesday 60 minute Bike fartlek, 20 sec sprint with 2min rest interval.
Thursday - 30 minute run
Friday - 60 minute bike, 2800m swim
Saturday - 3 hour run (16.21 miles)
Sunday - 5:30 hour bike

Like I said not a bad week. Tuesday's swim was really good I did the total 3200m in about 1hr 40 min. Well on track for what I need to accomplish the swim leg in. Thursday the weather was bad and I couldn't make it to the outdoor pool and I couldn't get motivated to make the drive to the next town to the indoor pool, so I shifted it to Friday. Saturday's run was good until about mile 13 when my HR went up and the pace went up, not a good thing. Sunday's bike ride was filled with small rain showers and two torrential downpours. After the second downpour I made it back to the house and set up the Dual on the trainer and I finished the last 2 hours on the trainer.

Kulmbacher Feinmild

2011-07-03T13:39:00.000-05:00

Today's beer is the Kulmbacher Feinmild. It pours with a very delicate head and the body is a pale cloudy gold with lots of tiny bubbles throughout. The aroma is very mild and almost nonexistent, some of that could be my poor performing sniffer. The beer goes down smooth and crisp with no overwhelming flavors, maybe just a hint of hops if you savor a mouthful too long. Not a bad beer, interesting, delicate is the best description that I can give it..

Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils

2011-06-29T14:16:00.004-05:00

Today's offering is the Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils. This a former German Agricultural Society Gold Medal award winning beer so I had high expectations for it. I was not let down.

This Pils poured with a substational white head that lasted for a while. The color was a very pale clear golden, with lots of tiny bubbles throughout the body that maintained the head. The aroma hints at hops, a theme that is carried over into the taste. There is no explosion of hoppiness rather the taste reminds me of fresh cut grass and then there is just a subtle tweaking of the taste buds as the hops makes it self known. A very subtle but flavorful Pils. Not a bad choice for a hot summer afternoon.

This Week's Recap

2011-06-26T14:16:00.001-05:00

This week's workout schedule looked like this.
Mon - Off Day
Tues - Swim Test 3x300 for time
Wed - 45 minute run working on cadence and foot speed
Thurs - Swim day 6 x 400 and 8 x 100
Fri - Off
Sat - Brick 3 hour bike/2 hour run
Sun - 4:30 hour bike

Because of the Prague trip last weekend and some rain on Monday this what it actually looked like.

Mon - 5 hour ride - Rained out
Tues - 4 hour ride (Carried over from Sunday/Monday and cut short by an hour because of rain and other issues)
Wed - 45 minute run
Thurs - Off
Fri - Swim day 6 x 400 and 8 x 100
Sat - Brick 3 hour bike/2 hour run
Sun - 4 hour bike

Overall not a bad week I was really pleased with Tuesday's long ride. I did 60+ miles and felt great. The brick on Saturday was also good. A solid 45 miles on the bike followed by just over 10 miles. If I can continue those paces throughout the whole Ironman I will have no issues making my 14:30 hour goal.

On the flip side I am fighting some achilles tendonitis and some severe pain in my nether region from sitting on the bike saddle for "forever". The tendonitis doesn't seem to too bad and I'm icing and stretching them to keep them as loose as I can. I've switched from riding the Dual to the P3 full time so I'm thinking the nether region pain has to do with the seat adjustment on the P3. I tweaked the seat adjustment a little and applied vasoline for both Sat and Sun and I'm relatively pain free as I write this we'll see what happens when I wake up in the morning.

Kulmbacher Lager Hell

2011-06-26T11:41:00.000-05:00

Continuing the Sunday/Wednesday beer reviews with the Kulmbacher Lager Hell. Most of you who read this blog have seen where I've described Helles beers before. For those who haven't the short of it is that the brewers in Munich in the mid 1800's came up with Helles in response to the Pilsner's developed by their Bohemian neighbors. Not quite as hoppy and just as golden it's a beer that is still widely served across Bavaria.

The Kulmbacher Lager Hell is a fine example of the Bavarian style Helles. A thin white head that lingers and leaves traces on the side of the glass. The color is a cloudy gold with lots of effervescent bubbles that tickle the tongue. A delicate aroma that is more malt than hops. The beer goes down light with the aforementioned tickle and the taste is one of roasted barley with just a hint of intense hops, but not overwhelming, flavor at the end. A very pleasing beer.

Staropramen Svetly

2011-06-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

Here is another beer from our trip to Prague last weekend. If you ask for a beer in Prague chances are that you will get a Staropramen. That's what I had when we went to the Hard Rock Cafe to collect our Prague Pilsner Glass. I didn't take any notes while drinking my Staropramen there so I picked up a bottle to go and cracked it tonight.

The Staropramen Svetly is a Bohemian Light Pilsner. It poured with a very light head that disappeared very quickly. The aroma was almost nonexistent. The flavor was very light, slightly sweet and very little flavor of hops that dominate a typical pilsner. I'd almost say it was watery. Despite teh fact taht you can git this everywhere in Prague, I would guess that was because the brewery is in the city itself and and not because it was anything special.

An OK beer but if you are looking for a hoppy Pilsner I'd recommend you go looking somewhere else.

Kulmbacher Export

2011-06-22T13:21:00.002-05:00

Today's beer is the Kulmbacher Export. Export beers are a pale lager developed in the Ruhr valley region of Germany as competition to the Czech Pilsner and the Munich Helles, this brewing type also allowed the beers to stay fresher longer and be "exported" further from their breweries.

It pours a very pale golden with about an inch of white foamy head ( I missed it in the picture because Shantel had taken the battery out of the camera to charge.)That leave a fine tracery on the edge of the glass. Lots of carbonation is visible throughout the body. The aroma is faintly sweet and the taste is initially malty with a light hops finish. Not a bad beer but also not one of my favorites.

Workout update

2011-06-20T13:38:00.000-05:00

Our trip to Prague this weekend didn't derail my workouts too badly. The derailling was left up to Shantel's doctor and today's weather.

Despite a hectic two days in Prague. I drug myself out of bed yesterday and strapped on my running shoes and took off on my 2hr 45min run. It was overcast and slightly chilly so I put on a long sleeved t-shirt, I was regretting that about 45 minutes into the run as a downpour soaked it and made it pretty heavy. I kept slogging on and when I came back by the house I dashed inside and stripped it off and put on my brew to brew running jacket and was off again, after all I was dumb enough to sign up for an Ironman, so I've definitely got to be dumb enough to keep running running in the rain. I felt strong throughout the whole run and while my 10:50 avg for 15 miles at 155 bpm (high zone 3 for me) won't set any records it is well below the pace I need to complete the marathon portion of the Ironman so I was happy.

Today was a whole different story. I needed to make up the 5 hour bike ride and Shantel had a doctor's appointment. No big deal we would just drop off Macen at day care since his school was out for a German Holiday. Oops no space in day care, so Macen and I went with Shantel to her doctor's appointment. We dropped her off and thought we would do a Daddy and Son day out in Amberg for a couple of hours or so. Well that couple of hours stretched into almost four hours and as we were driving home the clouds closed in and it began to rain. Not the sudden outbursts of yesterday but a steady drizzle with a mixture of heavy downpours. I may be dumb enough to sign up for an Ironman and to run in the rain but I HATE biking in the rain. So I sat down with some of the Czech beer I picked up this weekend and readjusted the schedule a little and blogged about the brewery we went to in Prague. I thought that was a good use of my time.

Strahov Monastery - Klasterni Pivovar (Brewery) - Prague, Czech Republic

2011-06-20T13:22:00.002-05:00

While Shantel was researching things to do in Prague she found that according to trip advisor the number 14 thing to do was the Strahov Monastery Brewery known in Czech as Klasterni Pivovar. If you are of a more religious or historical bent check out the monastery itself which dates to 1143 and has a library of around 16,000 volumes including several latin codices that date to 1143 or older. But if it's good beer and food you are after you have to visit the Pivovar and it's restaurant.
We skipped the monastery and instead had lunchat the Pivovar and sampled the beer. Every thing was outstanding and definitely worth a stop if you are ever in Prague. Enjoy my thoughts on the beer and the pictures below.

This was our last stop in Prague so Shantel wasn't letting me have more than two small beers here, even though we had tram and subway rides before I would be driving anywhere. So I selected the Amber and Dark Lagers, but I brought home bottles of the India Pale Ale and the in season Weissen(Wheat) beer. The beer is branded St Norbert after the saint that founded the monastery's order.

St Norbert's Amber Ale - This is definitely an Amber ale with the color reflected throughout the creamy head that left light tracings on the side, continuing to the deep copper with hints of amber inthe body. The aroma is one of lightly roasted malts. The taste is slightly caramally sweet with just a hint of hops in the after taste. This was the first St Norbert beer I had and if it was the only one had I would of still been singing it's praises. But next up was......

St Norbert's Dark Lager - A dark latte colored head. The body is so dark black that you can't see through it. The aroma is of chocolaty roasted malts and the taste lacks bitterness and has just a hint of sweet chocolate in it. I'm not normally a fan of dark lagers or beers, but this was a really good beer and had me trying to convince Shantel that she might have to drive us out of Prague since the first two beers were so good I would just have to try the other two current offerings then and there. Of course Shantel one and I ended up taking a bottle of the IPA and the Weissen home with me.

St Norbert's India Pale Ale - This beer pours with a head that appears slightly browned and it quickly dissipated. The body is deep copper and the aroma is one of aromatic spices with clove perhaps predominating. The taste is surprisingly only has an undercurrent of ever so subtle hops with roasted malts dominating. Another excellent offering.

St Norbert's Special Beer Weissen - This beer has a classic wheat beer's frothy head and the color is a cloudy copper gold. The aroma of honey, citrus, cloves, and fresh cut grass assails even my notoriously finicky sniffer. It goes down smooth, sweet, and with a burst of citrus. I was wishing I was drinking this beer on day when the temps were in the high 90s instead of the low 60s. A perfect summer beer.

Another addition to my growing collection of stone ware mugs from central Europe.

Now that you've read what I thought of St Norbert's beer see what they think here. The off season beers that I didn't get to try include a pilsner, a bock and a doppelbock. For those of you who visit us in the short time that we have left in Germany and there is time in your trip for a run to Prague, you can count on going on here, I just wonder if I can get the beer in racks to go instead of the single bottles.

Kulmbacher Festbier

2011-06-19T01:31:00.009-05:00

It's time to start reviewing beers again. I've decided to start with several beers from the Kulmbacher Braueri from Kulmbach Germany. The Kulmbacher brand is the premium brand for the Kulmbacher AG group, I'm a big fan of the group's Monschof specialty line and now it's time to try the premium line.

It's fest time in Germany so why not start with the Kulmbacher festbier. The beer pours with a snow white head that slowly dissipates. The aroma is one of freshly cut grass. The flavor is mildly hoppy finishing crisply with just a little bit of an aftertast that lingers. A fine beer for summer fests or even back yard bbq's.

I am definitely glad to be back in Germany with the ability to drive down to the local Getranke Mart and have my pick of any number of different beers.

Swim Day

2011-06-16T13:56:00.000-05:00

Today's workouts were a short 30 minute run in the morning and then 6x400s and 8x100s in the pool. The workout plan said the swim should take 60 minutes. Well the Ms Bernhardt obviously hasn't met my non swimming self. This all took me about 90 minutes with 30 seconds between the 400s and 15 seconds between the 100s. Despite my slowness I think that's pretty good for only two weeks worth of swim workouts in the last 19 months. One of these days I swear that I will get some swim training to improve my times and my workouts. Right now though the focus is endurance and ensuring that I have the ability to stay in perpuatual motion for 14 hours.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a 60 minute bike but we've decided to head for Prague for the weekend and I'll be skipping the bike ride. We'll be back Sunday and with a little rearranging I'll still get my long run and long bike and some time in Prague. Check back out here for our adventures in Prague, I'm sure we'll find some beer or a brewery or two to visit.

New Bike

2011-06-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

Today's workout was a short bike ride. My new Cervelo P3 has been here for almost 3 weeks and other than a spin around the block after I put it together I haven't ridden it for a workout. Well the guy who I bought it off has been giving me crap about that so after I got done with work today I tweaked the fit (it still needs a tuneup and a professional fit) and made sure everything was pretty close to the way I wanted it and off we went.

The work out was a low intensity 60 minute ride. I've done it a couple of times since I've been back on my Cervelo Dual. I really wanted to see how the two bikes performed differently and if the P3 was really going to be as fast as I thought it would be.

The route was virtually the same, I had to do a detour today due to road construction so it's a little longer. But the results are about 2.5 mph faster for the P3 at a slightly lower HR avg (146 vs 149). Max speed was actually faster for the Dual 32.4 mph vs the P3 at 32.1 but I really didn't turn it loose on the P3. See the charts below. I'm thinking I'm really going to like riding the P3.

I'm Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-14T13:37:00.000-05:00

OK Well I've actually been back for almost three weeks now. I've been readjusting to family life, work and triathlon training. I'm actually in week 6 of my 13 week Ironman training. Training has been going all right. The first couple of weeks were while I was still in Afghanistan and of course there was no pool or swim time and all of the biking was on stationary bikes. I had a pretty good run base so that has been carrying me through.

The 13 week plan I'm using is from Gale Bernhardt's Training Plans for MultiSport athletes. It's the 13 weeks to an Ironman For Athletes with Limited Time. It's not very time intensive during the weeks but the weekend workouts are pretty long. I'm find the workouts are really achievable during the week, but the intensity really jumps on the weekends when they get longer. Last Saturday's 4.5 hour bike ride was the first time I've gone over 60 miles in a long time and it really wasn't that difficult. I've had some issues with the swims but that's more in finding a suitable place to do the number of laps I've got to do than in the distances that I have to swim.

Right now I'm on track for a 14.5 hour race, about 90 minutes short of the 16 hour cut off. I'm confident that as my training progresses I will be continue to shave more time off of that.

Check back, not just for the beer reviews that will start again but for the training updates that I'll keep posting.

Winkler Brau Pils

2011-02-27T15:49:00.001-06:00

This is the last beer I managed to get my hands on from the Winkler Brauerei in Amberg.

This pilsner pours a pale clear golden with just a small head that leaves hints of tracing down the side. The aroma is all hops. The taste is clear clean and full of hops. The finish is crisp and smooth. Not a bad pilsner.

Winkler Brau HefeWeizen

2011-02-20T14:09:00.001-06:00

This week 's Winkler Brau beer is their HefeWeizen.

It pours a cloudy dark gold with a perfect soft foamy white head that stayed around for awhile. The aroma is one of wheat and spices, maybe a little coriander? The taste is full of spices, wheat and just a hint of citrus. The taste is also just a tad different from some of the other HefeWeizen's that I've had, but I can't quite put my finger on it, not bad just different.

Winkler Brau 1617 Lager

2011-02-13T13:06:00.004-06:00

This week's Winkler Brau beer is their 1617 Lager. I've only been able to find it in a .3L bottle whish is a little weird but it does make it different. The color of the bottle is also green and you may have heard that I'm not a fan of green bottle beer. Here is what I thought anyway.

This lager pours a a clear pale gold with a thin watery head that quickly disappeared. The hoppy aroma assails even my stopped up sniffer. The hops theme carries over into the taste which is decidely hoppy but a little watery.

This beer is labeled as a lager so I was surprised that it was almost as hoppy as a pilsner. Not a bad beer but I probably won't try it again.

Winkler Brau Alt-Amberger Urhell

2011-02-06T08:36:00.003-06:00

This month I'm going to go to reveiw some beers from a local Amberg brewery, Winkler Brauerei. This brewery actually has two lines(and breweries), a Schlicter line and an Amberger line. You guessed each brewed in the town they are named after. I've had some of the Schlicter line and will reveiw more of them after I redeploy. This month will focus on the Amberberger line.

First up is the Alt-Amberger Urhell. The name bears a little explaining but it's simple. Basically it means the Old Amberger Original style Helles beer. Here's what I thought.

It pours a clear pale gold with a good foamy head and leaves a good amount tracing on the side of the glass. The aroma is one of hops while the taste is a fine balance of hops and malts. It finishes crisp and smooth with just a small burst of hops at the end. This was a really good beer and one could become one of my favorite helles

Sion Kolsch

2011-01-30T13:44:00.001-06:00

This is the last Kolsch for this month. It's from Sion Brauerei and I had it in the pilsner glass at the Hard Rock Cafe Cologne. Sion is another one of those breweries with a five hundred or so year history so it can't totatlly be

Here is what I thought

This Kolsch poured a pale gold with just a touch of a head that quickly disappeared. The taste is one of caramelly malts with a finsih that is all hops.

Not a bad beer and definitely a good way to end Kolsch month.

Gilden Kolsch

2011-01-23T08:07:00.024-06:00

This weeks Kolsch comes from the Gilden Brauerei one of the oldest breweries in Cologne founded in the late 1200s.

As with the other Kolschs this one pours a clear pale gold with a very small head that disappears quickly. The aroma is subtle hops and the beer goes down smooth and crisp with a taste that is a little watery and holds just a hint of hops. I could sit around a drink a lot these on a hot summer afternoon.

Gaffel Kolsch

2011-01-16T15:10:00.001-06:00

This week continues the review of Kolsch beers that I picked up in Cologne while on R&R. It is an offering from Gaffel Privatbrauerei.

This Kolsch pours a clear dark gold with literally no head and leaves no tracing on the side of the glass. The aroma is subtle so I missed most of it. The taste is clean, crisp, and more hoppy than the Fruh Kolsch that I had last week but it doesn't finish with the explosion of hops that that one did. Not bad but the Fruh was probably better.

Fruh Kolsch

2011-01-09T13:05:00.002-06:00

When it comes to Kolsch beers the Fruh Brauhaus is probably the most well known. Our Germany Day Trips book recommended going there not just for the beer but for the food, we walked by it but didn't stop in. I did get a bottle of it at a local getranke markt so that I could sample it at home. Here's what I thought

Pours a pale golden color that can easily be seen through with a white head that disappeared quickly but leaves tracing on the side of the glass. The aroma is very subtle and eludes my constantly stopped up sniffer. The taste is light and crisp without being watery and finishes with a burst of hops. A very interesting beer

Kolsch Beers From Cologne

2011-01-09T01:28:00.002-06:00

The next four weeks worth of beers are all Kolsch's from Cologne. While home on R&R the family and I went to Cologne on a day trip to go to the Hard Rock Cafe and the Lindt Chocolate Factory/Musuem. I was surprised to learn that the local beer is called Kolsch and by German law can only be brewed in or around the city of Cologne. I was actually doubly surprised since I had been introduced to Kolsch beers several years ago when Shiner put out there version of Kolsch that I almost came to like more than their bock (Sacrilegious I know) but back to the German version.

To read more about Kolsch beers go here or here. Kolsch is typically served in a tall thin glass that is only .33l as compared to the more traditional .5 l stone krugs or 1l mass krugs. Check out the below picture.

Enjoy the reviews

Weltenburger Barock Dunkel

2011-01-02T04:43:00.000-06:00

If you all remember one of the places that the family and I visited before I deployed to Afghanistan was the Weltenburger Abbey Brewery. I sampled all of their beers except for their Gold Medal winning Barock Dunkel. Well I rectified that situation. Here's what I thought.

The Barock Dunkel pours a deep reddish amber with a caramel colored head that dissipates slowly and leaving faint tracings on the side of the glass. The aroma is one of chocolate and caramel and the caramel theme carries into the taste of caramel and toasted malt. The beer finishes smooth and is very enjoyable.

I've come to recognize the Weltenburger beers as one of my favorites and if you can find one they are a great introduction to German beers. And if you can get to Germany it's a great experience to visit the Abbey and sample the beers. I highly recommend it.

Week 5 Was A Wash

2010-12-26T01:28:00.000-06:00

Well this week was Christmas Week, plus I was pretty busy with a several all day missions and several mini ANP crisises. So this week was basically a wash. I didn't do a single workout. Looks like I"ll be repeating this week next week.

Also Doc is only doing up body stuff now because he tore something in his knee and is having issues running . SFC T also strained his back and is having to take Flexerol for it. So we are a fine group of triathletes. Hopefully next week is better.

Schwaben Brau Weihnachts Bier

2010-12-25T10:06:00.001-06:00

The Christmas Beers continue with the Schwaben Brau WeihnachtsBier. This beer starts out the same as the other Christmas Beers I've tried. It poured a light clear golden color with little to no head that disappeared quickly. The aroma is very subtle and the outstanding note is one of malts. The taste is more malty than hops but is fairly balanced although it finishes with a touch of dry hops.

I was kind of excited to get this beer since it is from the German State of Baden-Wurttenberg whereas most of the other beers that I've reviewed have come from the state of Bavaria. I was hoping that it would be a little different style but it was very similiar to the Bavarian Christmas Beers I've tried.

Oettinger Winterbier

2010-12-25T06:58:00.000-06:00

The Oettinger Winterbier is a Christmas/Winter Beer that is a break from the Winter Wheats that I've reviewed the last couple of posts and it's back to more normal beers. It's from the Oettinger Group and is called Winterbier.

It pours a reddish amber with a caramelly colored head. The aroma is more malt than hops and the taste is smoky malt with a hoppy dry finish.

I haven't had any of Oettinger's beers before so this was an interesting introduction. I'll try some more of them when I get back from Afghanistan.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T03:00:00.000-06:00

Well it's Christmas and you'll get a few extra posts today to round out the Christmas beers that I've been trying. I hope everyone has a good day and they got everything they want from Santa.

Kapuziner Winter Weissbier

2010-12-22T06:09:00.032-06:00

Today's Christmas Beer really isn't a Christmas Beer. It's properly a Winter Wheat, that's something I've learned in the last few days is that German brewers will sometimes brew both a Christmas Beer and a Winter Beer. It's still the Christmas Season so I'll use them interchangeably. Hopefully the purists out there don't get on to me too bad, after all I'm still on a journey of beer exploration and learning as I go!

Today's beer come from the Kulmbacher brauerei's Kapuziner line. The Kapuziner line is solely dedicated to brewing different types of wheat beers and this is the Winter Weissbier variety.

This beer pours a dark cloudy amber with a caramel colored fluffy head that lingered for quite awhile. The aroma is fresh cut grass with hints of citrus and spice. The taste is crisp, with hints of citrus and spice. A very good wheat beer. Not my favorite but very tasty just the same.

Starting Week 5 of Training

2010-12-19T21:14:00.000-06:00

We move into week 5 of Ironman training. This week. I've been pretty busy and didn't get anything posted for weeks 3 or 4. My boss has been on leave and I've been covering down on his duties as well as my own.

Week 3 was almost a wash due to several VIPs visiting us in Zabul. I had to spend a lot of time working with the Police Chief to get him prepared and to make things went off in a manner that was acceptable to us. Not real sure how well that went I probably should of just done the workouts I was supposed to do.

Week 4 was a better. I really started to hitting the Concept C2 rowing machine as my substitute for swimming. That is a killer exercise and really works my lats and tris as well as getting some cardio. It also tore my hands to bits but I think I've got the calluses developed now that let me get a good hour to hour and half workout in.

I also weighed in last week. I've hit a solid 205 at about 22% body fat. I don't like the Army's tape test for body fat percentage but it gives me something to work off of. 205 is 20lbs over my lowest when I did Ironman 70.3 Kansas and 10lbs over what I weighed when I deployed. All that carb heavy Afghan food is killing me. Not too mention the 3lb bags of Hot Tamales candy that Ruder sends and the Christmas Reeses Peanut Butter Trees from Shantel and Mom. I'm not complaining because I love eating them. They just aren't good for me.

Week 5 features some changes to the workout plan. If I get some time I'll post them.

Jacob Winter Weisse

2010-12-19T08:29:00.001-06:00

Today's Christmas Beer is another change of pace, the Winter Weisse from Braurei Jacob in Bodenwohrer about 90 minutes south of Vilseck to the east of Autobahn 93.

This winter weisse pours a deep golden amber with a substantial head that lingers. The aroma of wheat and spices fills the nose. The taste is an exquisite blend of wheat,citrus and spices. A very tasty Christmas Beer and more in line with the taste I was thinking of for a Christmas Beer, I've just never had a wheat Christmas Beer before.

Altenmunster Winterbier Dunkel

2010-12-15T07:33:00.000-06:00

Today's Christmas Beer is a little different from the others. It's the Altenmunster Winterbier Dunkel from the Allgauer Brauhaus from Kempten, Germany About an hour South and West of Munich.

Not only is the bottle different but this beer pours a deep reddish brown with a caramel colored head that quickly disappeared. The aroma is smoky malt and that carries over into the taste which is more smoky caramel malt with a slightly hoppy clean finish. Not much spices here but definitely more in the direction of what I've come to know as a Christmas Beer. A great change of pace from the golden Christmas Beers of the last few posts.

Leikeim Wintertraum

2010-12-12T08:37:00.000-06:00

Another Winter Dream this time from the Leikeim Family Brewery in Altenkunstadt, just north of Bayreuth and about a 90 minute drive from Vilseck. I haven't tried any of their other beers so this was a new brewery experience for me.

This Winter Dream pours a golden amber with only a small head that disappeared quickly. The aroma is distinctly hoppy which carries over into a flavor that is more hoppy than spicy and full bodied. The beer finishes dry and crisp. Not a bad beer.

Monchshof Weihnachts Bier

2010-12-08T13:15:00.000-06:00

This week's Christmas Beer comes from the Kulmbacher Brewery's Monchshof line, the Weihnachts Bier.

This beer pours a clear golden amber with almost no head. The aroma is light and the subtleties elude my sniffer. The taste is light and crisp with just a hint of hops and it finishes light and clean. Not a bad drinking beer.

This was the third Christmas/Winter beer that I've tried and they have all not been what I've expected. All are crisp and light with clean finishes and virtually no taste of spice. Most of the Christmas/Winter beers that I've had in the states were all heavy and dark with hints of spices and chocolate. I don't know if I'm disappointed or confused. I'm still looking for some more so we'll see what other varieties I dig up.

Tucher Christkindlesmarkt Bier

2010-12-05T13:38:00.000-06:00

This weeks Christmas Beer is from my second favorite brewery, Tucher Brau from Nuremberg. They call it Christkindlesmarkt Bier.

This bier pours a light golden color with virtually no head that quickly disappears as you can see in the picture. The aroma is very subtle so it eludes my sniffer. This is a very light beer with more of a malty taste than a hops. It does have a slight after taste.

I must admit I was slightly disappointed. Not quite what I expected from Tucher. Good but not great and much lighter than I expected from a Christmas beer.

Week 2 Ironman Training

2010-12-05T06:13:00.000-06:00

Well week 2 of my Ironman training is complete and I was pretty good in accomplishing my tasks this week, only missing the long run yesterday.

I have to thank the members of the active.com triathlon message board who have given us numerous ideas on how to get around the lack of spin bike and swimming pool at our small FOB. We'll be giving all of the recommended exercises a try.

We were sitting down the other and talking about races next summer and I think SFC T, Doc and I have all agreed to try and do the Cologne half iron distance together in early September 2011. Check out the tentative schedule I've updated it accordingly. Doc ran it last year and said it was a great race.

On the flip side it is starting to appear that I may be running Ironman Regensburg on my own. My buddy Andy who had agreed to race with me is having sever issues with Achilles tendon and may have to have surgery. He's pretty angry about it since running is his stress relief and he can't run. I've told him to get on the bike and get in the pool.

Stand by for more updates next week.