Thar she blows!

Start of the race. Beware the posers on the left!

A little over a couple weeks ago, I did the Harpoon Brewery 5 mile road race. It's a road race that starts and ends at the Harpoon Brewery in South Boston. In past years, there was always a conflict with something else in my schedule, so I was never able to do it. No conflict this year though. Instead, it was a delightful day of hard running and nice weather, capped off with delicious beer and good times spent with friends.

First of all, I was rather satisfied with my actual race. Although it was not particularly fast (finished fifth), it was a nice effort, as well as a good indicator that I'm on my way back to previous peak fitness. The real fun happened after the race though. You see, Harpoon has been my favorite brewer of beer for a while now. It's typically my top choice at the bar or the store. So, you can imagine how nice it was to cool off with a couple pints of their freshest brew.

The selection on this day was fantastic. Old favorites like UFO, IPA, and Summer were on tap. However, I opted for a couple pints of the Helles Blond Bock from their limited 100 Barrel Series. Coming in at a strong 7.4%, this strong lager had a lot of flavor. I really enjoyed it, and hopefully I can find some at the store.


Posing with Harpoon big wigs on the awards stage with my loot.

As an added bonus to the day, I won some sweet prizes. For finishing third* in my age group, I won a ceremonial beer stein and a 6-pack of Harpoon IPA. Hell yes! Now, imagine some other possibilities. If I finished second in my age group, I would've won a 12-pack. If I finished first, it would have been a case. And, if I won the race, I would have received a case AND a champion's wreath made from hops. Just more motivation to keep training.

*I actually finished fourth in my age group, but one of the guys ahead of me didn't list his age on his registration. I may not have been the faster man, but nobody can fault me for incorrectly filling out a form.

Or-ree-gone

Arrived in Portland, Oregon on Wednesday afternoon. Got in some nice runs since then, including Tryon Creek State Park on Thursday and Forest Park on Friday. Both were pretty cool places. Especially Forest Park, because it's huge. Also very hilly!


Wildwood Trail in Forest Park, Portland, OR.

Post run, hit up Voodoo Doughnut in downtown Portland. Heard about the place on Man V Food, so figured it was worth checking out. Did not expect it to be so small (hole in the wall, no place to sit), nor located in a such a seedy area of the city (adult establishments galore). I liked it though. Eclectic crowd. Loud metal music. Friendly service. Most importantly, plenty of doughnuts. Picked up a dozen assorted.


Sugary treats!

Mmmmm, doughnuts.

Heavenly

View of Lake Tahoe from the top of Sky Express

Rented a big ol' SUV and drove to Heavenly on Monday for a day trip. The name was quite appropriate! 16 inches of dry snow got dumped on the resort over the weekend, so conditions were very nice. It was also a fantastic day, with bluebird skies for miles.


Nevada side

Heavenly is the first resort I've visited that spans two states! Both sides, California and Nevada, are swell.

Party on!

A crucial food stop whenever you're in Cali:


Animal style

It's a huge tourist attraction, but for good reason:


Lombard Street, San Francisco

So ridiculous. What's more ridiculous is how it's drawn on Google Maps. Ha!

So I took the first train up to Oregon

Paradise marquee

Blitzen Trapper played a show at the Dise last night. It was solid. Most of the songs they played were from Furr, but they had some older stuff too. There was some strong Oregon pride (yeah Katie!) in the house, especially during "Country Caravan," their ode to the Beav State. Some fans even came prepared with OR license plates to wave around. I wonder if this is a typical Blitzen Trapper show tradition?


Band, minus one member (dumb pole in middle of room blocked my view)

As the hour grew late, our bodies got quite weary. We left at the end of the normal set, forgoing the encore in favor of sleep. I'm all washed up.

Let It Ride

Last night Katie and I saw The Cardinals at the Orpheum Theater. It was awesome! They took the stage around 8:25 and opened with a rocking version of "I See Monsters." The hot jams continued from there until 11 o'clock curfew (with a short break in the middle). Compared to their Bank of America show in September, it was equal performance-wise. It was more enjoyable for me though, because our seats in the mezzanine were fantastic.


The Cardinals

My favorite song of the night was "Wonderwall." They absolutely killed it. The band was so tight, and Ryan's vocals were so beautiful. Everything else was great too. Ending the show with "Down in a hole" was a pleasant surprise. Ryan was very animated and wailed pretty hard on the guitar. His double-fist pumps really amped up the crowd. Lots of great energy in the building. Too bad we couldn't get the mezzanine rocking like it was at the Vampire Weekend show in December. I hope Ryan doesn't leave the Cardinals like he says he will. If he does though, hopefully he comes back soon! It'd be such a shame if this was their last show in Boston ever.


Ryan Adams

When we left, we caught a train back to Davis right away, and ended the night with a crucial serving of JP Licks' oreo ice cream. Best ice cream flavor in the world. Also, pretty happy about the shots I got with my point-and-shoot tonight. Freeze frame!


JP Licks in Davis Square

Burning the candle

Brian "taking a rest" in the Trials.

Hit up Mount Snow in West Dover, Vermont this past weekend. Brian and I met in Leominster at 5:30 on Saturday morning and carpooled to the mountain. Got there at 7:15, which is the earliest I've ever arrived at any mountain. Front row parking spot in the main lot was secured. When the lifts opened at 8, we were out there. Overall, it was a great day. Everything was open, and many many runs were done. We spent most of our day on North Face and Sunbrook, including a lot of time in the trees. The Trials tree run on the North Face was practically a secret. We only saw a few people in there at a time. Took a couple laps in the new terrain park at Carinthia too. It is pretty bad-ass. Never seen a park so big. I stuck to the kickers on the Small/Medium trail. Despite a few crashes from insufficient take-off speed, it went pretty well. Just lacking style right now. Funniest part of the day was Brian's 360-attempt on a little bump at the bottom of North Face. Not enough speed my friend! It was a total train wreck. Fortunately, he was ok (just a little banged up).

Back in Boston, Katie and I tried to go to her school's annual semi-formal that evening. No such luck. The organizers oversold the event, and it was at capacity when we got there. It's not like we were particularly late either. There were at least 40 people in the same boat as us. When it was determined that we would be waiting for a long long time, we split. By the time I got home though, I was finished. I had been up since 4 o'clock in the morning, and it was an action-packed day. As it turns out, I was a total mess on Sunday. Nevertheless, I label the weekend "great success!"