Thoughts during an 18 mile training run...

Yesterday I had to do an 18 mile training run...originally the weather was supposed to be decent...high 30's, no snow,etc. Well...the winds changed and the night before I was supposed to run , Door County received 6 inches of snow and temps were in the teens with high winds. So...b/c I am a running in cold/snowy weather wimp off to the Sturgeon Bay YMCA I went. I spent 11 miles on the treadmill and then moved to the track to finish the last 7 miles. Thought I would document not only for blog readers entertainment...but also perhaps my own, as running long distances is for me a lot like having a baby....time dims the memory of the pain you went through and just a day (minutes) later you find yourself saying things like...really it wasn't that hard...

• Mile 1: Wow--I can't believe I am going to be here for three hours!
• Mile 4: Those guys lifting weights really think they are working hard but they seem to be talking tons instead of lifting tons.
• Mile 7: Wow--this run feels great...maybe I will go for 20 today!
• Mile 8-9: Memory is starting to blur in terms of how many miles I need to run before switching to track.
• Mile 10: OMG...my stomach is growling....awesome!
• Mile 11: Thank God I can get off the mill and head for the track--that will be better for sure!
• Mile 12: Oh no....seriously another hour on this track (11 times around to a mile...ughh!)
• Mile 13: I wonder if the guy who is speeding past me at light speed knows I have already run 12 miles...Mister 3 mile guy!
• Mile 14: Make deal with myself to stop and get water after each mile and stretch a little.
• Mile 15: See banner with "Celebrate we will...cuz life is short but sweet for certain"--great DMB reference and gets me through another mile.
• Mile 16: Oh look the flag for Gabon looks like Mardi Gras colors (the track has flags from different countries around it)....So that is what the flag for Iran looks like...
• Mile 17: Hi Dad--I know I said I would be done by now...but guess what b/c of my "stretching deal" I am a bit behind....
• Mile 18: I am almost done...pick up pace and end well...and guess what....really that wasn't so bad...lol!

French Wine and a Snugie Update....

Now if that isn't a great title--full of intrigue....right? I have had a number (okay 2-3) of you express concern over the status of our purchase (or lack of purchase) of a Snugie. Just to keep you all updated...we have not purchased the family pack of Snugie's--many of you have expressed your love for the Snugie and last night at Wine Club, Appy modeled the Snugie and showed us with what ease you can answer the phone, read a book and drink a glass of wine with your Snugie....so I get it...it would be a good purchase and perhaps one day we will be lucky enough to own Snugies...again stay tuned!

On to wine club night--the theme for this month's meeting was broad...the wines of France. I have always said that I was not a big fan of French wines--but I really didn't have a lot of experience in drinking French wines....so with that off we went to wine club. Click here for a little background on the Bordeaux Districts. We tasted 6 bottles of wine in a blind tasting--most of them we thought were simply "okay".....not great...not awful...just "okay". The results were extremely interesting....Most of us preferred the one bottle of wine that was from the Cotes du Rhone region as opposed to the Bordeaux and the vintages that were 2004 and above needed to be cellared much longer as the 2000 and the 2003 bottles we tried were better. The two most expensive bottles ($50/each) were ranked 5th and 6th out of 6 wines....hmmm not so hot and a pure disappointment for the couple that brought those two bottles. For those curious about what we drank, any rating they might have had and the cost see below....our next "meeting" will occur in April...the wines of Italy ( Chianti has been outlawed)--this is another area I am not very familiar.....sampling wine for the purpose of education is a tough job but somebody has to do it!

#1--Domaine Zede-Margaux--$42

#2--2000 Domaine du Haut Calvaire--Marianne and Etienne Chambon (purchased while we were in France for the Tour de France in 2004-can't remember how much we spent...less then $20)

#3--Chateau Vieux Prezat--Medoc--$15 (after it was decanted--it was decent)

#4--2003 Font Villac--St. Emilion--$32

#5--Chateau Monbousquet--St. Emilion--90 points Robert Parker--$50

#6-- Chateau Rauzan Segla--Margaux-90points Wine Spectator--$50