I Accept the Challenge

Several things to report in this post, not in any particular order:

1. I have made some slightly less tentative plans with regards to my racing schedule over the coming months. I will in fact be running the Pikesville 5K in roughly three weeks' time. I will be mailing my registration form on Monday (once I can print it out for free at work and mail it off because I refuse to pay the bullshit "processing" fee that Active.com levies). I will more than likely take August off from racing as I'm going on vacation for a week (hiking 20 miles in four days with a full pack in the mountains should compensate!) and then we're going to Cincinnati for Labor Day. I'll run the Run to Remember on September 11th here in Charm City and then focus on the Baltimore Half Marathon on October 11 and Richmond Half on November 15.

2. I did not run this morning, as I had originally planned, but I'm mostly OK with that. Instead I sat out at the pool for a few hours and tried mostly successfully to avoid getting a bad sunburn. I only burned on my legs a little but nothing embarassing that people will stare at come Monday. Tomorrow morning I'll get my butt out of bed early and get 8-10 (hopefully 10!) miles in before coming back and getting ready to head down to Alexandria for my grandmother's 85th birthday brunch. It's an all you can eat affair, so I want to get 10 miles in to really build my apetite. I view all you can eats as a challenge. Almost as if the restaurant owner is goading me into eating $25.00 worth of food, which is like 35 pounds or so. Well, Mr. Owner, I accept your challenge and hope you've made plenty of eggs, ham and hash browns.

3. Tasted a few more root beers lately and was mostly happy with them all. Here are my thoughts:

Dad's Root Beer: Heard a lot about Dad's, most of it good. Not bad overall. Made with cane sugar, which made it nice and smooth going down. There was, however, an initial taste of menthol right at the beginning before the actual root beer flavor hit. Took me a few sips to figure out that it tasted and smelled a little like Ben Gay. Not terrible, but not really a standout either. 6 out of 10.

Stewart's: I am a big fan of Stewart's Oranges and Cream soda, first of all. It's the only thing I'll drink on those rare occasions when I frequent a Cracker Barrel. I'd never tried the root beer before and I ahve to say, I'll stick with the O&C. The root beer just wasn't all that fantastic. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely not worth the trouble. A friend of mine warned me that Stewart's did not taste as good as they would like to think, and I believe he's right. 6 out of 10.

Barq's: I said I would try to reacquaint myself with this brew and I found my opportunity last night when I stopped at Burger King for dinner after work. I have to say, this definitely beats Mug and Sam's Club for best canned root beer thus far. Solid taste that isn't too sweet and thus allows one to enjoy more than one (or one large soda from a fast food joint). A little too carbonated for my liking, but I realize this might be from the syrup/soda water mixture. A solid staple for your fridge if you're not interested in spending $4-6 for a four pack of something better. 7 our of 10.

I was at the Wal-Mart today and picked up a 12 pack of A&W for $3, so I will try that out and compare to Mug, Barq's and Sam's Choice. While the specialty brews like IBC and Frostie are preferrable, it's tough to find them in large quantities at reasonable prices. So, finding a solid canned backup is key. I also still have yet to taste my bottles of Berghoff's and A.J. Stephans, both of which I have heard are excellent.