Hills and Hugel...Running and Riesling

Last Sunday, I took to the trails for the 21.2 (by my GPS..measurements vary!) extremely hilly, cold, muddy Meon Valley Plod. Quite an experience. The goal was to test my endurance out - and I am delighted to say that it passed with flying colours. I came 44th out of 250ish, and even had some push left for the last few miles. But oh my gosh, what a course! There is something very special about these kind of long events. You sit at the end, and run your mind over the 3 hours 15 of running, and all the things you have seen..and it is incredible. Sometimes you can't even believe it was the same event. So, now I need to let my legs recover, and then I have 3 weeks to get a totally different type of training in- faster work, to be road ready for the Silverstone half marathon in 3 weeks. We move away from time endurance and towards speed endurance. This is gonna hurt...

On the wine front, last night Janet was in Scotland, so I have a chance to try 'the wines that come in tall think bottles, and are a bit Germanic, and maybe a bit floral'. The wine of choice was a glorious Alsace riesling from Hugel - the tradition 2008. It was dry, only a hint of floral, and with an intense citrussy nose. At £14.95 it is not cheap, but you are getting hand-crafted wine here, some of which I am sure is the off-cuts from Grand Cru vineyards. If you have not experienced a great Riesling - and crave a very different style to Chardonny - you should get your hands on a bottle of this.

Altogether quite lovely.

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miles 20.64; Bike Miles 0; Units probably too many!

A couple of runs this week, Tuesday and Sunday, the latter a great long run - just over 14 miles - really feeling back in the swing of things, and ready to book some races now. It was just glorious to be out in the cool but sunny weather - absolute joy! I am finally feeling like I am able to run again. It has also been a bit more of a relaxed week at work, with a couple of days on a training course, and the rest of the time in the office. Also, the throat was gently easing out by the weekend ( I did promise not to go on about it).... ....which is good when I tell you that we went to Hotel Terravina again, this time as a gift for my 40th Birthday from Carol and Huw, to take part in a 'sabrage' event, which means that you chop the top off a bottle of champagne with a sabre! All very extravagant and grand - see me brandishing said bottle in the attached photo. What a great experience that was, really very special. Thanks to C&H for that! Other than the Champagne we also had tw...

A beautiful wine experience, and my first run in weeks!

Greetings all. It's fair to say that the last 3 weeks have knocked me for six, with the horrible week of the chest infection (and no wine), and a couple of weeks of steadily getting better. So, it was with some trepidation that I stepped outside of the front door today for my first Sunday run in a while. Before I talk about that, Saturday brought an altogether nicer experience, in the form of a lunch with Janet at Hotel Terravina in the New Forest (well, edge of..Netley Marsh). For those who don't know, this is the recent venture of Gerard Basset (formerly of Hotel du Vin fame, now a Master of Wine, a Master Sommelier and winner of numerous worldwine prizes for generally being a great and super-knowledgeable chap in the world of vino). I have written on Terravina before. Its real draw for a wine-lover is that food and wine get equal billing and importance in the experience. So, you have lovely food (tasty, not huge portions) and a really great time with the wine list, includi...

Lovely wines in Hong Kong

Have just arrived in Hong Kong for a brief stay. Dined last night at Felix, on top of the Peninsula. Most enjoyable! Four lovely wines - Cape Mentelle Chardonnay 2010, a really delicate, lightly oaked wine, Chablis her Cru Leflaive 2006, crisp, lean, racy and with some age on it, and Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella - a beast of a wine! And to finish, Ch. Guiraud 1998, delicate, ripe, some botrytis. Life is clearly not like this every day. But it's good when it is like this a bit!

I Drink, therefore I Run

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