Go North Young Man!

I had the brilliant plan of getting my 15 miler out of the way this afternoon. Rather than doing the smart thing and picking an easy (i.e. flat) route, I decided to head north to the Bronx since it's impossible for me to get their during the week (and since I spent a fair amount of time in Brooklyn and Queens over the weekend). I headed to the Hudson River Greenway for my northward trek.

Usually when I'm heading to the northwest Bronx, I'll take the Henry Hudson Bridge. For my first several years in the city it was closed to pedestrians but now it provides a nice direct link from Inwood in Manhattan to Riverdale in the Bronx. Today, however, I mixed things up and took the Broadway Bridge. Going this route not only adds some serious distance, it also adds some nice rolling hills.

I worked my way west to Riverdale and traveled along Palisade Ave which is bordered by Riverdale Park, the Metro North Hudson Line, and the river. There are some awesome views through the trees, especially in the winter when there are no leaves. I stayed on Palisade Ave all the way north to the College of Mount St Vincent before heading east again.

Usually I would head south again at this point and catch the 7th Avenue local back to Manhattan, but since I had more miles to get in I decided to continue east towards the Jerome Avenue line. I mainly followed McLean Ave which is a winding and predominantly Irish thoroughfare in southeast Yonkers. The Times had a story about this stretch back in 2002. I could not believe how many Irish bars there were! At least one on every block!

Finally I made my way to Woodlawn Cemetery and caught the 4 back to Manhattan. This was a great run to explore, though with all the hills it was hardly and easy one. Now I just need to find time to come back and check out some of the great pubs I saw!

See the map after the break.

Beer Review! Our Special Ale 2011

So, this may come as a shock, but now that training has really kicked into high gear, I'm not drinking as much beer. It just doesn't fit into my schedule that well when I'm posting double digits runs and waking up at the crack of dawn on a weekday. That said, I still love a good brew on the weekends and last weekend I visited one of my favorite spots, Flair Beverages, a retail-wholesaler in Inwood. Since you can buy beer in singles, I picked out a mixed six pack so there should be some fuel for further reviews.

The first one I cracked open was Anchor Brewing's Our Special Ale 2011 (their Christmas brew). Why buy a Christmas beer in February? Because somehow I never got around to trying the 2011 version and I remembered liking it in 2010.

At first when you pour this beer it looks almost black but hold it up to the light and you notice it's a beautiful dark reddish brown. The head is light and cream colored. I got notes of baking spices (cloves, cinnamon, maybe some anise?) but also some evergreen notes like pine (I could have held my nose in the glass for a long time trying to pick out the different scents but someone also had to drink the darn thing).

This is not a highly carbonated beer and it felt much lighter than I expected given it's appearance, but unlike a certain other beer, this wasn't a disappointment. You could taste the roast malt and the spices mentioned earlier but there is also a slight sweetness wrapping the beer. All in all I would recommend this one. It's surprisingly complex for such a sessionable beer. Now I only wish I had picked up a second bottle!