12 5k's of December

So ... I mentioned on Bobcat that I've been following some running plans by Runna. 

I'm currently in week 4 of 9 of their "5k Improvement Plan". I do a couple of runs a week that are designed to improve my 5k time. 

At some point, I noticed the 12 Days of 5ks on Facebook virtual challenge advertised in my Facebook feed.

Taking a look at my Runna plan, I was already going to do 8 runs of 5k or more in December, and I thought to myself, "How hard can it be to run 4 more 5k's in a month?"

Well, I decided to go ahead and sign up.

I'm not pushing the fundraising like I did for the Great Cycle Challenge, so currently I'm the only one who donated to my challenge. If you'd like to help out, it is a Facebook Fundraiser at:

I’m Doing 12 Days of 5ks for the American Cancer

November Update on 2025 Cycling Goals

I do quite a bit of cycling for a middle-aged couch potato.

With all the BBQ I make and eat, and all the beer I brew and drink, biking a ridiculous amount helps keep me somewhat in shape.

So ... I spend lots of time cycling around the foothills of Denver.

If you're interested, I always track on Strava. (even if you're not interested)

Anyway ... as you may remember from 2025 Cycling Goals, I have 5 cycling goals this year:

#MetricCenturyEveryMonth / #8200MilesIn2025 / #16EverestsIn2025 / Triple Bypass Ride / #GCCUSA

We're getting close to the end of the year ... and ...

Here is an update for these goals as of the end of November, 2025: 

2025 Thanksgiving Turkey

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving.

Since 2018 (Cherry Wood Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey), I've been the one in charge of cooking / smoking / grilling the turkeys at the SheppyBrew house.

It's fun for me, and it frees up the oven for the various sides my wife generally makes.

And, I think smoked turkey tastes better than it would if we cooked it in the oven.

Over the years, I've tried several techniques for actually cooking the turkey.

I've smoked a few roasted whole. I've done spatchcocked. I've halved the bird and last year, I quartered the bird.

My plan this year was to repeat the Quartered bird like I did with the 2024 Thanksgiving Turkey. However, for whatever reason, this bird was just being difficult when I was cutting it.

I ended up just deciding to try the spatchcock method again.

2025 Thanksgiving Beers

Thanksgiving is here! Merry Thanksgiving from SheppyBrew Brewery.

In lots of ways, it honestly feel like 2025 just began and now it's getting close to being over.

Here at the SheppyBrew Home Brewery, we have a pretty decent lineup of beers available for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tri-tip photos

I've had a tri-tip in my freezer since sometime in mid-ish October. 

Tri-tips were on sale I guess and I purchased two. One I grilled on October 13. The other I grilled this past Saturday.

I never posted about the first one. Now, lucky reader, I'm posting photos from this past cook.

I really enjoy grilling eating tri-tip, but they are expensive enough that I never buy them unless they are on sale.

Tri-tips are pretty simply to make, and my process is always pretty much the same. I apply a salt / pepper / garlic rub hours before I want to cook.

I generally prepare my grill around an hour and a half before dinner. I'll set up the grill for a reverse sear. Indirect for the first hour to hour and fifteen minutes and then direct for the last little bit.

Gnomeberry Hollow Cherry Porter

Style: Cherry Porter
Brewer: SheppyBrew
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 28
SRM: 40 (shadow-black)

Appearance 👀

Pours inky black with a dense tan head that settles into a creamy cap. Held to light, faint ruby glints flicker at the edges, like fireflies escaping a hollow log. The body is opaque and shadowy, cloaking the cherry secrets within.

Aroma 👃

Roasted malt and cocoa rise first, followed by a burst of tart cherry—bright, fresh, and slightly wild. Beneath it all, hints of vanilla, toasted almond, and damp earth evoke the forest floor after rain. It smells like dessert and mystery.

Yoker Belgian Tripel (Batch 385)

As I mentioned in Learning to Homebrew: 2025 X-Mas Ale (Batch 384), I was hoping to get together with at least one of my homebrewing buddies coming up soon.

It turns out that this past weekend, we were able to do this.

The SheppyBrew Beer Model and I packed up our brewing equipment Saturday and headed over to Doc's Brewery for a brew day.

Getting started at Doc's Brewery starts even later than when I brew at home with the Beer Model, but Saturday I still got up fairly early to get things ready for the Travel Brewing.

I put a Chuck Roast on the weber kettle to smoke for a few hours so that I could leave it in the crock pot most of the day.

That way we'd have dinner ready when we got home.