Yesterday morning while I was out doing my early recover 5 miles, all I could think about was how nice it would be to sleep in. For my MLRs, I have to get up between 4:30 and 4:45 am. For my 5 milers, I could get away with waking up at 5:45, though I tend to wake up at 5:30 because I don't like being rushed. Anyway, I had a 9 mile tempo run schedule for Friday with 4 miles at LT (lactate threshold) pace. I knew this would require another early morning and I really wanted sleep.
How did I resolve this conflict? I did the LT run last night! Well, I did an abbreviated version. Since it was my second run of the day, I cut my warm-up to one mile, did my four LT miles (all between a 6:11 and 6:15 pace--roughly what I estimate by 15k pace would be) and then cooled down with half a mile. I felt great during the whole run. I was a little worried because I haven't done much in the way of speed since Houston which was almost 3 weeks ago but I guess my body enjoyed the break!
It may not have been quite the same as doing the full distance today, but I'm hoping to get in an early LR tomorrow and extra rest just sounded more important today.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Beer Review! Cozy Sweater
Not every good run deserves a good beer, but certainly the occasional mediocre run does. After my Forest Park run this past weekend I was a bit chilled. When I got home, I decided the best way to warm up would be to open one of the bottles of suds I brought back with me from my last trip to Seattle.
Given the crisp weather, I opted to try Iron Horse Brewery's Cozy Sweater. This beer caught my attention because it's a vanilla milk stout. Every since I first tried Duck Rabbit's milk stout back in 2009, I've been hooked on the style. I'm also a huge fan of one of Iron Horse's regular brews, Quilter's Irish Death so I figured this one would be worth a try.
This beer pours very black with a light off-white head. The nose was dominated by coffee and chocolate more than vanilla but just looking at it, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the taste didn't quite meet my expectations.
First of all, it had a very thin mouthfeel, not something I was expecting from such a dark milk stout. It had a nice roast malt taste but there wasn't much of a vanilla. It also had less of the sweetness that I would expect from the lactose. It was not a bad beer, but it also wasn't all that special. I'd love to try it on tap, but I won't be devoting any precious cargo space to another bottle next time I visit Seattle.
Given the crisp weather, I opted to try Iron Horse Brewery's Cozy Sweater. This beer caught my attention because it's a vanilla milk stout. Every since I first tried Duck Rabbit's milk stout back in 2009, I've been hooked on the style. I'm also a huge fan of one of Iron Horse's regular brews, Quilter's Irish Death so I figured this one would be worth a try.
This beer pours very black with a light off-white head. The nose was dominated by coffee and chocolate more than vanilla but just looking at it, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the taste didn't quite meet my expectations.
First of all, it had a very thin mouthfeel, not something I was expecting from such a dark milk stout. It had a nice roast malt taste but there wasn't much of a vanilla. It also had less of the sweetness that I would expect from the lactose. It was not a bad beer, but it also wasn't all that special. I'd love to try it on tap, but I won't be devoting any precious cargo space to another bottle next time I visit Seattle.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
To lift or not to lift?
Today was another early morning MLR. This time I ended up with 11.5 miles in Central Park. I had planned to do the same 11 miler I did last week via the East Side, but at the last minute decided I would rather skip the traffic lights and stay in the park. The best part about running in the park so often is that I can always make a pretty accurate guess of how long a run is so on days like today where I change my mind, I can still make sure I meet my distance goal.
Okay--now I want to talk about something other than running: I want to talk about lifting. I hate doing weights. I don't know why, but I do. Nevertheless, we often hear that running alone isn't enough. Every "serious" runner does some form of strength training too. I go through cycles where I'm good about doing strength training on a regular basis (2 to 3 times a week) and then I go through cycles where I won't touch a weight for a month.
Lately, I've been rowing a lot for cross-training (I'll address this in a post down the road) but the past week I've hit the weights a couple times too. I'm curious how many of you (haha! he think's he has readers!) incorporate strength training into your running focused training. Do you lift on a regular basis? Do you think it helps your running? Let me know in the comments.
Okay--now I want to talk about something other than running: I want to talk about lifting. I hate doing weights. I don't know why, but I do. Nevertheless, we often hear that running alone isn't enough. Every "serious" runner does some form of strength training too. I go through cycles where I'm good about doing strength training on a regular basis (2 to 3 times a week) and then I go through cycles where I won't touch a weight for a month.
Lately, I've been rowing a lot for cross-training (I'll address this in a post down the road) but the past week I've hit the weights a couple times too. I'm curious how many of you (haha! he think's he has readers!) incorporate strength training into your running focused training. Do you lift on a regular basis? Do you think it helps your running? Let me know in the comments.
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