Week 3 of?? 5k training aka See you in 56 days...

This week was a nice contrast to last week's suck fest. I pretty much smashed all of my workouts and felt great- minus Saturday's 5k hills post brunch. Derp. I should know better.

Monday: rest!

Tuesday: cycle 10 miles
                10x 400's @ 6:18, last 2 @ 6:10 pace

Wednesday: easy 4

Thursday: easy 4 progressive with strides

Friday: rest. Hungover. Rest.

Saturday: 12 mile cycle, 
                  3x2:00 hills @ 5k pace felt heavy and slow. Yay brunch!

Sunday: 12 mile cycle, 3 miles east

55 miles total. 34 cycle, (2:18) 21 running (2:42)
5 total hours.

Notes:

Thursday we went out drinking with friends, nearly repeating our exact path on Sunday. Links taproom Check! Emporium arcade Check! I woke up friday so incredibly hungover there was no way I was going to attempt speedwork or workout of any kind. I think I was super dehydrated from my run plus re-hydrating with 4very strong 10%+abv beers was not smart. Lesson learned.

On weight:
I've accumulated a few extra lbs over the past few weeks and have decided to shed them to get to a better racing weight for my first 5k of the year. That means a few less beers a week and some smaller portion sizes. Nothing too drastic but need to acknowledge I must make a change. I feel heavy and slow more than i'd like. It's amazing what a few extra lbs can do negatively.

Saturday L and I racked my Belgian stout onto blackberries for secondary fermentation. It's already been fermenting 3 weeks and posted a 8.53%abv before secondary. I really hope this one turns out well since it's the first beer I've adapted from a 5gallon recipe. I had been using all grain kits before this, But something about measuring out the grains and hops made it extra satisfying to make. I'm almost to the point of making my own recipes based on the hops/malts/barley/yeasts that I like.

The Belgian Stout prior to being moved to secondary + blackberries

After racking the Belgian stout on the blackberries, we brewed another adapted recipe- a Russian Imperial Stout. Folks, the wort of this beer smelled absolutely divine & was a gorgeous brown black color. I have high hopes for this one. But it won't be ready for another 56 days. At least I have 2 carboys now so I can keep brewing other beers while this one ferments. Next up: the same Belgian stout I used for the blackberry stout, but we will either leave it plain or add a flavor like coffee. Then I'm done with stouts and will start brewing more spring appropriate beers.

The Blackberry puree for the Belgian Stout, The grains for the RIS. That Russian Imperial Stout boil though... Look at that deep color! The smell was divine!

For Valentine's Day we went out to Belly Q and had an amazing time. The food was delicious and our waiter really made the evening pop with her knowledge of the menu/drinks.

Of course- since we brewed beer we made more spent grain biscuits which CB was super happy about. Our freezer is overrun with spent grain and biscuits right now. CB does not find that to be a problem though...

Yesterday it snowed again and was super cold so I didn't get to run outside for my long run. And the reason there was no long run.  Oh well. We had brunch & got to celebrate our friends daughters 3rd birthday which was cute and fun. It's so amazing to see the difference between 2 and 3 with her!

Onto another exciting week. Only 25 days until my 1st race of 2015!

--Xaar