Thursday, August 8, 2013

Train Now, Beer Later

This post has a little bit of everything for you today; training, parades and beer - lots or beer, mostly because I had lots of beer last night and am paying the price for it now. I'm not as young as I used to be, and my body definitely doesn't recover from post-ride brews as well as it used to. I'm pretty sure I used up all of my "hangover free" mornings in college because my mid-to-late twenties have not treated me that kindly.

Work first, party later.

It's been a big training week so far - and it's only Thursday. Monday night was the final Summer Run Series run - a five miler down at Jones' Beach. It was a fantastic night for it and the crowd was by far the biggest of the summer. After such a tough training week and my seemingly-endless uphill long run on Sunday, I opted to not race on Monday evening and instead take it at a nice comfortable pace. SJ and I ran together for the first time in what seems like ages and we negative split every mile. Here is the breakdown:

Mile 1: 8:40
Mile 2: 8:19
Mile 3: 8:14
Mile 4: 8:04
Mile 5: 6:25

Obviously, I found another gear on that last mile, but it felt good to open up and let it fly. I finished strong at a respectable 40:12 - and then promptly sat down to enjoy a few post-run bevies and hang out with the fam.

Tuesday I gave myself off, mostly because I don't have the time to train on Tuesdays. It's a good way to force a rest day - schedule yourself jam-packed one day a week and you won't be able to get any training in!

Yesterday I was back at it, getting in 2500 yards in the morning and the a bike ride in the afternoon before going out for the night. Like I've said before, I haven't been getting in the water nearly as much as I should be, and I can definitely feel it. My times are slower than usual and I have a hard time maintaining a set pace that used to be relatively easy. The joys of the 50 hour work week! My ride to Kings Park was also hellish - I didn't have a huge chunk of time so I purposely picked a route that I knew would be challenging so that I could get a hard workout in. At one point, I am fairly certain that I was going backwards down a hill, that's how steep it was. We may not have mountains here on Long Island, but if you want some grueling elevation gains on a ride, I can point you in the right direction. L'Alpe d'Huez it won't be, but it'll hurt nonetheless.

Onto the fun stuff - beer.

The East Northport Fire Department had their parade last night, and is typical with most fire departments, if there is beer involved at the end, we will come. After what seemed like a five mile march, we ended at their headquarters, which also happens to be located directly across the street from The Lark - one of the best beer-drinking establishments around. It really is a beer-drinkers heaven. 16 taps, over 40 bottles and not a light beer to be found. If you want to go someplace for a good beer and you happen to be in the Huntington area, The Lark is definitely the place to go. (On a related note: I really need to start going their more often, especially on Wednesday nights when it's Trivia Night.)

I whetted my palate for the evening with a Breckenridge Pale Ale and it was fantastic. Hoppy, but not so much so that it takes away from the refreshingness (which is not a word, but whatever) of the beer itself. It went down easy and was extremely drinkable - something that was good at the time but so good at 5:15 this morning when my alarm went off. It's a smooth beer that you can drink all summer long, but probably wouldn't hold up for the winter months.

Over the weekend I treated myself to two brews that I hadn't had before: Cisco Brewer's Whale's Tail Pale Ale and Heavy Seas Riptide, both of which I am super fond of.

 
That's SJ's wine glass in the background. She used to share my love of wheat and barley, but
apparently she's strictly a grape-girl now.
 

The Whale's Tail pours out darker than I would have thought, but drinks surprisingly light with only a slightly hoppy taste. At 5.5% ABV, it packs a smallish punch for a Pale Ale but it's a beer that leaves you wanting another when you finish.


Heavy Seas' Riptide calls itself a 'White IPA', so it's a combination of two great things that could have gone horribly wrong if not done well. The drink is loaded with hops, but drinks like a Belgian. When I poured it, there was a strong note of orange and citrus flavors, but you could smell the yeast cutting through the fruit, which made me super excited. I wasn't let down by the flavor in the least. The hops jump out and bite you right away, but the finish is Belgian in style and taste, leaving a pleasant taste in your mouth. At 7.2% ABV, this beer left me drooling on the couch after two, and it was no wonder I woke up Monday morning feeling like I had done a session on Sunday afternoon.

Now that my hangover was faded to the background, it's back to the track for some mile repeats, followed by some lovely 800s. I've had a few weeks off from the track, but I think it's time I revisit the oval-shaped tenth circle of hell.

Train hard and drink well, friends!

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