I ran a bunch more than usual, made beer, and got to hang with a good friend.

I ran 30 miles last week! (And cycled 4 on Tuesday) which is the most I've run in one week since January. (And before that was quite abysmal in the mileage department running wise) I really enjoyed doing 2 mid distance runs back to back (Saturday and Sunday) - I wasn't planning it but felt great especially since Sunday's workout was 2x 2.5 miles at 7:30 pace.


Cb was super cute like always. He misses his daddy right now who is on a business trip.


I took some photos of the Soldier Field 10 while out for my Saturday morning 8 miler. It was nice seeing some friends I hadn't seen in a while running the course. It was a fabulous day for a race!


If this summer repeats Saturday's weather, I'd be a super happy camper. Post run I met Vicky and her dad for brunch at Eleven diner.


Post brunch I brewed beer again. This will be a single hop IPA made with "Warrior" hops. I recently just bottled this beer's sister- the same recipe IPA but made with a different hop- "cluster." It will be interesting to compare these beers and taste the differences.


Post beer making I met up with Vicky and her dad again for beers at Villains!! It had just reopened on Friday and I was dying to go- and luckily they were thirsty for some beer. I can't wait to return with L when he gets back from Brasil. Fun fact: we ran into one of the owners at the Copenhagen Beer Celebration a few weeks ago. We are so happy they reopened!


On Monday CB took me for a walk in Grant Park. He insisted I take photos of him with these awful stinky flowers that caused me to start sneezing.


On a less happy note, I recently read this story in the Rio Times. A doctor was biking on the Lagoon in Rio and was robbed. He was stabbed and died of his injuries. The crime in Rio (and Brasil) is no joke. This story is just heartbreaking and gives me chills because we ran around the lagoon in Rio while we were there in November and I thought it was "safe" although L was quick to remind me no where in Brasil is truly safe.

Running around the Lagoa in November.

On a happier note, CB and I ran before work on Tuesday. I love seeing him so happy (and consequently tired)
I'm enjoying running more (in the heat!!!!) and can't wait for my half marathon and 5k over the next few months.

--Xaar

Week?? Ambiguous training for something yet to be determined {2}

Another awesome week in the books! I only ran 10 miles, but worked out for 4 hours and 50 miles total, so there's that. I also ran my longest consecutive run in what seems like forever. I actually cant remember the last time I ran double digits.

Monday: REST

Tuesday: 10 miles cycled

Wednesday: REST

Thursday: REST

Friday: 10 miles cycled

Saturday: 10 miles run w/ 4 Tempo miles @ ( 7:12, 6:55, 7:02, 7:02) Followed by 5 miles on the bike

Sunday: 15 miles Cycled

L came home on Wednesday from Brasil, so I decided to spend time with him (especially since he has been home only a handful of days in the past 2 months). Since he was leaving for another trip early Friday, I decided my marriage > running and we went to Eataly for dinner on Thursday. I haven't been doing morning workouts lately and did not mind the extra time off.

With there not being any good 5k's happening in Chicago in April, (that fit my schedule), I have just been running/cycling whatever I feel. I like working out "intuitively"- if I feel like running fast, I pull a speed sesh out of my hat, or if I feel off, I run slow and then cycle and always finish with some PT/AB/Weights. I do like following a plan though, so I need to decide soon whether or not to focus on a half marathon, or just keep doing what I feel like. I've trained diligently for enough half- full marathons, that intuitively I know what I need to do to be successful should I choose to run longer. And now i've basically said nothing and everything in 100 words.
CB was all "HIGH 5's" one morning, which was probably because I had a stinky soft treat to give him. Although he is a fan of high 5's...
L returned from Brasil with a bottle of Mikkeller Running beer for me!! And to think I would only get to try this when I am in Copenhagen post MRC run... It was a nice ale- perfect for post run hydration. I was *slightly* jealous he got to run with the MRC Sao Paulo group because they had deferred their April 4th run to the 11th due to Easter. Because Brasil = Catholic.

Come join us for our 4th run on May 2nd in Chicago! RSVP/ More info: HERE
With L being home for 2 days after being in Brasil, and before that California and Vancouver and California, it was nice to spend some time together before he took off again.
Saturday I ran outside. In a tank top and froze my ass off. With the temp in the low 50's and 30mph winds, I was so ridiculously cold, but ran 5 miles into the headwind and felt pretty good. At the turnaround I decided to do 4 tempo miles and I was flyyyyiiiiinnnnnnng. It felt good to run long, and outside, and fast, and on the lakefront.
Post 10, I made beer. This will be my 5th, and is a Mikkeller single hop clone recipe. Currently it is fermenting vigorously under my bathroom sink, and while I have high hopes for it, I am slightly concerned about it not turning out ok. I didn't boil off enough of the wort and got a slightly lower gravity reading than I planned for. In 5-6 weeks, I'll hopefully have a decent beer to drink. I will also make another version of this exact beer, but with a different hop in a few more weeks. Fingers crossed this Cluster Hop IPA turns out well.
On Sunday CB and I went for a walk in Grant Park. I didn't feel like running, so we walked and sniffed the flowers.

Looking forward:

I'm excited to watch the Boston Marathon at work tomorrow......and then for it to be over. The hype surrounding it on social media this past week has been tiring to keep up with.

I can't wait to see my Daad later this week- last time he was here was in January.

Yay for a busy week at work- this week will fly by!

Continuing to research places to go in Paris and Copenhagen... I already have a nice list of restaurants, and sights to see, but am still reading about all things Paris and Copenhagen for more potential ideas.  And I am really excited for this trip. Like super duper excited to just wander the streets of Paris with L and eat bread and cheese and drink wine.

Up Next:

2 more recaps of my trip from 13 years ago... Amsterdam and Paris!

Vancouver days 4-5 {more sea wall running, Public Market, breweries and oysters!}

On Monday L didn't have any training so we decided to start the day with a run along the sea wall. We were also lucky that the sun came out!


I took L to the totems.


And we 'Grammed them.


And took selfies with them.


Vancouver looked amazing in the rain and overcast conditions. Vancouver also was stunning with the sun out!


The sea wall wasn't busy at all.


I was so happy to go for a nice run with L and spend some time with him!


The cherry trees were also in full bloom.


After our run, we took the cute water taxi to Granville Island to go to the Public Market and Granville Island Brewery.


The tour at GIB was informative and fun. The gal leading our tour definitely knew her way around beer.


We ended up sampling 8 of their beers, including the potato stout I had post race. My favorite was either their winter ale or their Scottish ale. Yum!


Once we were good and buzzed, we walked over to the Public Market for lunch.


The market is super clean and full of the usual market type stalls- containing fruits & veggies, meats and other goods. They also had many food vendors with all different ethnicities of food. We ended up with Indian food and it was so delicious!


We couldn't pass up dessert. Duh. I had chocolate mousse.


After lunch we took the 4 minute water taxi ride back to the other side.


The sunset was especially amazing on Monday night- my last night in Vancouver. That was the view from our hotel.


For dinner I wanted oysters (because Vancouver seafood = so good) So we ended up at "Chewies." The oysters were out of this world fresh and delicious. My favorite were the Kusshi from BC.


Post Chewies, we closed out our night at Steamworks brewing with a couple of good beers.


On Tuesday morning we went to Medina cafe. I can't remember where I had found this place, but the menu looked incredible.

I started with a lavender latte. Divine.


For breakfast I had "Fricassee Champignon" basically a delicious skillet with mushrooms, potatoes, arugula and fried eggs.


We went back to the hotel and I re packed my suitcase and took one more photo from our room.


Then I said goodbye to L and took a cab to the airport.

I love the airport- it's super clean and has cool statues in it.



I wore compression socks on the 4+ hour flight to Vancouver and my legs were throbbing by the end of it. (The soreness lasted for a few days) On the way home, I didn't wear compression socks and my legs felt great. A day later they still feel fresh. Same thing happened on my flight to Brasil. Needless to say I'll never wear them on a flight again.


I got wifi on the plane and killed time by writing blog posts. It was still a long ass flight at 4 hours.


Final thoughts:

I loved Vancouver. It surpassed all my expectations for scenery, food and ambiance. While the diversity of the folks in Vancouver was surprising to me, the concentration of super cars or exotic super cars was even more surprising. The amount of Ferrari's and Lamborghini's and Maserati's was crazy! I had no idea there was so much money in Vancouver!

I was so happy L and I got to take a short trip to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. It was so wonderful to visit Vancouver together.

Week 4 of ?? 5k training

Another week, another training/weekly review......

This week saw some more "breakthroughs" in my running. While I'm loosely following a 5k plan I found online, I am 100% following the speedwork + pace recommendations in it.

The {reoccurring} lesson I keep relearning each week is to trust my abilities and not to talk myself out of workouts because they seem "too difficult." I picked a challenging yet attainable goal. The speedwork will be challenging- more so than marathon training. But I need to just HTFU STFU and get shit done.

Workouts:

Monday- 8 mile cycle

Tuesday- REST!!

Wednesday- 5 miles with 4 @ tempo (6:53, 6:53, 6:48, 6:44)*I was stressing about this workout and the paces I'd have to hit, yet once I started running everything fell into place and I felt good. It was a comfortably hard pace and I could have kept going another 2+ miles. COWABUNGA!

Thursday- easy 3

Friday- progressive 5 miles

Saturday- 6 miles. 12 x 200's at 45 seconds, (6:00/Mile) pace, with 1 minute 200 meter recovery between. This workout felt so easy! Workout called for 8, but I took it to 12 and could have done many more!

Sunday- 9 miles cycle

Total: 40 miles
Total time: 4 hours, 5 min
23 miles running
17 miles cycling.

One thing I love about 5K training right now is the low mileage especially during winter. Last year this time I was training for a marathon and doing 99% of my runs on the treadmill, with 16+ milers at 4am before work. It was difficult to train in those circumstances, but I will ensure I do the work to get to my goal. I am currently enjoying the flexibility of shorter workouts which do not impact my day to day life. Such as having to eat right, and go to bed early before a long run.

But on the other hand I am bummed I am not running more. I love long runs where I can zone out and coast up and down the Lakefront. I cannot run outside when it is below 30 degrees due to Reynauds and my inability to breathe/stay warm in extreme cold so my mileage has dipped this month.I doubt I'll break 100 running miles for February due to the cold. But, I have been cross training more which I know has been really good for me and injury prevention. And jumping back into marathon training post crankle would have been dumb because going from 0 miles to 40-50 a week is recipe for disaster. Keeping training short and sweet is the way to go while I build up my base again.

Life and stuff:
When  I racked the Belgian Stout I am brewing on the black berries, I had a lot of leftovers. I ended up using the blackberry puree to make a blackberry lime sorbet which turned out pretty well.
For our 11 month anniversary*, we went out to Vice District for a beer, followed by Kurah in the South Loop.  *We aren't one of "those" couples that celebrate anniversaries for everything. But we do like going out for no particular reason at all. 

Kurah was delicious- it is a Mediterranean tapas bar. The food was really good- but the portion sizes seemed a bit large to be considered "Tapas" unless it was meant for a group of 4 or more. For example, we ordered the Dolmades, stuffed grape leaves- I was expecting around 6 to come out, but a plate of 16 arrived at our table! Now we know what to expect next time we go there.
A blog post wouldn't be complete without a selfie... Happy 11 months! I'll be all cliche and shit and say wow time has gone fast, and yet it feels we've been together forever.
We finished our weekend watching the Oscars (Zzzzzzzzz) and drinking good beer with the CB dog.
With only a few weeks until my first 5K of the year, I am feeling pretty good about my training so far,  but also know that the race is not super conducive to PRs. Regardless I am excited to test my new speedy legs out on a race soon to see where I am at in this sub 20 goal.

Week 2 of ?? 5k training

This week was a bit of a bust training wise. I was very busy at work and felt "off" all week and decided taking an extra rest day or 2 wouldn't kill me. I still nailed all of my speed work.


Monday: REST

Tuesday: FARTLEKS! 5x 3 minutes at Goal 5k pace (6:22/mile) with 2 min recovery (8:45/mile).

Wednesday: REST

Thursday: Cycled 9 hilly miles

Friday: REST

Saturday: 3 progressive miles followed by 3.3 Miles with the Mikkeller Running Club- More on that soon!

Sunday: Progressive run- 10 min easy, 15 minutes @ 7:12/mile, 5 minutes @ Goal 5K pace (6:22/mile) followed by 3x 30 second hills @ Goal 5k pace (interval 3 on treadmill)

I am still amazed that I haven't had to modify the speed workouts either for pace or time yet. I'd only amend the workout if it felt exceptionally hard. But after 2 weeks, I feel all the speed work i've done so far is comfortably hard- like i'm not over exerting myself trying to keep the pace nor do I feel like I gave 100% effort (I'll be saving that for the goal 5k!). After each speed workout I feel energized and like I could have kept going. These workouts leave me craving more speed!

I still don't have a goal 5k (or 5ks) yet. I am however signed up for 2 5k's in 2 different countries (USA not included!) but depending on the circumstances of each of them, will probably not be sub 20 worthy... PR worthiness remains to be seen and will not be totally discounted... One has a crazy elevation profile including a brutal uphill finish, the other will be at the end of a week of excessive wine and beer consumption. I'll keep looking for some Chicagoland 5k's to consider for the sub 20.

CB as always was exceptionally cute this week. Very playful and full of energy. I forget he's over 10 years old now.

We also made some more spent grain dog biscuits- with the grain coming from a porter my husband brewed earlier in the week. CB was very happy.


We finished the week at the Inaugural Mikkeller Running Club Saturday morning, and drank with good friends sunday.

"For relaxing times..." 

It was a good 2nd week of training despite the extra rest days. On to week 3!

Day in the life of Xaarlin, Saturday edition.

Couldn't resist making a "Day in the Life" post because so many others are doing it today, and because last Saturday was so crazy!

5am: wake up hit snooze x20, piss off L.

6am: get up and go to the gym. But first take a photo of the gorgeous sunrise.

6:22am: Run 3 fast miles.

Photo from another run where I was goofing around.

6:45am: take a shower, have a coffee and quickly get ready.

7:25am: leave with CB for his vet appointment.

7:35am: CB decides he doesn't want to go to the vet and stops half way on our walk/run and wont budge. People begin to wonder if I've stolen my own dog due to his resistance for going on a walk with me.

7:40am: We finally get to the vet and he backs out of his leash and starts running around the parking garage.

7:45am: I corral CB and we go into the vet and find a long line. I appreciate the time the vet techs/office staff spend checking in each pet to listen to our issues etx. Luckily it moves fast enough.

8:00am: I run home one mile from the vet in jeans.

8:10am: I eat a ham egg and cheese croissant in record time.

8:20am: We leave for the train. (Because I worked out late, and because I left late to the vet, I was thinking we would miss the train)

8:40am: after a brief hustle to the train, we are seated comfortably.

10am: arrive Gary Indiana and walk to the 18th street brewery.

10:10am we start waiting in line for the 2 hours until the brewery opens. We were there for their special release of Hunter Coconut stout. <Spoiler Alert: It was worth the wait>

11:15am: still waiting in line. The vet calls and we discuss our next steps with CB. He has been drinking too much water for the past few weeks. No other symptoms. I agree to additional blood work to figure out what is causing him to drink every last drop.

11:30am: we are still freezing our asses off outside.

11:50am: The line starts to move and we can go inside and buy the Hunter Coconut.

11:55am: we buy our allotment of Hunter Coconut and find a seat to enjoy some beer!

11:59am: I buy a round of Hunter Coconut for L, my Daad and I so we don't have to open our bottles. It is delicious and chocolaty and coconuty and everything I had hoped it would be and more.

12:31pm: I drink a delicious Cone Crusher IPA from 18th Street

1:05pm: I go in line to buy another beer for my Daad and L.

1:06pm: I drink a Bitches Bank imperial stout from 18th Street. Man was this one delicious. Stout with cinnamon and other spices- almost reminded me of a boozy Mexican Hot Chocolate or mole in the best possible way.

1:15pm: I go use the rest room before hitting the train and take a photo of this sign.

1:20pm: we walk to the train

1:25pm: we get on the train.

2:47pm: we arrive Chicago

2:54pm: arrive Porkchop and get food.

3:24pm: arrive at my place, chill for a while.

5:15pm: leave to go pick up CB

5:30pm: go to Whole Foods.

5:38pm: go to the vet. Wait a very long time because the Vet was in a surgery. Speak to the vet for 10 minutes. Get some answers, get recommendations for more tests to find the underlying cause of the excessive drinking. Elevated kidney enzymes indicate the possible onset of early stage kidney disease or early stage kidney failure. Vet doesn't seem too concerned at the moment, so I breathe a sigh of relief- especially since CB has been acting normal- the only thing out of the ordinary was the excessive water consumption.

6:30pm: head home with CB.

7:00pm: Arrive home and chill the rest of the night.
9:18pm: While trying to go to sleep, I start crying thinking about how my dog will not live forever. And while there's no serious diagnosis, my mind goes to the worst. I start researching home remedies for kidney disease and info about changing his diet and go to bed because it's been a long day and I am drained emotionally and can't stay awake any longer.


WOW that was tiring to write.

And now that I've looked it over it was kinda boring and tedious to read. I must work on my day to day activities to make them more interesting for blog content. But, the more I think about it, This is a somewhat usual Saturday for me- minus the vet visit.
Until next time.

--Xaar