Philadelphia Half Marathon Training: Week 4

I'm a little late on this recap mostly because Sunday night while walking to Lauren's birthday dinner, I was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea.  I was able to fight through yesterday by sleeping nine hours, running, then laying back in bed until work.  Today, the run just wasn't happening.  I made it seven minutes before completely running out of gas.  Instead, I'm back in bed with a juice blend full of so many juices one of them has to cure me and writing this update.

Monday -- 30 minutes core.   After a race weekend and with a high intensity week ahead, this rest day was much needed.

Tuesday -- 8.2 easy miles in Central Park.  I had good company from Allie and my original NYC running partner Heidi on this warm, but casual run around the park. 

Wednesday -- 4x3200 with 400 jog rest at Riverbanks Track.  I had originally planned on turning this into a straight 4x2miles on the West Side Highway, but Jerry convinced me to take it to the track where he would keep me company.  My goals were 11:30, 11:00, 11:00 and sub-11:00.  Jerry said he was going to run his around his marathon pace, so as we set off on the first interval, I tried to make sure he had 10-15 meters on me.  We finished the first 3200 in 10:53 and I knew I was going to have to go big if I wanted to salvage the original intent of this workout and not go backwards.  It was a lot of work, but the subsequent 3200s were 10:49, 10:43 and 10:44.  I don't think I could have pushed myself that hard without Jerry.   This workout was a big step forward in restoring confidence.  I ended up running 14 miles total for the day with warmup and cool down to and from the track.

Thursday -- 7 easy miles in Central Park. Missed connection with Allie today.  She was running late and I was on a pretty tight schedule, so I ended up running solo.  30 minutes of core.

Friday -- 9.2 miles solo in Central Park, mostly on the Bridle Path.  12.4 miles on the ElliptiGO.

Saturday -- 14 miles with 10x1 minute at 5K effort.  I have lived in New York for more than three years, but had never ventured to Summer Streets.  Summer Streets happens the first three Saturdays in August.  The city shuts down Park Avenue to traffic from 72nd Street to the bottom of the island and opens it to bikers, runners, walkers, rollerbladers, etc. I think my hesitation was that it wouldn't be conducive to quality running, but as Jerry, John and I ran down a wide-open four-lane street, I was proven mostly wrong.  We were able to click off a solid 6:30 pace without anyone getting in our way or us getting in theirs.  However, we did have one confrontation with a tourist on a bike who loudly complained about runners then called us a derogatory name for the male anatomy.  Three years ago, I would have ignored something like that, but after dealing with rude people since 2011, I fight back.  I stopped to see if she would mind repeating herself, which she did.  Words were exchanged and then her gentleman companion rode up to Jerry and started picking a fight with him. It ended with Jerry shoving the man's bike away.  He didn't fall, but he didn't come back.  Runners are scrappy.

Sunday -- 15 miles in Central Park.  We had a huge group for this run.  That almost made up for the stifling heat and humidity.

Total Weekly Mileage: 67.4

Beer of the Week:
Brooklyn Wild Streak

I really like the Brooklyn Brewery.  I know it's the cool thing to do, but I like everything I try there and I've tried almost everything.  In fact, over the past few years, Brooklyn Summer Ale has become my default, easy-to-find summer beer (it had been Sam Adams for years).  I had never heard of and knew nothing about Wild Streak when I came across it hidden in a cooler at Broadway Dive Saturday afternoon.  Wild Streak was a "ghost" beer, only poured at tastings and special Brooklyn Brewery events.  It's recently graduated to a season release.  It's aged in bourbon barrels and with a 10% ABV, it's not for the faint of heart.  It only comes in 25.9 ounce bottles, so I split mine with a friend.  Yet, for the high alcohol content of a Strong Belgian Ale, it's incredibly drinkable.  Try it if you can find it.

Oh, and download this:
Foxygen: How Can You Really?
Spoon: They Want My Soul (the whole album. Just awesome.  But, start with "New York Kiss" and "Rent I Pay" if you want to test some tracks first.)

Next week: Illness adjustments and preparing for a vacation.  At this point the thought of beer or any kind of liquid that is not water or juice makes me feel ill.  That will go away.