Hi Everyone!
Hope everyone is doing well. How's training going, what races are we training for? Any weather issues? In SE PA this week we had light snow one day, and freezing rain affecting two days.
My Week in Training:
Monday: 7 miles before work. Went to bed early, but tossed and turned for a while. Good intentions, but just wasn't ready yet. Up a few min before my alarm. Coffee, work out, hydrate, foam roll, and out the door by 6. Second Monday in a row doing 7, still taking some adjusting to neighborhood hills, plus, today there was snow. Some streets were coated, some were clear, but mostly coated. Yaktrax day. With no snow, 8:30 would be my goal comfort pace, tried to maintain near that today. Close, but definitely wasn't comfortable with the layers and yaktrax, extra effort for sure.
Tuesday: 3.11 miles before work. Monday, decent night sleep, went to bed early with no issues. Up before my alarm. Coffee, work out, hydrate, foam roll and out the door by 6. Forecast overnight was snow to wintry mix, 1-3 inches. Well, roads were clear, sidewalks had a light powder coating. Double checked the streets. Wet, clear, with minimal black ice. Went out without the yaktrax. Cautious, first mile (mostly street) felt good. Mile 2 is all sidewalk, slowed down through the hills, but able to pick it up after, cautious, but felt safe enough and tried to have a plan if I were to fall. Mile 3 is combo of street and sidewalks. Probably could have redone my route to be all street, but hate going up and down the same streets mult times. Like the change in scenery, elevation, etc.
Wednesday: 4 miles before work. Yesterday's forecast for wintry mix. It really started shortly after yesterday's run. Wintry mix all yesterday morning through early afternoon. Turned to rain late afternoon. The center of the road was clear this morning, but sides and sidewalks still covered in frozen slush. Yaktrax day. Goal was to pace at 8:30. Through .8 ish felt good. Sidewalks/hills from .8-2, 8:35 ish, got it back to pace once I returned to the streets. Up and down streets from 2-4. Temps going up today. Yes, I wore shorts. (wear pants closer to mid 20's).
Thursday: 1 mile before work. Could of used more sleep. Stayed up a few min past my normal bed time, plus this is my on-call week for work, they called at 4 am. Worked on an issue until 5. Coffee, work out (slowly), hydrate, and out the door by 6:15. Not that energized, but tried to get breathing going before take off. 1 min notifications, at 1 min was where to be expected for the initial hill, 2nd was getting closer to where I want it. under 7:45, got it close to 7:30, but didn't have the energy to maintain there. There was also a few sidewalks (along a busy rd, have to stick to sidewalk) that were not shoveled. Plenty had melted since yesterday, but untreated spots refroze. grrr.
Friday: 5 miles before work. Up before my alarm. Coffee, work out, hydrate, foam roll, and out the door by 6. Heat wave! 40 this morning, going up to 60 later. Feeling the hills, comfortable pace of 8:30 most of the way.
Saturday: 14 miles. Long run day, trail day, yay! Was in bed by 9:30 last night, up before my alarm. Coffee, hydrate, morning routine.. Stomach growling a bit, light breakfast. Don't really like eating breakfast, but for some reason my stomach knows its long run day before it's time to get going. Light breakfast on 10+ days. Foam roll and over to the trail by 7:15. My trail
Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle (Welsh and Terwood Rd). To the more wooded side first to ByBerry Rd and back. Fueled around 5 mi. Hydrated as I pass my car at 5.25. To the more gradual side (Rockledge Park)and back, fueled again at 10 mi, hydrated as I pass my car (10.5), to the other side for 2 more and back. Started out slightly fast, but after a few minutes settled in to a comfortable pace. Tempting to pick it up early, but resisted. Goal was to pace at 9. Hung in the 8:50's. Faded to 9:04 through the inclines and back down to 9. The last 2 miles I thought about picking it up for splits but didn't do much.
Sunday: 1 mile. Rest day, one for the streak. Run Streak day 1,121.Saturday, was up way past my normal bed time. During the week, 9-9:30. Was up closer to 1 am! Went to a concert last night, Boyz II Men! We had a great time. Up around 6:30 this morning, but slow moving. Coffee, reading the news, etc, foam roll and out the door around 8:30.Usually try to do a little speed work on one mile day, but wasn't expecting much. Could feel yesterday's run and a bit tired. Started out working on cadences, could feel the hill. But at the one min mark, first alert started with a 6! Lost my cadence for a bit, out of breath, got it back together. Faded a bit, but was going aim to finish at 7:30, a few seconds off, but overall went much better than expected. Goal for the remainder of the day is to get some rest, hydrate, have fun, but not too much, may try to do another long run on Monday, have to mix up next week's schedule a bit!
This was week 9 marathon training, using the below plan.
Weekly Summary:
Miles: scheduled 33 mi / completed 35 mi
Strength training: scheduled 80 min/ completed 105 min
Foam roll: 7 days
Hydration goal met: 7 days
Spring Schedule
03.31.19 - The Love Run! Love the Love Run Philadelphia half marathon! Check out my review from last yr, here. Use code LOVEBR10 for 10% off!
04.06.19 - Hot Chocolate 15k Philadelphia. Use code BRHCPhilly to receive a free smart phone arm band. Check out my preview, here.
05.05.19 - Broad Street Run! - Love this race, but won't be doing it this year. Sometimes you have to pass on repeat things to try something new! My review from last year, here.
05.05.19 - Flying Pig Marathon! I am officially booked. Looks like a fun themed race, a great spring challenge, and somewhere I've never been (Cincy, Oh)! Hope to also check out Indiana and Kentucky while I'm out there!
Good luck to everyone with training! Kick some butt!
If you do any races, please remember to review them on ! Your opinions help other runners decide what races to run! Follow me on BibRave: Joe G
