Hi Everyone!
Hope you are all well!
How's training going for you? Any recent races or coming up (virtual or IRL)? Any other outdoor adventures?
This was week 18 of 20 'till the Valley Forge Marathon for me. A pretty decent week for me overall. Still two weeks away, but would love to take this momentum to race day. (and forget about that grueling summer!).
My Week in Training:
Monday: 6 miles. Sunday, partaken in some Sunday Funday beverages while watching sports. But was sure to stay on top of hydration before and after. In bed on time and decent rest. Tired, but ready for action. Coffee, workout (30 minutes, +10 later in the day), hydrate, stretch, and out the door by 6. Still a bit sore from Saturday's 20 miler, slightly humid, but temps ok. Goal 8:30-8:45. Working on breathing and foot strike to start. Comfortable at 7:50-8 early. Felt the inclines and humidity, but hanging in there. Worst hill in mi 3-4, faded a bit, but able to regroup and maintain. Comfortable most of the way, inclines and then a steep hill at the end that a cuss out often, felt like I owned it today. Faded past 8:15, but beat goal and pretty happy overall. Especially for a Monday. Best 6 miler in three months!
Tuesday: 1 mile. Strength Training day, plus one for the streak. Monday, in bed early! Decent night's rest. Up before my alarm, but waited a few min to get up before it. Coffee, workout (extra sets all around, 50 minutes). Temps are cooler (49 degrees out), windows open, and had cool air for my workout, very refreshing! Stretch, and out the door by 6:20 ish. Feeling alright, ready to get some speed in! Working on breathing before take off, and go! Up short steep hill to level, felt good! Although pace alert was slightly slower than expected. Continued on. Focus on foot strike and breathing. Hill at .6, faded slightly, but recovered a bit, another slight incline to finish out. Pace 7:05, run felt really good. Thought my pace would of been a little closer to 7, especially since I passed my 1 mi land mark and it took a couple more seconds to get there. Won't frown upon a few seconds, felt good.
Wednesday: 6 miles. Tues, in bed on time and a decent night's rest. yup, up before my alarm. Coffee, workout (30 minutes), stretch, and out the door by 6 ish. But.. Had some concerns when stepping out. Having tummy issues this morning! several times, and wasn't sure if I could go 10 minutes, much less 1 hour without going.. We shall see.. at least it's dark out now if I need an ally. lol.. (i kid, well, kinda). Work on breathing and i'm off and running. Fellt good to start, although first pace alert was slightly slow. Continued on and it came down. Few min in and had tummy pains, got better.
Second block, different issue.. Passing by a playground (playground totally dark), I hear a yell, turn, and a rottweiler is coming at me! Appears aggressive at first, but I stop anyway. I know this dog loves to run and will continue to chase and may get worse. Calms down as it gets close to me and it's owner gets control of the leash. I know this dog is a bit unpredictable. Some days totally calm, other days appears to be aggressive and needs to be held back (and they struggle to, this time they lost it), and when behind a fence runs back and forth like it wants to play. Hopefully they reevaluate how to control it.
Resuming my run and trying to pick it back up. Comfortable. Think between weather feeling good, feeling decent, and trying to regain momentum everything picked up. Few inclines along the way, trying to keep it going, pace before my worst hill was around 8:02. Don't want to over do it up the hill, which takes restraint. Pace 8:10 ish. A little tired, but had a small burst after. Trying to maintain rest of the way. Two more hills before the end, and picked it up after each. 8:06 overall. orig goal was 8:30, and then had 8:15 on my mind. Trying to not let the hills get me and some how succeeded. Best 6 miler in 3 months, with a little excitement (and no more tummy issues)
Thursday: 5 miles. Usually streak day? Flipping my Thu/Fri sched... In bed on time, up a few trimes, but a decent night's rest. Up before my alarm, but waited it out. What's odd is I know I have enough time, but sometimes I feel rushed if I dont get up and get moving right away.. Ample amount of time. Coffee, workout (30 minutes, +10 later), stretch, and out the door on time. Temps have gone up a few degrees, not hot, just no longer cool, plus 90% humidity. Not stressing about it. Have had a couple good runs this week, won't over do it before the weekend.. Busting out the new shoes today. (Saucony Endorphin Pro's), wearing them about twice a week until race day. Keeping a very close eye on the mileage. Worked on breathing a bit, and I'm off. Took a few minutes, but settled in. Passed by yesterday's dog walker early. They had a good grip, and apologized once more.. Pace felt decent early, and was able to maintain through the inclines. Usually fade a few before my first major hill. Pace 7:40's. Tried to ration energy up the hill, but may have pushed a bit much, a little tired at the top. Not much of a burst as it leveled out. But pace still 7:50 ish. Hanging in there fading back and forth, and able to push through the last hill and split slightly on the way back in the last mi. Goal was 8:15, but still being under 8 after my worst hill had 8 on my mind. Didn't expect it, but felt good. Best 5 miler in a yr!
Friday: 1 mile. Flipped my Thu/Fri sched. Strength training, plus one for the streak. Decent rest, up before my alarm, yada yada. Coffee and slowly getting into gear. Workout (extra sets all around, 50 minutes). Slow start, but got all my reps in. Stretch my back out, and out the door by 6:20. Planned on along a comfortable mi to not over do it today. Well, comfortable at first, but felt the need to pick it up a bit. And then continued to do so.. 7:30 pace split down. Hill at .6ish, pace 7:03, same pace at the top. Usually lose a few there, but felt the extra exertion. Now trying to get it down to 6:59. Which I did with about 1.5 to go. But faded up a couple seconds overall. Hopefully this doesn't affect tomorrow's performance. Don't think it will. Felt good to push it a bit. Think if I had set out to do 6:59, I may have been able to. Getting there. Best 1 miler in three months. Today was also streak day 1700. I swear the round numbers are always on low mileage days. lol..
Saturday: 10 miles. "Long" run day, trail day, yay! 10 miles.. Usually wouldn't put too much stress or thought into it. Would normally just go out and have fun, maybe work in a little speed for a bit, but not usually all out.. But.. The virtual Broad Street Run is due in a couple weeks. Registered last November as part of the Broad Street Run and Philly Marathon combo registration for 2020. Race is usually in May, postponed until Oct, and then went virtual. Would of preferred a deferral option, but not avail. At least a portion goes to a good cause. Figured I would put some extra effort into this to earn my swag. My PR is 1:20:ss (8:00 avg). Didn't think i could beat it. Broad Street is the biggest 10 miler (40k ppts) straight and extremely flat course. But based on a few of my recent runs, figured I could hang for at least 7 mi or so. We shall see.. Fri, carb loaded, relaxed, in bed on time. Up just before my alarm. Coffee, routine, stretch, and at my trail by 6. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park and back first. (the tougher side first). Temps nice and brisk. Pitch black for a few. Focus on breathing and foot strike early and often. First pace alert 7:30's, moving right along. Caught myself doing 7:11 and had to pull back a bit. Orig plan was to avg 7:45, try not to fade past 8. Avg 7:30 early. Fade slightly up the incline and trying to split on the way back. At 5.mi noticed I had 2 minutes extra for a PR (38 min). Trying not to overthink it. Passed my car at 5.5, skipped hydrating. Don't feel the need, hope that doesn't cause issues later. One thing on my mind was the street light by the parking lot, didn't have to stop or run circles! saweet! More wooded side to ByBerry Rd has a slight incline and then hill at the end. Usually non-issue unless I'm pushing or late in a long run. Feeling the inclines. Pace high 7:30's. Still some wiggle room to beat or meet 7:45. Fueled at 7 mi. Turn around from ByBerry with 2.3 to go. Trying to split back on the decline and did for a bit. Best 10 miler ever! 1:16:07, (even with an extra minute for tangents! 1:17:23). Pushed it most of the way, but still had some in the tank at the end. Knew I had a PR and didn't go all out in the last few minutes. Passed my friends today, but didn't b.s. with them until after. And later got a compliment from a speedster I don't think I can hang with (that I passed). Felt good. Don't think I over did it, hope to take the past week's momentum to race day in a couple weeks. (try to forget about the grueling summer)
Sunday: 3.11 miles. Rest day, usually just one for the streak. Run streak day 1702. Saturday, Epsom bath (usually do ice baths after long run, cool down was cold, took a while to warm back up!, no ice!), hydrate, foam roll. Hydration slightly offset, but not that bad, maintained along the way. Usually try to sleep in on rest day, but plans in a bit.. And of course I'm up before my alarm. Woke up feeling pretty decent. For some reason decided to do a couple extra more even though it's rest day. Coffee, stretch, and out the door by 5:30. Air was nice and brisk. Pace was comfortable in the 8:20's, but picked it up a bit. Didn't want to over d it, but did feel the hills midway and at the end. And tightened up a bit after my run Will be sure to hydrate and foam roll. New scenery for my route tomorrow, looking forward to that! We'll see..
Weekly Summary:
Miles: 27 miles scheduled, 32 miles completed
Strength Training: Goal 150 minutes, 224 minutes completed
What type of strength training do I do? Core: crunches, planks, leg raises. Weights: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest.
Hydration Goal: met days
Foam Roll: days
Training Plan: Week 18 of 20 until the Valley Forge Marathon using the below plan
If you do any races, please remember to review them on BibRave.com! Your opinions help other runners decide what races to run! #BibChat Follow me on BibRave Joe G
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