Weekly Running Report: December 6, 2020

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

How's training going? Any races (IRL or virtual)?  Fall/winter weather getting colder where you are?

Reminder, if you're just skimming my blog, lol..  reminder that I also have gear and race discount tabs/pages to check out as well. :) #BibRavePro

My Week in Training: 

 
Monday: 6 miles. Sunday, was exhausted Saturday after my long run and yard work, tried to keep it easy Sunday. Sure did, other than my streak day. Did an ice bath, foam roll, hydrate well. Did have a couple Sunday Funday beverages, but behaved and hydrated along. In bed early. Up multiple times with funky dreams, but still felt refreshed this morning. Did sleep until my alarm tho. Coffee, workout (core/arms/shoulders), hydrate, stretch, and out the door by 6. Rain in the forecast, but clear and mild. Ready to get a decent run in. Pace goal 8-8:15. Started out feeling pretty decent and rolling right along. That no rain, well mist to steady rain started 1 mile in. Whatevs. Although I was wearing my fav shoes. Rain was invigorating. Paced faded slightly in the inclines. Don't recall my pre hill pace, but was 8:05 as it leveled out. Picked it back up, 8:02 rest of the way. Comfortable. Incline and hill to end, 8:06 overall. Felt pretty good for a Monday. Don't think I even cussed at my hills today. Very rare. lol.. Oh and that rain, turned into a downpour shortly after, for most of the morning/afternoon. May have rained on me, but done before the brunt of it. 

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done. 

Tuesday: 3.11 miles. Monday, stayed up slightly late to watch my football team lose. :( Had a couple beverages early, but very well behaved. stopped and hydrated. In bed shortly after 11. Think I would of been ok. But... work issue at 1:45! 'doh! Third shift needed assistance. Short issue. But falling back to sleep takes some time. Up just before my alarm, but tired! Coffee, a short workout (core/chest), and out the door shortly after 6. 5k day, more of a through the motions day. Started out slow, but gradually got it down. Decent 1 mi. But definitely cursing at my hills today! Hill at 1.2, pace dropped at least 10-15 seconds. Was almost content to let it be, but found some energy to bring it back down. Another hills at 2.2 ish and again before the end. stupid hills. lol..  Not completely zombie-ish, but definitely tired today. And solo this week at work, going to be a long day and week. Hope to get back on track for rest!

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done. 

Wednesday: 6 mi. Tues, crazy day at work. Hydrated well, tired, and in bed on time! Decent rest, slept until my alarm. Groggy to start. Coffee, short workout (core/arms/shoulders) helped! Stretch and out the door by 6. Checks weather app.. Snow the next hr! First sighting of the yr. Kinda got excited. No snow at first, but brisk! Feeling decent to start. The workout and now brisk air def helped get me going. Pacing feeling good. Faded in the couple inclines before my fav hill. Approx 8:07 post hill. Enjoying the run and pickng it back up for a bit. Hovering at 8:02 for a while, wanted to get it down, but not over do it. Didn't. Incline and hill to start mi 5, 8:06 post hill, quads felt kinda heavy when trying to push it back down, just a notch. Felt pretty good today though. 

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done. 

Thursday: 3.11 miles. Well rested. Up before my alarm and got a good workout in. Extra sets all around (core/arms/shoulders/chest). Stretch, out the door shortly after 6. Workout felt good, but wasn't sure about doing a speed day. Legs felt ok, just wasn't sure if I was energized for that. Work on breathing before takeoff, try to get focused, and I'm off! First min is tough to judge as it starts with a short steep hill. Takes a couple min. But by 2-3 min, pace was settling in. 7:30 and dropping. A couple small inclines in mi 1, but the struggle starts around 1.1-1.2. About 4-5 min incline. Fading to 7:45. Quads feel it, etc. Able to regain composure to get it back to 7:20, eventually 7:15 as it levels and decline. But another 3-4 min hill, decline, 2-3 min hill, level, incline. Breathing rough at times, but slightly better than last week's turkey trot. Today's 5k (including elapsed time) would beat my race PR (22:45), (assuming no tangents for exact 3.11). lol.. Hope to continue progress on this till an eventual IRL race. 

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done. 

Friday: 5 miles. Friday, yay, almost there! just 9 or so hours until my hell week at work is over! Nonstop crazy, finally felt caught up yesterday afternoon! Thu, behaved and in bed on time, decent rest, up before my alarm, but waited it out. Coffee, decent short workout (core/arms/shoulders), and out the door shortly after 6. Looking for a comfortable, not push to hard, to get into the weekend. Goal 8:15-8:30). Comfortable early. 7:55 ish, fading a bit with the inclines and no concerns about that. Enjoying the briskness and tranquility of the run. Feelin good. 8:05 ish before my fav hill around 3.1, 8:12 ish after. Maintaining and enjoying. Hill around 4.2 ish to fade slightly again, may have split slightly after. Some cool cloud before the end, but as I approached the end of my route, less photo ops; clouds moved and tree/rooflines in the way. :( lol.. 

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done. 

Saturday: 13.1 miles. "Long" run day, trail day, yay! Uh oh, rain run! Woke up inthe middle of the night, could hear the heavy rain. Alarm goes off, rain still beating down on the roof, windows, siding pretty bad. Layed there, thinking about sleeping in a bit. But eventually got up. Coffee, taking my time. Over to my trail by 6:45 (at least 20 min later than normal). Rain scheduled for the entire morning. Fun times. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd and back first. Pacing, settled into a "comfortable" pace in the 8:20's. Actually didn't mind the rain. It was invigorating and peaceful. This part of the trail has nice views of the creek. Usually pretty calm, over flowing into a few places. Couple areas become a marsh and at times eventually combine with the creek. You'll see trees appear to be in the creek that usually aren't, but the water line is higher in the marsh. There are a couple cascades (video of creek here on facebook), pretty active today with the recent rain. Did see a few people on this side, a few more cars in the ByBerry lot. Back to the midway parking lot, pace higher in the 8:20's. Paused at my car to shed a layer and hydrate. An undershirt was definitely too much. Had my hat/gloves with me, ditched the hat early, but gloves on/off most of the way. Off to the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park. Definitely felt the incline today.  Didn't see too many people this section of the trail. On the return from Rockledge took a side trail from Lorimar to Pennypack Park. Small rolling inclines/declines, turn around at the second intersection and return to the main trail. Steep incline to connect to it. Once back on the main trail, really wanted to neg split, legs were heavy at this point, split a little bit, but not enough to bring it back down to 8:30. Tired plus gradual incline and small rolling inclines got me. Could be the weather and soaked shoes that I submerged in puddles a few times, but whatever. Still enjoyed the run. That side trail I mixed in is somewhat new to me, still more exploring to do, but not today. lol..  As I was leaving, still only 3 cars in the lot, usually full by the time I leave. 

Recovery: Hydration goal fell short, foam roll fail. But did get a a nice warm Epsom bath after my run. Crazy how quickly you freeze up after you cool down! But the bath was relaxing

Full Pics on Facebook

Rain Check list: What else is on your list?

Retired shoes (which still feel good for walking, but as I started running remember why they are retired, lol.. )

Backup headphones. 

Ziplock bag for my phone. 

Towel and a change of shirt/pullover for after 

Sunday: 3.11 miles. Saturday, hydrated somewhat, but fell short, and somehow forgot to foam roll. "Slept in" till 7:15 today. Coffee, and really taking my time. Rolled out some lower back soreness. A little overall soreness today. Short run, but can tell will be rough. Cold and windy out. Out the door around 9. Slow to start, eventually settle in around 7:55. Fav hill at 1.1 ish, going against the wind made it even more rough. 8:07 as it levels out. Trying to regain composure, working on breathing and foot strike. Got it back to sub 8. But two more hills to go. Legs heavy, quads and hammies, but done. 

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 39.5 miles running completed 

Strength Training: Goal 150 minutes, 248  minutes completed. What type of strength training do I do? Core: crunches, planks, leg raises. Weights: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest. 

Hydration Goal: 6  days 

Foam Roll:  6 days

Miscellaneous Cardio:  0, slacked on yard work. Still have some residual cleanups before winter, will wait till the next decent weather on a weekend.

Training Plan: Not on a plan at the moment, but use the below:

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: (and year end goal)

Calendar is clear 'till next year! 

But.. I did set a new goal for year end! Over the summer, during #GVRAT1000k, I saw that I was on pace for my first 2k year. But as #GVRAT1000k ended, I started to take (and needed) rest days. Followed my marathon training plan to a T. Fell behind a bit for 2k. After my marathon, saw that if I had a decent Oct, I could get back on target. Tried not to force the issue (too much) and now I'm back on track!

As of 12/6: 59 miles to go. 

Do you have any more races this year? Or year end goals?

Be sure to check out my Race and Gear discount pages. #BibRavePro ;)

Good luck to everyone with training! Kick some butt! 

If you do any races(virtual or IRL), please remember to review them on BibRave.com!