JoeG : Weekly Running Report: February 28, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well!

How's training going? Any races (IRL or virtual)?

How's the weather in your area? Affecting your training? Still getting it done or adding other activities to make up for it?

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

This was Week 12 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My Week in Training:

Monday: 6 miles. Sunday recovery, hydrated well, foam rolled, massage gun, light stretch. Did have a couple drinks out to dinner (@Fireside Bar and Grille), but was well behaved. In bed early to get some rest. Up once and again way before my alarm. Up! Coffee, 45 min strength training and out the door by 6. Still a little overall soreness from sat long run and lower back from shoveling, but not as bad as I expected. Cautiously checking for black ice (going to be plenty for a while, melt/refreeze daily), not that bad this morning. Wearing my speedy shoes(Saucony Endorphin Pro's), not that I was looking to go fast, but they certainly do make things a bit more comfortable. Off I go! Working on foot strike / breathing. First minute pace alert beyond my normal landmark. Comfortable. Two small hills shortly after. Breathing got a little harder for a few, but adjusted. Pacing 7:30's for a bit. Worst hills in mi 3-4. Fading to 7:40's. Things got a bit tougher, 7:50's and trying to stay sub 8. Also changed my plan for today's mileage. Sched for 45 min, I usually do 5, but since I was ahead of pace, didn't want to short the plan by 5 min. Going for 6! Hanging on to maintain, kept it around 7:50 overall. Post run, could feel my right shin throb a bit. Hoping this isn't an early sign of my shin splints returning. Will be sure to focus on recovery.

Tuesday: 6 miles. Monday recovery, hydrated, foam rolled, ice my shins, stretch, and a decent night's rest. Up before my alarm again, but well rested. Coffee, 45 minute strength training and out the door by 6. So.. Monday morning.. forecast for an inch or so of snow with rain to wash it away. Wrong! Heavy snow most of the morning. There was some wintry mix mixed in, but never fully switched to rain to undo it. Stopped early/mid afternoon. Shoveled after work, and it was heavy! Township did a good job plowing/salting after. But there was a good amount of moisture left with freezing temps overnight. Was pretty sure I couldn't wear my speed shoes, didn't think there would be enough to require yaktrax. Went with trail shoes. Cautiously heads out. Streets had a light glaze, a few clear areas (rare), some frozen slush and thicker black ice at intersections and bottoms of hills inclines. Pacing, glad I was able to get some speed in yesterday, scheduled for today, between heavy legs and mediocre grip, not happening. Pacing 8:15ish most of the way. The second street has a decline and poor lighting, that was interesting. Worst hills around mi 3-4... The first one not the steepest, decline first, got to an area couldn't get a grip the entire width of the street. Slid down for a bit. Didn't fall back, but was a close call. made it back up that hill. As approaching the two next hills, requires going down a very steep hill.. Got close to the decline and saw it would be a little more dangerous than the previous. Ended up skipping those two hills. Legs still heavy though. lol.. Saw the beginning of an awesome sunrise, but couldn't get a good spot for a pic. Overall pacing just under 8:30. Not a fan of the ice glaze today. Happy to be done. Skipped two hills, but still got 400 ft. Would of preferred 5, but I'll take it.

Wednesday: 7 miles. (supposed to be non-running day/short streak day?) . Tues recovery, well hydrated, foam rolled, light stretch, and a good night's rest. Up early! Relaxed/comfy, but eventually got up early. Coffee, 45 min strength training. Initially going to do 5ish, but figured since I had some time.. I might as well do what I want. Above freezing temps overnight, hoping for much less ice! Wearing my speedy shoes. Not that I felt that I could go fast, but with yesterday's run being slightly less fun, figured I may give it a whirl. Working on foot strike and breathing. First few minutes felt good. It's go time! Moving along. there did end up being some black ice at turnarounds, (where neighborhood streets meet busy rd) and at the bottom of inclines. Cautious at the turnarounds, etc. Felt the hills in mi 3-4. Could of easily let go, but tried to maintain focus. Nice ice patch between where two hills meet, but careful. Regrouped a bit after the hills to maintain sub 8. Rough, but fun! Will probably take it easy/comfy rest of the week, we'll see. lol..

Looking back, this was my fastest 7 miler yet! Would still like to try to beat it someday on a flatter surface. Someday...

Thursday: 6 mi. Wed recovery, hydrated well, foam rolled, stretch, wore compression, and an excellent night's rest. Up before my alarm again. (all week so far) and ready to get going. Coffee, 45 min workout, foam roll my back and stretch my shins. Right shin feeling it a little at times. Going with a comfy pace, but it was a bit rough. Legs felt heavy before I got to the hills. Pace 8 ish till around 3 mi. Fading as expected, tried to focus for a bit to maintain, but didn't really help. lol.. Remainder of the way was maintaining sub 8:15. Probably could of faded a bit more, but hung in there. Crazy the difference a day makes. lol.. Oh, and above freezing temps overnight again. Only saw 2-3 intersections of ice. Very nice!

Friday: 5 miles. Thu recovery, hydrated well, foam roll, light stretch and another decent night of rest. Up before my alarm all week, but was quality rest! Coffee, 45 min workout, foam roll my back, stretch the shin (not as bad today). And out the door by 6. Wearing my speedy shoes. Feeling decent, we shall see. First few min felt good, but pace slightly higher. Focused, breathing, moving along and it starts dropping. Felt good to push it and was comfortable for a bit. As always, felt the hills, especially in mi 3-4. Fading 7:50's, trying to hold sub 8. Was rough, but fun and done! Temps below freezing overnight, above freezing this morning. Only a few spots of ice, and I slid a bit across one of them. Close call, but fine. Post run, had a decent walk to cool down, bumped into a dog walker I've seen a million times but have never really spoken to, mostly just waves. Was nice to actually talk to. She mentioned she admired my dedication, that was also was nice. And I got to pet her doggie!

Saturday: 10 miles. Friday, hydrated well, foam roll, stretch, carb load, and a good night's rest.

"Long" run day, trail day, yay! Finally back at the trails! First trail run of February, (tomorrow's the last day of Feb)! Still some snow here. But with a week mostly above freezing, curious as to how the melt is going on over at the trail. Probably would have stayed home another week if it wasn't for the facebook group 'Pennypack Trail Runners' providing condition updates. Stopped by my normal trail for a minute. (it's along the way). Pennypack Trail. Rail trail. Signs posted that there is no trail maintenance, and there isn't. One thing I was hoping for, the rangers and sometimes cops, drive the trail leaving tire tracks. If they drive back/forth a few times a day, was hoping it would be clear by now. There were some clear spots, but could see where the sun doesn't hit, which is plenty, there is still a layer of ice and snow. The Pennypack Trail Runners mentioned the Pennypack Park paved trail had been plowed/maintained. This trail is maybe 10 minutes further drive. Not bad. I have done a small portion of this trail before, but not as far. My main trail has a side trail from Lorimer to Pennypack Park. I have done a small portion when looking to add a few miles with less duplication of the other trail.

Forecast, 35 degrees to start and rain. And it was. Wishing for rain to wash the snow away, will have to run through the rain that I wished for.

When I left my house, wasn't sure what shoes I'd be wearing, pack three pairs! Yaktrax, trail, and long distance. When I was at the rail trail, briefly thought about running in the snow, I've had enough of that this yr. Will wait till I'm forced to again (hopefully not this season). Saw the paved rail, didn't feel the need for trail shoes. Comfy long distance shoe it is!
Paved trail, through the woods along the creek, closer to the creek than my regular trail. Multiple bridges to go under, a couple cool tall ones. A few more inclines than I was expecting. There was some long/wide/deep puddles, paths in the snow to go around. Snow/ice to go around the puddle with mud slide back. A bit slippery. Raining. Eventually just splashed through the puddles, feet already a bit wet, now they are just more cold briefly. lol.. There wasn't too many people out, only saw 1 person in the first two miles. Maybe 10 overall. Multiple forks in the road. Most forks, were not paved, maybe one or two that were, but stayed along the water. Started my run from the parking lot, set Nike app to 10.2 to turn around slightly after 5. On the way back, a couple of the forks looked slightly different, but didn't get lost/add extra. Pace, tried not to obsess, going for 8:15, with the few obstacles, distractions, inclines, faded a bit on the way back. Occasionally trying to push to bring it back down. But happy day overall.

One side note: didn't see any restrooms besides the parking lot! Non issue today, but besides nature, wonder what people do. One thing about the rail trail that I like, they have 4 restrooms over 5.5 miles! (peace of mind)

Full / more trail pics on Facebook

Sunday: 3.11 miles. Saturday, hydrated well, foam rolled, stretch. Did eventually offset hydration with beverages at and after dinner. Stayed up slightly past my normal time and "slept" in till 7. Sore back and slow to get moving. Coffee, 30 min core workout, stretch my back out, and eventually out the door by 8:30. Supposed to rain all day, not bad yet. And off I go. Didn't think I would have much in the tank today. Started out faster than expected, and gradually faded most of the way. Pace started at 7:30 and tried to maintain to 7:45, rough and didn't really happen. Will be sure to focus on recovery and behave today to start next week off right.

Outside of Running:

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? One outing to dinner and a brewery. :) What shows/movies did I watch this week? Nomadland (not my choice or typical movie, but was interesting), The Simpsons (watched for many yrs, haven't lately, but saw they did a flashback ep to send off a long time voice actor that passed away ((Edna Krabappel(played by Marcia Wallace, RIP))), Supernova (not my choice/style, and a bit of a sad movie), Promising Young Woman, WandaVision (cant believe there's only 1 episode left!), and some basketball.

Q: How about you? Anything exciting outside of running? Any adventures? Or binge watching anything?

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 43.3 weekly miles running completed

Month End: Despite all that snow, my farthest February yet!

Year to date: 400.6 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr): 22726/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k.

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 295 minutes completed. What type of strength training do I do? Core: crunches, planks, leg raises. Weights: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest.

Hydration Goal: 7 days

Foam Roll: 7 days

Training Plan: Week 12 of 20 using the below training plan. Plan titled "Advanced", please note, I in no way consider myself advanced. I have used the intermediate plan for four seasons, and want to try the next level. We shall see if I survive! lol..