Weekly Running Report: March 28, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

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 16 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My Week in Training:

Monday: 6 miles. Sunday, hydrated well, foam rolled, stretched, very light chores, plenty of relaxing after Saturday's 20 miler. Behaved (for the most part) on SundayFunday. Decent night's rest. Weird dream that I saw a mountain lion on my neighborhood run! crazy dreams. Up at my alarm. Shin hurt slightly going down stairs. Coffee, workout (30 min now, 15 later), foam roll my back, stretch my shin, and out the door by 6. Warmer temps in the afternoons recently, but still 30's at this time. Going for a "comfy" pace today. Still some overall soreness from Sat, but started out pretty decent. Pacing sub 8 till the hills, didn't force myself to maintain. Faded along a bit, but no concerns for a comfy day still feeling the long run. Better than expected. 

Tuesday: 6 miles. "Speed" day. Mon, hydrated well, foam rolled, iced my shin, and a good night's rest. Up at the alarm, shin felt the stars at first, but not horrible. Coffee, short workout (30 min now, 15 later). Out the door by 6. Speed shoes on! But still questioning if I'll have anything. Goal 7:45 ish. Focus on breathing and foot strike and I'm off! Off to a better start than expected. Low 7's. Two short steep hills early, but maintaining. Focused (for the most part). Rolling along. Enjoying the weather and the extra push. Hanging sub 7:30 majority of the way. Opposite end of my hood has the worst hills, skipped the last two hills and worked my way back. Still have some inclines along the way though. 4 mi in, remainder of the way was a mental battle of focus, push, to fight the fade and from completely letting go. Trying to stay closer to 7:30 but lost it in the last mi. Rough, but fun!  

Wednesday: 3.11 miles. Tues, hydrated well, foam rolled (didn't feel like it, came close to skipping), iced my shin, and toss/turn to start but a decent night's rest. Up before the alarm but waited it out, almost fell back to sleep, groggy! Coffee, feel my shin slightly going down the stairs. Workout (30 min now, 15 later), stretch my shin out and out the door by 6:10..Warmer temps (48 degrees), short sleeves, yay! But misty out. Wed is my "whatever mileage day I feel like it" day for the streak, or so I call it. Plan was to push a little, but wasn't planning to go all out. One more stretch and try to focus on breathing to start. Felt my shin at first, but fine once I got going (for the most part). Started out better than expected and planned and continued pushing. Pace approx 7:20 ish before my midway hill.  Tried to hang in there for a bit, but not over do it. try to be able to regroup after the hill. 7:36 as it levels out. Regrouping a bit. But two more hills to go. Got it back down to 7:32 but couldn't maintain there as my legs got heavy through the hills. Pushed harder than planned today. But once I got going was trying to keep it to 7:30, but still happy overall. 

Thursday: 6 miles. Wed, hydrated well. foam rolled, iced my shin, and a decent night's rest. Up before my alarm, but asleep again till it went off. Slightly groggy, but not that bad. Felt my shin slightly going down the stairs, but almost not at all.. for now. Short workout (30 min now, a few sets later). Core and upper body a little sore, but got it done. Out the door by 6. Warm and foggy! Dense fog alert in effect! Ditched my glasses early. Pacing: going for "comfy" pace plus a few more hills than my last 6 miler. Comfortable at first, but legs getting heavier as the inclines added up before the hills at 3-4.5. Hanging on post hills, could of easily faded more. lol.. 

Thursday after work, did 1.5 hours of yard work. Raking, fertilizing, spring cleanup. Wanted to get a head start on the weekend chores, plenty more to do! 

Thursday also marks 1 month until race day! Excited and nervous, can't wait! 

Friday: 5 miles. Thu, hydrated well, foam rolled, got some good stretching in, and an ok night's rest. Up early, could of used more rest. Overall soreness upper body. Between yard work and working out, feeling it.  Coffee, later realized I went down the stairs without feeling any shin pain. Or just feeling everything else that it's an after thought. lol.. 30 minute core workout, skipped doing weights this morning. Foam roll my back out, out the door by 6. Going to try to push it a bit, but not all out. And not skip any of my hills. Focus on breathing and foot strike. Off to a decent start. Couple small hills and then regrouped. Focus and hanging in. Per usual, felt the hills around 3, but hanging in. Counting breaths/minutes along each uphill, trying not to let go. Hung in there to maintain sub 8. Wasn't pretty, but done and happy overall. 

Saturday: 10 miles. "Long" run day, trail day, yay! Fri, hydrated well, foam rolled, carb loaded, stretched, iced my shin, relaxed, and in bed on time. Well.. I'm on call starting yesterday through the next week. 3rd shift got me at 1:30 am, quick issue, but was wide awake for a while. Eventually back to sleep. Groggy when that alarm went off. Briefly thought about snoozing. But I like to beat the crowd to the trail (gets packed by 8!). Up. Coffee. 30 minute core workout. Over to my trail a few mi late, by 6:40. Someone took my parking spot! That's what I get for being 10 min late. 'Doh! lol.. Short long run day, and new shoe day. Decided early to try to push it for a bit. We shall see! ;)  My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the side to Byberry Rd and back first. Get another short stretch in. Focus on breathing and I'm off! Felt good early, but was way faster than planned. First pace alert started with a 6! Not realistic, at all. lol.. Settled in and pulled back a notch. Pacing 7:30's. (which is barely realistic). The creek was very active in the one cascade that's close to the trail. If it was a slower long run, I would of pulled over for a vid. Not today. No pics till post run. Incline and small hill before the end. Fading a bit, but maintaining under goal. Turned around shy of the end. (trail is 10.5ish, cutting the extra), turned around at 20 minute mark, about 2.6 mi. Slight decline, trying to neg split, back and forth briefly, pretty much in maintain, try to hang on mode. 5 mi by 39 min mark, pace ahead of goal. Passed my car at about 5.2, skipped hydrating ('doh!) off to the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park and back. Fading slightly up the incline.. and then. Fueled around 7 mi. Dropped my trash, don't worry, I got it! But took a few minutes to get back into rhythm. Pace still on target, turning around at 60 minutes. Made it back to the lot with about .1-2 to spare. Orig goal was sub 8 min pace (sub 80 min), done in 77:ss. Last 1.5 was rough, counting breaths/minutes. But done. Happy overall. Looking back, this was my second fastest 10 miler. And my new shoes feel good! Will have a backup just in case, but hoping these are my racing shoes. Loved my first pair of Saucony Endorphin Pro's, even more excited for the second. When the Endorphin Pro's were orig launched, they only came in white, I totally do not belong in wearing white. They were grey early! lol.. Also bumped into my friend post run, trying to recruit them to run a few of next weeks 20 miler with me. We'll see. lol.. 

Post run, did about 2 more hours of yard work. Blah! Hopefully it doesn't affect my back too much. 

Sunday: 7 miles? Usually my rest day, but looking to move next week up a day, so doing Monday's 7 miler today. Will rest my legs tues, I promise. lol.  Sat, Epsom bath, hydrated well. But failed to foam roll or stretch. Was busy most of the day and it slipped my mind. Had a few beverages, but hydrated somewhat. In bed at a decent time. Tried sleeping in, but up at 6. Coffee, 30 min core workout, foam roll my back, light stretch, and out the door around 7:30. Going with a comfy pace and getting all my hills in. No pressure on pace today. Off to a decent start. Better than expected. May be due to Sat wasn't too long of a long run? But not pushing it today, tried relaxing a bit more. Pacing 7:50-8 most of the first half. Hills start around mi 3, and decided to add more for fun. Although my calves were feeling it. Fading to the 8's Temps were slightly cooler today, was nice. A first I thought my sweat was dripping more than usual, nope started drizzling, and eventually turned to a down pour in the last mi. Was very refreshing. In the first half I saw furniture on the side of the rd with a sticker "Poop better" too funny not to take a pic on my way back. lol..  Felt today's run a bit, but not horrible. Not sure if I'll be ready to do Tues speed day tomorrow, but not concerned, I've done some speed recently, will at least get the mileage in.  

Sidenote: my strava activity didn't sync! grr.. That's 600 ft of hills not added to the challenge. Looking at my watch, it was due for an update. Hope the update has less issues. 

This weekend was also the Bibrave Virtual summit weekend! Excited to participate in multiple sessions throughout the weekend. Q&A's, content creation, vlog, networking, and DEI council.

🧡🤗
And we got hooked up with some sweet swag!
Sponsors @knockaround - blue light glasses, @scienceinsport - turbo menthol gels (contains caffeine! 🤗), and @buff_usa

Outside of Running: 

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? One outing to dinner and drinks.  

What shows/movies did I watch this week? Baseball, basketball, The Walking Dead, South Park, The Office, Falcon and Winter Soldier (loving it!), and some murder docu series. A bit twisted, but addicting.  

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 43.6 Weekly miles running completed 

Year to Date:  591 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr):   32910/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes,  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: 6 days 

Training Plan:  Week 16 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.. 

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

04.25.2021 Gettysburg North-South Marathon

Be sure to check out my Race and Gear discount pages from my blog site. #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! 

Weekly Running Report: March 21, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

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 15 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My Week in Training:

Monday: 11 miles. Sunday, hydrated well, foam rolled, massage gun, light stretch. A few beverages since I have a vaca day Monday. Stayed up past my bed time to watch Walking dead (actually watched it at it's airing time instead of on-demand! usually in bed by then!) Planned on sleeping in, didn't really happen. But haven't adjusted to DST, so kinda did? Coffee, workout in slow-mo. And eventually over to my trail. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood rd. Doing the more wooded side to Byberry rd and back first. Day off work, more miles, right? Well, legs still feeling the weekend. Saturday's long run and Sunday's speed, legs were kinda heavy. Questioned my decision to do extra early. Thought about calling it quits at an hr (today's scheduled mi), but kept on going. Passed my car at 5.5 mi ish, hydrated and kept on. Off to the more gradual incline side to Rockledge and back. At Rockledge, left the trail for a minute to do a hill. Already suffering, why not? Well, had to do the hill to maintain strava local legend of that hill. :). Pace faded to 8:37 ish, regrouped slightly, got it closer to 8:30, but just didn't have it today.  

Full trail pics on Facebook

Tuesday: 6 miles. Monday, hydrated well, foam rolled, iced my shin. Time to adjust to DST. Some rest, but not enough. Tired. And my shin hurt. A little miserable this morning TBH. Coffee, short workout, and out the door by 6. Between legs being tired/heavy from recent miles and my shin hurting, a bit of through the motions today. Pace 8:30 ish but hills got me. Couldn't muster much. Thought about quitting early, but done. Many f-bombs today. But reminded myself I don't have to run, I get to. In the last mile, a skunk crossed the street in front of me, closer than .1 mi. It ran by some bushes, thought about getting a pic, but wise enough to not go chasing it. lol.. As I was finishing my run was awarded with a beautiful sunrise.    

Wednesday: 1 mile. Tues, hydrated well, foam rolled, iced my shin, stretched, and a decent night's rest. Legs still tired, and shin anoying me at times (especially w/ stairs), decided to cut today to a streak day. Wed is strength training/non-running day, and I usually treat it as whatever mi I feel like doing that day, one and done it is. Coffee, 51 minute strength training, light stretch. Did start thinking about doing more than a mi, before I started but the stairs reminded why I was hesitant to begin with. Out the door a bit later than usual, not much more time to do more than a mile before work at this point. Off I go. Felt the shin at first, but fine once I got going. Started 8:15 ish and gradually brought it down just below 8. Comfortable. Shin throbbed slightly after. Will be sure to ice, stretch, yada yada. Hope to be ready for tomorrow's 7 miler! (and 20 miler on Saturday!)

Thursday: 7 miles. Wed, hydrated well, foam rolled, failed to ice my shin, and got a decent night's rest. Had a green beer for St Paddy's day, but well behaved. Up early and then fell back to sleep, groggy when that alarm went off! Coffee, stairs weren't as bad on my shin as they have been recently, hopefully a good sign. Short workout (30 min now, 15 min later). And out the door by 6! Feels like 46 degrees. Short sleeves, didn't bother with a hat, and brought the gloves along for the ride. Never used them. Felt my shin slightly when starting, but felt pretty decent overall. Pacing 7:40's for a bit. Enjoying the run much more than Mon/Tues. Per usual, felt the hills around 3.5-5 mi. Hung in there. Could of let go, but kept focus. Shooting for sub 8, but couldn't bring it back down. Still much better than expected considering how I felt earlier in the week. Weather was misty, ditched my glasses early. Also noticed humidity, 95%!  

Friday: 4 miles. Thu, foam rolled, stretched, iced my shin, and a decent night's rest. Funky dreams this week. lol.. Groggy, coffee, short workout and out the door a few minutes after 6. Behind schedule and then when I went to get dressed, lightbulb when out! grrr.. lol.. Out around 6:10. Good thing it's 4 mi day or I may be cutting it close for work.. Felt my shin at first, but not bad once I got going. Today, decided to focus on hills. Two short hills nearby to start, then about 6 min warmup 'till I get to the remaining hills. Hill repeats from then on till about .5 to go. Pacing, was trying not to worry much about pacing today. Started a bit slow, brought it down during the warmup, and then somewhat "comfortable" pace through the hills. Last few hills a bit rough, but glad I got them in. Trying to get 400 ft in 4 mi, fell just short of that. I cut most of the flatter streets that I could, but the road to get there doesn't have much incline. And of course each uphill has a down.

Saturday: 20 miles. Fri, hydrated very well, foam rolled, stretched, iced my shin, did an Epsom bath, carb loaded, relaxed and got a good night's rest. Coffee, felt my shin slightly as I head down stairs. hoping I can get through after warming up. Light breakfast, I hate eating breakfast before running, but forced a light breakfast down. Foam roll my back out, stretch my shin, and over to my trail after 6:30. Still a little dark, but no need for a headlamp. Temps going up to 60 today, but currently 30! Long sleeves and gloves it is. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the side to ByBerry Rd and back first. Pacing, started out slightly fast, gradually pulling back to a comfortable pace. Felt my shin when I started, but able to settle in. My trail is 11 mi (5.5x2), adding sections today to reduce repeats. ByBerry Rd end (2.75 ish), turned into a small business complex (shhh.. no trespassing/loitering). Goal to do about 15 min or so. Done easily without repeating any section. back to the trail (4.5 ish). Pass my car at 7.5 ish. (added 2+ already). Hydrated at my car. Off to the more gradual incline side to Rockledge. Pace fading slightly. Rockledge end (10.5 mi), leave the trail to do two loops around Rockledge (2.5x2). (including my strava legend hill :) )  Fading slightly ea loop. Return to the trail. On the way back from Rockledge, took a side trail from Lorimer to Pennypack Park. Calc'd I need about 30 min. Starting to get rough, but maintaining. Return from Pennypack Park with 1.6 to go. Timed perfectly! Finished about .2 from the parking lot. Today was more mental than anything. Trying to be patient through two hours to survive the third. Slight soreness before starting, on my mind in the first hour, but pretty much forgot orig soreness as new ones appeared. lol.. Tried not daydreaming as well. The loops around Rockledge have plenty of uneven sidewalks to trip over. The trail to Pennypack Park has a few rocks to be aware of. Trying to focus on everything without over thinking about pre-run anxieties. My shin was fine. (hurt going up stairs after my run though. lol.. ) Will be sure to focus on recovery. Pace, goal to maintain sub 9-9:09. Maintained 8:45 for a while. Better than expected for how I felt for the week. Looking back, my best 20 miler pace wise (almost a minute total time). 

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 1 mile. Saturday, did an Epsom bath, hydrated well, foam rolled, stretched, wore compression recovery socks.. Did have a couple beverages, but hydrated along with that. Decent night's rest. Tried sleeping in, made it to almost 7. Overall soreness, stairs hurt a bit. Coffee, 30 minute core workout, foam roll my back. A little stretching, and eventually out the door for streak day. Started off better than expected. Was rough, felt slower, but a decent pace. Focused on breathing and foot strike, pace picked up. Had a few pace alerts sub 7 around mid way. Small hill and then incline, faded slightly but better than expected overall. Shin was fine during, but throbbed slightly after. Will be sure to focus on recovery and behave SundayFunday to try to feel decent for Monday. 

Outside of Running: 

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? One outing for dinner/drinks. Also decent enough weather to use the firepit! What shows/movies did I watch this week? Baseball, Basketball, The Walking Dead, South Park, The Office, Falcon and Winter Soldier. 

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 50.6 Weekly miles running completed 

Year to Date: 547.6 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr):   30866/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 282 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 15 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.. 

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

04.25.2021 Gettysburg North-South Marathon

Be sure to check out my Race and Gear discount pages from my blog site. #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! 

Never Have I Ever While Running

Hi Everyone!  

Hope you are doing well! 

An impromptu post regarding this meme.. Maybe get to know each other a bit and have some fun..

Never have I ever NOT done during running. I have NOT done 5 of the 20 items. My results and summary below. 

How did you do?

• Been lost when running. Yes. Once. A snow run on my trail. The snow was about six inches with a layer of ice on top. Each step would crunch and then sink. After going from from mid to end of my trail, (2.5 miles) decided to take the road back. Well, I learned the hard way that the roads don't run parallel. Needed gps a couple times and went pretty far out of the way to return to my starting point.
• Lost a toenail. Yes. A few a yr. Weather related or after a long run or marathon, etc,
• Ran away from a dog. Yes. Leash your dogs people! Have had this too often. occasionally on neighborhood runs or trail runs. Some well behaved, some small feisty to German Shepherds/Rottweiler. Yes, your doggo may be a good doggo, but please leash, and the correct length (have seen leashes the length the width of the trail (what's the point if I can't pass by and they are that far loose?). And be able to hold them back. Have had a leashed Rottweiler overpower it's human and hunt me down (was fine once I stopped for him).
• Been kicked off a treadmill. Yes. Well, not asked, but experienced the treadmill auto shut down at 1 hour (at a hotel once)? What the heck? lol
• Ran a beer mile. No?! The one that I can't believe I haven't done yet! I've done a race that involved eating mid race (1/2 pound bacon). but never a beer mile. Not to brag, but I can do some chugging (learned that in college). Just need to find the right opportunity to do this one...
• Peed in the bush on the run. Yes. and maybe more .. Just one of those days I couldn't make it to the next portable restroom. At least it wasn't in my neighborhood! Although I have made note of the nearby alleys if the emergency should arise. Anyone else always have extra tissues just in case? lol. and sanitizer as well! lol
• Got a watch tan. Yes. Run during the summer, going to get tan and tan lines.
• Used a 13.1 as practice. Yes. I remember one season I had a 13.1, 15k, and a 10 miler real close to each other. (Philly Love Run, Hot Chocolate 15k, and Broad Street) They weren't all goal races and may have been practice for the next. 
• Asked a stranger about shoes. Yes! After the Nike's were first launched, saw so many at a race, had to ask about them!   
• Started a run before 4am. Yes. I've had travel days that start at the crack of dawn and was sure to get up early enough to get my run in. Have also had work on-call days where I couldn't go back to bed once the issue was resolved. Too wired. Made for some long days. 
• Ran circles to meet goal. Yes. I'm pretty sure we've all been there. Running by our house or endpoint, or turn around for a few circles because we need at least the goal distance for the day.. lol
• Ate lunch while running. Yes. Like actually eating during running? bacon challenge. Or if they mean a RUNch, yes. I used to run on my lunch break.
• Lied to go run. If I tell you I'm running errands or have to go run somewhere (sometimes I'll even say real quick), you may want to question that. lol..
• Complained about knees. Nope! Have had leg pulls, shin splints, etc, but never the knee.
• Recruited new runners. Yes. Am proud to have recruited at least one person I'm positive wouldn't be running if I didn't inspire them to. 
• Owned 10 shoes or more. Nope! May be getting close with several new shoes and retired ones still around, but never that many!
• Ran a marathon. Yes! 8. Philly x3, NYC, Flying Pig, Via, Valley Forge, and one self supported. 
• Ran an ultra. No! Still battling the dreaded wall for a marathon, no thoughts on an ultra.. yet!
• Thought about Leadville. Nope! Same as above. 
• Carb loaded without a race. Nope. I'm pretty routine oriented. Carb load Friday night before long run day, and the rarity that the long run day is moved, I don't really stray from routine. 

How about yourself? How did you do? Any funny stories to add?

Have a great day everyone!

Be sure to check out my Race and Gear discount pages from my blog site. #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! 

Weekly Running Report: March 14, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

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 14 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My Week in Training:

Monday 6 miles. Sunday, hydrated well, foam rolled, stretch. massage gun, TENS gadget, relaxed plenty. Probably should of iced my shin but failed to do so. Offset hydration with a couple drinks, but still well hydrated. Planned to get a decent night's rest. Planned on it. Well.. work issue around 1 am! 3rd shift escalated an issue, up and resolved it. back to bed, but wide awake for a bit. Alarm was rough. Coffee, short workout, and out the door by 6. Heat wave coming but still brisk out. Wearing my cruising shoes. Few minutes in and was definitely going to be a cruising day. Still feeling Saturday's long run. Heavy legs, sore shin, and tired. Scheduled for 45 minutes. Thought about ending there, but ocd kept me going to round off at 6 mi. 7 mi speed day tomorrow. Don't think that's happening. We shall see.. 

Tuesday: 7 miles. Mon, hydrated well, foam rolled, stretched, and in bed early. Excellent night's rest, but still groggy to start. Coffee, short-short workout (will add more at lunch), and out the door a few min after 6. Sorry, TMI, tummy issues this morning, had some anxiety at first whether I'd even be able to go an hr without using the restroom. Ended up being a non issue once I started. Supposed to be a speed day, but legs still heavy yesterday, had some doubts! New shoes, Saucony Endorphin Speeds, love the pro's, have a new pair of those as well, but breaking these in first. Pacing slightly fast (for me), but not where I wanted to be. Would have preferred slightly faster, but not hitting it today. Continued focus on breathing and foot strike, especially when I caught myself either slowing down or daydreaming. But already knew it would be tough after the hills (mi 3-4). mid 7:40's before, and fighting to stay sub 8 post hills rest of the way. Could of easily let go and really fade, was a battle of the mind and body the last 20 minutes for sure. Happy overall, but was a rough one. 

Wednesday: 5 miles. (unsched run day/streak day). Tues, hydrated well, iced my shin, foam rolled, stretched. Attempted to get a good night's rest. Up at 3... and then up for good at 4. :(  Tossed/turned, up by 4:30. Got most of my workout in.. and then... Work called! boooo.. My on-call week, 3rd shift needed assistance. :(  Worked for a bit. Didn't get out the door until close to 6:15 ish (15 min late). Doing 5 mi today for streak day, not sure why. Legs still feeling it, probably should of cut back, but rather run than go back to work.. Comfy shoes for comfy pace. Cruising along 8:10 ish. Felt my shin. Felt the hills. But on I go. No rush to get back to work, but eventually logged back in about 15 min late. Don't feel bad about that, already gave them enough extra time this week. Was sure to finish up my workout at lunch. Tired and grumpy for a bit. Will try to be in better spirits for tomorrow. 

Thursday: 6 miles. Wed, hydrated well, iced my right shin, foam rolled, and made a point to get a good night's rest. Up at least once, but more well rested. Coffee, workout (30 min now, 15 later), foam roll my back, stretch my shin, and out the door by 6. Temps going up to 70 today! Snow should be gone by the weekend, yay! But 40 now, still long sleeve weather for this hour (although I felt the humidity later!). Foggy to start, had to ditch my glassed early. Comfy shoes for comfy pace again. Shin a bit stiff/slight pain, but better as warmed up. Pacing 8ish for a bit, but knew that wouldn't hold today. Legs still a bit heavy. Almost all week!  Faded as expected through the hills, but still focused on breathing/strike. And for some reason added an extra hill.. lol.. Better rested, but still tired.

Thursday, part 2! 1 mile. Had to pick up my car from inspection after work. Might as well run there. 1 mi, didn't think I'd have much speed in me, but going to try to push it. Speed shoes on. Light stretch, and off I go. Short steep hill to start. A little winded at first, but got past my 1 min landmark before the 1 min alert, a good sign. Regrouped to focus on breathing. Better rhythm and foot strike. A little better than hoped for. Temps drastically changed from the morning. 70 degrees. Crazy! Also curious as to the most direct route to my car, about .5 mi. . lol   (can easily get 3 mi in by this block when I need to). A lot more people out after work. Nice outside, traffic, and plenty of people getting a stroll in. 

Friday: 5 mi. Thu, hydrated well, foam rolled, iced my shin. Did have a couple beverages for Thirsty Thursday, but behaved myself. Shin throbbed slightly after my second run yesterday, hoping I didn't make things worse. Decent rest. Coffee. Shin didn't hurt as much going down stairs as it has previously in the week, interesting. Short workout, foam roll my back, light stretch, and out the door by 6. After a comfy pace yesterday morning, going to try to push a bit more today.  Had some doubts, but giving it a whirl anyway. Speed shoes, on. Focus on breathing and foot strike from the start. Felt good to start. Two short steep hills early pulled me back, but regrouped. Couple good miles before the hills. Felt the fade per usual. About 1.2 to go after the hills. Fighting to hold sub 8 overall. Wasn't pretty, but done.  

Saturday: 12 miles. Long run day, trail day, yay! Fri, hydrated well, didn't feel like foam rolling but eventually got it in, carb loaded, relaxed and in bed on time. Decent rest, but up early! Coffee, 30 min core workout, "routine", foam roll my back out, light stretch, and over to my trail by 6:30. Temps a little different today! Back to the 30's we go! I rather have brisk than warm anyway. :) No more snow on the trails! First time since January! My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the more gradual incline side to  Rockledge Park and back first. Wearing my speed shoes. Going to try to push it a bit!  Shorter long run day, and haven't had the chance to push it on a short long run since before the snow! Well, that was the plan anyway. Pacing started out as planned. But was more work than expected. 7:40's to start. But slightly fading up the incline. 7:50's. And when I got to Rockledge, I had planned on doing a few minutes nearby, up a steep hill. Fading. 8ish after the hill. Turn around at about 3.4. Back to the trail, back to the midway parking lot. Tried regaining composure post hill. 7:58 and working for it. Skipped hydrating at my car. (usually 5.5 mi, got about 6.7 in). Off to the more wooded side to Byberry Rd and back. Fading to 8:02 and trying to hold on. Hill before the turnaround and then back. Trying to split the way back. Focus on breathing, foot strike, rhythm, etc. Passed my friends I haven't seen since January, briefly talked, yelled I'd see them in the parking lot. Split the return to get back to sub 8. Got my 12 in just before the parking lot. That extra distance in Rockledge was calc'd just about right. :)  Today's run was rough (for me) to push and maintain, but accomplished and fun. Enjoyed the trail, didn't take any pics till post run. Waited for my friends to catch up and b.s, great seeing them.   

Full trail pics on Facebook

Sunday: 3.11 miles. Saturday, Epsom bath, hydrated to start, but failed. Didn't keep up with it. Foam rolled, stretched, and probably should of iced my shin. Offset hydration (even more) with a couple beverages. Decent rest. Coffee, 30 minute core workout, foam roll my back and out the door around 9. Already 9! Lost an hour! lol.. Feeling alright, speed shoes, on! Focus on breathing and foot strike, and a decent start. First couple alerts started with a a 6! Not realistic, to try to maintain, but nice! Fading slightly, but feeling good. 7:20 before 7:30 after my midway hill. Trying to regroup to bring it down slightly. Fought through two smaller hills, but maintained under 7:30. Was rough after the hill, but fun and done! Shin throbbed slightly after. Will be sure to ice and stretch. 

Outside of Running: 

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week?  What shows/movies did I watch this week? Baseball, Basketball, Coming 2 America 2, Walking Dead, South Park, Unabomber: in his own words,  The Office, some Marvel, and some of Step Brothers. 

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles:  Weekly 45.3 miles running completed 

Year to Date: 497 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr):   28467/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 335 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: 7 days 

Training Plan:  Week 14 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.. 

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

04.25.2021 Gettysburg North-South Marathon

Be sure to check out my Race and Gear discount pages from my blog site. #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! 

Weekly Running Report: March 7, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

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 13 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My Week in Training:

Monday: 7 miles. Sunday, hydrated well, iced my shin, foam rolled, massage gun, toe spreaders, relaxed. Did have a couple SundayFunday beverages, but was well behaved. Decent night's rest, but tired. Coffee, workout (30 min now, 15 at lunch), roll my back and stretch my shin, and out the door by 6. Light rain, clearing up in a bit, but not yet..  Starting the week/month in the grey rain. Whatevs. Legs a little tired, not going to over do it. Pace goal around 8:15 ish. Started out in the 7:50's. Cruising along. Hills added up, yada yada. Tired in the second half, but done! Right shin did hurt a little from time to time, will be icing later. 

Tuesday: 6 miles. Monday, hydrated well, iced my shin, foam rolled, light stretch, and in bed on time. Restless at first, up before my alarm, but groggy. Coffee, workout (30 min now, 15 at lunch), and out the door by 6. Brisk today! Recent mild temps, but a reminder that it's still winter. With some wind! Wind was loud earlier, woke me up a few times. With the recent melt and then cooler temps, black ice in a few spots! 6 mi, "speed" day. Never know if I'll actually be ready for it. Work on breathing and off I go! First half went well. 7:20's-7:30. Working on breathing and foot strike. Felt good. Held it slightly longer than expected, but felt it. As I was getting to my hills and after, could of easily let go. Didn't think I could hold to 7:30 post hills, didn't, but didn't give up either. Tried to at least maintain focus to power through. Rough, but fun and happy overall. Will probably be coasting rest of the week to ease into the weekend, we'll see.     

Wednesday: 3.11 miles. Tues, hydrated well, foam rolled, iced my shin, light stretch. Did offset hydration with a couple drinks at dinner. Scheduled "non-running day". Keeping it to a 5k to reduce mi before the higher sched mileage this week. Could of dropped it down to 1 for the streak, not sure why I kept it to 5k. Didn't get a good night's rest and wasn't in the best of moods. Wasn't looking fwd to much of the day. Coffee, short workout (30 min now, 15 at lunch). Foam roll my back out, stretch the shin, and out the door a few min after 6. Have some time, no rush. And I didnt have all of my outfit ready, 'doh! brisk out, had to find my gloves. A few more min go by. Didn't think I'd have much speed, but wore my speed shoes anyway. Working on breathing, and I'm off. Decent start, slightly better than expected for not being in the mood. Hung in there for a bit. Faded, debated on fighting the fade on a day I don't seem to care. A little rough towards the end and was just glad it was over. Not in the mood to do laundry or work either, but it will get done. Will be more ready for tomorrow. Hopefully. 

Thursday: 7 miles. Wed, hydrated well, iced my shin, foam rolled, stretched, and got an excellent night's rest. Up before my alarm and a bit refreshed. Coffee, 45 min workout, roll my back out, stretch my shin, and out the door by 6. Trying to go for a "comfy" pace to relax a bit before this weekend's long run. Started out slightly faster than planned and pulled back a bit. Rolling along. Enjoying the sunrise that's starting closer to start time now. Pacing in the 8's. Faded a little more in the hills, but wanted to still focus on maintaining through a bit. Worst hills have been around mi 3-4. So.. when all this snow started a month ago, I had to remove the loop around my hood (sidewalk only on a busy rd), removing that removed my least fav hill. With that, I added two hills on streets I've never done before. Well, the snow has melted enough, time to explore part of the loop. Sidewalk was safe except for one corner I had to hop some snow. (at a post office, would think they would be better?) My pre adjusted 7 mi and my adjusted 7 mi both clocked in a little over 500 ft of hills. Trying to see if my new and previous hills could combine a bit higher. Almost 600, think if I removed one flattish street for one more hill repeat I could get it. We'll see if I do that for my next 7 miler. lol.. Felt the hills at the end, but was comfortable for about 50 of 60 minutes. Happy overall. 

Friday: 4 miles. (scheduled for 30 minutes and somewhat adhering). Thu, hydrated well, iced my shin, somehow forgot to foam roll! Usually foam roll before settling in for the night. Tired after work/dinner/light chores, went right to relax and spaced on it! 'Doh! #ThirstyThursday, had an NA beer?! Tempted for the real thing, but trying to replace one or two occasionally. We shall see.  In bed on time, but tossed/turned for a while! Up before my alarm, but a bit tired. Short workout, roll my back out, stretch my shin, and out the door a few min after 6. 4 mi day. Decided to do a 1 mi warmup and then focus on hills. New shoe day! Just got  them yesterday, will be sure to take pics later. Plan was to do a comfortable pace, but was rolling along. First mi around 7:30. Worst hills are at the opposite end of my hood, got there around 1.3.  Probably could of cut a half block to get there sooner. Felt good most of the way. A little rough at the end, but not bad.  Trying to get 100 ft per mi for a shorter run, but need to cut another side street I guess. Will be sure to focus on recovery to be somewhat ready for my 20 miler tomorrow! Anxiety kicks in when the 18-20 milers show up on the sched. Doing three this cycle, which will be new for me. We shall see!

Saturday: 20 miles. Friday, hydrated well, foam rolled, stretched, forgot to ice my shins, but they seemed ok, carb loaded and relaxed. In bed on time.. but up briefly at 3 am, and had issues falling back to sleep. Almost wide awake, I think I slept a little more. Not sure. lol..  Up at my normal time, coffee, light breakfast, relax. Foam roll my back out, and over to my trail by 6:30. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. First time at my regular trail in a month! Excited to be back! Doing the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd and back first. Pacing, started slightly faster than planned and gradually pulled back. The trail.. Hoping for it to be clear by now, but there were strips of ice/snow. Manageable, but annoyingly bends the ankles a bit. Back at the mid parking lot around 5.5. Was sure to hydrate. Off to Rockledge Park. Hoping since this side is more open on the left side, it would be getting more sun. Still some strips of ice/snow. At the Rockledge Park end, off to do a loop around part of the neighborhood there (2.5 ish loop). Nice steep hill to start! (I am still the strava local legend of that hill!, was hoping I wouldn't lose it during the month of snow) Back at Rockledge, heading back. Planned on taking the side trail from Lorimer Park to Pennypack Park to do 6-8 mi) Well, the side trail, ice was way to dangerous there. Didn't even think about it. Guess I may be repeating some of my route today. Back on the trail, heading back to the midway parking lot. Bumped into a friend going the opposite direction (around 13 mi in). Haven't seen them since before the snow! Turned around to b.s. for a few minutes. Great seeing them. Figured to turn back, because he's in another league (3:05 marathon), usually only train with him on my shorter long run days. He gracefully let me lead and later helped pace me. Back to Rockledge Park (again). Did the loop around that neighborhood (again). Hill was much tougher this round. And of course my friend made it look like nothing, lol.. Back to the Rockledge trail entrance. Heading back to the mid parking lot. Around 3-4 to go, definitely feeling it. Buddy was supportive to keep me going, but dropping off at the parking lot, I have 1.2 to go on my own. More wooded side for a few minutes and back. The last mi was rough! Glad that's over!  Looking back, best 20 miler ever (only by 30 seconds). Definitely didn't care about pace the last mi, but happy to be under goal. (9-9:09 (4 hr marathon pace)).  

Full trail pics on Facebook

Sunday: 3.11 miles. 5k for the streak. Needed two to cap the week at 50, might as well get one more in. lol..  Saturday, Epsom bath, hydrated very well, foam roll, stretch. Was pretty tight after my long run, but eventually loosened up a bit. Couple beverages with dinner/after, but still well hydrated. In bed at a decent time and slept in a bit. Shin hurt a bit going down stairs, overall soreness, hips, glutes, legs, etc.  Coffee, stretch, 30 min core workout, and eventually out the door. Wearing my cruising shoes, trying not to care about pace. First time doing my normal 5k route since the snow! (more than half on sidewalk/busy rd). Sidewalks were clear except a couple corners that were plowed to. Able to go around without an issues. Run was rough at first, but eventually cruising ok. Pace slightly better than expected. Sun was out, nice to see, could of used that yesterday, but whatevs. Will be sure to take it easy today and try to be somewhat ready for Monday. 

Outside of Running: 

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week?  Two outings to dinner. (Mad Mex, the best wings! and (tex mex)), PJ Wheelihan's (decent wings) What shows/movies did I watch this week? The Pharmacist, South Park, WandaVision (loved it! sad it's over already!), Sound of Metal (not my choice, was ok. Good story, but mediocre ending), college hoops, and baseball. 

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 51 Weekly miles running completed 

Year to Date: 451.6 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr):   25639/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 251 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: 6 days 

Training Plan:  Week 13 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.. 

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

04.25.2021 Gettysburg North-South Marathon

Be sure to check out my Race and Gear discount pages from my blog site. #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!