JoeG : Weekly Running Report: March 14, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well!

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

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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..