JoeG : Weekly Running Report: April 18, 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 19 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me. One week to go! How do you avoid anxiety during your taper up to race day?

My Week in Training:

Monday: 6 miles. Sunday, did an Epsom bath (which also sweat out those toxins!), hydrated, foam roll, stretch, and really relaxed for rest day! As relaxing as Sunday was, still tired for Monday. It's Monday. lol.. Sad for the weekend to end, and not able to fall asleep right away even though the intention is there.. Coffee, short workout (35 min now, 10+ later), and out the door by 6. Not going to stress about pace, but we'll see. Off to a decent start. Not speed day, but hanging in for a bit. A bit. Felt the inclines, and decided to go for extra hills instead of try to push/maintain. Tomorrow is speed day. lol.. Brisk air and misty felt good though. Added a few extra hills where possible. Ended up 500+ ft over 6 mi, I'll take it!

Tuesday: 6 miles. Monday, did an ice bath, hydrated well, foam roll, and got a good stretch in. Some shin soreness yesterday, addressed it the best I could. Decent night's rest, but up early. Kind of awake, and then a loud car went by at 4 am (engine sounding like Fast and Furious). Up a few minutes, kinda tried to sleep, but was up. Coffee, shin feeling somewhat ok down the stairs. Started my workout before 4:30 am! My goal to get out the door is 6 am, had some time to get more sets and muscles done! Foam roll my back out and stretch my shin, out the door by 6. Tuesday is supposed to be "speed" day, but having doubts. Wonder why Tues is speed day instead of Thurs. Usually more recovered by then. lol.. Focus on breathing and foot strike and I'm off. Felt pretty decent, pacing just below 8. Had doubts I could do that for 6 mi. Did skip a few hills, but still have inclines along the way. Kept one hill due to it being right around mi 3 of the opposite end of my hood and it being a decent length street. Remaining way was a bit rough. Minute count down/breathing/foot strike the 3 mi back. Legs were heavy the last mi, but done! Also, for avoiding hills, still got 400 ft. Two-ish hills, rest inclines. Blah! lol..

Wednesday: 1 mile. Not much to say since it's "just a mile" streak day. But trying to listen to the plan the last two weeks before race day and give my legs a rest on "non-running" days. Tues, hydrated well, foam rolled, got a good stretch in, iced my shin, and a decent night's rest. Up before my alarm, but waited to just before it. Up. Coffee, feel my shin slightly, but not bad. More time to workout now since it's 1 mile day. Got a good 50 minutes core/upper body done. Eventually out the door. Feeling decent, temped to give it a push. Work on breathing and then I'm off! Kinda felt like I was moving but also a bit slow. Up[ a short steep hill to start, first pace alert was somewhat decent, regrouped and pushed a bit more. Level, then a nice decline. Picking up steam, but then there's the hill and incline to end. tried to maintain, but faded a bit. 7:15. Happy overall, but found I didn't make my top 30. 'doh!

Thursday: 6 miles. Wed, Hydrated well, foam rolled, got a good stretch in, iced my shin, and a decent night's rest. Slept until my alarm and a bit tired when it went off! A little slow to get going! Coffee, short workout in (30 min now, 15 later), roll my back out and out the door by 6. Feeling pretty decent, but focusing more on hills than pace today. Off to a decent start, breathing, strike on point. Pulled back slightly to somewhat comfy. Flatish to start, inclines, then most of the hills start around 3 mi. Pacing 8:12 ish and know it may be slowing down, but rolling along. Got my normal hills, added some additional and then a couple repeats before heading back home. Got just over 500 ft in 6 mi. Would probably have to cut some of my warm up out to get much more in. But felt good and surprisingly maintained close to where I was before the worst of it started.

Friday: 4 miles. Thu, hydrated well, foam rolled, got a good stretch in. Did participate in #ThirstyThursday, but was very well behaved and got a decent night's rest. Coffee, short workout in, and out the door by 6. Good thing I doubled checked my sched, thought it was 5 today. Sched for 30 min, and I usually go just a few over to the next mi. Temps were 40, briefly thought about long sleeves, but went with short! Brisk an nice! Hands slightly cold at times, but felt good overall. Pacing, wanting to concentrate more on hills than pace, but for 30 min, why not a bit of both?! lol.. Felt good early. Two short hills, but overall flat for a 1 ish mi warmup towards the tougher hills. Pacing 7:40's and told myself not to stress if it went to 8, but focused throughout and maintained. Did hills from about 1.2 till about 6 min to go and tried pushing it again on the way back. Although each uphill has a downhill. Tried to pick it up when possible. 350 ft in 4 mi. Pretty sure if I took part of my warmup out I could avg more than 100 ft per mi on 4 mi day. Felt good today, definitely happy overall.

Saturday: 7 miles. "Long" run day, trail day? Nope! One week to go, decided to keep it local and get a few more hills in. My standard trail run would be 5 ish flat with a hill and incline, figured instead of an extra speed day, would stay local and add a few more hills. Fri, hydrated well, foam rolled, got a good stretch in, carb loaded, relaxed, and a decent night's rest. Did wake up in the middle of the night and briefly thought about disabling my alarm to sleep in since I had time, but didn't. lol.. Up at my normal time. Coffee, felt my shin slightly on the stairs, but not bad. Got a 30 min core workout in and eventually out the door around 6:30. Pacing: wasn't planning on pushing it. Plan was to get comfy and then get extra hills in after 3 mi. That was the plan anyway. lol.. Comfy to start, but gradually brought it down to the 7:30's for a bit. Moving right along. 7:40's after a few inclines leading up to the hills. Focus on breathing, strike, comfort, etc. Orig planned on 8-8:15 ish, wasn't concerned as I faded to 8. Did try picking it up where I could on the down slopes. Started heading home with about 10 min to go. One last hill before my street, and then a massive hill on my street that I very rarely do. (my end point is usually right near the peak). Passed my house, down a huge down slope, level, turned back with about 4 min to go back up. Tough one, but done! 640 ft in 7 mi. Probably the most hills in 7 mi I've done to date. Went better than expected, think the taper has helped. Imagine that? Rest bringing in fresher legs? Crazy?! lol.. Still had doubts along the way, with some slight pains, etc, but pace was on point without forcing. Definitely happy overall.

Sunday: 1 mile for the streak. Tapering is one of the only times I question the streak, but will get it done the next few "rest" days. Saturday, ice bath, hydrated somewhat, foam rolled, and got a good stretch in. Later after my run, lifting furniture, my right forearm is sore. I'm sure I'll be questioning if I should do any weights early next week. We shall see.. later Saturday, also offset hydration with a few drinks. Stayed up past my bed time with intentions of sleeping in, only made it to 6. Internal alarm had me up. Tried sleeping again, but gave up at 6:30. Coffee, 30 min core workout, and eventually out the door. Planned on taking it easy, but legs felt decent and tempting. And I'm off. Working on breathing and strike, faster than expected and went with it. Felt decent. Shin throbbed slightly afterwards. Will be sure to focus on recovery remainder of the day and throughout the following week!

Outside of Running:

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

What shows/movies did I watch this week? Baseball (Go Phillies!), Fear the Walking Dead, The Office, Falcon and Winter Soldier (loving it!), Challenger: The Final Flight, and some murder documentaries on Oxygen.

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 31.1 weekly miles running

Year to Date: 710.7 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr): 40918/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k.

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 304 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 19 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..