Weekly Running Report: August 15, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

How's training going? Any races (IRL or virtual)?  How's everything going? Anything exciting in or outside of the world of running, let us know! Shout it out!

How was the weather in your area? We had a heat wave here in South East Pa, with wicked humidity to start. Try to beat the heat by starting early, you'll get punched in the face with humidity. lol.. This week was pretty much just a survival mode for me. Hydrate well and don't do anything stupid like starting out hard/fast to hang in till the end. 

Couple reminders.. 

As a #PhillyMarathonAmbassador, I have a discount code for $15 off the half marathon, full marathon, or any of the challenges, hit me up in the DM's for the code!

As a #BibRavePro, I have running gear and race discounts across the country! check out my blog site tabs for discount info!

My Week in Training:

Monday 10 miles, 40 min strength training (arms/shoulders/core).

Sun recovery: hydrated, foam roll and stretch, but offset hydration a bit and stayed up past my bed time. Day off from work. Also tried sleeping in. Not the best idea when a heat wave is starting. lol.. But haven't slept in in a bit and was going to try. Didn't really sleep that late, but slow to get motivated. Eventually got going. Coffee, work out, "routine", and over to the trail. My mileage was a bit all over the place the past few days, legs feeling it, but wanted to get a few extra miles in since I had time. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Did the more wooded side to County Line to start. Comfortable pace, but legs feeling it and feeling the heat. There were times I questioned my decision to do any extra. Passed my car at 7 mi, very tempting to end it there as 7 is my sched mi, but kept on. To the more open side to Rockledge Park. Sun beating down and heavy legs. I decided to turn back when I got to Lorimer Park. Slow to return. lol.. 10 mi, done. Had more miles in my head before today, but happy with what I got. 

Tuesday: 7 miles, 42 min strength training (chest/core).

Mon recovery: hydrated, foam roll and stretch, and an ok night's rest. Storms around 3 am had me up. May have slept a few more min, but not quality. 

Heat wave really starting today. Didn't really have many side notes mid week besides it was warm, very humid, try not to do anything stupid like going out too fast. Comfy pace. Hydrate. Focus. 

Side notes: 

1. a mile into my run a cat came up to me. Usually they take off as I'm approaching or if they have space will just stare. This one was very calm and wanted attn. It is a neighborhood cat that I recognize. 

Wednesday: 7 miles. 40 min strength training (arms/shoulders/core).

Tues recovery: hydrated, foam roll and stretch, and a decent night's rest. Coffee, workout, hydrate, and out the door by 6. 97% humid.. 

Side notes:

1. trash day. It was a stinky one! Heat/humidity bringing out the funk! 

Thursday: 7 miles, 45 min strength training (chest/core)

Wed recovery: hydrated, foam roll and stretch, and a decent night's rest. Coffee, workout, hydrate, and out the door by 6. Thursday's are usually my one of my best days running, legs usually seem the freshest, but with the 96% humidity and temps going up past 100 later, not going for any speed records this week. 

Side note: 

1. A passerby that I don't know, on a busy street was very supportive. I appreciated it, especially since it's been a rough week. 

Friday:  7 miles, min strength training. (arms/shoulders/core)

Thu recovery: hydrated, but failed to foam roll or stretch. Also stayed up a few min past bed time. Ready for the weekend. lol.. Coffee, workout, and out the door by 6. Humidity only 89%, a bit of a break? lol.. Still a little muggy. Friday's I have been taking it easy, especially when the next day it a bit longer. Pace was comfy, still a little humid, and added an extra hill for fun.. lol.. 

Saturday: 18 miles. 

Long run day, trail day, yay! meh.. not so much yay this week. Definitely wasn't looking fwd to this one. But prepared the best I could. Foam roll, stretch, hydrate, carb load yesterday. Decent rest. Up early, wanted to start earlier then normal, but only got there a few min early. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Did the more wooded side to County Line Rd first. Already so humid out! Felt it early. Plan was to take it easy, not doing anything dumb, and hydrate as needed. Pace, decent start, but made a point to pull back. Didn't want to over do it early. Couple miles in and already drenched, but feeling ok. Hydrated every 30 min. Early side note, my gel slipped out f my belt when starting. Not too many people out, praying no one stepped on it. Approaching the parking lot at 7 mi, found my gel! still intact! yay! Hydrated extra at my car at 7 mi. Feeling ok at the 1 hour mark. Off to the more open side to Rockledge Park. Sun out, but ok so far. Rockledge end, pulled off the trail to get my strava legend hill. really faded here. Bot sure if this hill or the heat/humidity that did me in. Rockledge, turn back to the trail when I hit 10.5 mi. approx 1.5 hr. Getting sluggish, but hanging in. Trail from Rockledge to Lorimer, still hanging in, but starting to feel it. Lorimer to Pennypack Park for about 18 min out then back. Slowly heading past my new fav water fountain. lol.. Turn back, wash off, try to cool down, hydrate, and refill my bottle at the fountain and head back to lorimer. 30 min to go, count down was on, for sure! Lorimer back to the parking lot, the few sunny areas, burning. lol.. eventually made it back. 1 min to go and I bump into a friend, turn around for a min and ran back with them. I was totally ready to stop at even 18, but somehow regrouped to talk to my friend for .3 extra. lol

I expected today to be rough, and it was. Had a plan to take it easy, hydrate, and survive. Did just that, but was definitely miserable the last 45 min or so. lol..  Crazy how my last 18-19 miler felt so much better than today. lol.. 

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday:

Sat recovery: hydrated very well. So much water and electrolytes! Failed to foam roll or stretch. Definitely slacked there. Didn't want to do anything once I was relaxed. lol.. Decent night's rest. I usually try to sleep in on Sunday's, but rarely pans out. Up and eventually moving around 7:30. Coffee, routine, and out the door around 8:30. Temps and humidity slightly lower. Not nice, but nicer.. lol.. A little overall soreness and some soreness in the glute. Wasn't expecting much from today. Planned on a "comfy" 4 miler. Well, decent start, even after the first couple hills. Decided to maintain focus and keep on. Felt each incline a bit, but hung in there. At that point decided to keep going and end at 5k. Definitely pleased with today's run. 

Couple side notes..

1.   My primary headphones died on Thursday. :(  Submitted warranty claim, etc. I always have a backup pair for rainy days.. Well. During yesterday's run, one speaker went out, and then died completely later when I was doing yard work. :(  I found another backup, but I hate them. iPhone headphones that fall out. They served their purpose today, but will be looking for new backups until I hear back on the warranty.

2. new shoe day, yay! Saucony Endorphin Speed 2's! I already have one set of Speed 2's, but retiring a set, needed another for the rotation. I have another aging set  (pro 1's) that will need to be replaced by race time (pro 2's!). Cheap sport/hobby, not! lol.. But always sad for the old and excited for the new! :)

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

Watched:  Phillies baseball, Marvels 'What If?", South Park, Family Guy, and some murder docu series.

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles:  weekly 56.6 miles running 

Year to Date: 1610 miles running 

Hill Goal (for the yr):   91125/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 211 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/Stretch: 5 days 

Training Plan:  Loosely following the below plan structure. (possibly doing extra till the 18+ milers show up)

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

10.17.2021 - NJ Marathon - deferral from spring 2020. (week 11 of 20 training, done)

11.21.2021 - Philadelphia Marathon - deferral from 2020 (registered the day after 2019's race!). Definitely a fav! If you haven't registered yet, I have a discount code. Hit me up on a social DM! 

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!