Weekly Running Report: March 20, 2022

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

How's winter training going? Any races? How's your weather?! It's starting to look a lot like spring time here in Pa! 

Sorry if this week's post looks more of a log than anything. Busy mid week and slacked!

Reminder that if you are just skimming, that I have race and gear discount tabs on my blog site.#BibRavePro

Week 12 of Marathon Training for Jim Thorpe Marathon. 

My Week in Training:  

Monday: 10 miles, strength training arms/shoulders/chest/core

Monday, a "random" day off from work. Avoiding the DST change an extra day. Lol.. slept in a little. Got a good workout in. Was still taking my time a little since I don't have any other plans and temps are jumping to the perfect temp around 10. A couple days removed from a 20 miler. Legs still a little tired. Just going through the motions and enjoying the weather and scenery. It was wonderful. 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Tuesday: 7 miles, strength training arms/shoulders/core

End of weekend blues last night, but want to get some rest due to the time change. No issue falling asleep this week, but staying asleep was. Up way before my alarm all week. Groggy to start. Back to 6am running and it being dark again since DST. 😞🤣 at least there's the occasional sunrise to enjoy. 🤗

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Wednesday: 5 miles, strength training chest/core

Miscellaneous: 1 hour of yard work after work. Nice weather. Long spring to do list, here's to starting it! lol..  

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Thursday: 7 miles, strength training arms/shoulders/core

foam roll/stretch: complete

Friday: 5 miles, strength training chest/core

Thursday was St Paddy's day. Had some good food and a couple drinks. But also got distracted by an appliance issue. Our dryer broke! YouTube had some great videos, identified the issue. We'll see if I can install a belt when it arrives in the mail. Lol.. woke up today a bit grumpy. Not in the mood for work. Between wonderful spring weather and wanting to work on my to do list, or enjoy March madness, was not in the mood. Workout and run went well tho. Temps going up, humid, and dense fog! Two poorly lit streets on my route, could barely see anything till towards the end. 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Saturday: 10 miles. 

Scheduled for 10 miles today and sticking to the schedule. Not being tempted to do extra miles. And am thinking about how to get some actual rest in tomorrow and later next week. Try to get my marathon sched in, but also be somewhat fresh for a half marathon race. We'll see how I do adhering to that late next week. lol.. 

Fri, carb load, relax, etc. Decent rest. Up before the alarm but tried to get a few more min in and waited it out. Up. coffee, "routine", etc. Weather going to be pretty spring like. 50's to start. Initially had my gloves, but after walking a few min, tossed them to my car. (more on this later) Rain in the forecast, but not till later. Over to my trail a few min later than usual, but no real hurry. My trail Pennypack Creek. Monday, I did the parking lot to 5 mi out towards South Hampton. Today, doing a little different. My orig 10 mi route before the new extensions. Parking lot to ByBerry, back. Parking lot to Rockledge, back. That would be about 10.5-11 ish. My initial plan was to just go comfy. 8-8:15. Started out feeling pretty decent and rolled along. After avg 7:45-50 for a bit, pretty much decided to try to maintain sub 8. And with doing my trail out and back, out and back, had a count down going of 20 min per out. Both outs have a slight incline, tried to relax knowing I could split on the way back. Focus on breathing, strike, etc. Felt good without pushing. May have caught myself daydreaming a couple times and regrouping to focus a couple times. but felt pretty good. Not sure about my half, but pretty confident about Broad Street. 

My second out and back, knew I would be a bit over. Cut the out just a little short and ended my run right after 10. Left at least a .25 cool down. Walked, got impatient, jogged, walked, etc. lol.. 

Stubbed my toe! Hurt like a mf! Caught myself from yelling tho. lol.. And the tip of my good big toe is now black. Grrr..  lol.. 

Post run: relaxed for a few min before taking off. Off I go. A couple minutes in. Oh crap, my gloves! They were on my windshield still. Quickly pulled over and able to get them before they blew away! These are my Philly Marathon gloves, would be sad to lose these!

Miscellaneous: 3+ hours yard work post run. Nice out, getting ready for spring! Small side note, I was raking down my fence line in my back yard. Small snake took off, scared the crap out of me! Too fast to get a pic!

Foam roll/stretch: fail! Relaxed for a little after yard work and then had plans. Totally forgot! 'Doh! I don't remember the last time I failed to get a stretch and roll in. :(

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 4mi, strength training: arms/shoulders/chest/core

Busy day Saturday, tried sleeping in today. Tried. Up by 6, tried to get more, but wide awake. Up, coffee, get into my groove for working out. Eventually out the door. Initially planned on doing just one for the streak to start resting. But weather was nice and felt good. Off I go for 30ish min (round up to 4 mi. Felt good most of the way. I'll rest three days (W,Fri,Sa) this coming week for my race. I swear! ;)

Foam roll/stretch: pending, but I assure you it will be done! 

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores? One outing to dinner/drinks. Fixed my dryer, thanks to YouTube!

Movies/TV:  The Walking Dead, March Madness, baseball, not much else and of course the usual reruns of The Office, Family Guy, South Park, etc. 

Not so exciting outside of work and running sometimes. Any questions to get to know me better? Ask me anything!

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 48.4 weekly  miles running 

Year to Date: 588 miles running 

Hill Goal (for the yr):  120 k: currently at: 

Strength Training: Goal 4 hours minimum,  6:23:06

What type of strength training do I do? Core: crunches, planks, leg raises, mountain climbers. Weights: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest. 

Foam Roll/Stretch:  6 days

Weight (putting this out there. I know I don't have to earn my food/drink, but putting this out there, maybe I'll be more mindful): on 01/01/22: 156. Current 31 day avg: 153.3

Training Plan:  Week 12 of 20 using the below plan:  

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

3.27.22 - Philly Love Run Half Marathon (deferral from '20!) But this has always been my fav spring half! (official PR's there each time!, hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that!)

05.01.22 - Broad Street Run! - my registration from 2020 granted me a guaranteed entry to this year's race! (skipped '21) 

05.15.22 - Jim Thorpe marathon, but that's not until May! Have various travels going on this yr, was looking for an easy drive, affordable race and hotel. A flat scenic course that includes a train ride to the start! 

Fall: 

10.02.2022 - Chicago Marathon (deferral from '20!, can't wait!)

11.18-20.2022 - Philly Marathon Weekend

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 13, 2022

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

How's winter training going? Any races? Any crazy weather?! This week started with a heat wave, to mild winter, to a wintry mix/snow mess!

Reminder that if you are just skimming, that I have race and gear discount tabs on my blog site.#BibRavePro

Week 11 of Marathon Training for Jim Thorpe Marathon. 

My Week in Training:  

Monday: 7 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/core

Sunday, end of weekend blues. Did have a couple beverages, but was very well behaved and got a decent night's rest. Was up and ready to take on the week! Coffee, workout, and out the door. Monday, usually my toughest day of the week due to back to the grind after a long weekend run and the occasional poor night's rest on Sunday nights. But Saturday wasn't super long and got some rest Sunday night. Settled in and went with the flow. Went better than most Monday's. Felt the hills, but not horrible. Oh and the temp! Sky rocketed last night! Was already 60 degrees at go time, went up to like 77 later! Briefly thought about turning on the A/C! Crazy thing is, temps will be back to the 30's by morning! 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Tuesday: 7 miles, strength training: chest/core

Monday..made a point to get a good night's rest and did. Up, coffee, work out, yada yada.. Was glad I didn't check my work email before bed or I probably would of lost sleep. Saw an irritating item that had me fuming. Love my job, but this item had me going. Out the door on time. Brisk air was nice. Ran with anger most of the way. Breathing and strike were on point, but mind was not in my run at all. Not until I got to the hills anyway.. Was at least 4mi in before I even started thinking about my run today. The fresh air, run, and strength training definitely helped today.   

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Wednesday: 4 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/core

Tuesday, settled in after that issue and regained composure. Decent night's rest.  Checking forecast before bed.. wintry mix in the forecast today. Up, coffee, workout, no wintry mix yet! Brisk, fresh air was nice. 4 miles for the streak. Trying to take it easy today. Settled in and enjoyed the run. Pace felt good. Probably could of let it fade in the last hill but pushed to maintain. We did end up getting that wintry mix. Snow was coming down hard later! but didn't lay much and eventually melted. 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Thursday: 7 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/core

Wed night, woken by a call from work. 10 min issue, but always takes a while to fall back to sleep. Not the best night's rest, although my watch gave me a decent sleep score. lol.. Wintry mix yesterday cleared up, but there was frost on the roads throughout most of my run. Could tell it would melt soon after the sun hits it and got a little better towards the end. Cautious at my turnarounds and flying down hills. The temp/air was nice. Brisk, but humid! odd. But whatever. Pace felt good throughout. A little tough to maintain through the last few hills, but normal. lol.. 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Friday: 4 miles, strength training: chest/core

Thursday, went out for dinner and a couple drinks. We even had dessert! I very rarely have dessert, like ever. but it was delicious. Also haven't had a midweek beer in a long time. In bed early and a decent night's rest. My wings didn't even wake me with heartburn, win! A little tired, but it's Friday and ready to go! Coffee, workout, and out the door. Brisk air was nice. And no frost on the roads either. Plan was to go comfy to ease into the weekend. Was faster than planned, but felt good. Now to prepare for tomorrow's long run in what look's to be a mess of weather!

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Saturday: 20 miles. Yup. 20 messy miles.

Scheduled for 18, but I have a conflict for my first 20 miler and figured since I've already been doing 18's, might as well do this 20. Want to make sure I get my three 20's in. I almost always have anxiety the week of a 20 miler, this was no different. Questioning little aches when doing stairs, etc. And then there was this week's forecast for today. 45 and raining at go time, but temps taking a big dip and turning to wintry mix by 9 (started earlier!) then changing to to snow. Tried to get to my trail a few minutes early if possible. That always depends on other morning "routines" lol.. Over to my trail and started around 6:05. Close enough. Light rain to start. Settled into a comfortable pace. Planned on pulling back just a notch, but was comfortable. Dressed for the later temp, was overheated just a bit in the first hour. Light rain in the first 8 ish miles, but turned to a downpour at times on/off rest of the way! Hydrated every 30 min or so. Meant to fuel at 1:15. Off by a few minutes on both at times, but got it in. Passed my car at 12 mi, swapped hydration bottles. And off I go. My trail is about 17.75 ish (9x2). Did a loop around a neighborhood at the Rockledge end, (which includes my strava legend hill. ;) ). Return to the trail with a little under 3 to go. Starting to feel it, but didn't really think about it. The rain turned to sleet pelting me with 2 miles to go. Think my legs actually got numb for a bit there. lol.. 

There was barely anyone at the trail today! So quiet! May have seen 5 people, if that! And only two of them I've never seen or familiar with. lol..  

The sleet did get bad shortly later. The roads on my drive home were affected. Wasn't sure if my car could make it up my hill. lol.. Turned to heavy snow for a bit as well!

Today's run may have been messy, but the pace is in my top 3 for 20 milers. Think wanted to just get it over with helped. lol.. And I would take a winter 20 miler over a July/August 20 miler any day! 

Other side notes:

There was plenty of splashing around in puddles along the way, non issue. 'Till the last few miles. Stepped in some deep puddles, freezing! Feet were pretty cold to end! lol.. 

Retired a pair of my shoes mid week. They went just a few days till it was bad weather time for old shoes. lol.. Very short retirement to see active duty again. lol..

No fancy trail pics. Hands were cold and didn't want to pause from my groove for pics. 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Sunday: 4 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/chest/core

Saturday, out to dinner/drinks. Was sure to get my stretch and roll in before heading out, and stayed on track of hydration. Got an excellent night's rest. Up, coffee, 1 hr+ workout, and out the door. Felt yesterday's run, but surprisingly not that bad. Stairs are usually an early indicator. lol.. Out for a comfy 30 min run. (I tend to round up to 4 mi on those days). Brisk and sunny felt refreshing. There were some gusts of wind that questioned that, but still enjoyed being out there. Felt decent for the day after a 20 miler. 

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

Movies/TV:  The Walking Dead, some basketball, not much else and of course the usual reruns of The Office, Family Guy, South Park, etc. 

Not so exciting outside of work and running sometimes. Any questions to get to know me better? Ask me anything!

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 53.2  weekly  miles running 

Year to Date: 539.5 miles running 

Hill Goal (for the yr):  120 k: currently at: 31000

Strength Training: Goal 3 hours minimum, 6:31:57 (think it's time to change my goal to 4-5 hours at least)

What type of strength training do I do? Core: crunches, planks, leg raises, mountain climbers. Weights: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest. 

Foam Roll/Stretch:  7 days

Weight (putting this out there. I know I don't have to earn my food/drink, but putting this out there, maybe I'll be more mindful): on 01/01/22: 156. Current 31 day avg: 153.2

Training Plan:  Week 11 of 20 using the below plan:  

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

3.27.22 - Philly Love Run Half Marathon (deferral from '20!) But this has always been my fav spring half! (official PR's there each time!, hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that!)

05.01.22 - Broad Street Run! - my registration from 2020 granted me a guaranteed entry to this year's race! (skipped '21) 

05.15.22 - Jim Thorpe marathon, but that's not until May! Have various travels going on this yr, was looking for an easy drive, affordable race and hotel. A flat scenic course that includes a train ride to the start! 

Fall: 

10.02.2022 - Chicago Marathon (deferral from '20!, can't wait!)

11.18-20.2022 - Philly Marathon Weekend

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 6, 2022

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

How's winter training going? Any races? Any crazy weather?! We had a few reminders it's still winter with a couple teases of spring! 

Reminder that if you are just skimming, that I have race and gear discount tabs on my blog site.#BibRavePro

Week 10 of Marathon Training for Jim Thorpe Marathon. 

My Week in Training:  

Monday: 7 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/core

Sunday, end of weekend blues, including going out to eat/drinks. Planned on getting a good night's rest tho. Well.. heartburn. Spicy wings get me again. But I love them! :(  Up in the middle of the night. medicine. May have gotten a few minutes of rest after. but not much. Odd, but I have a sleep score of 92. Expected that to be much worse. Wasn't in the mood when that alarm went off. but.. up, coffee, work out, and ready to go. Monday after an 18 miler, plan is pretty much to just go through the motions.  Besides hills on a Monday, was refreshing to be out there. No regrets. 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Tuesday:  7 miles, strength training: chest/core

Planned on getting a much better night's rest.. but made the mistake of looking at my work email before bed. Knew there was an issue waiting for me in the morning. Got some quality sleep to start (usually fall asleep with no issues). But once I was up to use the restroom, mind was racing when I returned to bed. Not sure if I got much sleep after that, sleep score much worse at 70. Coffee, work out, and out the door. Legs starting to get a bit fresher since the weekend. Off to a nice start! Usually hold speed day till Wed or Thu, but looks like I'm going to try for today! Continued focus on form, breathing, and catching myself from relaxing as the hills wear me out in the second half. Faded from the 7:30's and fought to maintain 7:45 ish. Tough through the last few hills, but fun and done! 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Wednesday:  5 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/core

Crazy day at work yesterday and then had a work issue after work and had to log back in for a bit and ended up starting on some of today's work last night. Started to feel like a long week and only Tuesday.. Ended up getting decent rest. Up once, but able to get a little more rest after. Coffee, work out. Planned on doing 4 easy. But felt pretty good before heading out and decided to do 5. Off to a comfortable start. Slightly faster than planned, but wasn't pushing it. Did feel it in the last two hills, but not bad. Wasn't excited to go back to work, but enjoyed my morning run beforehand! Oh and weather is warming up a bit! Still long sleeve weather in the morning, but was warm! Ready for temps to go just a few degrees up for brisk short sleeves! :)

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Thursday: 7 miles, strength training: chest/core

Decent night's rest. Up and ready to go! Coffee, work out, and out the door! Weather App showed 44 with light rain throughout the hour. Prepared for it. Tue/Wed were decent speed days, so not really worried about getting another one in. Off to a better start than planned, but not going to force the issue. Rolled along. The weather app was a lie! It rained earlier, but no rain on my run! The temp was near perfect, except for some crazy wind, mostly in the second half. Laughed it off end enjoyed the brisk air against my face. Pace faded slightly and I didn't care. Enjoyed being out there. 

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Friday: 5 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/chest/core

Decent night's rest. Up once or twice but able to get some sleep. The one time I thought it was much later, was only 11:30! lol.. Slept until the alarm. Coffee, work out, and out the door. Weather back to winter temps! 20 degrees! No issue, was prepared. Plan was basically take it easy to coast into the weekend. Rolling along around 8 min, comfortable but knew I should be taking it more easy. Faded naturally as I went into the mid to late hills. Comfortable throughout. Ready to get through the day and hit the weekend! Long week. I hope the weekend doesn't fly by too fast!

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Saturday: 12 miles, strength training: core

Friday, carb loaded, relaxed, decent rest. Up before my alarm but waited it out. Coffee, got a little core workout in. If it was a longer long run day I may not have, but was a few min short of 6 hours and wanted to exceed that (ocd). Got some in. A little brisk this morning. Temps going up slightly later, but didn't want to wait it out. Over to my trail by 6:30. 12 mi day, didn't want to take it too easy for long run day, didn't want to over do it either. Planned on setting in 8-8:15. Nice fresh air and rolling along. Settled in right at 8. Nice and quiet at the trail, barely saw anyone the first hour. Slight incline around 2.5 and again on the return around 6-7. Maintained pace till the slight incline on the way back. faded to about 8:05. Refocused and regrouped. Planned on trying to neg split on the later decline. Pushing it a bit from 9.5 remainder of the way. Split just a little, but done. Went pretty well today. Saw a few friends and regulars. Didn't get a chance to chat. We are all working on different goals at the moment. As I was driving away saw one of my buddies finishing from a distance. Sad I didn't hang out just a couple min longer. 

So.. things went well. Except for a technical difficulty. I use two devices, phone and watch. At one point realized I haven't received an alert in a bit from the watch... clock still going, but distance not updating. Pause, resume, and all of a sudden the distance updated correctly. Pace looked right. Saving.. the moving time and elapsed time don't match. Moving time is like 9 min faster. Not right. Shows me having a couple 4 min mi. and an 18 min 5k. lol.. Hopefully support gets it right. Not concerned. But will delete and re-enter if support cant fix it. Don't want it showing a record/badge for a 5k I will never beat. However, the elapsed is correct and this was my best 12 miler by 30 seconds. :)

Foam roll/stretch: complete

Full pic on Facebook

Sunday: 4 miles, strength training: arms/shoulders/chest/core

Saturday, and outing to dinner/drinks/ followed by a brewery stop (Ten7 Brewing) . lol.. Was sure to get my stretch/roll in before any shenanigan's. and hydrated a little along the way. Got an excellent night's sleep. "Slept in" till almost 7. Coffee, workout for a little over an hr, and out the door. Temps in the low 50's, short sleeve weather! Light rain, but non-issue. Out for a comfy run. Felt good besides the usual hills. Was briefly temped to go to the trail since I had energy and sched wide open for the day, but knew I would do even more miles than I should for what should be a rest day. May have some light chores, but will be taking it super easy remainder of the day. Hope to be ready to the new week.  

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

Movies/TV:  The Walking Dead, some basketball, not much else and of course the usual reruns of The Office, Family Guy, South Park, etc. 

Not so exciting outside of work and running sometimes. Any questions to get to know me better? Ask me anything!

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles:  47.1 weekly  miles running 

Year to Date: 486.2 miles running 

Hill Goal (for the yr):  120 k: currently at: 27995

Strength Training: Goal 3 hours minimum, 6:18:30

What type of strength training do I do? Core: crunches, planks, leg raises, mountain climbers. Weights: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest. 

Foam Roll/Stretch:  7 days

Weight (putting this out there. I know I don't have to earn my food/drink, but putting this out there, maybe I'll be more mindful): on 01/01/21: 156. Current 31 day avg: 153.2

Training Plan:  Week 10 of 20 using the below plan:  

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

3.27.22 - Philly Love Run Half Marathon (deferral from '20!) But this has always been my fav spring half! (official PR's there each time!, hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that!)

05.01.22 - Broad Street Run! - my registration from 2020 granted me a guaranteed entry to this year's race! (skipped '21) 

05.15.22 - Jim Thorpe marathon, but that's not until May! Have various travels going on this yr, was looking for an easy drive, affordable race and hotel. A flat scenic course that includes a train ride to the start! 

Fall: 

10.02.2022 - Chicago Marathon (deferral from '20!, can't wait!)

11.18-20.2022 - Philly Marathon Weekend

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!