Weekly Running Report: November 29, 2020

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

Reminder, if you're just skimming my blog, lol..  reminder that I also have gear and race discount tabs/pages to check out as well. :) #BibRavePro

My Week in Training: 

Monday: 6 mi. Could of used better rest Sunday. A few Sunday Funday beverages, hydrated along. Was sure to foam roll, ice bath, etc But a poor night's rest, sore from the weekend longrun/yard work etc. Up before my alarm, but a little tight. Coffee, a decent short workout, and out the door by 6. Tired, oh and rain this morning! Yay! (jk) Pace: Just looking to do a comfortable run today. Good thing I wore old shoes, stomped in puddles, submerged them early and often. Pretty much have to laugh that off! lol.. Run actually felt decent. 8:05 ish by my midway hill, 8:15 after. Pretty much in maintenance mode rest of the way.A couple inclines and hill before the end, stayed comfortable and faded a bit more. May have started tired, but the rain was invigorating! Of course my shin and hip tightened up later in the day.. 

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done. 

Tuesday: 3.11 Mon, got a better night's rest, but up a couple times. Up, coffee, workout, and out the door shortly after 6. Still a bit tight/sore, don't know how much of a speed day this may be. Will try to push, but not over do it. Focus on breathing and foot strike, and I'm off! Route starts with a short steep hill, pace alert is always just a bit slower than I prefer (for any day), settle in as it levels out. Focusing and progressively bringing it down. But feeling it. Pace 7:30 ish before my hill.. Did not hang in there that well. 7:45 ish as it levels out. Level to decline, bring it back down. Hill, decline, hill. Didn't expect a speedy 5k, and it wasn't. Better than my comfy pace, but was a bit rough. 

Miscellaneous Cardio .5 hrs yard work.

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done. 

Wednesday: 6 mi. Tues, was a little tight later on, stairs were a bit of a challenge, hip and shin. Gradually got better. Decent night's rest, actually slept until my alarm clock. Up, coffee, workout and out the door by 6. Feeling better than Mon/Tues, but don't want to over do it, we'll see. Felt pretty decent from the get go. 8 ish for a bit. Inclines along the way, but felt pretty decent going into my midway hill. Didn't really adjust to it, and felt good through it. 8:07 ish as it levels out. Felt good, so I picked it back up for a bit. Back to around 8 and rolling along. Comfortable. Incline and hill around 5.2, faded slightly. Smiled at the security camera as I finished the hill without struggle. Briefly thought about going for 7, but didn't. Felt good today. better pace than mon and much more comfortable. 

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done.

Thursday: 3.11 miles (Thanksgiving Day). Invited to go on a trail run, and was tempting to get some extra miles in, but didn't want to stray from my schedule and had chores to do for the holiday. Had my alarm set, but was getting some good rest and heard some rain storms. "Slept in" to about 6:30. lol.. Rain cleared up. Coffee and got a good workout in. 47 min, extra sets all around. Hydrate, stretch, and out the door shortly after 8. Turkey Trot day and speed day.. Going to try to go "all out". Started out feeling pretty decent. Focus on foot strike and breathing. Decent pace to start and gradually got it down. A few alerts starting with a 6! First mile went well, 7:02. Tiny incline leading to my fav hill. Can already tell my quads will be burning! Hill was rough! Questioned what I was doing. lol.. fading. Trying to regain composure as it levels out and decline. Bringing it back down. But two more hills to go. Focusing on breathing, but lungs were feeling it as well! Hung in there for close to an unofficial PR. My nike has it listed as 22:24, strava has it listed as 22:39/22:52. 22:45 is my pace to beat in a race. Hopefully I'll will be able to match whenever I get to do a real 5k race again.

Recovery: Hydration fail, foam roll done.

Friday: 5 miles. Thu, started the day hydrating well. Eventually offset by a few beverages. Also had coffee later in day as well. In bed on time, but not a good night's rest. Up around 3, tossed and turned. Not sure if I got any more rest after that. Coffee, got a decent workout in since I was up early. Hydrate, stretch and out the door early. Settled into a "comfortable"pace early. But faded along the inclines. Tired, legs were sore, pretty much just through the motions. 8:20's before my fav hill. Fought through it to hang in there. Fading to 8:34 ish. Eventually brought it back down to 8:28 and hung in there to keep it at 8:30. Wasn't pretty this morning, for sure. Lot's of cussing, especially along the hills. lol..

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll done.

Saturday: 17 miles. Long run day, trail day, yay! No major chores (or so I thought) or plans for the day. Might as well go a little further! ;)  Friday, hydrated well, foam roll, carb load, relax, an din bed on time. Decent rest, up once overnight, and actually slept until my alarm. Coffee, routine, stretch, hydrate/fuel, and over to my trail by 6:30. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park first. Settled into a comfortable pace. 8:45-8:50. Very peaceful at the trail this morning. Barely anyone there, very nice! At Rockledge Park end, leaving the trail for a bit to a nearby neighborhood. Up a steep hill to their main street, down to a shopping center and turn around at a major light. Back to the trail. That was about 3 mi in Rockledge. On the way back from Rockledge, did a side trail that connects to Pennypack Park. Through the woods, along the creek, and briefly right along a farm (saw cows close to the trail on the way back), crossed one road and continued, nice views right on the creek. Fueled around 1hr 10 min. Turned around just before the next major road crossing, back to the main trail. Picked up about 2.5 on that side trail. Has a few rolling hills, faded to about 8:52. Steep incline to get back onto the main trail back to the midway parking lot. Flat/slight decline, picked it up a bit. Hydrated at my car, approx 11.3 mi in. (usually pass my car every 5.5 mi, additions at the Rockledge end and on the way back delays my hydration). At the midway parking lot, bump into a few friends. Two that just finished and one that is heading back out. The one heading back out, is my speedy friend, usually only run with them on shorter days or briefly in passing. Told them I didn't want to hold them back, they tagged along. Off to the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd and back. Picking up the pace naturally, wasn't forced. Still able to (somewhat) hold a conversation. Hung in there. lol.. Buddy parked at ByBerry Rd parking lot, nice running with them, but back to a comfortable pace. lol..  As I neared the midway parking lot, my selected route looked to be about 16.5 ish. Did a small side trail for a couple min, and then ended up going just past the parking lot to end at 17. My main trail is 11 ish (5.5x2), usually do one of the sections twice to add more, but experimenting with some side additions to have less repeats. Worked out well. Pacing: overall 8:41. Those 2.75 mi with my buddy, (7:45,8:23,8:02). Surprised I could pick it up after being settled in for so long. Felt it, but manageable. Was definitely more relaxed in the later miles. Planned on 8:45-9. Probably could of held my pace slightly longer after my friend dropped off, but was happy to get more relaxed. Tired in 17, but good overall. 

Miscellaneous Cardio 1.5 hrs yard work. Slightly more than I expected today, but no regrets doing more miles. I'm sure I'll be tired later though. 

Recovery: Hydration goal met, foam roll fail.

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 1 mile. Rest day, and definitely feel the need to take it. Sat, sore from my long run and yard work, and stayed up way past my bed time. 1 am! Stayed up for the Mike Tyson fight, which didn't even start till midnight! Hydrated well yesterday, failed to foam roll, and didn't think to take an ice or epsom bath. Had a few beverages, but was very well hydrated. Knew that would make things even worse if I didn't. Tried to sleep in today, up by 7am. Overall sore and very tired. Coffee and really taking my time. Eventually out the door by 8:45. Only doing one mile today, will see what I can do. Started off a little better than expected. Pace down to 7:02 midway, but a hill starting right there. Quads feeling heavy, fading through the hill, level, slight incline to end. Better than expected, but rough. Am pretty sure it would have been rough at any pace though. Ice bath done, and will be sure to continue to focus on recovery and definitely aim for a better night's rest. For sure! 

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 41.4 miles running completed 

Strength Training: Goal 150 minutes,  221 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:  6 days

Miscellaneous Cardio: 3 hrs yard work. Love fall, but it all lands in my yard. lol.. 

Training Plan: Not on a plan at the moment, but use the below:

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: (and year end goal)

Calendar is clear 'till next year! 

But.. I did set a new goal for year end! Over the summer, during #GVRAT1000k, I saw that I was on pace for my first 2k year. But as #GVRAT1000k ended, I started to take (and needed) rest days. Followed my marathon training plan to a T. Fell behind a bit for 2k. After my marathon, saw that if I had a decent Oct, I could get back on target. Tried not to force the issue (too much) and now I'm back on track!

As of 11/29: 99 miles to go. 

Do you have any more races this year? Or year end goals?

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