Weekly Running Report: December 13, 2020

 Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

This week was a bit of a mix for me. Three 10+ mi days. Some great days, with a couple rough ones mixed in. lol.. 

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 miles. Sunday, hydrated well, foam roll, and relaxed remainder of the day for rest day. Did participate in SundayFunday beverages, but behaved and hydrated. In bed early, but.. tummy ache. Got some rest, but up again at 3 am. Felt better in the morning, but tired. Lower back hurt this morning, not sure if it's from sleeping funny, but don't think I did anything yesterday to cause it. Coffee, workout (core/arms/shoulders), some delays in morning routine. Slight concern of the tummy issues. Eventually out the door by 6:10. (about 10 min late). Brisk out! 29 ish. Dressed fine for it. Pacing: with heavy legs yesterday and lower back issue today, just going with a "comfortable" pace. Started out slightly faster than expected. But could feel my back, etc. Pulled back a notch. Got into a comfortable groove. Slight inclines, yada, yada. Hill around 3.1 ish, pace 8:15 ish as it levels out. Maintenance mode rest of the way. Did see some black ice today along some of the sides of a few streets, but not much in my way. Guess we're hitting winter soon. Tenps were fine, but never ditched my hat or gloves, which i usually do when I'm really warmed up. lol.. Pace 8:20's on my watch, but my phone had teens. Gps difference today between the two devices, which is rare. Not upset over a 5-10 since it wasn't a race or speed day, but will keep an eye out for it. Better day than expected, enjoyed the run. And never had any more tummy issues, knock on wood. 

Tuesday: 5 miles, usually 1mi-5k day, but feeling rested enough and wanting to do more. I slacked on writing any notes down, and even my social media posts were vague. Hard to recall.. but pace was on target. 

Wednesday: 13.1 miles. Day off from work, trail day, yay! And it's my birthday! Go shawty, it's your birthday! No major chores/plans today, going for a "long" run. Was originally going to go for up to 16. Thought about sleeping in, but up shortly after my normal time. Coffee, got a good workout in. And over to my trail by 7:30. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park first. Pacing: settled in around 8 ish early. Planned on pulling back, but that never really happened. Faded slightly up the incline, turnaround and back. About 5 miles in, decided to change my plans. Orig going for up to 16, but saw that if I worked on it, could potentially get a half pr. Time to focus on breathing and foot strike. Passed my car at 5.5, skipped hydrating ('doh).  Off to the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd and back. Fueled around the 1 hr mark. Enjoying the views, but focused. Pacing 8:02 ish, incline before the turnaround, maybe 8:05 ish. And back to neg split. Pass my car again, skipped hydrating. Off to the gradual incline side again for 1 mi out and back. Starting to feel it, count down going, trying to hang on. Done! PR! My official time to beat is 1:47:something, shooting for 1:45:ss and got it. Happy with it. But at the same time wondering if I tapered and focused from the start how it would go. (especially based on my recent 10 and 11 mi PR's) Hope to be ready when races are a thing again! 

Full Pics on Facebook

Thursday: 11 miles. Much more rough than Wed. lol..  Wed, brewery for lunch, brewery for dinner, and maybe a night cap. Hydrated, but could of done better. Day off from work, sleeping in, for real! Up after 7. Coffee, eventually got going. Got a good workout in. Usually short speed day, but trying to get extra miles in this week. Over to my trail after 9:30, so late for me. lol.. Basically doing the same route as yesterday, but at a "comfortable" pace. Settled in 8:teens for a bit. Tired the entire way. Questioned why I was doing extra miles, but went through it. Bumped into a friend around 5.5, slowed down to b.s. for a bit. Pacing 8:30 ish. We split up, after about .5, but pace remained the same. Trail is about 10.6 ish, did a few circles at the end to get 11. Although thought about ending at 10 with a long cool down. lol... 

Miscellaneous Cardio: 1.75 hrs yard work. Told myself next time it was nice out and I had time that I would get another round in. Well, it was nice out, eventually 50 degrees. Residual fall cleanup, shouldn't be too much more before spring. hopefully.  

Full pics on Facebook

Friday: 5 miles. Thu, hydrated well, foam rolled, did participate in Thirst Thursday, but was well behaved and hydrated as well. In bed on time, but didn't want to. Back to work, blah! And work called me at 1:30 am for a quick item. Back to bed. Up before my alarm, but went back to sleep. Up, forgot to set my alarm, 'doh! only 5-10 min late. Will have to cut my workout short. Coffee, really short workout, and out the door by 6. Tired! Legs feeling the "extra" miles. going for a "comfortable" pace. Through the motions. Cold helped wake me up, but still tired. Couple inclines before my fav hill.. Pacing 8:12 ish/8:20's before/after the hill. Maintaining remainder of the way. Another incline and hill before the end, hanging on to keep pace at 8:30. Legs were heavy today. Hope to recover a little to have a comfy longer run tomorrow.

Saturday: 10 miles. "Long" run day, trail day, yay! Third trail day this week! Already have a few extra miles in this week. Keeping today to 10. Plans later, need to have some energy for running around chores. Fri, carb loaded, relaxed, in bed on time. Woke up in the middle of the night, pretty tired, disabled my alarm. Figured if I slept in a few minutes, would still be done early enough. Well, up earlier than expected, but waiting till the updated alarm, eventually up before it. Didn't get too much extra rest. But am behind my normal Sat sched. Coffee, "routine" and over to my trail around 7. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. As I'm about to start, two of my friends pass by the lot, off to the section I was about to do. Midway parking lot to Rockledge Park. Pacing: a relaxed pace. One of the members of the group runs around 10 avg. First couple around that, with a couple breaks mixed in. Part of the trail is closed today, will be mixing in more miles on this side of the trail. On the way back from Rockledge, veer off to a hiking trail (part I haven't done) Trail not maintained, but not too technical. Side trail merges with another side trail from Lorimer Park , took that to Pennypack Park and turnaround. There is a very small section (maybe .2) that goes along a farm, even when the cows are out, they are usually in the next quad away from the trail, today, they were right up to it! Nice treat! lol.. Back to the main trail, steep incline. Our one friend split off. Pace starts to pick up remainder of the way. Lorimar Park to midway parking lot. My other friend drops off at the parking lot. Off to the more wooded trail to ByBerry Rd. Trying to go all out rest of the way. This side f the trail trail is cutoff  midway for a controlled hunt, but I got in about 3 (1.5x2). One thing worth noting, gun shots scared the crap out of me! lol.. I knew they were in the next section, but wasn't prepared for the sound. lol.. Felt pretty good today. Relaxed for half, picking up midway and all out to end. Weather was nicer than expected as well. Started out around 40, but humid/fog/mist. Warmed up. Ditched the hat early. Gloved on/off a bit. Glasses fogged/misty most of the way. And probably could of gone with a short sleeve.  

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 3.11 miles. Saturday, full day of running errands/chores. Hydrated well. Only offset by a little. Made sure to foam roll. Didn't bother staying up late either. Slept in this morning, till 7. Coffee and taking my time. Rest day, but feeling pretty decent for a Sunday. Shorter long run sat, not so sore today. Eventually out the door around 8:30. Would usually go for a comfortable pace after long run day, but decided to push it a bit. Focus on breathing and foot strike. Slow start, but settled in. Was tougher to get to 7:20's than expected. And that was before my fav hill. Fav hill at 1.2 ish. Trying to focus more on breathing than effort. Pace 7:40's as it levels out. Refocus, legs feeling it more than expected. Briefly questioned my decision to push it, but kept on. Back to 7:30's but rough with two more hills. Will be sure to focus on recovery remainder of the day to get back out there tomorrow. Day off work tomorrow, hope to get a comfy long run in.☺

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 53.4 miles running completed 

Strength Training: Goal 150 minutes, 224  minutes completed. What type of strength training do I do? Core: crunches, planks, leg raises. Weights: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest. 

Hydration Goal:  ? days Lost track, will be sure to revisit tracking.

Foam Roll:    ? days Lost track, will be sure to revisit tracking.

Miscellaneous Cardio: 1.75 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. Between cutting back after #GVRAT100k and then a taper, 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 12/13: 6 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!