Weekly Running Report: December 20, 2020

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

How's training going? Any races (IRL or virtual)?  How's the weather treating you?

This week had some weather challenges in the northeast. Started with a rain day, followed by snow later in the week that may stick around for a bit... 

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: 14 miles. Day off from work, trail day, yay! Rain, heavy at times, and a bit chilly.. Booo... Orig wanted to get up to 16 miles since my last long run was short, but with the forecast, will be happy to get anything above 10 today. It's all above plan anyway, I'll take it. Sun, hydrated well, foam rolled. Did have Sunday Funday beverages, but behaved and hydrated. Didn't stay up late either. Although I occasionally do when I have time off.  Didn't set an alarm, but didn't want to sleep all day either. Up before 7. Coffee, got a good workout in. Knew that rain was in the forecast, but didn't see much yet. Oh, it started just before I was ready. 'doh! It was light, but got heavy by my start time. Dressed fine for the day. Backup shoes (poor shoes, used to be my favs, now only come out to get roughed up , lol...) Backup headphones, ziplock bags for ph, etc, hat/gloves. And ready to go. 

My trail Pennypack Creek. Parked in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the side to ByBerry Rd first. Pacing was comfortable early, probably faster than I should have, but didnt pull back for a while. Dealing with the rain was fine. Ditched my hat early, but gloves on/off throughout. warm sweat vs cold/numb back and forth. lol.. Puddles to avoid most of the way. Definitely submerged my shoes a bit. Way back from ByBerry, hydrated at my car (5.5 ish mi). Off to he more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park. Starting to feel it a bit. And questioning my decisions. lol.. Legs stinging a bit, and getting heavy. Fun times. Along the way, knew that I wanted to do more miles, but wasn't sure where of if I was really up to it. Decided to leave the trail at Rockledge end to keep going away from my car, so I couldn't end early. Steep hill to start, lost a few more seconds here, and knew I would never get them back.. lol.. Down their main street to a busy intersection and turnaround and back. Tired by the time I got back. about 3 miles added. Rockledge to midway parking lot to finish, hit 14 as I wrapped around the lot. Last mi or so not so much fun, but done. Glad I added where I did. If I added on a side trail  on the way back, would be easier to cut it sort, or if I passed my car to go back to the other side, even easier to quit. 

Didn't pause for any pics throughout, just a post run pic. Trail was almost completely empty. Only saw two runners today, and a few walkers early. And the ranger car once, and a police car once.

Full pics on Facebook

Tuesday: 7 miles. For as tired as I was yesterday when I was done, felt pretty good this morning. Hydrated, foam rolled yesterday, decent rest. Up before my alarm, but waited it out. Coffee, short workout, stretched, feeling good, but wasn't too confident yet. Out the door by 6. Tues, is usually 1mi-5k day for me, but with a looming snow storm Wed/Thu, going to see if I can do 5-6 today in case I cut those days short. Pacing, comfortable 7:50 early. occasionally feeling it in my shins, calves, quads, but felt good for the most part. Couple inclines before my fav hill at 3.1, still maintaining a bit. Faded up the hill, but still sub 8. Decision to make as I approach 4. (route change from in 4 for 6). Going for 6. Enjoying the brisk running. Didn't feel like I was pushing it too much either. Maybe a little. Incline and hill in 5, another decision made. straight away to end at 6, or add up side streets on the way back for 7. pace was right around 8, and knew I would drop with the additional inclines, didn't care. 7 done.   

Wednesday: 6 miles. Snow in the forecast, hasn't started yet. Going for my normal wed 6! Tues, hydrated, foam rolled, decent rest. Up just before my alarm. Coffee, short workout, felt pretty decent. Out the door shortly after 6. Brisk! Felt decent to start, but legs got heavy early. Going for a comfy day, we'll see. Inclines added up. Felt them before my fav hill. Decided to rethink my route today to see what I can get in with just sticking to my neighborhood streets. Usually after zigzagging, I do a loop around as well, which involves sidewalks that I know wont get shoveled. I may have avoided my hill, but still got inclines in. lol.. Got my 6 in. Think I could zigzag twice to get about 5, even more repetitive. We'll see. How the snow and streets are tomorrow! 

Miscellaneous Cardio: .5 hr shoveling.

Thursday: 5 miles. Wed, well, it snowed! Didn't start till after 1 pm, but it didn't stop after that. With some wintry mix in there as well! Went out for a round of shoveling last night hurt my shoulder early. But got the main sidewalk and driveway entrance done. Checked it again before bed, looked somewhat ok. Up a couple tmes, but decent rest. Slept until my alarm. Passing the windows on my way to grab coffee... Looked like I didn't do any shoveling, 'doh! Short workout, only core, no weights. Hurt shoulder and will be shoveling again. Yaktrax on and ready to go! Plows went by last night, but the snow didn't stop and they waited to do the next round. Barely looked like they didn't anything as well. 

Going to be a good leg workout at a slower pace. Once up my short steep hill, was able to see at least one set of tire tracks most of the way. Occasionally getting better push off the compressed snow, going back and forth. Did a similar route as yesterday. Zig zag my normal streets, without going around the outside loop (busy road). Could tell the sidewalks/parking lots of the loop, wouldn't have been touched yet. Pretty much staying in the middle of my neighborhood streets. Only had to deal with a couple cars going by. Of course as I was finishing, the plows started up. lol.. Pacing: comfortable around 9, but it was a good workout. Felt completely safe. Once done, did about 40 min of shoveling. Heavy wet snow. Fun stuff.. Lost track of time and was a few late to work. lol.. Ooops.. no worries. 

Miscellaneous Cardio: .5+ hr shoveling.

Friday: 5 miles. Decent rest, but up around 3, and tired when the alarm went off. Was not motivated to get started. Coffee, short workout, and got moving. Crazy how once you get moving it's not as bad! lol.. Out the door around 6, although spent a few extra minutes getting my gear ready. Fail on prepping the night before. Had two pairs of shoes ready. Put on my current trainers and had my yaktrax (on retired shoes) ready in case. Out the door, stoop mostly clear, but some ice. Went out and checked the street in front, clear in middle, black ice on sides and intersection. Going with my regular shoes and off I go. Feeling the first incline from the go. Not sure if it's the recent extra miles, hills, shoveling, whatever. First few streets, pretty clear in the middle. Still cautious though. Especially at my turnarounds (plenty of ice at the end of the streets), intersections that have water sit, etc. Pacing, early, was better than it felt. Definitely not working on speed under these conditions, just going with the flow. Of the about 13 streets, only two ish weren't in great shape. Had to be more cautious there. Traffic wasn't an issue. Only had to pull to the side for about three cars.  Avoiding the loop around my hood for a few days (sidewalks, mostly not well maintained), found that I can get 5-6 with only doubling a few streets. 

Saturday: 12 miles. Long run day, trail day, yay! Fri, carb load, foam roll, relax. Decent rest. Adjusted my alarm by a few minutes, up before my alarm. 18 degrees at start time, most likely snow/ice on the trail, planning on getting there in full daylight (so I can see any dangerous conditions), around 7. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Parking lot completely covered. Trails as well. Not sure why I thought sun may have melted some. Glad I packed my yaktrax just in case. Plan was to do 12, so I can hit 50 tomorrow with just 1 and then rest. Immediately rethinking that, we'll see. Did the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park first. Immediately saw tire tracks, thank goodness. Portions the ranger drives had tracks. Pacing, started slow and comfortable, gradually got it sub 9. Tracks narrow in some places, occasionally carefully switching tire lanes. Tracks were compacted, got a decent push. Saw very few people out there, went off tire lane when passing, not much footing there.. Places where the trail crosses streets, ice to be extra cautious. End of the trail at Rockledge, can see where the ranger stopped, only about .2 for a bridge and then the end. Return to midway. Didnt enjoy portions of the beginning, but got more used to everything. Hydrated at my car, off to the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd. Hoping the ranger did this side as well. Small area from parking lot the ranger wouldn't do, cant tell yet. Entrance, they did, yay! To ByBerry and back. Hands were warm, dropped the gloves at hydrating, fingers totally refroze, took a bit, finally defrosted. Took some pics along the way, but not all the points I wanted, hands a bit cold. Lol.. back from ByBerry, had about 1.3 as I passed the parking lot. Off to the other side again for .7 and back. Glad I didn't adjust my orig goal. Cold, challenging at times, but manageable. Never felt unsafe, but did come close to rolling ankles from the way I landed. 

Sidenotes:

clipped my ankles once or twice with yaktrax. (Metal coil), but that's my fault. 

Saw a fox, it didn't stick around for pics. 

Saw a couple snowmen, didn't take pics, some dogs visited them. 

Tire tracks were nice, but the compacted snow may become compacted ice when the snow is gone. Trade offs.. 

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 1 mi. Saturday, hydrated very well, foam roll, relaxed. A couple beverages, but well behaved. Tried sleeping in, made it to 6:30. Coffee and taking my time. Eventually out the door after 8. Doing one mile to cap the week at 50. Going to try to push it a bit. Have to do a different 1 mi route, my normal 1 mi route is almost all sidewalk, usually takes a while for some people on that route to take care of it. Focus on breathing and foot strike. Starts with a short steep hill, 1 min pace alert was better than expected. Mostly level rest of the way with one incline on the way back. About 3 min in, turn down one street for a few and back. It was rough, but most alerts started with a 6, the one or two above 7, had me push it again. Better than expected for how I've been feeling this week with the weather challenges, etc. 

Miscellaneous Cardio: .5+ hr shoveling. (Wed/thu were needed areas, today was more of nice to have done). Back patio, at least an inch thick of ice! ended up only doing the door, steps, and path. Don't need the rest, not hurting my back for it. lol.. 

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 50 miles running completed 

Strength Training: Goal 150 minutes, 181 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: 7 days 

Miscellaneous Cardio:  1.5 hrs yard work. (shoveling)

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!

UPDATE!!! Passed 2000 miles on Monday. Didn't celebrate. Wasn't going to push it, but 2100 may be doable. (previous high 1750). 2044 mi as of 12/20/2020

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!