Weekly Running Report: January 17, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

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This was Week 6 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My week started out somewhat well, with an unexpected challenge towards the end. 

My Week in Training:

Monday: 6 miles. Sunday rest day, hydrate, foam roll, stretch, massage gun, and plenty of relaxation. Participated in some SundayFunday beverages, but hydrated along. Decent night's rest, almost 7 hours rest. Looking forward to starting the week running, but not motivated to go to work.  Coffee, workout got going (core/arms), and out the door by 6. Didn't take notes of my run. But pace started better than expected for a Monday. First two sub 8 before the hills. Faded. Think I tied to keep it to 8:15, but missed by a couple seconds. oh well. lol.. Felt like a good start to the day, although wasn't motivated to work after it. lol.. But did get to see a nice sunrise the last couple minutes. 

Tuesday: 7 miles. Monday, hydrate, foam roll, stretch, and a little massage gun. (might have used the gun just a bit much on my calf). Decent rest, up before my alarm, but waited it ut a bit. Coffee, short workout (core/arms), and out the door slightly after 6. "speed" day. We'll see how much I can do with my hills. lol. at least the say hills are speedwork in disguise. Brisk out! (mid 20's). Breathing a bit rugh to start between speed and the cold air, took a bit to adjust. Pace 7:30's to start. Breathing got better, focus on foot strike/breathing. Pace 7:40's after a couple inclines before my fav hill. 7:50 ish as my hill levels out around 3.6. Maintenance mode for a bit, incline and two more hills, faded to 8:00. Wanted to keep sub 8. May have lost some push through the hills and kept comf after, but still felt pretty good overall. 

Sidenote: technical difficulties today. Nike+ minute pace alerts on point, noticed a couple miles in, strava had a timer going, but didn't record a thing! 'doh! I know i waited for GPS before starting! grr! Will be sure to keep an eye on it tomorrow! Happy with my run, but frustrated the the hills won't be included towards the strava challenge that I do. Whatev. Will just have to do more hills. lol.. 

Wednesday: 7 mi. (supposed to be my short streak day?) Tues, hydrate, foam roll, stretch, and in bed on time. Decent rest, but up early! 3:45 ish. Tried going back to sleep, but gave up. Coffee, 45 min workout, routine, and out the door. Usually by 1mi-5k day for the streak, but figured since I was up early I would do a good workout/run. Pace: going for a comfy pace. Started in the 7:50's, but that didn't last long. Legs feeling it, almost like they know I should be resting today. lol.. Felt the inclines before my fav hill. 8:05 before:8:15 ish after. TMI time! Felt some tummy issues brewing. uh oh! Got to the point where I didn't think I could make it 5 more min, much less 20 min. Paused for a moment. Walked, resumed to a light jog home. Always think of emergency plans if I had to go somewhere else, lol.. (alleys, etc) Made it home ok. Could of ended my run at 4.7, but already determined I was going for 7, back out I go!  So, resuming my run from home, I skipped 2 hills and an incline by cutting short earlier. Could of zig zagged for my miles, but did a straight line to those hills! Legs got heavier throughout, but got my mi and most of my avg elevation gain. (my neighborhood 7 mi is about 500-550 elevation gain without repeats)

Thursday: 6 miles. Wed, hydrate, foam roll, stretch, and in bed on time. Decent rest, up once before the alarm, got more rest till time. Coffee, short workout (core/arms, (got chest more core in later)), roll my back out and out the door by 6. Comfy pace today, but change of route! First mi has a small steep hill, flat warm up on a couple side streets. Passed by two blocks I usually get mi 2 in.  Focusing on 3 of my least fav hills today! Down/up hill 1, down, around to my least fav hill. Up, turned around where it levels. Down, up towards my 2nd least fav hill. Did these two hills back and forth three times. Heading back, did hill 1 one more time. A good struggle today, fun. Found that with adding incline, there was also gaps of decline as well. Guess what goes up must come down?! lol.. Overall elevation gain 550 ft over 6 mi. Usually get about 450 in. Besides skipping two blocks earlier, there was about 1.5 skipped elsewhere. The areas skipped have some elevation, but not as much/focused

Friday: 5 miles. Thu, hydrate, foam roll, stretch, and in bed on time (maybe even a few minutes early). Although up once, an excellent night's rest. Up just before the alarm. Coffee, workout (core/arms, shoulders (did chest/core at lunch)). Usually relax the 2nd half of my lunch, had the brilliant idea to get more sets in yesterday. May think about this going fwd. hmm..  Foam roll, light stretch, and out the door by 6. 5 mi day. Figured to be comfy pace after doing hills. Started out comfy, and gradually brought it down a notch. 7:48 ish, inclines, my fav hill around 3.1. Got through my fav hill ok. Still sub 8. Figured to fade again, but hanging. More focus. foot strike/breathing, etc. Couple seconds up/down, but hanging. Another hill around 4.3. Short, but steep! counting steps/breaths on the way up, conquered, smiled for the camera. (security camera just after the top of the hill). Faded slightly, picked it back up for the final stretch. Quads heavy, but got it back down to 8:00.  Much better than expected after a hilly week! 

Saturday: 14 miles. Fri, hydrate (Pretty sure I was hydrated well enough.), foam roll, stretch, carb load, relax and in bed on time. Up before my alarm. Coffee, taking my time, but still ahead of schedule. Packed my headlamp. Raining, but a little "warmer", was sure to not over dress. (but maybe still have?). At my trail around 6:30, dark out, but a few other run groups meeting with their head lamps on as well. Saw more people before daylight than usual. Probably because the trail has been getting packed early.. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood  Rd. Doing the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park first. Pacing.. lol.. Started out slightly faster than planned. But consciously pulled back a bit. First couple miles went well... Things take a turn around 2.5 ish.  First felt like a pinch, but then felt like a punch! Just below my left glute. Top of hammy? or sciatica? Had to stop! Tried to walk a few min. Ok to walk at times. But as I started to jog, as my stride opened, could feel it. Found some logs, tried to roll it out. Hurt like a mofo. This was right near the Rockledge park turnaround, I originally planned on doing 2-3 in their neighborhood, may be a bad idea to continue going further away from my car. Tried walk/run again. on/off. Eventually able to jog. It was obvious that I was favoring my good side. lol.. Made it back to the parking lot (5.5 mi). Hydrated very well, stretched. Hesitated going back out, but did. off to the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd. Pace at it's worse avg was 10:40's, gradually bringing it back down. This side of the trail was cut short today, scheduled controlled hunt, totally forgot even though it's been posted for months. Turnaround, about 6.7 mi. back to the parking lot, hydrate again. Back to Rockledge and back. Trying not to think about pace, but was. 9:12 overall, would of preferred 9:09 (4 hr marathon pace), but after everything, just glad it's done. Was warm most of the way, especially after daylight, not sure if I was dehydrated early? Legs were tired overall towards the end as well (maybe compensating added as well?). Starting recovery with an Epsom bath, hydrate like heck, foam roll, and massage gun. May even do icy hot. 

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 3.11 miles. Saturday, worked on that knot multiple times. Hydsrated like heck. Did have a few beverages, but hydration definitely outweighed that! Up past my bedtime (playoff football), and up once overnight, but able to sleep in today! 8:30 ish! (8 hours rest). Overall soreness today. Foam rolling the knot, still a bit of a whimper when I go through it. Walking is fine. Seems to only hurt when massaging it out, and the initial steps when starting this morning's run. 5k day, but told myself I'd stop at 1 if it was too uncomfortable. Felt in in the first few steps, but think adjusting my stride and running may have helped stretch it out, or so I tell myself. Comfortable pace today, would of preferred slightly faster, but knew before I got to my hills (around 1.2) that i wouldn't be bringing it back down. through the motions. Legs a bit heavy, but the knot wasn't too bad. Don't think I can do speed work early next week (wider stride hurts a bit more), but we'll see. Will continue to focus on recovery today, and make sure hydration outweighs any SundayFunday beverages. lol..

Sidenotes: this morning I discovered I lost my Aftershokz headphones yesterday! I know they are in my house, i set aside to charge them, but can't find them. 'Doh! Love them! Used backup headphones today, just not the same! Hope to find them today! 

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 48.4 miles running completed 

Year to date: 122.3

Strength Training: Goal 150 minutes, 203 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 

Training Plan:  Week 6 of 20 using the below training plan. Plan titled "Advanced", please note, I in no way consider myself advanced. I have used the intermediate plan for four seasons, and want to try the next level. We shall see if I survive! lol.. 

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

04.25.2021 Gettysburg North-South Marathon

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Good luck to everyone with training! Kick some butt! 

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