JoeG : Weekly Running Report: January 24, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well!

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

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

This was Week 7 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My Week in Training:

Monday: 11 miles. Day off from work. Sunday, hydrated well, foam roll, stretch. Had a few Sunday Funday beverages and up past my bed time. Did hydrate somewhat well though. "Sleeping in", got a decent night's rest. Coffee, full workout in, foam roll, and eventually over to my trail. Not sure if you saw my previous week's post. Saturday, had a bad cramp (or something?) and knot to deal with. Sunday foam roll still had me whimpering a bit. This morning's foam roll not as bad, but still feel the knot. Supposed to do 6 today, 8 tomorrow. Flipping the days since I have more time today and adding a little distance. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the more gradual incline side to Rockledge park and back first. The first step or so hurt a little, but able to give it a go. Stride slightly shorter than I would prefer. Will ease into widening it. Pace was better than expected (7:40's), but felt like I was going slower. Faded slightly along the incline, not really splitting after the turnaround to decline. Weather was nice. Started with gloves, but ditched them early and discarded as I passed my car. Off to the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd and back. Legs a little tired, faded past 8 with no energy to split on the return from BybBerry. Enjoyed being at the trail, not as packed as a weekend, but still busier than I would prefer due to the holiday. Need to take more trail pics, but if I'm tired or in a zone I kinda slack. lol..

Full pics on Facebook

Tuesday: 6 miles. Three day weekend over, back to setting that alarm! Decent rest, and up before it. Not sure how my body knows it's time to readjust back..Especially since I've slept in two days. lol.. Coffee, workout felt pretty decent (core/arms/shoulders/chest), and out the door by 6. Brisk out today! Felt good! Needed gloves to start, but ditched them midway. Pacing: comfortable 7:50's for a bit. Left leg still a bit tight, but stride is getting closer to "normal". May have been wide awake, but quads feeling it! Fading slightly through the inclines before the hills. Pace 8 ish before/8:08 after my fav hill. Sometimes able to bring it back down as it levels, not today. Maintenance mode for a bit. Fading slightly with two more hills to go. Tried to keep it to 8:15, but just didn't have it. Quads and overall heavy legs through most of the second half. Still happy with it overall. And enjoyed being able to see the beginning of the sunrise at the end of my run.

Wednesday: 7 miles. (supposed to be non-running/short streak day?). Well..Tues, hydrated well, foam roll, stretch, and in bed on time.. but... Did not get a good night's rest! Up way before 4 and tossed/turned for a while. Heartburn! Why does my fav restaurant give me heartburn?! Uncomfortable, eventually gave up on sleep. What else to do? 45 min strength training with time to get 7 miles in. Out the door by 6. Brisk out, but didn't bother with gloves. Probably could of used them. But the air was nice and invigorating. Figured that may help get me going. Pacing. Well.. slowed down early! Pre hill pace higher than usual before I got to the hills. Heavy legs, just getting heavier through the hills. After my least fav hill, briefly thought about finding ways to avoid the others. Tried to focus on breathing/ foot strike and try to forget pace/heavy legs. Ended up going through the later hills anyway. Definitely questioned my decision to do 7 on what should be a small streak day, but no regrets. I'm sure as scheduled mileage increases real soon I may cut back on "extra" miles. Hope to recover enough for tomorrow's six! lol..

Thursday: 6 miles. Wed, hydrated well (or so I thought), foam roll, stretch, and in bed on time. Much better rest than the night before. Up once (briefly) and again before my alarm, much better! Coffee, short workout (core/chest), foam roll my back out, light stretch, and out the door by 6. Brisk! (chill in the teens!) Gloves today, for sure! Started out much better than yesterday. That was to start.. Avg around 8 through 2. But around 2.5 ish, pinch behind my leg! Stop. Limp for a few seconds. Pull over, try to roll it out a bit. Hobble for a little. Wasn't sure if I could get started again. A bit of a shuffle to start. Eventually jog to light run. Short stride. In mi 3, experienced again briefly (not as bad) when maneuvering around a closed sidewalk (where i cant go into the road). But was able to regroup. Out a few min later than usual, got to see a nice sunrise for a bit.

Not sure if it's a cramp or something else. I think i've been hydrating well, and foam roll often. Questioning if one of my stretches may not be a good idea prerun. One of the two. Will be monitoring for sure.

Friday: 4 miles. Thu, foam rolled many times, hydrated well, and in bed on time. Didn't fall asleep right away and up before my alarm, but decent rest. Coffee, workout, foam roll (still whimpering on that knot) and out the door by 6:15. Walking is ok, short stride is ok. But as my stride opens a bit I can feel it. Going to try a comfy pace, but adding hills since I wont be doing speed. lol.. My 4 my route is an abbrev of my 5. With less hills. Decided to change that today. My first couple side streets are somewhat flat near the end, skipped the first flat one, and did the small inclines (skipping the flat ends) of the next couple by the main street. After the couple inclines, was pretty much up/down hills 'till about the 3.5 mark to head back. Felt that I couldn't push it for speed and felt the hills, but glad I got it done.

Saturday: 10 miles. Fri, foam rolled many times (whimper through that knot not as bad, but still feel it), hydrated very well, and in bed at a reasonable hour. Up at 2:30! Up briefly, but then my mind started thinking about the upcoming day, almost wide awake! Fell back to sleep for a bit, and up just before my alarm. Coffee, routine, and over to my trail just before daylight. A bit chilly out! Wind chill in the teens! My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Trail is 10+ mi (back and forth), but skipping the more wooded half. Scheduled for 10 mi at a comfy pace. Adding hills to slow me down. lol.. Off to the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park. Keeping my stride shorter to be safe for now. Pacing 8:20 ish by the Rockledge end. From the Rockledge end, there is a nice steep hill in the neighborhood nearby. Robbins ave. Did that hill up/down three times. Back to the trail. Rockledge to Lorimar. Side trails from Lorimar have multiple options. Did the parallel trail that goes up near Rockledge. (there is a ravine between the two). Main trail (maintained gravel) has a cliff that overlooks this side trail (not maintained). The side trail climbs up to another meeting point. Had about .4 ish before time to head back, did a small loop in Lorimar (actual park) and had a small climb back to the main trail. Pacing 8:40's About 1.7 to go. Main rail from by Lorimar to parking lot. Slight decline on the way back. Felt decent enough to push it a bit on the return. Pacing 8:35 overall. Almost timed the distance just right. Small circle before the parking lot to end at 10. Definitely felt the hills, huffing/puffing as I approached the peaks, but recovered well after each and felt decent in the home stretch. 10 mi main trail is about 190 elevation gain, half of the trail plus today's side hills got almost 600. :) My left leg feeling ok as well. Tight, but not as bad.

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 3.11 miles. Saturday, epsom bath, hydrated well, foam rolled multiple times, knot getting less painful. Did have a couple beverages, but hydrated along. Usually stay up passed my bed time on Saturday's, but went to bed by 10 out of boredom. Decent rest, up by 7. Coffee, taking my time, and out the door around 9. Feeling pretty decent today, going to give speed a whirl. (but be cognisant of the knot in my left leg). Worked on breathing, foot strike, (keeping mostly a short stride). Felt pretty decent through one, but could tell my hill in two would be work. Pacing 7:25 after my first hill. Regrouped as it leveled, pushed it a bit. brought it down, but could tell my stride was getting a little wider and could feel that knot. Trying not to pull or cramp, calmed down a notch. Two smaller hills in two-three. Felt pretty good today. Could feel the knot a bit, but happy overall.

Today was also my runstreak anniversary! 5 years, minami a mi a day! Quick summary of how it started..

2016, going over goals, saw that I ran 300 days in 2015. Proud, but also thought, that's two months off! Lol..
Small streak started in 2016, then, I let a little blizzard stop me on Jan 23rd. Angry the next day. That was my last day off..
Won't recap some of the challenges, but there has been a few. If you follow my blog site, IG, or twitter, you have probably seen them.
Not sure where this is going, just know it isn't ending today, and probably not tomorrow.
I do recognize rest/recovery is important, occasionally trying to cut back a couple days.
Thank you everyone for your support!

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 47.3 miles running completed

Year to date: 169.6 miles running

Strength Training: Goal 150 minutes, 268 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 7 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..