JoeG : Weekly Running Report: January 31, 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 8 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me.

My Week in Training:

Monday: 6 miles. Sunday, hydrated well, foam rolled multiple times. Did participate in Sunday Funday beverages, but hydrated along. Wasn't ready for bed, but in bed close to on time. Excellent night's rest. Felt good for a Monday! Not excited for work, but excited to kick off the week with a decent run and workout! Coffee, hydrate, workout. (30 min now, 15 later, core/arms/shoulders/chest, etc). Ready to go! Brisk! Felt surprisingly well for a Monday. May be due to recent long run being "short". Pacing 7:55 ish till hill time 8:05-8:10 after. Trying to regroup a bit till the later hills. Hung in there to maintain 8:15 overall. Will take that for a Monday!

Tuesday: 7 miles. Mon, hydrated, foam rolled (knot almost non-existent!), and in bed early, up once, but a decent night's rest. On my way to grab coffee, looking for snow! Nada! :) There were three hours overnight that had a chance of snow, if there was anything, it was clear and dry this morning. Coffee, short workout (30 min now, 15 later, core/arms/shoulders/chest, etc). Out the door just before 6. Another chance of precipitation this hour, but was a non issue. "Speed" day, wearing "speedy" shoes. Focus on breathing and off I go! Short/small hill to start, to level. Picking it up, between speed/hill/cold air, breathing taking a few minutes to adjust), but off to an excellent start. 7:30's for mi 1. Getting a bit more comfortable all around in mi 2. Incline between 2-3 before my fav hill around 3.1. Made it though hill 1, pacing 7:40's. A bit of maintenance mode after. Enjoying the run, brisk air, etc. Continues focus on breathing/foot strike. Until Long incline to short steep hill in mi 5. Survived hill 2, smile for the camera nearby. Legs getting heavier, a couple more inclines to go, but able to maintain sub 8 overall. Challenging to end, but felt good for the most part. Knot in my left leg from last week, stride occasionally getting wider, felt ok, but nervous of cramping/pulling again. One thing to note, overall avg was 3 seconds over my PR. Could probably crush this on my trail, but would love to get it done here. Didn't know I was so close! lol..

Wednesday: 3.11 miles. Tues, hydrated, foam rolled, and in bed on time. Up at least once and just before my alarm, but ready to go. Coffee, full upper body workout since I have a few more minutes, routine, and out the door by 6:15. 5k day. Wed, supposed to be a "non-running" day, and was itching to do more, but know I should be cutting back, especially since long run day is getting longer. Brisk! Cooler than what I thought, I did check the forecast before stepping out, but was a little more cold than expected. Should of worn gloves to start. Pacing, felt pretty good. Not over doing it, but still better than planned. 7:30's through 1, before my fav hill at 1.2. 7:50 as it leveled. Regrouped, brought it back down for a bit, but a couple more hills in 2-3. Tried to keep it at 7:45, but lost a few before the end. Still better than planned. Figured 8 ish. Felt good after and wanted more. But plan. lol..

Thursday: 6 miles. Wed, hydrated, foam rolled, and in bed on time. Up at least once and just before my alarm, but ready to go! Coffee, workout (30 min now, more on lunch break). Ready to go! Brisk! Very Brisk! Wind Chills in the mid teens! Hat/gloves. Still no pants though. lol.. Was going to go with a comfy pace, but feeling pretty decent to start. Did slow down in the inclines before my fav hill at mi 3. 8/8:10 before/after my hill. Brought the pace back down briefly, but faded slightly before the incline to hill 2 in mi 5. Still trying to keep it to sub 8:15, did but feel the hills overall. Did have some issues in the first mi adjusting breathing with the cold air. More comfortable by mi 2. Did ditch my hat once warmed up. gloves were on/off, and numb by the end of my run. lol.. But overall, happy with how today went. Couple more days of this chilly weather. We'll see how Saturday's 15 miler goes! lol.. (but at least there's no precipitation (at the moment, knock on wood!.. lol.)

Friday: 6 miles. Thu, hydrated foam rolled. Did participate in Thirsty Thursday. Wasn't going to, but after a crazy day at work, was nice to relax a bit. In bed close to on time, and a decent night's rest. Up just before my alarm. Wasn't motivated to start, think I wasn't motivated because I wasn't ready to go back to work after that crazy day. lol.. but workout done (30 min now, 15 later). Don't have much time to waste before run time, but got it done. Out the door by 6. Another cold one today! With max winds of 18 mph! Day before long run day, keep to the plan and not over do it. Was dressed fine for the weather. Usually I take my hat/gloves off once warmed up, not today! lol.. Pacing was 8 ish before/8:10 after hill 1. Maintenance mode remainder of the way. Fading again in the last inline to hill. Cold out, but that didn't bother me at all. Felt pretty decent overall. Hands did numb up when I took my gloves off to end my run/pics, etc,

Saturday: 15 miles. Friday, hydrated, foam rolled, carb loaded, and ready for bed on time! Good night's rest, but up early! 4ish, gave up at 4:20. Coffee, core workout, routine, and rout the door by 6:45. A bit brisk today! Temp and chill in the teens! Had the proper layers and brought more with me just in case. Over to my trail around 7. My trail Pennypack Creek, park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the more wooded side to ByBerry Rd and back first. Started out slightly faster than planned and pulled back a bit. Fingers were numb for the first two miles! Barely anyone at the trail yet, maybe saw 4 people on this side. Pacing 8:15 ish for now, with plans on pulling back to 8:30. Trail was very peaceful, always want to take more pics, but hands were numb, and once defrosted, didn't want to refreeze. Back from ByBerry at 5.5 ish. Hydrated at my car, and made a pit stop. Was sure not to pause devices to start imitating race day. Off to the more gradual incline side to Rockledge Park. Pace after break 8:25 ish. Got back into rhythm, pace dropped a couple seconds, but relaxing pace and incline ahead. Starting to see more people after passing the parking lot again. Still not that many, but a few more. Rockledge end, leaving the trail for a bit. Nearby neighborhood hill (which I am now the strava local legend!), loop around the hood to add a couple. Back to the trail. returning from Rockledge, bumped into my speedy friend, tried running with them for a min, 11 mi in, couldnt shift gears at this point to hang with them. On the return from Rockledge, took a side trail from Lorimer Park, added another hill, steady incline and a little steep at the end. Reconnects to the main trail back near Rockledge. Definitely tired at this point. Rockledge back to the midway parking lot. The main trail is about 11 mi (5.5x2), the neighborhood loop and side trail were the perfect distance to end at 15 mi. Wasn't a great run today, but hung in there and got it done. Still happy with it, just wish it was slightly easier. lol..

Sidenote: looking back, this was my best 15 mi time, howver, have only ever done three! lol.. Guess since I usually even numbers. lol

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 3.11 miles. Saturday, hydrated very well and was sure to foam roll. Legs tired most of yesterday afternoon/evening. Did have a couple beverages at dinner and later. In bed at a reasonable hour and a good night's rest. Tried sleeping in, up around 7. Coffee and taking my time. 30 min core workout done. Foam roll my back and out the door around 9. 5k for the streak, wasn't sure how i'd be feeling after yesterday. Was hoping to be comfortable under 8. Focus on breathing and foot strike and off I go. Felt much better than expected and went with it. Fav hill around 1.2, faded to 7:40's. Woulds be more than happy to keep it at 7:45, but refocused and brought it back down to the 7:30's. Couple more hills in mi 2. Felt it, but happy overall. Forgot to take a post run selfie. Bumped into neighbors along my cool down and spaced on it after. 'doh! Instead you get a selfie from my plank challenge.

Sidenote: We're supposed to get 10-15 inches of snow Sun-Tue, not looking forward to that, that will affect running, for sure!

Outside of Running: - new section to get to know each other a bit more.

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? Nothing very exciting during the winter, during the pandemic..What shows/movies did I watch this week? The Office, South Park, Family Guy, WandaVision, and The Little Things. One outing to Texas Roadhouse for ribs and beer.

Q: How about you? Anything exciting outside of running? Any adventures? Or binge watching anything?

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 45.3 miles running completed

Year to date: 215 miles running

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 339 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 8 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..