JoeG : Weekly Running Report: April 11, 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 18 of 20 marathon training for Gettysburg North-South Marathon for me. Two weeks to go! Race still has open spots if you're interested (marathon, half marathon options)!

My Week in Training:

Monday: 7 miles. Day off from work, yay! Last Monday, wasn't in the mood for work and decided to sched the next Monday off. Still sore, but doing tomorrow's "speed" day to today since I have time to go somewhere flat. Sunday, still sore from my 21 miler, sure to focus on recovery. Ice bath, hydrate, foam roll, TENS gadget, massage gun, etc. etc. Did have a few beverages with the day off, but was well behaved. Up slightly past my bed time, 10:30!, Didn't really sleep in. Coffee, short workout, and eventually over to my trail. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the side to Byberry Rd and back. Work on breathing and focus on foot strike, and I'm off! Pacing low 7's to start, but was rough. Let it fade a bit. Trying to hold 7:45-8 rest of the way. Tight and sore throughout, barely held, but done. This side of the trail is about 5.5 (2.75x2), but some excitement, they are adding onto it. Byberry Rd end has a new section opening up. Was scheduled to open this week, sign said closed, checked out about .25 until there was an actual fence blocking. Excited for the additional length, but didn't see much additional nature yet. Turn back. Got about 5.8 done and then did another .7 out and back. It was a rough one, but glad I was able to maintain my goal. And always great to get out on the trail! Weather was nice. Sunny. Temps were good for running, but brisk once done.

Full trail pics on Facebook

Tuesday: 6 miles. Monday, ice bath, hydrate, foam roll, stretch, and tried to get a decent night's rest. In bed on time, but couldn't sleep. :( Tossed/turned for what seemed to be hours. Alarm was rough. Coffee, short workout, and out the door by 6. Well, since yesterday was "speed" day, guess today is "hill" day. Blah! lol.. Still sore (looking fwd to another rest day tomorrow!), will not be pushing it today! Pacing: 8:10-15 early, knew this would be rough once I got the the midway hills. Trying to forget about pace and try to maintain comfort through the remaining hills. Nice sunrise to end, but unable to get a decent pic. Today was also runstreak day 1900!

Wednesday: 3.11 miles. Plan was to get a good workout in and a comfy mi for the streak. That was the plan. Tues, hydrated well, foam rolled, iced my shin, and a decent night's rest, could of used more, but decent. Up at my alarm and feeling decent. Tried not to think about that just yet. Coffee, and a good 45 minute workout in. Well, as the workout and morning routing went on, was feeling pretty decent and at some point decided to do a 5k. Told myself there is an out at 2 mi that passes my street if I want out. lol.. Light stretch and out the door by 6:15. Focus on breathing and foot strike. Felt some slight tightness but didn't feel like I was over doing it. Pacing around 7:40 before the worst hill around 1.2. 7:48 ish after. Regrouped before heading into smaller hills 2&3 in mi 2-3. Felt pretty decent, a little shin throb after, but not horrible. Promise to rest on Sunday and next "non-running days" remainder of taper. ;)

Thursday: 6 miles. Wed, hydrated well, foam rolled. Didn't ice my shin, but did wear compression most of the day. Wed, participated in #NationalBeerDay by going to my fav wing spot and had beverages, first time sitting at a bar in Pa since the pandemic! Don't worry, very well spaced between guests! Decent rest, but woke up at 3 am with heart burn. Why does my fav food do this to me? :( Not sure if I fell back to sleep, once I was up, mind started going. Waited out my alarm. Coffee (will be plenty), short workout, foam roll my back, light stretch, and out the door by 6. Hips slightly sore, but shin barely noticeable. Plan was to do a comfy pace and get all my hills in. Well, started out pretty decent and went with it! Working on breathing, foot strike, etc. Pace 7:40's, couple hills, inclines, but the worst start around mi 3.0 Pace faded along a bit, but maintaining sub 8. Wasn't going to be upset if I faded past, but working on focus/maintaining. Was close, but done! Felt good most of the way. Crazy the difference in feel from Mon/Tues to today. Have to keep recovery time in mind. lol.. Monday after an extra long run can be tough! Forget it takes a few days sometimes. lol.. Will still be sure to focus on recovery. ;)

Friday: 5 miles. Thu, hydrated well, foam rolled, light stretch, iced my shin, and a decent night's rest. Up a couple times overnight, groggy when that alarm went off! Coffee, feeling my shin slightly as I head down the stairs. Short workout, foam roll my back out, stretch my shin, and out the door by 6. Pacing: Trying to do a comfy pace, and get all the hills in. Started out slightly slower than planned and then got going. Comfy, fading along the inclines and then maintained remainder of the way. Felt those hills more today than yesterday tho, for sure!

Saturday: 12 miles. Long run day, no trail day :( . Unfortunately I had to work this morning at 9. I may have been able to get a trail day in anyway, but didn't want to risk being late. (glad I got a trail day in on Monday!) Also figured this would be a good opportunity to get some extra hills in. lol.. Hills are good for you! or something like that. Fri, hydrated very well, foam rolled, good stretch, carb load, relax, and in bed on time. Decent night's rest. Did feel my shin slightly yesterday and this morning. Some concern, but hoped to be ok once I warmed up. Coffee, short core workout, foam roll my back, and out the door by 6. Decent temps, but humid! Checked afterward, 93%! But once I was drenched it helped cool. Pacing, settled in at a comfortable pace, not trying to push it today. Hills at a comfy pace. Planned on pacing 8:45+, but was good at 8:25-8:30. One positive from all that snow in Feb, helped me figure out some longer routes in a small area. Some streets repeated, but all good. Now that the snow is gone, was able to build onto that route with a few streets that were blocked off previously. Also able to build onto that with more hills. :) Felt it in the last few, but done. Got almost 1000 ft in 12 miles. My race in two weeks is 1100 over 26.2, hope I'm ready. Now to concentrate on recovery. Will be rotating ice/epsom baths, stay on top of hydration, and rest as able to.

Miscellaneous cardio: 1.5 hrs yard work post run. Will try to keep these on days I have a rest day following as well.

Sunday: 1 mile. Time to start keeping it to a streak day mile on "non running" days. Saturday, did an ice bath, hydrated very well, foam rolled, got a good stretch in. Did offset hydration with a few beverages, but hydrated along the way. Excellent night's rest. Up at 6, but the steady rain helped fall back to sleep, almost 9 hrs rest, must of needed it! Tired, but up. Coffee, 30 minute core workout, foam roll my back, stretch my shin, and out the door. Pouring earlier and rain all day, but not bad when I stepped out. Wearing old shoes for the rain, remembered early why they are retired. lol... Going for a comfy pace, usually tempted to push it on 1 mi days, not today. Felt my shin bit early, but done. Temp not bad, but felt a bit warm, only 97% humidity. Light rain was refreshing on my cool down.. Will be sure to take it easy to be somewhat ready to kick off the week tomorrow. Have a great day everyone!

Outside of Running:

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? Two outings to dinner/drinks, including a stroll around New Hope, Pa.

What shows/movies did I watch this week? Baseball (Go Phillies!), The Walking Dead, South Park, The Office, Falcon and Winter Soldier (loving it!)

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: Weekly 40.5 miles running

Year to Date: 679.5 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr): 38421/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k.

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 305 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 18 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..