Weekly Running Report: May 16, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

Haven't posted a blog in a bit. Slacking! Was taking some me time. Back now, trying to get back into the groove. 

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

My Week in Training:

Monday: 7 miles. Two plus weeks since my marathon, haven't done a 7 mi midweek run yet. Decided to start the week off with it. Wise? unsure. SundayFunday, did have a few beverages, but hydrated along the way. Trying to behave to start the week off right! Foam rolled/stretched, relaxed, but Monday is still usually the toughest day for me. Got a call overnight from work. Forgot I'm on -call (more sub consciously did) and tried to disable my alarm instead of answering my phone. Eventually took the call and up for a bit. Back to sleep I go. Rough getting up for a Monday, but not horrible. Coffee, 30 min workout. (arms/shoulders/core) and out the door by 6. ..Oops, forgot to come back for my recap after I started it. lol. 7 done, but wasn't horrible for a Monday.

Tuesday: 7 miles. Was planning on doing 6?  Monday, hydrated well, foam roll, stretch, and a decent night's rest. Up a few times and again before my alarm. Coffee, 35 min strength training (core and chest), and out the door by 6. Temps cooler for this time of yr and nice. Slightly slow start, but got into a groove after the first couple small hills and brought it down a notch. Rolling along, working on breathing/strike, etc. Did feel some slight soreness in left ankle and right shin, but non issue. Feeling a bit better than yesterday's run, around mi 4-5 decided to on 7 before turning back for 6. Knew it would involve extra hills and pace may suffer (and it did), but still felt good overall. Glad I went the extra mi.

Extra cardio: 1.5 hrs yard work after work.  

Wednesday: 3.11 miles. "short" run for the streak. Tues, hydrated well, failed to foam roll/stretch, I slacked there. But got a decent night's rest. Up before my alarm, and already have a few extra minutes due to the shorter run, got a 45 min workout in. (arms/chest/core). Foam roll my back and light stretch. Out the door by 6:15. Temps still nice. Focus on breathing/strike and off I go!  Trying to push it a bit. Got my pace down by the 2 min pace alert. Pacing 7: teens. But feeling it just before the gradual incline around mi 1.2. Faded to about 7:30. Regroup and decline before a couple smaller hills. Focus on count down and breathing up the hills. Maintained to just below 7:30, it was rough, but fun! 

Thursday: 7 miles. Again, was planning on 6.  But looking at my avg and wanting to get back to 200 months, decided if I'm doing ok midway that I'll keep going.  Wed, hydrated well, skipped foam roll/stretch again. TBH, slacking lately on it. Decent night's rest, bt some funky dreams! Woke up in the middle of the night with a sharp pain in my shoulder. Dont think it's related to weights, will discuss later. lol.. Up a few min early, coffee, core workout (no weights due to the shoulder, even planks was a stretch). Roll my back out, light stretch and out the door by 6. Temps still nice! trying to make a point to cherish them while they last! Summer will be here soon enough! Off I go. Felt good and first pace alert on point, second slowed down up a hill. I try not to judge them just yet since I have two small inclines to start, but I do. Eventually in rhythm. Feeling pretty decent. Again in mi 4-5, not turning back to end at 6. Stretching it out a bit on the opposite side of the 'hood. Inclines, hills, pace still ahead of expectation. Longer gradual incline, quads getting heavy, but hung in there to maintain just below 8. Didn't feel as great as Tues, but pace was better. Thu's seem to be my best midweek day pace wise. Glad I went the extra mi and felt decent after. 

So.. back to my shoulder hurting.. Shoulder was fine yesterday, what happened?  Totally forgot about this. Shortly before bed there was a fly in our house we want to get rid of before bed. Well, maybe jumping/swatting like a volleyball spike against a high wall didn't help? Not positive this is what did it, but strong possibility.. 

Friday: 5 miles to head into the weekend! Thu, hydrated well, offset by a couple drinks at dinner, but still hydrated along. Home before bed, but wasn't ready and stayed up till almost 10! So late! Decent rest. Failed to foam roll/stretch. Not a good week as far as that goes. Up just before my alarm. Coffee, workout. Shoulder a little better. Able to work arms. Usually do shoulders next, but lifting that weight up past should height hurt! Chest, and core done. Foam roll my back, light stretch, and out the door by 6. Off to a much better start than expected. 7:30's for a bit. Not reasonable for 5 with hills for me, but hung in there for a bit. Faded as the inclines added up towards the hills. Feeling it, could of easily let go of pace in the last mi, but hung in to maintain sub 8. Wasn't pretty, but still fun and done. 

Saturday: 16 miles. Long run day, trail day, yay! Fri, hydrated well, carb loaded, foam rolled, stretched (finally), and relaxed a bit. In bed at a decent time. Up a couple times, but ready to go. Coffee, short core workout, foam roll my back, light stretch, and over to my trail around 6:30.  Missed my trail last weekend due to car issues, happy to be back. Temps were nice to start, around 48, but will be going up. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Starting out towards the more wooded section to ByBerry Rd. Started faster than planned, kept with it slightly longer than I should of but felt good, gradually pulling back. At ByBerry Rd end, it's no longer an end, there's a new section that's been under construction and has opened! Decided to keep going and check it out! Scenery wasn't much, going by a parking lot then forest, but was still nice. added about 1.5 (.8 x2). Turnaround. Hitting mi at diff points than expected. didn't realize that was 1.5 till I got back to the midway parking lot. Hit 7 mi. usually 5.5 ish. Hydrated at my car. Didn't feel the need, but thought it would be a good idea. off to the slightly gradual incline side to Rockledge. Fading slightly, but within goal. At Rockledge, left the trail for a bit. Needed to get mi hill (strava legend still even tho I've missed a couple weekends here). Around Rockledge for a bit and back to the trail. On the way back, knew I would still need a little more mi. At Lorimer Park, took the side trail to Pine Rd and back. Lorimer Park back to the midway parking lot, needed .3 more. Around the parking lot and back for a few min. lol.. Felt the last couple mi, but not bad. Along my run, bumped into three friends I haven't seen in a bit, didn't get a chance to catch up, but after my run bumped into a couple more and b.s. for almost an hour. First time catching up since befoer my race. Great to see them! And my one friend that BQ'd in Philly '19, his time was within standard to get into the condensed Boston Marathon field. So happy for him! 

Other side notes:

1. leash your dogs people! Saw one unleashed dog today. Calm black lab. Calm and no issues, but still, we don't know your dog and if that will be the case.

2. No one wants to hear your music! (feel like an old man yelling at kids. lol..) But seriously, if you want music, wear headphones, if you are concerned about hearing your surroundings, wear aftershokz! 

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 5 mi. Usually 1-3 for rest day streak day? Run Streak day 1940. Well, after yesterday's run, saw I was at 45 and it's been a few weeks since I've hit 50, so... lol.. 

Saturday, busy day after my run, few hours of outdoor chores, hydrated very well. Best hydration day in a bit. Did eventually offset some with a few beverages. lol.. Up slightly past my bed time, 11 pm! "Slept in" till about 7. Coffee, taking my time and eventually out the door. Comfortable to start, but legs got heavy through the early inclines. Questioned my choice, but kept going. Also thought about skipping a few hills, but got them done as well. Faded to about 8:15, but didnt really care about pace today. Will try to take it easy to be somewhat ready to take on the week. 

Outside of Running: 

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? Two outings. One for a family bday dinner, the other to have Bad Mother Shucker's food truck at Ambler Beer Co, good stuff! Watched HLN's Very Scary People (murder docu series), re-watching Schitt's Creek (wife didn't see),  baseball.. 

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: weekly 50 miles running 

Year to Date: 884 miles running

Hill Goal (for the yr):   52034/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 191 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: 3 days 

Training Plan:  Loosely following the below plan structure until it's time to follow for a race. 

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

Nothing in the immediate future, but I am toying with the idea of running the Delaware Running Festival marathon on June 13. Have enough time to recover, and get a few long runs in. It's a matter of making sure my personal plans are clear with this late of notice. And if I really want to run that far in June temps.

Further down the line:

10.17.2021 - NJ Marathon - deferral from spring 2020. 

11.21.2021 - Philadelphia Marathon - deferral from 2020 (registered the day after 2019's race!). 

Be sure to check out my Race and Gear discount pages from my blog site. #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!