Weekly Running Report: June 6, 2021

 Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

How's the weather where you are? We have a few days in the 90's, be sure to hydrate! 

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: Memorial day. Hope my U.S. followers took a moment to reflect as to why we have off work today.

Monday.. 11 miles. usually 6-7 mi day, but with the day off work and chasing numbers (for me), going for 11 today. 11 miles would put me at 1000 mi for the year. My earliest to hit this mark. Jan-March, my avg was 200 mi a month, but my avg dipped during my taper in April. Ending May with 226 mi and right back on track. In May, saw that I was having above avg (for me) for a bit, but didn't think I would catch up this soon. With a four day weekend, goal was to try to do four 10+ days. Sat/Sun (previous week report) were a success and here we are. Sunday, did hydrate and an Epsom bath. Failed to stretch/foam roll. Also partook in beverages. Decent night's rest. Had my alarm set. Not sure why, just like beating the crowd. Coffee, and over to my trail by 7:30. My trail Pennypack Creek. Mixing up my route today just to have some variety since I will be here 4 days straight. Midway parking lot. Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the slightly more open, gradual incline side to Rockledge Park. Temps were nice and cool. Have another day or two 'till summer returns. Pacing and run felt great today. At Rockledge Park, left the trail just for a bit. Crushing my strava legend hill. Tough and did slow me down a notch. Turned around to head back. (occasionally do a loop around this 'hood). On the way back, did a side trail from Lorimer Park to Pennypack Park. (initial route would be approx 6(3x2), doing about 2.5x2 out and back on this side trail). Initial side trail has plenty of slick mud from all the rain this weekend. Came close to wiping out a couple times. Once at Pennypack Park, paved trail. A few rolling hills. Wet pollen was slick here. Couple down slopes had to  be cautious of slipping on the pollen. Turned around at about 2.5, back to the main trail, with about 1.5 to go from Lorimer to the parking lot. Pace was 8:15 for a while, but the tough hill and later rolling ones got me a bit. Tried splitting on the way back from Lorimer (flattish and smooth), but not much doing. But still felt great much of the way today. Pretty happy. Especially since this was the 3rd 10+ day in a row.

Side notes: 

1. Leash your dogs people. Wish I didn't have to keep saying this. lol.. Passed someone with two unleashed dogs. Running around with energy. No issues, but we don't know your dogs and how they will react. Not cool. Saw some again later off into the distance, may have been the same person.

2. People, we don't want to hear your music or phone calls. Use headphones, such as Aftershokz.  

Full trail pic on Facebook

May and YTD summary (as of 5/31):

Tuesday: 10 miles. Usually 6-7 mi.. but again, day off and having fun doing "extra". lol.. Mon, hydrated well, Epsom bath, and failed yet again to foam roll/stretch. Shame on me..  Partook in beverages (again, it's a holiday weekend.) Stayed up slightly past my bed time. Had my alarm set and disabled it. Didn't really sleep in tho. Coffee and eventually over to my trail. Temps going up, but still nice to start. (could feel the sun and difference in temp later on). Starting off in the opposite direction today. More wooded section to County Line Rd. (no longer saying ByBerry?) There is a new small extension past Byberry to County Line now. Pace felt like slow motion from the start. Past three days felt great, not so much today. Pacing 8:20's to start and definitely took effort to maintain to 8:30. Turnaround at County Line and return. Passing by the parking lot at 7 mi. Skipped hydration and kept on for bout 15 min and back. Tired today, but still glad I did it. No regrets doing four 10+ days in a row. We'll see if I'm saying that when I return to my neighborhood hills this week. lol... 

Side notes:

1. bumped into my buddy for a few minutes. They're starting training for Boston. Only hung with them a few minutes. They were doing speed work. You know, the kind that gets you into Boston. lol

2. Again, we don't want to hear your music/phone calls. More people using their phone speakers.

Wednesday: 7 miles. Totally planned on a rest day today.. lol.. 

Tue, hydrated well, ice bath, and failed to stretch/foam roll yet again. In bed at a decent time, but not a good night's rest. Up around 2-3, like wide awake! (back to work anxiety?) Tossed/turned. Not sure if I got any more rest. My watch says I did, but I don't believe it. Up before my alarm and somewhat ready to take on the day. Plenty of time to get a 45 min workout in and a decent run. Arms/shoulders, chest, and core. Done and out the door by 6. temps going slightly up, and humid. Not horrible, but there's a difference. Pace better than expected for a while. Inclines and then hills, fading slightly. Was a fight to maintain 8:15, but still fun. Was nice to get a break from the hills the past four days, but hey, hills are good for you. Good to get some in! 

Thursday: 7 miles. Did think about cutting back a mile since I did extra throughout the week, but still did 7. Maybe I will rest on Sunday. lol.. Wed, hydrated well, foam rolled and stretched (finally!), and got a good night's rest. Was just the right amount, almost completely consistent night. Up just before my alarm. Coffee, workout (35 min now, 10 more later, chest/core), out the door by 6. Temps/humidity going up each day. Off I go. Got into a "comfy" pace for a bit. Felt the inclines before the hills, (most of the hills start at 3) questioned if I really wanted to do them or just weave my way back. Continued on. Sweating and drenched early and throughout. Pacing 8:10 before the hills, surprised I didn't fade more through them. Tried to maintain 8:15, but slipped in the last incline. Rough, but better overall than expected. And summer temps on their way! 

Friday: 5 miles. Thu, hydrated well, foam roll/stretch, and a decent night's rest. Up a few minutes early. Ready to go. Coffee, 40 min strength training (chest/core), ended up doing a little more later in the day. And out the door by 6. Plan was to take it easy today. Well... Just heading out the door was gross! Humid to say the least (96% humidity, high dew point as well), like a swamp out there. Taking it easy from the start. First two alerts were slightly slower than expected. May have picked it up just a notch. Drenched early. Moving along. As I approached the hills, really did think about skipping them to go even easier, but did some of them. Only skipped the ones that would have taken me to 6-7 mi routes. Slowed down 3.5-5mi and wasn't too concerned. Just glad to be done. 

Saturday: 16 miles. Fri, hydrated well, carb load, relax, foam roll/stretch, and in bed on time. Decent night's rest, and up just before my alarm. Coffee, short core workout. Don't always do these on long run days, but chasing numbers again. Goal to do 3 hours a week strength training, minimum. Slacked Mon/Tues with the days off work. Hit my weekly goal. "Routine", and over to my trail before 6:30. I've been talking about the temps eventually going up, well, it's here. A few days straight of 90's. Near 70 to start and going up. My trail . Park at Welsh and Terwood Rd. Starting out towards the more open side to Rockledge Park (get the open side done before the heat really sets in). Pace settled in early around 8:30, but gradually pulling back. Would not force that pace for me in this heat. Drenched early, whatever, knew that was going to happen. At Rockledge, left the trail to do a few blocks of my strava legend hill. Pace faded slightly as expected. Turned around at the intersection just ahead. About 3.2 in. Back on the trail heading back. Since the opposite trail is 7 mi, looking to do 9 here. Would be about 6.4. So at Lorimer, taking the side trail to PennyPack Park for a bit. Nasty rain yesterday afternoon. Slippery mud again, and then on the paved trail, slippery pollen again. (similar to Monday). After about 14 minutes, turned back to Lorimer. Pacing 8:40's. Strava hill and a couple rolling hills in PennyPack Park. Not concerned about pace. yet. lol.. Lorimer to the parking lot. Hit 9 miles just before the lot. Math on point. (math can be hard while on the run sometimes, lol) Was sure to hydrate at my car! Needed it, fo sho! Off to the more wooded section to County Line Rd. (decent amount of shade for the last 7!) Pace still 8:40's. Figured I would have faded a little more by now, but rolling along. Byberry Rd to County Line, more wide open to the sun, but a short path. (.8 ish) Doing the math, hit 3.5 to go before I got to the end and turned around a little shy. Shortly after turning around bumped into a couple friends I've never run with! Michelle, who I know from a friend and IG, and that friend and fellow #BibRavePro Lisa! They saw me and chased me down (unknowingly to me) for about a mi! Great to finally see them here! Our schedules are usually just slightly off. 3.5 mi to go. Chatting with them on the way back, it was great catching up with them, and picking their brains a bit. (more experienced endurance athletes). Didn't think about the heat (or any other suffering) to end. Was great to run with them for a bit. They went on their way to do their 18 and 20 milers. The run itself was manageable. (not great/not horrible), and pace on point/slightly better than expected for the weather. Am tryint to mentally prepare for the heat slowdown that is inevitable. lol 

Full pics on Facebook, although I meant to grab another trail pic, but was too busy chatting it up. ;)

Full pics on Facebook

Go Pro pics courtesy of Philly.Runner226, check out her IG, here! 

Sunday: 

Sat recovery, ice bath, needed that! hydrated very well, TMI - 6 waters before I even had to use the rest room. Foam roll/stretch..Did offset hydration a little with beverages, but did hydrate along. 

Supposed to be rest day, and haven't had a 1-3 mi day in a bit. If I do 4, I'll  have a 60 mi week, first of the year. Hmm.. I do need that rest day.. We'll see. Decent night's rest. Coffee and slowly getting going. Have a long day ahead, think I will stick to 3.11 mi. Actually stopped chasing numbers? lol.. Foam roll my back out. Out the door around 7. Going to be another hot day. Going to try to push it, but have low expectations. Slight incline to start, somewhat flat for a bit. Pace alerts better than expected. Had a few that start with a 6! Definitely started to feel heavy legs from yesterday's long run and extra miles in general. Hills starting around 1.2 mi. Fading and a bit of a struggle to maintain remainder of the way. A couple declines to regroup, but another later set of hills got me. Rough, but still better than expected.  Going to be along day in the heat (going to a baseball game) Will be sure to hydrate! 

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? A couple outings. Watched HLN's Very Scary People (murder docu series), baseball, basketball.. Not much else.

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles: 59 weekly miles running 

Year to Date: 1048.9 miles running 

Hill Goal (for the yr):   60515/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 182 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: 4 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: 

10.17.2021 - NJ Marathon - deferral from spring 2020. 

11.21.2021 - Philadelphia Marathon - deferral from 2020 (registered the day after 2019's race!). Definitely a fav! If you haven't registered yet, I may know someone getting a discount code soon. Hit me up! 

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!