Weekly Running Report: July 25, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all doing well! 

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

How's the weather in you area? Our week in Pa started out warm and then had a few days with a break from the heat. I'm sure it will be back soon. 

Couple reminders.. 

As a #PhillyMarathonAmbassador, I have a discount code for $15 off the half marathon, full marathon, or any of the challenges, hit me up in the DM's for the code!

As a #BibRavePro, I have running gear and race discounts across the country! check out my blog site tabs for discount info!

My Week in Training:

Monday: 7 miles, 50 min strength training. (arms/shoulders/core)

Sunday: hydrated well. Went to a Phillies baseball gm. Full day in the sun/heat, with a few beverages. Did hydrate a bit along the way and plenty later. Skipped foam roll/stretch, and a lousy night's rest. Up past my bed time and up in the middle of the night. Up before my alarm, got a 40 min workout in (10 more min later). Hydrated, and out the door by 6. Break in the temps/humidity! Won't go as far to say it was nice n cool, but it was not as bad as last week, for sure! Pacing.. didn't really know what to expect. Two days removed from a 17 miler, a full day in the sun/heat/ and a few shenanigan's yesterday. Surprisingly, things weren't bad for a Monday.  Sub 8 for a bit. 8-8:10 till about the midway hills, trying to maintain 8:15 towards the end. Faded slightly more, but happy for how things went for a Monday. 

Tuesday: 7 miles, 41 minutes strength training (chest/core).

Mon recovery: hydrated well. Iced my shin, but failed to foam roll or stretch. Not sure what my excuse was. lol.. Decent rest, but groggy this morning. Coffee and took a bit to get going. 31 min strength training (10 later). Hydrate, and out the door by 6. May have been slow to start working out, but was ready to go! Off to an excellent start! First couple miles were 7:30 ish. And was thinking of trying to maintain 8 overall. That eventually went out the window as the inclines and hills approached and added up. Second half was pretty much just hanging in there, shooting for 8:10-8:15, but even that didnt happen. "blew my load" early. lol.. Still happy with my overall run, just could of been managed a little better early on.  

Wednesday: 7 miles, 50 min strength training (arms/shoulders/core).  

Tues recovery: hydrated well, iced my shin, foam rolled/stretched, and a decent night's rest. Today was more of a consistent pace than yesterday. Didn't start out flying, hung in there throughout and felt decent. Crazy how yesterday felt good flying to start and ended up paying for it in the second half. Today was more consistent and a few seconds faster overall. 

Side  note:

1. trash day..  At least 3 houses in my neighborhood didn't seal their trash well enough. Scavengers got them.. And one was a rotisserie chicken carcass. Hopefully whatever found it didn't choke on any small bones! 

Thursday: 8 miles, 50 min strength training. (chest/core).

Wed recovery: hydrated well, iced my shin, foam rolled/stretched, and a decent night's rest. Up early, tried to get more rest, but gave up. Up. Coffee, 40 min workout, hydrate, and out the door a few min early. Was on pace to get out at least 10 mi early, but darn "routine" has it's own clock. lol.. Out the door, air felt nice! Not cool per se, but not hot or humid, a break from both! Off and feeling good. Decided early if it was ok, would do 8 mi and try not too be late to work. Felt good. Pace good without forcing it. On the return from 6 mi (end of 'hood, usually one side street and straight back), did some side streets at that end, repeating three hills.. Yes, I could of done some side streets closer to home, but since I wasn't struggling decided to add to the challenge of the extra mi. Pace may have slowed a few seconds, but still my best 7+ neighborhood run of the week. And added over 100 extra feet of hills. Definitely happy with how today went. And was cleaned up and online for work just in time. Good to know gong fwd that if I start by 5:50-5:55 and don't waste time post run I can do an extra mi and not be late. :)

Miscellaneous cardio: 1.5 hrs of yard work after work. Usually try to get this done when I have a shorter run or rest day the next day, and avoid doing on Saturday long run day. 

Friday: 5 miles. 

Thu recovery: hydrated well, didn't ice, but did foam roll and stretch. Came close to skipping. Right as I was about to have some down time, had a call from work and worked right around my decompress time. Once done with the work issue, relaxed for a few minutes and then forced myself to foam roll and stretch before bed. Decent night's rest. Up just before my alarm, but not in the mood to work out. Wasted a few min and eventually got one in. Short workout, a few more sets down later in the day. Out the door by 6. Already planned on a comfy pace, even wore comfy shoes that I dont like. The cushion feels good, but they are so heavy compared to my favs. Started comfy, but was even slower than planned. picked it up, and then was faster than planned. In the second half, made a conscious effort to pull back. And even added a couple hills. for fun. 

Sunday: 18 miles. 

Long run day, trail day, yay!

Fri recovery: hydrated well, foam rolled/stretched, and a decent night's rest. Slept until my alarm and was groggy. My wife saw I was tired and told me to go back to sleep! Noo.. did not. Darn her for tempting me. lol.. Up. Coffee, "routine", hydrate, and over to my trail around 6:20 ish. My trail Pennypack Creek. Park in the middle ish, Terwod and Welsh Rd. Doing the more wooded side to County line rd first. Turn around at County Line (3.5 mi), but wait, there's a new section opened up since last week?! Tempted to explore further, but already had my route planned. Turned back. Skipped hydrating at 30 min, hydrated at my car (7 mi), and hydrated every 30 min rest of the way. Off to the more open side to Rockledge Park. Sun out, but wasn't as bad as previous weeks. Rockledge end (9.7 ish mi) left the trail for a bit to do my strava legend hill, and down their main st a bit. Turning around at 10.5 mi. Rockledge end back would end at 14, but did a side trail from Lorimer Park to Pennypack Park for about 2 out and back. Couple small rolling hills, a little shade, and.. a working water fountain! so happy for this! :)  Return to Lorimer, return to parking lot with about .3 extra, but pulled over and had a short cool down. 

Temps were great! Started out in the 60's, but going up to the 80's by the end. Enjoying the first hour, for sure. Pace was faster than planned for most of the first 9.5 or so. Told myself several times early on to pull back, faded at my strava legend hill at 9.7, a little more gradually and with the few small rolling hills.  Did slightly. 8:30 most of the way, but planned on 8:45-8:50 overall and ended at 8:44 overall. I'll take it! I wouldn't say I had energy to do more when I was done, but not as spent as I have been in recent long runs.  

Full pics on Facebook

Sunday: 4 miles. 

Sat recovery, hydrated very well, foam rolled/stretched. Came close to skipping, but made a point to get it done before any shenanigan's. Dinner plans and hanging out for a drink after. Glad I got my recovery in beforehand. Up just a few min past my bed time, earlier than normal for a saturday, and got an excellent night's rest. "Slept in" past 6:30. lol.. Up, coffee, taking my time, but breakfast plans in a bit. Didn't slack too much. Out the door by 8. Plan to do 4 comfy pace. A little sore, but faster than planned for most of it. Didn't fell like I was pushing it. Sub 8 for about 3 and really pulled back through the last set of hills and mi. Calves a bit sore post run. Will be sure take it easy and keep recovery in mind today to try to be somewhat ready to take on the week tomorrow.

What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? 

Watched: American Horror Stories, baseball, South Park, Family Guy, and some murder docu series.

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

Weekly Summary:

Miles:  weekly 56.3 miles running 

Year to Date: 1445.7 miles running 

Hill Goal (for the yr):   82214/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 

Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 232 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/Stretch: 5 days 

Training Plan:  Loosely following the below plan structure. (possible adding extra mi until week 9)

Image from Coach Jenny Hadfield

Race Schedule: 

10.17.2021 - NJ Marathon - deferral from spring 2020. (week 8 of 20 training, done)

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 have a discount code. Hit me up on a social DM! 

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!