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Sunday, July 4, 2021

Weekly Running Report: July 4, 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? This week in PA, the weather started with three days of heat warnings, combined with humidity, storms breaking the heat for a couple more tolerable days. 

Hopefully, you saw my recent announcement that I have been selected to be a Philadelphia Weekend Ambassador! If you missed my announcement, you can check it out here. Or here on Facebook! Oh, and by the way, I have a discount code to share. Hit me up! 

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. :) 

My Week in Training:

Monday: 7 miles, 45 min strength training(arms/shoulders/core).
Sunday recovery: hydrated very well, iced my shin, got a good foam roll and stretch in, and an ok night's rest. (up multiple times).
Up before my alarm, but waited it out, and slow to get going. Coffee, 35 min workout, 10 min later. hydrate, and out the door by 6. Heat warning in effect for most of the week. Felt decent before heading out, but not overly optimistic. Open the door, it was more the humidity/dew point that was rough! Goal is comfy pace and hang in there. Rough from the get go, and legs also still sore from Sat 18 miler. Considered adjusting my plans for the day, but hung in there, last 15 min rough, but done! 
Side notes:
1. Two Monday's in a row, passed a gas station (wawa) that had sprinklers on. Started mi 6-7 with a brief splash!
2. Saw someone doing yard work before 7 am. I get a good laugh, but I'm sure there may be neighbors not happy. lol.. 
Tuesday: 7 miles, 52 min strength training (chest/core).
Monday recovery: hydrated very well, iced my shin, got a good foam roll and stretch in, and an ok night's rest. 
Didn't recap my run after besides the side notes. It was warm and humid, rough, but done. Tired by half way and wanting to skip the last couple hills, didn't but thought about it. 
Side notes:
1. middle of my run, probably 6:30 am. cloud of marijuana goes by.  Sometimes I cant tell if it's another type of smoke, definitely mj was today. Guess someone is wake n baking it today!
2. I pass an apt complex pool just before the end of mi 5. Pool guys unlocking the gate to the pool for something. Wishing I could fly through the gate for a dip! 
Wednesday: 7 miles, 45 min strength training (arms/shoulders/core).
Tuesday recovery: hydrated very well, iced my shin, got a good foam roll and stretch in, and an ok night's rest. Up before my alarm, again. Early enough to get a good 45 min straight workout session in.  hydrated extra and out the door by 6. Today is the warmest day of our mini heat wave, knew it was going to be rough before opening that door. Plan, pretty much the entire heat wave, to focus on breathing, correcting form, and hanging in there. My form may have a bit of a lean going into hills, but needs to be straightened out occasionally when I'm leaning just due to being drained or tired. lol.  Trying not to think about pace during the heatwave, but today was supposed to be the hottest of the three days, but pace was the best of M-W. Sometimes I bet Mon is slower due to the long run recovery tho.  
Hopefully you guys follow: David Goggins, you really should look him up on youtube if you don't. (warning, he may cuss a bit)
Couple of my fav qoutes. 
1. Don't quit when you're tired, quit when you're done.
2. You're not over training, your legs are just tired. (still need to be smart. I think I know the difference between sore legs and what to keep an eye on for my occasional shin splints). 
3. This one is ad libbed, don't remember. For when you really don't feel like doing what you're doing, record yourself saying it. You probably sound like a little B. Suck it up buttercup. Get it done. 
Wednesday was also month end. New highest mileage month ever! 237 monthly miles, 1237 ytd. I seem to do a little extra when in between plans. Just trying to extend my comfort zone a bit. Rotating higher long runs until I start following a plan again. There was one week I did a second long run for the heck of it, another week I did a few extra due to thinking I might need to sched a few shorter days, but that didn't happen. My prev highest mi was 226, which I did last yr during #GVRAT and last month. Last yr felt more forced, I may be sore on occasion, but not like last yr. Continued focus on recovery. 

Thursday: 5 miles, 45 min strength training. 
Wed recovery: hydrated well. Failed to foam roll/stretch. Had a couple chores/errands after work. Once I settled in for the evening, less than an hr till bed. Watched Loki and went to bed. Failing to foam roll/stretch. :( decent night's rest. Up once and actually slept until my alarm. First time in a bit! Coffee, 30 min workout (chest/core), did 15 more min later in the day. Think sleeping to the alarm and then waiting on my "routine", lost some time. Out the door by 6. Supposed to be a break in the weather. Not as hot out, but still soupy. Usually do 6-7, but doing a "long" run tomorrow, so should be doing 4-5. Planned on taking it easy, but felt pretty decent. Pacing 7:40-50's most of the way. Counting down most of the way, trying to maintain sub 8 for 40 minutes. Rough towards the end in the last couple hills, but hung in there.
Side notes: 
1. Noticed a house with a wrap around porch, had Halloween decorations stacked up in the one corner? Lack of storage? or just keeping them handy?
2. as I went on from that house, noticed a house opposite side of the street with Christmas lights still hanging from the roof?! lol..
3. saw a smoker that after their smoke break decided to go for a walk. :(
Friday: 14 miles, 40 min strength training(arms/ shoulders/ core).
Thu recovery: hydrated very well, iced my shin (shin a little sore today), foam rolled and got a good stretch in. Day off from work, but didn't stay up late. Decent night's rest, and up before my alarm. Coffee, and plenty of time to get a workout in. 
Doing 14 today. Doing a medium long run today and will be trying to do four 10+ days in a row. Didn't want to go extremely long today and have a rest day on a Saturday, and wanted to start the four day weekend strong.. 
Over to my trail by 6:30. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Doing the gradual incline side to Rockledge first. Pace started out faster than planned, and didn't pull back till after a couple miles in. Another humid day out, drenched early. Knew I couldn't maintain this pace for 14, gradually pulling back. Also knew that the hill coming up would also help bring me back to reality. End of trail at Rockledge, left the trail for about 7 minutes. Did my strava legend hill. Turned back once I hit 30 minutes. Hydrating at 30 minutes. Finally bought a clip on water bottle! Going to try to hydrate every 30 min instead of hourly. (which i miss that sometimes). Turning back from Rockledge. Back on the trail. Doing more a comfy pace. Passing my car at the 1 hr mark (as planned) hydrating at my car. Now off to the more wooded side to County Line Rd. Starting to feel it a bit after 7, but doing fine. Had a 30 min count down going in my head. County line end, turn around. (hydrating at 1:30 hr) Maybe a min ahead of pace. A little less than 3.5 to go. Focusing to hang on. Didn't orig have a time goal in mind, but with a good start, did starting thinking about sub 8:33 ish to maintain under 2 hrs. Hung in sub 8:30.

Side notes:
1. crawfish! Saw a couple to the side of the trail looking down, there was a crawfish on the side of the trail. Claws up at the people staring down at it! Wish I got a pic, but didn't want to stop and ask them to move.. lol..  Update! Saw a crawfish on Saturday! Wonder if it was the same one? 
2. Saw someone doing hill work on my strava legend hill! Going to have to make sure I don't skip that when I'm over here! 
Full pics on Facebook
Saturday: 11+ miles. 
Friday recovery: hydrated very well. Failed to foam roll or stretch. Did offset hydration slightly with beverages, but continued to hydrate along. Decent night's rest. Slightly tempted to stay up late, but don't want to sleep in too late in case of warm weather.. In bed just slightly later than normal and up before my alarm.
Coffee, "routine", and over to the trail by 6:30 ish. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood Rd. Going to do a slightly different route than yesterday. Starting out the same. Towards the more gradual incline side to Rockledge. Weather was cooler, still slightly humid, but the break in temp was nice. Pace started out slightly fast and then settled in around 2. Rockledge end, left the trail to the neighborhood, did my strava legend hill, pacing 8:15ish. past 3 mi and continued on to 3.5.. (forgot to note this in my head). Back to the trail. Bumped into a couple friends and ran about 1 mi with them, pacing a bit more relaxed. Midway back took the side trail from Lorimer to Pennypack Park. Planned to do approx 4 mi.. 18 min out then back. Pace mid 8:20's when I parted ways with my friends. Tried picking up a bit, but not much doing. Slight rolling hills in Pennypack Park didn't help. On my way back from Pennypack Park, realized my math was off. (math was 6 (3x2)mid trail to Rockledge and back + 4 to Pennypack Park and back (2x2). In Rockledge I did more than an extra .6 x2. So instead of my intended 10, doing 11 +. no biggie, feeling ok today. Once returned to Lorimer tried picking it up as it's a flat return. Overall may have dropped from 8:34 to 8:30 in the last 1.5. 
Felt decent today. Drenched, but doing fine. We'll see if I'm saying that tomorrow. 
Side notes: saw a crawfish yesterday, well saw another one today! Yesterday was my first time seeing one here. Wondering if it's the same one. Kinda wanted to toss it a bit closer to the water, but let it be. 
2. Leash your dogs people! For some reason the dog walkers in Pennypack Park are a bit more lax than the people on the Pennypack Trail extension. At least two loose dogs today. Well behaved, but still not cool. 
Full pics on Facebook
Sunday:  10 miles.  usually rest day/shorter run day, but trying to do 4 double digits in a row, 50+ by the 5th.. 
Saturday recovery: hydrated very well, iced my shin, foam rolled and stretched. Did offset hydration slightly and up slightly past my bed time, but not too late. Up at my normal time, but usually sleep in on Sunday's and was highly considering it.  Didn't get much extra rest, but slow to get moving. coffee, "routine", and eventually over to my trail. My trail . Park in the middle, Welsh and Terwood rd. 10 mi today, and not planning on going beyond that. Trail is approx 12 mi (6x2). Will be doing the more wooded side to Rockledge first. Pace: Right calf was a little sore earlier, wasn't planning on doing much as far as speed work goes, but.. Off to a fast start. eventually pulled back a bit. Hanging around 7:50. Would usually pull back more on a "long run", but it's been a bit, decided to try to maintain. Which basically means I had a countdown going the entire second half. The side to county line has a gradual incline, hill, and then a slight incline before the turnaround at County Line (3.6 ish). Hit the turnaround, fighting to get back to the decline that I just climbed. Hydrated as I hit 30 min. Starting the decline, trying to split (or at least maintain). countdown (breathing/foot strike) going up to the turnaround, back to the 5 mi mark, 39:ss. Half way to go, not sure if I cant continue to maintain, but will be trying. Street light before the parking lot, only ran in a circle briefly before darting across traffic. Hydrated at my car at 7 mi, off to the more open side to Rockledge, but turning around by Lorimer. Countdowns. 15 min out and back. slowing down by a couple. No stoppages at the light or the train tracks, but did run into walking/running traffic jam. Park Ranger driving towards me, usually non issue. They pull to the side and there is still room. But there was groups of people on left and right and when it got to me there was a group of lollygaggers in front of me. Slowed me down a notch and tried to resume when able. A little frustrated, but definitely not the Rangers fault. Pace: once I got going, goal was sub 8, sub 1:20:00. Barely achieved, was a good challenge, and looking back was fun. Made my top 5 ten milers. Did not expect to do that in the middle of a few mid long runs. 
Full pics on Facebook
What did I do besides run, workout, work, and chores this week? One outing with a buddy for lunch and brews. One outing with the in-laws. And one outing with my pops.
Watched: Loki! baseball, not much else. Probably The Office and South Park reruns. 
Q: How about you? Anything exciting outside of running? Any adventures? Binge watching anything?

Weekly Summary:
Miles: 61.5 weekly miles running 
Year to Date: 1278.4 miles running 
Hill Goal (for the yr):   72549/100k elevation gain. Initial goal 100k to beat last yr's 98k. 
Strength Training: Goal 180 minutes, 227 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 5 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 

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