Has this been a HOT summer or what?
We’re in the midst of another heat wave in Philly, but this time, the temps are well over 90 degrees. It’s been ridiculous! Then you add running and it’s a really miserable experience, but you gotta get it done!
I’m linking up with Hoho Runs and Miss Sippi Piddlin for the Weekly Wrap! It’s a great way to see what your favorite health and fitness bloggers are up to!
It's time for the #weeklywrap! Running in this heat is no joke! Click To TweetThis past weekend, we hosted my nephew for his first visit to Philadelphia. We were able to make arrangements pretty quickly after the family reunion in Atlanta, so he took the Greyhound bus and we picked him up Friday evening.
Of course, I worried about how the heck will I entertain a teenager? Thankfully, he was looking forward to having his first Philly cheesesteak, so that was the first thing we did. I took him to John’s Roast Pork, a real dive, so he got the full South Philly experience. He loved it!
We also drive him around the city, got some amazing ice cream from a local spot that always has a line down the block, even on a Friday night, and spent some time at the Penn Museum. I really wish the weather wasn’t so hot, otherwise, we would have done more touristy things in Old City.
I was so glad that my nephew could visit for a couple of days. He has been so busy this summer attending various basketball camps, and we don’t get to see each other often. He’s a great kid!
Tuesday 7/19: Early morning run before work, 3 miles. I took it easy and felt pretty good despite the heat and humidity.
Wednesday 7/20: This time I ran in the evening for 4 miles. This was actually a perfect day for running because we had really low humidity, but the time I got out there I did suffer a little bit. 3.5 miles into the run, my right knee and left hamstring started to feel agitated. After my run, I did an ITB rehab workout routine and struggled with my pistol squats, then ended with a 1-minute plank. Oh, and I also did my Guitar Solo for the Runner’s World Virtual Run. They’ve extended signup for the Making the Band option until July 27, so check it out!
Thursday 7/21: Rest day.
Friday 7/22: I took it to the treadmill during lunch. 3 miles on a 1% incline. I realized that I haven’t been pushing myself as hard as I’d like, so I did a 1 mile warm up and cool down with one mile at a 10-minute pace. It was tough, but I made it through!
Saturday 7/23: Long run time! I would have loved to run 9 miles or so but since my nephew was in town, we didn’t go as far. We ended up with 6 miles and it was really challenging. Thankfully, we were out early enough to avoid the worst of the 90+ degree weather and ran in the shade of Forbidden Drive, but the hills….they are still my nemesis. My legs felt really fatigued by the end and I had to walk up a really steep hill. After the run, I thoroughly foam rolled and stretched and did a 1-minute plank.
Sunday 7/24: Rest day!
I am extremely happy with how this past week turned out. Running 4 days a week is how I’ll be marathon training, so I really needed to get back in the groove since official training starts in a week!
I’ve missed the feeling of challenging myself. While I have clearly made the effort to have a strong base before the Philly Marathon training picks up, it hasn’t been as aggressive of a plan as it should have been. Speed work has been a very rare occurrence, unfortunately. I’m trying not to feel guilty about it because we’ve had so much going on this summer and running in the heat in my hilly neighborhood has been so challenging , but I am using these last couple of weeks to finish strong. If I have to do my speed work on the treadmill, so be it!
So with all that said, I’ll be giving Week 7 an A+ not only for my solid mileage but because I really made a strong effort on all of my runs this past week. One more week of pre-training before sh*t gets real!
How have you been handling the extreme heat while training? Have you ever had a Philly Cheese Steak?