Weekly Recap June 22 - 28

Happy Sunday from blissfully cool Pittsburgh! This week's cooler weather was a nice relief from the hot and humid temps we've been having. It was another week on my run break, where I aimed for short and easy runs. This upcoming week will be mostly a rest week since we're going away for the July 4 weekend, and I won't be running then. And then my training starts next week! I'm excited and ready to get back into it. I'm finalizing my training plan and will post it soon.

So here's how this past week went down. I ran 11 miles and got in three strength training sessions. I continued doing great on Weight Watchers and lost another pound, making it 4.1 pounds down for the month. Very happy!

Monday
I took a full rest day after last Sunday's 5K.

Tuesday
I did 41 minutes of legs, glutes, and core strength training using free weights followed by 10 minutes of yoga stretches.

Wednesday
Easy run: 4 miles, 55:38, 13:55 pace
It was just 62F and cool, but that didn't help to keep my heart rate down in my easy range for the last 3 miles of this run. I kept having to take walk breaks to get my heart rate down, but as soon as I started running, even very slowly, it would jump back up.

Athleta Saffron Red Chi Tank & run skirt
Lulu Creamsicle Energy Bra & Beachscape Bangbuster

In the evening I did 25 minutes of upper body strength training.

Thursday
Easy run: 3 miles, 40:33, 13:31 pace
Taking Nichole's advice from my post on Daily Mile, I really put the brakes on in the first mile and tried to run as slowly as I could. That helped keep my heart rate in the easy range for the 2nd mile, and it only went above my easy range and I had to walk a bit for the 3rd mile. It was 64F and felt wonderful.

Lululemon Bruised Berry Cool Racerback &
Electric Orange Pace Rival Skirt

In the evening I walked to Downtown to meet my husband at his office, then we went to dinner at Seviche. Seviche is raw fish mixed with salsa and it was the restaurant's specialty, but they had other options, including crispy tofu tacos. I have had many tofu tacos in my day, but these were the best tacos! I was in heaven. My husband also liked what he got--some of the seviche plus three different kinds of tacos. They also have a nice happy hour menu every day of the week. If you live in Pittsburgh, I highly recommend Seviche.

Friday
This was another rest day, and I did 20 minutes of hip opening yoga.

Saturday
I did 40 minutes of full body strength training, this time using plyometrics (jump squats and plyo lunges) instead of weights. It was raining all day, and when we tried to walk Django at the park, it poured on us for a while but then cleared up. But Django got to see two other greyhounds and went nuts because he was so excited. Greyhounds get so excited when they see each other!

Sunday
Easy run: 4 miles, 46:01, 11:30 pace
I ran with Steel City Road Runners as part of the Open Streets event, where a main road in Pittsburgh was closed from 8 a.m. to Noon with a bunch of different events happening on the street. It was just 59, cloudy, and raining lightly, and it felt so wonderful. It rained off and on throughout the run, but it was fun to run in the middle of the streets. There weren't too many people there, though I did see Mel, who I ran the Pittsburgh Marathon 5K with. I ended up running today's run mostly by myself. I didn't keep to a heart rate zone and just ran by feel, keeping the pace just slightly over easy. When I looked at my heart rate data afterward, I saw that my heart rate was fairly low, so I think my body was pretty happy to run in the cool temps.

Lululemon Paris Perfection Cool Racerback
(also wore Silver Fox Miss Misty jacket when it was raining and
wrapped it around my waist when it wasn't)
Skirt Sports Streak Gym Girl Ultra Skirt

I came home and showered and then headed back to Open Streets with my husband and greyhound Django. We walked through the Strip District up to 31st Street and then back on 16th Street. There were so many people out biking, walking, running, walking with dogs, and just enjoying being outside. It was really cool to see so many people out and about. Django got to meet tons of people plus saw another greyhound, so he was super excited. He did not like to walk in the street, though (he knows he's not supposed to walk in the street), so most of the time insisted that we walk on the sidewalk. It ended up being a 2.5 hour walk, and when we got back we were all exhausted and took a nap.

Django checking out Open Streets in the Strip District from the sidewalk

Finally, I finished the book The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, which Gretchen recommended. I couldn't put it down and really enjoyed it. I just started reading The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo, recommended by Holly. Loving these fun summer reads!

Happy running and working out this week!