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Author: Patrick Durante

Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey.  You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.

Philadelphia Trail Marathon Race Report

Philadelphia Trail Marathon Race Report

Published by Patrick Durante on April 24, 2023

  • What went right?
    • I didn’t go with a vest as this was a “shorter” race for me.  I kept my kit light with only 1 waist bottle holder.
    • My pace was very dialed in.  For this distance and vert, I know I can handle 8:30 – 9:00 pace depending on the weather.  I had just done a race that went well last year with this exact same setup and kit so I know it was tested. 
    • I know every section of the course.  I have run every trail and every turn of this course multiple times.  Nothing beats having the home-court advantage.  This doesn’t normally happen for my races as I like to do different races every year.  I got the best sleep ever because I felt like it was just going to be a training run.  Maybe it’s worth it to visit a course beforehand to get that peace of mind?
    • Made sure to power hike almost every climb in the beginning to save my energy.  I saved it for where it counts, on the downhills and flat sections.  (really not many of those)
PHOTO CREDIT: Doug Rafalski This is my light weight 50K kit.
  • What went wrong?
    • I pushed the limits of dehydration.  I really should have made sure to drink on a schedule versus just doing it at the aid stations.  I wasn’t taking enough liquids and it was warming up at 11 AM.
    • Too fast of a start.  This wasn’t my choice, the trail narrowed so you had to jump out ahead to avoid the traffic jam.  The first mile clocked in at 6 minutes and I immediately pulled back.  I made sure to run my own race and that is critical in every ultra.
  • What would I do differently?
    • I got lazy with my eating and drinking and it happens almost every race unless I set a timer to go off on my watch every 30 minutes.  I just got to remember to do that BEFORE the race start.  That’s the biggest thing that can cause issues later in a race because once you are behind with nutrition, its a losing battle.  
    • I’m going to practice the crap out of this course.  If this race happens again next year I now have the GPX and course mapped out.  I’m gonna run this course once a week.  They had no GPX file before the race.
    • Light vs heavy shoe.  I swapped to a light vs heavy shoe and it was the right call.  This course drains well from heavy rain and wasn’t muddy.   I didn’t need crazy tread shoes.

Final Thoughts

Me as a kid at the Wiss wearing a bart simpson T-shirt. This section was on the course.

The Wissahickon has been a place that I’ve been going to since I was young. The fact they put together a marathon here was incredible and it was a perfect course.  I was so grateful to be out there and racing.  This is my home turf and basically where I grew up.  This is by far the best event Uber Endurance put together.  I can see myself coming back every year to run this course.  It meant so much to me over the years and this was a near-perfect way to experience it. This park has helped me grow into the person I am today.  How can a park help you grow?  It can challenge you and introduce you to new people.  It can be a place for your kids to play and explore.  

The Japanese practice “Forest Bathing”, or shinrin-yoku as they call it. Spending time in nature is good for both physical and mental well-being. It is proven to reduce stress hormone production, improve feelings of happiness and free up creativity, as well as lower heart rate and blood pressure, boost the immune system and accelerate recovery from illness. As somebody who grew up in the city coming out to the Wissahickon as a kid always felt better. I never knew why, but after reading about shinrin-yoku I understand.

So if you had to choose between the Philly Marathon or the Philly “TRAIL” Marathon, that’s a pretty easy choice! 😉

If you want to download the GPX file of the course to practice on it is here:

https://bouncingsoles.com/philly-trail-marathon.gpx

How bad is your shape diet?

How bad is your shape diet?

Published by Patrick Durante on March 31, 2023

Mobility issues

The first injury I had in 6+ years caused me to review my habits.  I strength train, eat right, don’t drink much, and cycle training with high/low intensity. I had picked up a new chair about 7 or 8 months ago for my office. Typically, I stand all day, but recently I had been working out in the morning then sitting the rest of the day. It’s what we do the majority, not the minority that causes the most damage.  What does your shape diet look like?  Are you eating junk shapes all day by sitting in the same position? 

Shape Diet curtesy of Stable Diffusion
Stable Diffusion’s image for a “Shape Diet”…

How do we fix it?

I realized I just had to go back to standing no matter how hard I worked out.  For the past 2 months, I stand on my yoga mat, and I’ve noticed I’m fidgeting, and moving way more.  I’ll spontaneously grab a kettlebell and start swinging it, or maybe do some toe raises or downward dog.  Guess what? My plantar fasciitis went away!

I also just ordered one of these balance blocks to increase my foot drills to strengthen all the supporting muscles in my feet.

Sitting is the new smoking, but why?

“If you sit with your legs at 90 degrees all day and rarely extend your hip flexors, hips and quadriceps can become short and tight. Your hamstrings are also affected, which limits your range of motion and will therefore affect stride length when you run. The same applies to your calf muscles”.

Ask a high-volume runner to touch their toes you will see tight hamstrings and poor hip mobility firsthand. You need to fix your “shape diet” to avoid injury and lead a long and healthy life!  We were meant to move, walk, and be on the go.  A standing desk lowers the barrier to movement. If you are standing you are more likely to just walk around. Do you have some weights nearby, well you are more likely to walk over and do a few reps. Always be moving! Muscles are use it or lose it!  When you’re at your standing desk throw in some 100 ups to help your form!  This is the most amazing single drill that all runners should do!  

The idea of the shape diet was discussed on the recent Tim Ferris Podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AacAkUamfs5m4GGN49ZRK?si=Y5L6qfOsQICGE49XMdYq_Q&nd=1