July By the numbers
Welcome to this month’s edition of By The Numbers—where I look back at the data my watch collects, spot trends, and make adjustments. I’ve been doing this for nearly two years now, and it’s become a helpful monthly reality check. Let’s dive in.
Steps
Total: 465,141
Daily Average: 15,004
That’s about an increase of 1,000 steps per day from June—not surprising, and I expect this number to fall back down in August. Interestingly, it’s 30,000 more steps than last July, which is surprising. I was running every day in July 2024 and thought my volume then was impossibly high.
Sleep
Average Nightly Sleep: 6 hours 56 minutes
Average Sleep Score: 77
While I beat my step count from last year, I didn’t beat my sleep. July 2024 was the last time I averaged over 8 hours per night. Sleep quality has been similar, though I had a couple of rough nights with low scores.
My bedtime has been trending a little later, but I’ve been making up for it by sleeping in. This works most of the time—unless I go to bed late and wake up early, which is more often my problem than simply going to bed late.
Compared to last month, my average sleep time was only about five minutes less, but my average sleep score dropped by six points. Here’s hoping for more restful nights in August and an average score back in the 80s.
Workouts
Total: 30
7 strength sessions
23 runs: 105 miles, 30 hours, 21,365 ft vertical gain
In July, I raced the Loon Mountain Race, completed the Fast Mile Summer Program twice a week, and packed in as many trail runs with big vertical gain as I could to prepare for this year’s MMD 50k (coming up this Saturday).
It was a big vertical month—about double my usual gain, with roughly 10 more training hours than normal. This came from vacationing in the Whites, where I managed a 2-hour hike/run most days (and one much longer). The jump in gain from being in the mountains is huge—especially considering I already make an effort to run hills and hit the local mountain frequently. It just goes to show: you’ve got to train on terrain similar to your race/event.
Thanks for reading. As always, I encourage you to look back at any data you’ve collected from the past month and do a check-in.
How are your steps?
How’s your sleep?
Did you work out enough?
The information is there—take a look!
—Justin Miner