It seems this short training cycle went by too fast (yeah right) … and I finished off my last long run prior to tapering for the New Jersey marathon two weeks from now. I headed out for at least 22 miles, and I got that, but I certainly remember the reason why hydration is so important prior to running in the heat. It certainly isn’t terribly hot out here in April, but this weekend it was unseasonably warm, which I wasn’t complaining about until about mile 15 of the run. I took the normal amount of fluids with me, but I noted that even in prior weeks, I hadn’t been hydrating on Friday, overnight or on Saturday morning, which I knew would come back to haunt me.

The temperature was about 55 degrees when I headed out at 7:30am, and I was even chilly the first few miles, wondering if I should have worn a long sleeve shirt, but that soon changed. The sun was real hot out, and it was amazing that by mile 8, I was feeling dehydrated, even though I had been taking regular doses of water and Succeed… I was fortunate enough to be able to stop at the Mobil station along the way and get a 20 oz water (actually, it was Propel, they had no bottled water), that helped me stay going until around mile 15, when the battle was lost.. I took my gel and never really got a wet feeling back in my mouth after that, and I still had 6-7 miles to go, I knew it would be brutal.

I managed to get through the run, although I really suffered towards the end. I wouldn’t consider it a major disaster, but it sure woke me up. I decided today to make up for it and head into the informal taper with a strong run, which worked. I did just under 11 miles, and felt great the whole time except for the natural tiredness of running so many miles. I did get in 60+ miles this week, which is my max, and I will continue to run regular miles up until Thursday when I start to cut back and then into next weekend even, start the formal cutback before doing a formal taper next week …

So I figured it was time to head out and get new shoes yesterday at National Running Center … I have to say I was fairly disappointed for two reasons, first I had to get shoes for my boss as well as myself and they didn’t have either size available … WHAT? So instead of getting the New Balance 1061’s, I had to get 755’s, which sucks because changing shoe brands 2 weeks before a race could be a terrible thing (although i got out on them, and they seem ok) .. they indicated that the 1061 is discontinued and they have no 1062’s (the replacement) because of distribution something or other.. well, great. So I then asked if they had any other hats or visors or anything, and they said no (they had ONE model on the shelf), I find that hard to believe… the young girl working there didn’t seem too knowledgeable, and I really question if after I get my free shoes next time (finally got 2 cards stamped) whether I won’t just buy online moving forward. I hate to take away the business from a local vendor, but they really need to step things up, I was very disappointed ..

So it seems that writing in here now has become a weekly thing, I just don’t have the time to update during the week. There really isn’t much to say though during the week, its just the same old grind I guess…