I wrote on my twitter page this morning about how HOT it is again today. I don’t think that my body is ready to deal with the heat, its more used to the cold these days … but I think this feeling hits every spring into summer transition. I know for the past few years, we’ve had a few very hot days in April, so this is nothing new.

My course today kind of mirrored part of the Lehigh Valley Half marathon next week, starting out just past the Lehigh Valley Hospital at the start of the trail. I ran it up and around down to Martin Luther King Drive in Allentown and almost to the turnaround point. Its actually a little hillier than I had expected, I guess its something to remember for next week. I’m not sure that next week will be the greatest race, but I’ve really worked hard the last few weeks to get in a condition where I can at least finish, although maybe not finishing strong. In total though, I pulled out about 10 miles .. but i really did die at the end. I think its a combination of dehydration, being tired from yesterday and the hills. I was really sweating today, i couldn’t seem to stop.

I did get to talk to a nice gentlemen who I ran into after i was done with my run, he commented to me about how his knees are gone from many years of running. He had just finished up biking the same trail that I was running .. he indicated that he raced for many many years, but at 66, he’s sticking to biking. He mentioned he would be retiring in September .. good for him, congratulations!

So I hope to ease it down a bit this week as we head into race weekend .. my times have been impressive on my runs, so i want to tone it down a bit so i’m not too worn out for the weekend. We then have a week to finish base-building before we start week 1 of training for the Lehigh Valley Health Network marathon in September. Believe it or not, just over 18 weeks to go … should be fun!

I’m hoping it cools down a bit overnight for my Monday and Tuesday morning runs … its supposed to stay in the 80’s for the next couple days .. I prefer the heat to the cold, definitely.

I was very adventurous the other day and got on the scale, and can you believe that I am at 201???? I’ve put on weight although i’m eating better, exercising better and feeling better … its weird. I’m thinking its because of the muscles i’m building back in my legs. My calves are rock hard again, so I know muscle is heavier than fat … my hope is that the weeks go on, and I get serious with the training again, i’ll continue to lose weight… but thats not the goal, the goal is to finish the marathon. I’m gearing my training to succeed and to NOT DO TOO MUCH TOO SOON .. I almost fell into that trap this weekend, but 16 miles is good for a long run until I can feel better about it and finish strong. I do have to get some gear to continue being successful (like a new fuel belt and all), but I like the flat courses for now… no pushing it beyond 16 miles, I have to keep that in mind!

Hopefully another report this week …. for anybody reading, have a great week of running and stay cool if you’re in the northeast!