This past Saturday, I returned to North Jersey and completed a long run that was exceptionally short, by my standards. That being said, this stepback week was needed, and this was no time to get restless. The week of 9/11-17 and 9/25-10/1 are both peak weeks for me - that is, 52 miles in one week and a 20 mile long run.
The 9 mile run started in Hawthorne and took us through downtown Glen Rock, up Maple Avenue, through downtown Ridgewood, into Midland Park, and back down Goffle Road to return to Hawthorne. The Hawthorne area was one that I became more familiar with over the weekend, as it is Jason's hometown. Even though it is only 10 minutes away from my hometown of Oakland, I only spent time there as a child at the movie theater and the Dunkin Donuts. Unfortunately, I stopped at neither during my run! However, I did pass the Dunkin Donuts, which brought back some great memories... both of when I used to be a kid, and of when I ate baked goods.
Heading through familiar downtowns, I kept my eyes peeled for familiar sites. One of those was the Country Pancake House in Ridgewood. I recalled how the good cross country runners in high school would run from the high school to this restaurant and devour the massive pancakes as a post-run treat. I might not have been good enough to do that then, but I certainly would be now!
As in my previous North Jersey run, I learned once again that we runners are spoiled in Northern Virginia. The sidewalks were nonexistent in many places. When the roads transitioned from one town to another, the sidewalk would abruptly end on one side of the road and resume on the other side. In spite of this, I never felt like I was in danger. The streets were devoid of traffic on that Saturday morning.
Of all of the places where we could have planned long runs in North Jersey, this run took me through the same intersection in Midland Park (Goffle/Godwin) that I ran while on my 17 mile run. Whenever I go home, I always say that things change - but I cannot say that this is true about this intersection, since I was just there a month and a half ago.
One of the perks of a shorter long run was that I attempted different fueling than normal. I traded my Powerade for some Gatorade, and I ingested a mountain berry flavored Clif Shot Block for fuel. I did not drink as much liquid as normal, so I cannot tell if the Gatorade swap was fruitful. However, the experiment with the shot block did turn out well; it gave me a slight energy boost, which, during the marathon, could prove crucial. I think I will continue to experiment with these in my final weeks of training.
I valued the sightseeing in this run and the opportunity to soak in and enjoy the experience on a shorter long run. Training is now kicking into as high of a gear as it can get, as this is the peak week for my training. Today, I did 7 in the morning and 6 at night, for a total of 13. I will log 20 miles (minimum - perhaps 21 or 22) on Saturday. My body has done it once before, and doing it again will reassure me that I am ready for this marathon.
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