Well, yesterday was winter here. Honest to goodness snow, cold, and general disgustingness.
Hooray for me, that it was my scheduled long run day! Sigh. I debated all morning, looking for a valid excuse to not go. Sadly, reason and common sense did not win out. There was a brief break in the snow, so I bundled up and trucked on out there.
Holy shizzballz, it was freaking cold. The wind just bit. My winter running hat transforms into a balaclava, and in 2.5 years of winter running, I've never once tried it in that format. Until yesterday. I must admit, that helped quite a bit (except my glasses fogged up, but whatevs)
I was pretty excited about the run to start, as it was the first time I was going to try a Gu. Yes, I'm a Gu virgin. I rolled to my local Dick's store last week and picked up a handful of various gels, just to try them out. (and I just used Dick's, gels, and virgin in close proximity. *snicker*)
I had planned on running 8 miles, with the Gu at 5 miles in. As I trudged along, I needed something to look forward to, so I moved that Gu up to mile 4. Not much to report at this point, except the wind sucked. Slow pace maintained, as desired. I took an out and back route, different than the 2 loop route I had originally intended. My thinking was that if I did 2 loops, I would probably call off the second loop. lol
Anyways.. Mile 4, Gu time. Let me tell you, I've certainly had worse than that strawberry-banana creation. It was thicker than I imagined, but palatable (as pure sugar often is). Flavors and other advice on this sort of thing are welcome here..
So, heading back. That break in the snow ended, and it started coming down. I was "that guy", outside, running in the snow. What a nut job.
My left knee has been holding up very well the last couple of weeks, but both of them were getting a bit creaky on me around 6.5 miles. I mixed in some walk breaks and managed to grind through. 8.01 miles done, a 10 minute-something second pace all the way through.
No issues last night from the run, and today, I have general muscle fatigue, but nothing alarming. I'll call it a success. I think the creakiness is just due to me not being used to those distances yet, plus the cold.
I found that I wasn't as lightheaded, fatigued, and just generally feeling weird when I got home, and I attribute it to that little packet of nutrition mid run. Looking forward to trying some more of them..
That's all for now.. Keep on rockin
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2 comments:
gu gets the job done, no doubt. It's a great product. Indispensable for marathon training or going long. I take one every 4 miles of running in marathons, or every 45 minutes of bike riding. During the 112 mile bike ride in ironman, I took one every 10 miles, which was every aide station. combined with a bottle of gatorade every other aide station, that made up about 1500 calories just on the bike.
remember gu is just concentrated electrolytes. Drink gatorade and it has the same effect, and the same calories.
I have a box of the Mandarin Orange Gu - I like that flavor, reminds me of the concentrated Tang that settles at the bottom of the glass. Yum.
I think the Pineapple one is pretty good too.
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