When you start running, it seems pretty simple. Get some sneakers, go out, and run. Maybe you need a water bottle. Well, as you no doubt know if you’ve been following the reviews on my blog, there are lots of different things that can help making running easier! One of the things I still am working on figuring out is fuel for longer runs. Basically, a little extra energy or something to put into your stomach when you’re going to be out running for more than an hour! I went to a local running store and got an assortment of the most popular fuels to try them out.
I tried the sports beans first – they didn’t bother me at all, but I didn’t notice much of a difference from when I normally run, either. They tasted decent. Then for a longer run I used a Gu gel, since I’ve heard so much about them. I tried the strawberry banana one – the taste was fine, but the texture was ick! I had to force it down (I only did half a shot since it was my first time trying it). I don’t know if it was because of the gu or something else, but I felt really sick on that run. I didn’t even end up taking the other half of the gel. Finally, for last night’s run I tried the Clif shot bloks. These actually tasted pretty good, and the best part is they seemed to give me some energy but didn’t make me feel sick! I’ll still try everything else I bought, but so far the Clif shot bloks are the winner for me – tropical flavor!
Week 8 – still not too scary looking. I’ve done 6 miles before – the Enchanted 10k and the Hershey 10k. My time for the Enchanted 10k was with a 13:24 min/mile pace, and for Hershey it was 11:35 min/mile pace. The races were only about two months apart, so it goes to show you what some training can do – and how much time you can add in a Disney race with character stops!
My Monday morning run was fine. About what I’ve come to expect from morning runs, although this one was slightly better. I seem to be doing much better at night than in the morning, which is great for the Tower of Terror 10 miler but not so good for the Glass Slipper Challenge after that!
Wednesday night gave me my best time ever, with an average pace of 10:57 min/mile for half an hour. And it felt very good! I was afraid at first I wouldn’t be able to run because of the rain, but it finally passed and thanks to that it was also much cooler out, which made for a more pleasant run.
Saturday was my big run! I had a performance of the show I was in during the afternoon, and then went for my run at night. I tried to mimic race conditions pretty well – run at night, and I ate a pasta dinner a few hours before. It obviously worked because I had a pretty decent time for a 10k! It’s still not at Hershey level, but I am okay with that. My hope is to keep around a 12:30 for 10 miler so this is a good sign. I purposely made myself start out slower than I normally do, which was a good idea because I didn’t get as tired as I might have.
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