Girl In Motion

I realized my sailor mouth was getting pretty bad on this blog lately, so I’ll try to hold back on the cursing for a little while.

Today was my last LR, I had planned on 17 but changed it to 18 with a couple bells and whistles thrown in.  The bells and whistles were a couple trips up/down most of Smile Hill and somewhere in the second half I added a couple MP miles. Avg pace 9:07.

The run, I should mention, was done in the rain from the start to finish, so my longest rainy run ever.  I wasted quite a bit of time beforehand, hoping the rain would stop, but then finally put on my Wright socks (good for blister protection), a visor and gobs of BodyGlide and got out there.  Funny how the rain kept 95% of the usual running traffic at home, there were so many fewer runners that everyone said Hi and some even spoke in friendly full sentences - it was sweet.

Anyway, I’m glad the last long one’s over and that taper is finally, officially here.  I scared Nick yesterday, told him that after this run my taper would really begin.  He asked what taper was and I replied, “Like PMS for two solid weeks”.  He informed me he’ll be staying with friends for the next 14 days.

Aside from the running stuff, I had a weird moment the other day, watching Dateline.  There was a story about a kid who’s gotten beat up by bullies for most of his school life so his mom is suing the bullies and their parents.  The kid and his mom even went on the Today show and some other national program.

So it was quite freaky when the story began and the camera pans on my old high school, Fayetteville High in Arkansas.  Later, a shot of Woodland Jr. High, the same one I switched to because I was bullied myself so much at the other Jr. High (being fat and having a big nose was a real pain in the ass in Fayetteville, AR).

The weirdest thing was they interviewed one of the bullies and I’m not kidding, nothing has changed in the near 30 years since I went there.  The jerks are just as stupid with the same vacuous expressions, even the hairstyles are the same.  It was enough to give me the heebie jeebies and remind me why I left for NYC at 17 years old, a mere two weeks after graduation - I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Thank god for growing up, is all I can say.

That was downright painful.  I knew it would be, 20 miles on a day that, before it was even light out, had a Heat Index of 78.  And this week I learned about dewpoint, which is actually the number that can make a run particularly miserable, more so than humidity.  Anything with a dewpoint over 65 will suck big bananas, today’s was 70 when I left and 72 when I returned (aren’t those things supposed to go down as the day progresses??).

I also had a bit of a scare yesterday on my 4-mile recovery run.  I wore my Asics 2130s knowing they’re no longer good shoes for me for regular runs (not because they’re used up, but because they don’t agree with my ankles and feet), but anyway, I figured some slow recovery miles couldn’t hurt.  I was wrong.  I felt this terrible pain at my heel/ankle, where my dormant bursitis exists, that came and went throughout yesterday’s run.  So all day I did major ibuprofen and ice, scared shitless because an injury at this point would be the LAST thing I need.  Thankfully, it didn’t appear once on the run today and as for those shoes, if I had a gun I’d take them in the backyard and shoot them full of holes, instead they’ll be going to Goodwill this week.

Back to today’s run, I put on my lightest shorts, bra top, My Precious Marathon Shoes for the second time, gel flask rigged to hold some S-caps (because if I ever needed them, today was the day), handheld, and I was gone.  It was 6:23 when I left, just starting to get light out and it was cloudy for the first half of the run, so that helped.  I forgot to eat before I left and was thinking I should have had a little bagel with peanut butter, but was 2 miles in by then, so banished the thought.

Around mile 8, I passed a cute guy in green wearing a hydration belt who said with a smile, “Oh my god, it’s Flo.” then gave me a high-five.  I figured I knew him (because I have a horrible memory for faces, among other things) so trying to not let on, I replied, “How are ya?” as I slapped his palm, to which he answered back something about “Three blocks”, and while I wasted time trying to figure out what he meant (3 blocks left to go? there are no blocks here…) I realized he’d actually said “I read your blog”.  And that was an instant “oh wow how cool” moment, but by that time I’d figured it out, he was too far away to say so.  So Cute Green Guy, you better leave a comment here so I know who you are, it totally gave me an energy infusion and left me with a huge smile on my face!!  Thank you!!

That smile lasted until about mile 15 when I first noticed my feet were as soaked as if I’d been tromping through puddles, nevermind my clothes which had become completely soaked through miles earlier.  I hadn’t put any bodyglide on my feet, so luckily I didn’t feel blisters forming but was ultra aware of the massive pruning going on in my shoes.  Not comfortable.

By then the sun was out, too and while I had originally planned to take a jaunt up Smile Hill, I was so miserably wet and hot by the time I got near it, I said, “fuck it” and made a date with the hill for this Wednesday when I have an 11-miler.  There would be no jaunting today.

As far as pacing goes, I started reeeeeal slow today because I knew the humidity would be a killer, so the first mile was a blistering 10:21, which is funny considering I never would have run that slow before marathon training, but I didn’t give a crap today.  My plan had been to do the proper Pfitz paces, staying around 10s for the first half, moving to Pfitz’s 10% over MP for the second half, which would have been 9:13s.

What ended up was a bit faster (but not hugely), ending with 8:50s for the last miles, average pace for the run today: 9:22 (this includes 3 stops for water refills).  Not bad considering it was such a disgusting day.  In fact, it’s my 4th 20-22 this training cycle and my fastest, despite the conditions. But I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking too pretty at the end, felt like a panting dog and just wanted it to be over.  I almost considered taking a walk break around 18.5, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I’d seen those 8:50s and wanted to keep it that way.

So that’s my adventure.  Once I got home, I stripped down and parked myself in front of the fan, standing on a towel to sop up the dripping water, then left watery footprints everywhere as I dragged myself to the kitchen for a glass of water.  You’d think I lived at the city pool.

Anyway, it’s over. Like I said before, I hope this isn’t my last 20, but I only have one more opportunity for one and that’ll be 2 weeks before the marathon which can go either way.  Depends on how the Philadelphia Distance Run goes next weekend, if I don’t require any extra recovery.

So yeah…big race next Sunday, a half-marathon!  While I won’t be fully tapered, this will be a looser week, so hopefully I can manage a great race.  But now, must take a long shower and wash the salt crust off, happy in the fact that I completed one of the toughest runs this training cycle.  Later, my lovelies!!  And I hope you also had a productive, if not soaking, long run this weekend.

A fun run today!  17.5 with 3.25 MP at the end (was going for 3 but happily, overshot it a bit).

I’d been reading about adding MP miles to the end of Long Runs which seems like a good idea, since  I only have one more dedicated MP run next weekend.  That said, I had a mild hamstring tweak the other day, so I waffled about doing the MP miles today, but yesterday I foam rollered, iced and Sticked, so felt good as new and went for it.

My goal was to start out where Pfitz says (10:00/mi), but it wasn’t happening, so I at least put the brakes on enough to stick around 9:30s-9:20s for the first 11.  It was a blissfully cloudy day and I was feeling cheeky in a running skirt and bra top.

I had a strange energy throughout and was in exceptionally good spirits from the get-go.  By holding back at the start, when I finally gave myself permission to run freely, it was just fun.  The MP miles felt good, though not exactly a leisurely stroll in the park, not difficult.  The run averaged 9:06 with the last 3.25 splits at 8:20, 8:20, 8:13 and 8:21 for the last 1/4.

As I was coming home, I saw something disturbing.  There were 3 people together, 2 of them helping a 20-something kid, who must have just got hit by a car or ran into something.  He was completely dazed and was held up by one of the other people, before being sat beneath a tree.  There were 2 bikes, so I couldn’t make out if he was a runner or a cyclist, but it was horrible to see and brought tears to my eyes, reminding me of Nick getting hit by a car a couple months ago.  Hope the kid is alright.  And please everybody, be safe as you can, it’s too easy to get messed up.

But enough doom and gloom.  Looking ahead, tomorrow is a rest day, then Sunday is 4 recovery w/strides, then the 4-mile race on Monday.  I probably won’t be writing again till Monday afternoon or evening, so have a great Labor Day holiday folks, and for anyone else racing (Doggiepoo, Greenlee and Bruce): kick ass!

Such a lovely number, dontcha think?  I like it even better now that I’m done running it.

Got up at 5:30, had my usual bit of coffee, even had something to eat beforehand (rare occurrence)…peanut butter on a 1/2 a hot-dog bun (don’t ask).  I knew I was going to be out for a while, so figured a little something in my gut might be a good idea.

Wore my Tramp Stamp shorts which I am no longer mad at.  Now that I know where to apply the Body Glide, I’m liking them quite a bit - a gal can always use a back pocket.  I filled my gel flask with 2 gels & water and then stuck an as-of-yet-untested-flavor Power Gel Double Latte (double caffeine) in that back pocket.  Wanted to see if more caffeine at the end would be noticeable or not.  It wasn’t.

It was 73 degrees with 75% humidity when I started at 6:30, so I actually took the first 3 miles at recovery run pace - 10:07s.  I told myself that the object of today was time on my feet, and not to feel guilty if I went slower than usual.  By the end of the run it was 80, so it was a bit of a toasty morning.

I had a good run!  Did the museum loop and the Schuylkill riverwalk, then went back the way I came, detoured onto Smile Hill at around 15.5 for a single up-and-down (I won’t kid you, I was happy to see I only needed to do it once to make the correct mileage to get home), then 4.5 back home.

I lucked out, didn’t have one red stop light the whole run, so I never stopped the clock, the only physical stopping was 1:20, the amount of time it took to refill my water bottle 4 times.  Avg. for the run: 9:32, pretty much smack dab on Pfitz’s prescribed pace with the last three miles averaging 8:48.

Btw, don’t know if your city has them, but Philly is putting those fab new walk lights at almost every main intersection now, they give you the actual time left before the lights change, which is soooo helpful.  No more kamikaze running across to beat the light, I can actually see I’ve got 6 seconds left and speed up accordingly.  Really cool.

In other running news, I’m pretty excited because my schedule calls for an 8k-15k tune-up race next weekend but there isn’t anything local, so I was going to do a time trial.  But I found a 4mile race for Labor Day in a town about 45 minutes away, so I’m going to do it!  OK, it’s not 8k (aka 5 mile race), but it’s better than a 5K and I’ll be able to give it a proper race effort, which a time trial wouldn’t have been. I’m scared though!! I don’t race enough to be used to them yet, which is all the more reason for doing it (and one of the reasons Pfitzinger puts them in the plan in the first place).

And now, I’ll leave you with this link to a hilarious Usain Bolt spoof.  He’s the guy that set new World Records at the Olympics in the 100m, 200m and 4×100m relay.  But in the 100m, Bolt showed an unfortunate lack of good sportsmanship when he looked around, then beat his chest in self-congratulations before the race was even over.  Hah, this video is perfect.  Enjoy, and I’ll see you back here later.

21 for me today, woohoo, yay and all that jazz.

My original plan was to do exactly what I did last week, an easy 20 around my usual loop, but yesterday I realized that there was a huge Tri called SheRox happening on that route and would have meant I’d be circumventing huge clusters of people, so I went to Plan B, the trail.

The trail is 5.5 miles from my house, so half my trip was on road, half on the trail, the trail being a lot more challenging due to the gravel/rocky floor and constant ups and downs. Also, I realized on my 19 there a couple weeks ago that even though there’s a fountain at around my 9.5 mile mark, I’d still need to take two handhelds because while I can get there on one bottle, I end up drinking twice as much on the way back, and the next fountain is 7 miles away. It worked out fine though, I was grumbling a bit at the beginning for having to cart both, but stopped noticing them early on.

I was still planning on making it a 20 and in mile 9, I actually said to myself, “Flo…keep it at 20, you have nothing to prove, the fact that you’re doing this on the trail and keeping pace is enough”. But then I was on this new part of trail that I’d never been and there were all these other runners, so it was fun to explore and besides, then I could come home and type that I’d just run 21. You can’t see, but my head’s all puffed up now and it isn’t from salt supplements, just ego.

My avg for the run was 9:28, but once I was out of the trail and back on the sidewalk, my final splits were 8:50, 8:41, 8:47, 8:36 and 9:00 for my uphill mile home. I drank about 110 oz. total, stopping the clock for refills because I figure I deserved to since I was carrying that extra weight. Btw, today’s temps were pretty nice: 77-79, but less humid than usual.

Had 3 gels, tried Clif Shots for the first time, Apple flavor. Um, they’re kind of gross, much thicker than any other, but on the other hand, that lets it go down in two gulps, so that’s a positive. I also tried a Fruit Punch Hammer Gel which was downright disgusting, no positives about that. Ended with Carboom double espresso which I don’t care for too much either, but the big hit of caffeine was useful.

Carried music but left it off again as I have for my last few long runs. I’m coming to realize that in the quiet of the morning, I prefer silence and then as the run progresses, the idea of anything extra attached to my sweaty skin, like earbuds, becomes completely unappealing, so I think it’s time to start leaving it at home for the long ones.

Once I got home, I was going to take an ice bath, but at the last minute favored “active recovery” because Nick’s coming home from his week-long bike adventure today, so I just vacuumed the apartment.

I’ve gotta go out now and do an emergency shopping to right the wrong I did to my hair yesterday. I got a box of dye because it’s getting a little too red and light with the sun, so I thought I’d put a little brown back in. But I didn’t really look too carefully at the boxes when I was at the drugstore, just thought, hmmm…Clairol Natural Instincts, I’ve never tried that one before and Hazelnut looks like a pretty shade.

So imagine my surprise when, after I’ve got it on my head, I scan the directions for the first time to find that, instead of keeping it in your hair for 30-35 minutes, it’s very adamant about not doing it longer than 20. Weird, I think.

So while I’m waiting for the time to be up, I log onto my favorite beauty product review site, MakeupAlley.com to read what other women have to say about it and I notice people referring to having put it on damp hair. Huh? Not having read the directions, I didn’t do that. And in all those reviews, the women are saying to count time from the moment you start applying it because it comes out much darker than the box. So I run to the bathroom and rinse it out…too late, my hair looks like an 80 year-old man with his first box of Just For Men. Shoe black.

It turns out this dye is actually semi-permanent, not my usual permanent, thus all the different application directions. OK, semi is good, it means it’ll fade eventually, but I was freaking out yesterday thinking that if it’s semi-permanent, does that mean I’ll have black sweat streaks of dye pouring from my head on today’s run?

So I washed it like a madwoman a few times yesterday and today wore a black visor on the run, to hopefully catch any dark trickles, and luckily everything stayed on the hair. But now I have to go buy some Prell because it’s supposedly like detergent, the better to wash out some of this old-man goth hair I now have. What a dodo I am.

But before I go, I want to give a shout out to one of my resident readers/commenters, Jim E., who is at this very moment, running the San Francisco Marathon and as of the Half, is producing negative splits!! Yay, Jim, I’m so proud of you with such a hilly course, I’m rooting for you. Go, Jim, go. Woohoo, cowbells clang clang clang…

Yesterday was my first 20 and a very nice run at that, though completely uneventful. The route is so familiar (my usual museum loop with a little tacked on and then going back the opposite way), that it was very low stress.

I ended up trying 3 different gels from 3 companies in my quest to find a favorite taste, so didn’t take the flask, though I did finally take some smart advice to snip into the tabs of the gels before I left so they’d tear off easier - much easier!

I think I’ve finally settled on Carboom Apple and GU Vanilla, though I had some wicked farting when I got home and since this happened on one other gel-eating occasion, I’d like to whittle the offending one down to Carboom, Hammer or Gu before I order a whole box of anything.

Btw, remember I thought I was going to be all about the Hammer gels? Couple things happened to change my mind:

1. The fact that without electrolytes, I’ll be tied to taking some kind of supplement or drink, which I don’t want to do, preferring to have it in the gel and 2. Their customer service did something really annoying which I didn’t report at the time but since I report the good, I should also report the bad. Here’s what happened:

If you recall, I ordered a variety pack of Hammer gels a few weeks ago and it was a nice package, they were very generous about sending samples of all their other products, so I was in Hammer love. It wasn’t till a day later when I sorted out the gels that I realized there was no Plain flavor, one I was particularly wanting to try since I’d heard it was supposedly a more subtle flavor. I thought I made a mistake about it because it was written on the invoice and packing slip that it had been included, but it simply wasn’t there, so I wasn’t going crazy, it really was missing.

So I email Hammer saying I was missing a gel. Several days go by and no reply, so I call. I talk to a guy who admits the Plains were out of stock when they sent the package. He said he’d send me one. Great (though I was left wondering why they didn’t make mention of it or send me two of another flavor).

A day later, I finally get a reply to my email from a woman there who apparently never talked to the guy I spoke to, because she said, “We’re sorry, and don’t worry, we’ll make a note that we owe you a gel and we’ll include it with your next order.” Huh? I immediately wrote back that “Why in the world should I have to re-order to receive it? I already paid for it!” Then I mentioned my previous conversation with the guy. She sends back a very apologetic email and a few days later, I receive my Plain gel.

Now, at the same time I made the Hammer order, I’d also ordered some different gels from Zombie Runner. Oddly enough, one of the gels in that order got messed up in shipping, but unlike Hammer, Zombie Runner gave absolutely exquisite customer service, instead of giving me the runaround, the day after I contacted them, I get an email saying they’ve sent the whole variety pack again, when all I requested was the one replacement gel. Talk about over and above!

So all this boils down to me being a bit pissed at Hammer and from here on in, my gel ordering will be from Zombie Runner. Great company, great customer service.

Back to running. Another nice thing about yesterday’s run was, even though I’d downloaded a bunch of new songs, I started the run with my headphones tucked away and never pulled them out. A few months ago I wondered how I was going to run a marathon without music, but that worry is totally out the window now.

After the run, I did something new and different, I used a recovery drink - the sample of Hammer’s Recoverite. I’ve never taken anything specifically for recovery, usually just stuff some protein thing in my mouth, but the drink wasn’t bad, like a light creamsicle flavor. And I felt fine and dandy afterwards, legwise, so I might just get a tub of it, customer service be damned. On the other hand, Slimfast or chocolate milk sound even better, so maybe I’ll do that. Or maybe I’ll do what I’ve been doing, stuffing some protein thing in my mouth. All this food technology can really cloud a person’s perception of what is truly necessary.

Nutritional meanderings aside, let’s get to today’s run. First I went with Nick to the Museum steps to see him off on a big 6-day bike trip, 300 miles into the mountains ending in a beer festival in Cooperstown, NY. The ride is being led by our friends Jeff and Lara, the same Lara you’ve read about as my sometimes racing pal.

After some picture taking, good-luck hugs, and a “Go Team Yeast!” as the group rode off on their beer-guzzling adventure, I did my 7 recovery with 8×100m strides. I wasn’t sure how my legs would feel about the strides, having done the 20 the day before, but it went just fine.

It’s interesting to note that with all the heavy, yet pace-controlled runs in Pfitzinger’s plan coupled with the fact that it’s summer training (so a supposed pace deficit due to heat), I’m unable to really gauge how my speed is improving, though I assume it is. I haven’t been adjusting my paces for the heat, which doesn’t mean I’m faster on the whole, just that I’m pig-headed. What I am able to tell is that I’ve gained strength, I simply feel stronger and ready for the miles. I don’t fret about “oooh, I’m doing a 20″, it’s just a logical progression in the scheme of things. Now if only I could be so cavalier about the speed question…

OK, so it’s by .13 of a mile, but who’s counting?

Today was 19 miles. It wasn’t the easiest run because I chose to go into the trail system, which is much more rolling than my usual museum circle and all gravel. But I embraced the extra effort because it’s much shadier/cooler there and so beautiful, plus I just thought it’d be good to have some hills to work on.

Didn’t sleep much last night, as seems to be the way these days. I guess it’s inevitable with the long runs because I have to set the alarm so early to get out before the day heats up. I can’t wait for the weather to break so I don’t have to get up at 5am, like today. I wonder if my runs would be a little more energized if I was getting a full 8 beforehand. But enough sleep whining, let’s move on to hydration…

Last time I did the trail a couple weeks ago, you remember I had to take two handhelds because there was a very long stretch without water, but this time, because I went farther, I knew there was a water fountain at my turnaround (hallelujah!) so I only needed one. Still, by the end of the run I was high and dry. I take that back, not high or it would have been more fun…just dry.

I stopped twice to refill my bottle and how stupid am I? I refill the bottle, take off again and immediately take a swig from the damn bottle instead of the fountain at which I was just standing. I did this twice.

It was 74 degrees when I began and 84 when I was finished, so by the end I was dragging. I think I should have worn a new pair of shoes I have waiting for indoctrination. My beloved Inspires now have 301 miles and I had some aches and pains today, possibly due to the shoes. On the other hand, could just be that it was a pretty long trail run on a hot morning.

One of those pains, btw, was a shock of ITB weirdness. I never had this before so it was strange, like a shooting tingle exactly where the IT band is. It gave notice maybe 3 times in a 1/2 mile stretch, a hilly part of the trail, but then went away for the rest of the run.

Speaking of “went away”, isn’t it weird when you’re running and you’ll feel something hurt, like my foot was twingey at the start, and then you get all scared that this is going to mess up the whole run, and then it disappears and you forget you even had it a half mile down the road? Funny how that works. Good thing it does!

Pacewise, I didn’t succeed at going as slow at the start as I was supposed to. Or rather, taking full responsibility because it’s always within our control, I chose not to. I was feeling giddy happy because I was going on an adventure, kind of. Plus this mysterious white cat that lives a few blocks away but sometimes hangs out on the street crossed my path very casually (so cute), and then my favorite song was the first one to play even though my mp3 player was on Shuffle. Everything was an omen for a great run.

And the majority of it was. I managed to pick the pace up on the way back, but I was plain tuckered out for the last three. My avg. pace ended up being where it’s supposed to be - 9:37 (avg 10:00 and 9:13 as per Pfitz 20% and 10% above marathon pace), and that’s without stopping the clock for water refills. But I didn’t finish as prettily as last week, averaging the same pace. Of course, last week I ran on a flat road, so that might have something to do with it, too.

Anyway, it was a fun run, but the end was tiring and hot. I came home and weighed myself, I was 3 lbs under, so I should have had at least one, maybe two more handheld’s worth of liquids (20-40oz), evidenced by my greedy attack on the kitchen faucet.

Had an ice bath, which oddly enough doesn’t even make me chilly anymore, but not before some slight bitching at Nick because I was beat and unimpressed when he proudly told me he’d washed some pots, my reply being “yeah, I wish you did more of that”. I apologized afterwards and harmony was restored.

Now I’m off to a girlie brunch with Mimosas (yum) and then we’re going to the XPN music festival which should be great fun. Though I may end up sleeping under a tree.

Today was a 17-miler. I took it easier than last week’s trail run, keeping it closer to home by doing the 8.5 mile loop around the Art Museum twice. It wasn’t bad temp-wise, around 73, but the humidity was 87-80% for the duration, so extremely…moist.

Keeping it close to home meant that I only needed to take one handheld since there are fountains at 1, 2.5 and 6.5 miles. The big quandary today again concerned my favorite subject these days: gel consumption. I was going to need two, which presented a hitch concerning the gel flask.

Because I’d ordered a variety pack from two different manufacturers, I had 15 flavors with varying degrees of caffeine to choose from. I’d have to mix two together if I used the flask, which would cloud the fun of taste testing and potential caffeine boosts. So I set aside the flask and went old school - taking two gels in my clip-on pocket. I figured it would be as good a time as any to attack my fear of gel packets and full-strength gooey stuff.

The plan was to take a banana Hammer gel first, one without caffeine and then take the espresso Carbboom second, loaded with 100mg of caffeine, the better to make a difference in my final few miles.

Before I left the house, I actually washed the silly packets so for once I wouldn’t have that icky “how many people have touched this packet?” feeling while sucking down the final remains. I was happy about my clean packets.

I left my music at home, the better to let the sounds of the park be my soundtrack. But as usual, when leaving my music, I ended up singing a song in my head the whole way anyway. Go figure. Also, like last weekend, I didn’t eat beforehand, so it was last night’s meal/snacks and the gels for fuel, the handheld just had water.

So the banana gel was ok - not my favorite taste, but I knew it wouldn’t be since I never pick banana flavored anything, but it was fun to try it. It wasn’t too sweet, almost a little tangy. About 45 minutes later, I took an S-cap since the Hammer gel lacks electrolytes. I actually took it because I was feeling a small diaphragm cramp that I’m sure had more to do with speeding up to pass a guy and his jog stroller than with gels or electrolytes, but it seemed like a sound thing to do anyway since I was soaking wet with sweat.

About 20 minutes later, the cramp had abated and I took the espresso Carbboom, which also was not very sweet. It kind of reminded me of chocolate-covered espresso beans. Funny, because both these brands are known for not being cloyingly sweet which is a major reason I’m trying them, but I wished both flavors today to be a little sweeter. No biggie though, there are still many flavors yet to try.

As far as effects from the gels, I had a steady output through the first one, no noticeable anything, but no lagging. I did, however, like the effect from the caffeinated Carbboom gel. I didn’t feel a “burst” of energy, but I did end the run feeling stronger than I can remember for a long one. Plus, I slept about 4.5 hours again last night so I can definitively say that after ingesting 100mg of caffeine I felt more awake and alert.

The only potential downside to that last gel is I’m blaming it for the nastiest, toxic fart I ever emitted. I just wish I’d have done it while still outside instead of right before stepping into my ice bath. Such are the sacrifices of a runner’s life, I guess.

You know that old adage, “Never try anything new on race day”? I’ve reinterpreted it to mean, “Do lots of new stuff on all your training runs.”

Today I:

1. Brought 2 handhelds (40 oz. total)
2. Took S!Caps (electrolyte supplements)
3. Took 2 gels
4. Diluted said gels in one of the bottles
5. Peed standing up on a usually well-populated trail
6. Stopped at a gas station for more water (20 oz.)

To start with, even though I set my alarm for 5:30am (scorcher today), the stupid cat started talking loudly at about 4:30 (damn attention whore), so I got up at 5:00, giving me about 4 hours worth of snooze. This was the only thing lacking in today’s adventure.

Oh, that and the fact that in searching for a bathroom I’d seen on an online trail map, I stopped to ask a guy if he knew about this mystery bathroom but forgot to turn my Garmin back on for a chunk of time, so my planned 16 miler became 17.15 (I was being stubborn…did not want to go back home with less than 16 on the display of my Garmin). Turns out the maps that are actually on the trail show no sign of that bathroom, so the Wissahickon Running Club needs to update their website. Too bad, as it would have been a well-situated place for water bottle refilling.

Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about gels and how to deal with them, and spurred by my love for the clip-on pocket, I just ordered a clip-on gel flask. I think that’s the perfect answer because I could dilute them to milkshake thickness as opposed to the original snot consistency, avoid sticky fingers (which is an annoyance every time I open one of those suckers), not to mention I won’t have to open them on the run or look for a garbage can when I’m done and who likes sucking foil, anyway?

But a gel flask would have been overkill today because I was already having to deal with 2 handhelds (which worked just fine, btw!). I even avoided using my clip-on pocket by designating one of the handhelds as my gel bottle, dissolving two vanilla gels into it before I left the house. It was surprisingly palatable considering how warm it was by the time I drank it.

I took an S!Cap before I left and one each hour for the next couple hours, then one last one after I hit the gas station for more water, because I downed most of that sucker in just a few minutes. I could have taken more of the caps - it says every 1/2 hour when it’s hot and it was 80 degrees out when I started - but since I was doing all this new stuff at once, I didn’t want to chance anything weird happening, like bloating up.

As for peeing standing up, it’s something I tried while hiking on vacation and it’s a quick and easy way to relieve yourself, even if you’re a girl. I also realized today that from that back, you can’t even tell what I’m up to, so how handy is that? Anyway, it was early and there were few people on the trail, so I thought, “why not?” Plus, I was literally soaking in sweat, so I figured if I missed, no one could tell, anyway. Lol.

So I ended up drinking 60 oz liquids on the run, plus 16 more when I got home. I’m happy to have finally gone to that gas station, it’s good to know that stopping like that isn’t a big deal. I’d always avoided it because it’s another street crossing and then having to stop the clock for the purchase is an annoyance (oh god…there goes my training!). Even though a water fountain was only 2 miles away, I’d been so good today about giving my body what it needed that it was a no brainer. Plus I was dying.

I won’t lie, it wasn’t an easy run as hot as it was, and I started faster than Pfitz’s “MP + 20%”, but I still managed to make it a progression run and my pace was good despite carrying both water bottles. More importantly, I didn’t experience any pains, twinges or aches anywhere the entire run. Fabulous!

As far as gels, they definitely helped, though I didn’t feel it as a burst of energy, likely due to me drinking them in 20oz of water - a slow and steady intake. It was a little too easy to drink though, I finished the gel/water bottle around the time I was supposed to take the 2nd gel. Also, I didn’t eat anything before the run, so that would have probably helped, too. Live and learn.

Once I got home, a frigid bath sounded downright luxurious, so I soaked the ole bones in cold water and then afterwards, ate the best hot dog I’ve ever had. It might be time for a nap now, but first…must kill the cat.