the longest of the long runs so far

For the past two weeks I had 18km on the docket for the Sunday long run, and boy were they long.  Both days I headed down the lake path to make life easy and not have to think too much about the route, I really just had to focus on running.

I realized today that there is no replacement for gels, as gross as they are they work.  I felt sick again after the run, that was even after 3 regular Gatorade's, a larabar and a bunch of fruit to go.  I think I will stick with the fruit to go but I have to get my gels for these long runs. That also means I will probably have another water instead which is probably a good thing.  All in all though a great run today, except when I was nearly complete I checked runtastic and it had crashed somewhere around 1hr 40m in. Oh well, at least I knew what I had to do to get all my km in for today.

I was reading up a bit on the Scotia run coming up and am really starting to get excited about my first official race.  I didn't realize that the half marathon runners get a finishers medal too!

This week I was feeling pretty tired so I kept the running to a minimum, Wednesday I did about 30 minutes on the treadmill, what a strange feeling it was to be running on it after running outside for so long now.  Yesterday I went about 4.5 km later in the evening just to help loosen my legs up for today.  Today was a tough run and I was definitely feeling it on the way back winding down my last 6km but I kept pushing running harder on the last 3-4 km. 

I am calling it a night, it's not even 10 but I know tomorrow I am gonna feel tired and slow so I hope a couple extra hours help me out.

A great day for 12K

I went to MEC yesterday to get some gels and chews as the training runs are getting longer and longer and so are the "long" runs so I thought it was time to start testing some on-the-go nutrition to refuel.   I also picked up a long sleeve running shirt after feeling the chill in the air last week.   I was mulling over what fuel sources I would test out first.  I was a little reluctant to start with a gel as I have never had anything like it and really didn't know what to expect.  I don't look some foods based on texture, like kiwis, raw tomatoes and oranges so I was a little nervous to try these things.

After breakfast and some puttering around the house I figured it was time to stop stalling and ripped open a pack of the jelly belly beans.  Yup, Jelly Belly makes "healthy" jelly beans lol. They actually tasted pretty good, they were just bigger than the usual gourmet beans they sell. I had about 30 minutes to get ready and head out. I grabbed a package of organic energy chews, a gel, a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of water to wash down the gel and made my way out the door.

healthiest jelly beans I've ever had!

12km was the goal today, a nice short run compared to the last two weeks.  I headed south down my street to the bike path and tore into the chews.  Hmm, not bad I thought, they reminded my of the fruit chews my husband buys, except these ones are "healthy" not just candy :)  I ate three or so every ten minutes on my walking break and washed them down with the Gatorade.    I finished off the package as I made my way to the north path off Walkers line.
This was the first time I was running and taking additional nutrition during the workout and I really think it made a difference. I think that knowing I only had to go 12km made a difference mentally as well.  I was running faster today though, faster than I have been for a long time.  My heart rate was staying around 167-171 when I was running.  For the past few weeks I was struggling to keep my heart rate at 160.

The time was ticking by and I had gone about an hour when I got the courage to tear open the gel.  It was bizarre, the taste was unexpected and it was thicker than I was expecting.  I consumed it in three attempts not really sure what to make of it.  I also made sure to wash it down with water as it felt like it coated my mouth.

I kept running and was surprised at how much easier it felt today even with the faster pace.  I came off the path and headed over to the track to wrap up my last 3 km before heading home.   The rubber layer was a welcome relief for my legs and I enjoyed the track time today.  I had only two more laps to go when I was starting to get tired but I kept pushing and ran all the way back tot he house.

I ran more than 30secs faster per kilometer today and if that was because of the chews and gels then you better believe I will be using them again! I ended up finishing my 12km in under two hours and that felt great!

another long run in the bank

It was another 16 km on the schedule for yesterday.  I got myself ready and headed out the door and within the first 30 seconds the rain started to come down. I turned around and went back to the house.  The thought of not doing the run wasn't on my mind, I went back from my rain coat.  What made me stick it out was reading about some of my friend's friends training for their Ironman and having to run in the winter during snow storms.  There was NO WAY I was going to let a few drops of rain stop me from going for my run!

It was really hot and muggy but I threw the coat on and went back out there.  I wore the coat for about 1 km and the rain pretty much stopped and it was way to hot out to be wearing it anyway.  I had my route mapped out but when it came time to turn around I didn't want to so I just kept going.  The path took me to Brant Street where I lost the path.  I didn't enjoy running for over a kilometer on the sidewalk and I really felt over all that took a lot out of me. 

Overall it was a tough run yesterday being challenging physically.  I didn't think about too much so mentally I felt okay.   Sometimes when I'm out I go over things again and again in my mind and I know that sometimes I can work things out that way but it wasn't that yesterday.  I was really feeling it when I was coming back down the bike path from Walkers and met up with my concrete sidewalk.  I made my way over to the school to finish up the distance.  It was about 8 laps around the track to wrap up the run and I decided that I could either think about it hurting or just push through and get the run done.  So that's what I did and after making that decision it didn't hurt as badly.  Funny how the mind works.

Anyway, yesterday chalked up my second 16 km my longest distance ever! Bring on the 12 km next week!