A Good 7 Miles

I decided to kicked my training into high gear yesterday and planned a 8.5 mile run (Gasparilla in 12 days... 9.2 miles). It was a nice day, but the high was 46 and when I left the house it was only 44 degrees at 11:30am.... Ok all you cold weather, Northern peeps, this is a chilly run. I have come to realize that I just don't have the right gear for any run when it's under 50 degrees and windy. Well, I ran 7 miles and decided on a 1.5 mile cool down (that means I walked home). My legs were toast after mile 6... but I pushed myself to run just one more. Boy oh boy, that walk home was cold. I wanted to be a trooper and go for 3 miles today, but I am still spent from yesterday.

While I was out I started thinking about what I wanted to share when writing this blog. What's the purpose (other then letting people know that anyone can train to run a 5k)? Well, I may not have cold weather gear, but I do use some products I could talk about.

I will highlight one today:

For my long runs I like to use GU Chomps. I prefer these over the sports drinks because they are easier to carry. I can put them in my running pouch or jacket pocket and they are not heavy. So for any run over 40 minutes I carry a pouch. I start with 2 chomps just before I head out and then pop two in my mouth every twenty or so minutes, chased by water. My favorite flavor is the cranberry apple... yummy! Having run distances with and without these little chews, I can say they make the difference. For Ragnar I used chews for my first 8.8 miles, but skipped them for my 8 mile last leg (thinking the sports drink would boost me). I was wrong. The GU Chomps make all the difference!

When I first started running I always wondered when these energy products would actually help my runs. I could never really find a good answer, and always felt that they were for "real runners". Well, I still believe I am a novice runner, but I definitely recommend using this product when training over for anything over a 5K (3.2 miles).

Now, go lace up your shoes and go for a run!