Long Run/Mid-Run Fueling

Sunday was my longest run EVER. Until the half-marathon, that's going to be a frequent theme, I guess. Anyhow, Sunday was eight miles. It was warm, but not bad - 8 am isn't a bad start time. Sunday was the first time I'd fueled mid-run. I think it did help, actually.

Fueling during runs was something I was concerned with. The gels freak me out, but I hate gummy/sticky stuff. Aaron likes the jelly beans, oh, I'm sorry, sport beans, so he's good. I sampled some of the blocks and beans, and the texture is awful. So I decided to try the gel, specifically the Jet Blackberry (with caffeine!) from Gu.

It was ... okay. It's about an ounce of gel, and it took three swallows to get down. I lightly gagged during each swallow, but it was okay. Followed with water, and I was back running in no time. I'm going to stick with the gel. It's just easier than dealing with blocks - that I would just swallow whole anyhow. I bought a couple more to try (one from Clif and a couple of other flavors from Gu, a mix of caffeinated and non-caffeinated).

Aaron is baffled by my decision to stick with the gels, but I figure, I got it down once, so it'll be fine throughout. They're easy, I'm not going to choke. Whatever - it's not about taste or pleasure, it's about needing to fuel. So I'll do it.

Overall, the long run was slow (11:03/mile), but I ended it knowing I could have pushed more. Aaron thinks that's a failure, while I consider it encouraging as I increase distances. I felt good after the run. I wasn't sore afteward, and I wasn't sore this morning (tired, though!). I'm not running today (yoga tonight after work, though), and I'll run four miles tomorrow morning (and play golf tomorrow afternoon at the company outing - well, what I do isn't much like golf, but I try).

P.S. As of July 10, I've run THIRTY MILES. I am so proud of myself!