Decent Run, tried some Gu

This is a little late, but only because I completely forgot my phone at home yesterday, which meant I didn't have access to any of my run data. I figured I might as well wait until I had everything with me to write it out.

Tuesday was the first "official" day back on my training plan. I held myself back to the last week I completed (Week 3), and I'm going to go from there. I had a three mile run on the schedule.

I hadn't eaten since lunch (way too long ago), so I decided to try another one of the refueling products I'd gotten for christmas. I was hesitant to try the Gu's mostly because the idea of goop in a packet kinda weirded me out. But I had a couple of the salted carmel ones, and everyone I'd read raved they were tasty, so I poured myself a big cup of water and opened it up. Now mind you, I was eating this (is eating even the right word?) slightly before my run (about 15 minutes before it ended up), but I do think it made a big difference in my run, and more importantly on how I felt after my run. I was surprised that the texture did not bother me at all, and the flavor was just as advertised. It honestly tasted like candy, but not overwhelmingly sweet. Taken slowly with sips of water in between small amounts of the Gu, it was actually kinda good. Next I'll try it during my long run this weekend and see if I have an issue with it then.

The run felt good, solid, no real moments where I felt "oh my god why am I doing this I'll never finish out the three miles!" I played around with my speed a bit, since I was kind of crunched for time (I started my run later than I would have liked, and it was tuesday, so dinner at the in-laws night.) I managed to keep my splits close to 11 min/miles. Whatever issue I was having with my calves and the new shoes has worked itself out. There was no pain. My legs felt good too, I never really felt like I was working super hard, although when I pumped the speed up, I could definitely feel it in my lungs and heart rate.

Again, what the Gu did the most for was after my run. I was not hungry. Normally I'm starving by the time I get to my in-laws, and have to struggle not to devour everything I can get my hands on. Which is a real problem because they have lots of tasty, mostly healthy, food. I end up in a struggle not to eat an entire stick of Soprasatta or a whole bowl of crackers, or to overload my plate at dinner.

This time I was able to eat sensibly, and even turn down desert, well second desert. I did have a small piece of baclava, but I did say no to the brownies! I think on tuesdays, having a snack before I run is going to be key to not over eating at dinner. I'm going to experiment with different snacks, since it seems like a waste to be eating something like a Gu just for appetite control. Maybe a banana with some peanut butter would work.

Tonight I am supposed to do a run, however I have study group for an online course I'm taking, so the run may or may not happen. I was thinking I would move my run this week to friday, and then in the future I'm going to try and see about getting up earlier on the thursdays that I have study group. We'll see which is a more viable option. I am really not a morning person.