8 Mile(s)

Today we had the longest run to date, 8 miles. Luckily, the weather report said it would hit 50 today, which it seems to have done. It was a beautiful day. The only patch of ice left was in one spot in shadows. It was treacherous, but as long as you were careful over it, you were fine. I don't think anyone took a major spill. More importantly, today was the day I was going to try "eating" or "using" or "consuming" I guess, some energy gel.

Ever since the very first kickoff meeting, the coaches and experienced runners have been talking about this carbohydrate-packed gel that marathon runners use to get a boost of energy during a race. There are dozens of brands, and each brand has many different flavors, including "Razz," "Double Expresso," "Mountain Blast," "Tropical Burst," etc. None of these seem especially appealing to me, mainly because of the texture I think. On top of this, there are several different jelly bean or swedish fish type products adding to the confusion. Now, add in to this the constant warnings from the coaches to "Make sure you find out which ones work for you. It's no fun trying to sprint to a port-a-potty in the middle of a race," and "Be sure to drink at least 16 ounces of water NOT GATORADE with every gel pack." Needless to say, we were paranoid, and last week we bought one of just about every flavor from every brand.

Lynette tried two different fruit flavors on two different days while she wasn't running, and found one she liked ok. I sampled a little bit of each one that she tried, and could not stand it. It reminded me of the crazy bubble-gum flavor fluoride gel that the dentist used on my teeth as a kid. I decided I would probably feel different when I needed it during a run, so I picked one that seemed the least offensive (Espresso), and resolved to try it in the middle of our 8 mile run today.

I had it in the pocket of my "fuel belt" as we started our workout this morning. Also on the fuel belt: 10oz. water, 10oz. Gatorade. I was also doing a trial run with the fuel belt, and I figured I might as well try them both at the same time since I'll need to drink the water with the gel anyway (or else I'll... explode?)

I had decided to try it after mile 4, but when I got to that point, without thinking I drank about half my Gatorade. Oh NO! Um, well, I'm sure it'll be fine. I broke out the foil packet, and bravely tore it open. I squirted the goop into my mouth with gusto. (I was still nervous, but it's hard to be delicate in the middle of strenuous physical activity.) The taste was... not that bad! The espresso flavor turned out to be kind of like eating melted frosting. I took about three mouthfuls of the stuff, then spotted a garbage can a little off the road. I hadn't considered what I would have done with a sticky, open packet of gunk, so I'm glad the trash can appeared. Then I frantically chugged almost all of my water, hoping it would do whatever it was supposed to do.
I wish I had some hilarious tale of vomiting into a car window or dashing to a port-a-john, but it actually turned out just fine. After 8 miles I still felt great, so maybe it did its job. No way am I trying any other flavors, though. I'm good.