It's August 9th and I didn't actually see myself hitting this sort of "milestone" in my life. I have officially ran my 500th mile (currently have ran 508.10 miles to date this year) and part of me was very disappointed with the results. I mean, I can't really complain. This time last year I was struggling to hit 2 or 3 miles on a consistent basis. So actually getting to 500 miles makes me so freaking proud. But I'm still a tad bit disappointed with myself.
Normally, my long runs consist of me eating half a bagel with jelly before I go and then having a GU energy gel pack when I reach my halfway mark for my run. I forgot both because today I tried EnergyBits for the very first time. I was given a sample by the company to review and I figured the best time to do it was when I had a long run. And a crazy long run it was. It rained consistently the entire time. I think I had maybe a five minute mark where there was nothing coming down but other than that, it was wet out. I think I ran into at least 4 puddles. Today was the perfect time to try it.
I'm a little upset that I didn't eat part of a bagel like I always do or that I forgot my gel. I honestly can say, though, that the bits really helped me out...when I was running my first five miles. After that, I honestly felt sluggish. I went from running 8:40/mile to 11:00/mile. I'm not blaming the EnergyBits on this one at all. I blaming myself for not following the routine that I've been having for months now. I think that if I was able to have some constant energy through the entire run, I would have stayed around 9:30/mile. So I don't know if it was because I used all the energy up in the first half of my run. I really enjoyed them and they were really easy to take. I just swallowed the entire canister of bits, drowned them with water and did my stretches. As soon as I began to run, it was amazing. But then I hit a sort of road block afterward.
Like I said, I don't think it's the EnergyBits fault on this one. I really feel that my body was waiting for that extra energy that it knows it gets at the halfway point and all it got was water. I could tell after miles eight, nine and ten that my body just wanted to give up. I would try to run four minutes and then walk thirty seconds to just try and get the run over with. I hate feeling that way, especially considering earlier this week I had the best runs of the year. So it was definitely a shot in the gut today.
I'm going to blame the rain on it. Sounds good, right? Yea.
Would I recommend the EnergyBits to someone? Absolutely. The first five miles were the best on a long run that I have ever had. I didn't feel any pain and I really loved those miles. I just think with how I personally am and how my body needs the extra energy, I could have used more later in the run. It was my fault for having it not work out properly, which will be something I make sure doesn't happen again.
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