Archive for July 6th, 2008

Today was a 17-miler. I took it easier than last week’s trail run, keeping it closer to home by doing the 8.5 mile loop around the Art Museum twice. It wasn’t bad temp-wise, around 73, but the humidity was 87-80% for the duration, so extremely…moist.

Keeping it close to home meant that I only needed to take one handheld since there are fountains at 1, 2.5 and 6.5 miles. The big quandary today again concerned my favorite subject these days: gel consumption. I was going to need two, which presented a hitch concerning the gel flask.

Because I’d ordered a variety pack from two different manufacturers, I had 15 flavors with varying degrees of caffeine to choose from. I’d have to mix two together if I used the flask, which would cloud the fun of taste testing and potential caffeine boosts. So I set aside the flask and went old school – taking two gels in my clip-on pocket. I figured it would be as good a time as any to attack my fear of gel packets and full-strength gooey stuff.

The plan was to take a banana Hammer gel first, one without caffeine and then take the espresso Carbboom second, loaded with 100mg of caffeine, the better to make a difference in my final few miles.

Before I left the house, I actually washed the silly packets so for once I wouldn’t have that icky “how many people have touched this packet?” feeling while sucking down the final remains. I was happy about my clean packets.

I left my music at home, the better to let the sounds of the park be my soundtrack. But as usual, when leaving my music, I ended up singing a song in my head the whole way anyway. Go figure. Also, like last weekend, I didn’t eat beforehand, so it was last night’s meal/snacks and the gels for fuel, the handheld just had water.

So the banana gel was ok – not my favorite taste, but I knew it wouldn’t be since I never pick banana flavored anything, but it was fun to try it. It wasn’t too sweet, almost a little tangy. About 45 minutes later, I took an S-cap since the Hammer gel lacks electrolytes. I actually took it because I was feeling a small diaphragm cramp that I’m sure had more to do with speeding up to pass a guy and his jog stroller than with gels or electrolytes, but it seemed like a sound thing to do anyway since I was soaking wet with sweat.

About 20 minutes later, the cramp had abated and I took the espresso Carbboom, which also was not very sweet. It kind of reminded me of chocolate-covered espresso beans. Funny, because both these brands are known for not being cloyingly sweet which is a major reason I’m trying them, but I wished both flavors today to be a little sweeter. No biggie though, there are still many flavors yet to try.

As far as effects from the gels, I had a steady output through the first one, no noticeable anything, but no lagging. I did, however, like the effect from the caffeinated Carbboom gel. I didn’t feel a “burst” of energy, but I did end the run feeling stronger than I can remember for a long one. Plus, I slept about 4.5 hours again last night so I can definitively say that after ingesting 100mg of caffeine I felt more awake and alert.

The only potential downside to that last gel is I’m blaming it for the nastiest, toxic fart I ever emitted. I just wish I’d have done it while still outside instead of right before stepping into my ice bath. Such are the sacrifices of a runner’s life, I guess.