8 mile run

Saturday, I ran 8 miles on the York County Rail Trail. It was a rough start. I woke up later than I anticipated and normally that would mean I would put it off. But, I decided to go out anyway. 8 miles needed to be run and it needed to be done on schedule. Why, I don't know and I'll come back to this later.

So, I got myself up and got out of the house. I decided to try my Cytomax Cool Citrus I received in my Zooma training package.

I only had one in my package

I knew it was going to be a hot run (compared to last month's), so I had to have my water with me and since I had samples of items from Zooma and Stride Box, why not try them out? 

I arrived at the Rail Trail in York about 11:00 a.m. This is way later than I wanted to start out, but darn it! I wanted to get my run in! I helped someone whose first time at the trail wasn't sure of the path, then headed out. I have to say, the sections of the trail in York itself are really pretty.

I am not always a fan of the out and back. I like winding routes because it tricks me into thinking I've gone further than I have. LOL! But, the Rail Trail is out and back, so the goal was 4 down, 4 back. I got through the city and finally started hitting the part of the trail that's a bit more in the country...you could say...

That is a rooster and chickens on the rail road tracks. Seriously. The rooster kept crowing as I ran past. And they had no fear of people! I passed within a foot or two of them and they didn't even blink!

There were lots of people on the trail yesterday, but not so many that I felt crowded. That was nice. This may sound silly, but I worry about being along on the trail since it's surrounded by trees. But, yesterday was the perfect mix of people without being too crowded.

I hit the turnaround point at 52:09. A little slower than I would have liked, but I felt good. But, the return trip wasn't as strong. My quads were hurting the whole time. I honestly wanted to stop. I had no desire to keep going. I wanted to get to my car at mile 6 and just stop. Of course, with an out and back, you can't do that. So, I knew I had to keep going. Sadly, I slowed down. 

My Garmin had goal times for 8 miles that would give me a PR at Zooma. I kept looking at it, hoping to be within the range. I have two goals, a sub-2:50:00 and one that just squeaks me by at 2:51:14. Sadly, I missed both of those by about 4 minutes. I could say that I had to stop several times on the run for traffic and that if I hadn't I would have made it, but eh. I have no idea how long I stopped at each street so I can't honestly justify that. Sure, I know I lost some time, but I'm not going to say it all got eaten up by traffic. 

I got back to my car and hubby and I met at our normal post-run spot, Dunkin Donuts. I had a yummy blueberry iced coffee and 

I made a resolution at the beginning of the year that I can only have apple fritters on runs longer than 6 miles. LOL! The other donut is a toasted coconut, which my DD rarely has. Yum!

I mentioned earlier that I would come back to that Saturday run thing. I realized something on my run yesterday that if I want to succeed in a PR on June 1 I need to do. I have to adjust my running schedule. We are entering the busy season at work now and with that means I am on my feet all day. Friday, I was exhausted when I came home. My legs were pained and I could barely walk back to my car (I park half a mile away from my office every day). The last couple of weeks have been like this. Last Saturday during my 5 mile run my legs were tired the whole run and my time was awful. I was surprised yesterday at how well then held up the first half of my run. Then on the second half, my quads hurt the entire way. Hence why I wanted to quit. 

So, this means my long runs need to change. I have to move them to Sunday, which I do not want to do. I like running my long runs on Saturday morning. I like in a sense getting them over with for the weekend and knowing I can enjoy my Saturday and Sunday without worrying about feeling well for my run. But, my legs are too tired on Saturday after working three days on my feet. I think they need to rest for a day, even if I go to the gym and use the bike or something. I only have three more weekend runs before Zooma, it won't be too bad. Really. It won't be. 

The other thing about the run is I used Ctyomax for the first time. The Zooma course has 9 water stations in 13.1 miles (which is awesome!), so I decided to take water on my run every two miles. I have to say, I was impressed with the Cytomax. It had a nice taste - not too sweet, not syrupy, no aftertaste. The Cool Citrus flavor was refreshing, especially at the two mile mark when I still had ice in my water bottle. I think that would be the only thing I would say about it is that it tastes best when cold. But, that's not anything more than many a drink. I know I will be taking some of the Cytomax during the course to help. It's the first sports drink I've had on a run that I've liked. Hopefully it will be cold on the course!

Do you do your long runs on Saturday or Sunday? Have you tried Cytomax?

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