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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Zooma Training Care Package

One of the main reasons I signed up for the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon was because of all the cool and different things they offered. The first item that struck me was the training package they send to your home during training.

I received mine last week (after waiting longer than the 10-14 days the email indicated. To be honest, I emailed Zooma asking about it and I received a response. Apparently, the post office didn't pick up on three separate occasions.). I was a bit disappointed to be honest. I should have taken a photo, but I was anticipating a sweet little box as my package. Rather I received a padded envelope with the items. I did not get a photo as I was excited to see what was inside and just ripped the envelope open.

Inside, I found the following

Muscle Milk Light - Chocolate

Body Glade

Gu - Island Nectars

Cytomax - Cool Citrus

Perform Pain Relief

2013 Running Playlist

I'll be honest, I was slightly disappointed. I know that sounds awful, but I expected something nicer. A bit more. The only product I've tried before is the Body Glide. That's a good item to have! And with Zooma being in June, I have a feeling I'll be using a good amount of it. The rest of the products, I've never tried before. I'm curious to see if I'll like them. I've been a bit afraid of the Gu because of the texture. I've never really heard of Cytomax. I have a feeling Perform Pain Relief could be useful. And the Muscle Milk Light sounds promising. 

What bothered me was the Running Playlist. Not a single country song. I know most people don't think of country as good running music, but there are those of us who do. I had a good list for Shamrock that had country in it. There are good up-tempo songs that you could have added to the list. Right now I'm digging Miranda Lambert's "Momma's Broken Heart." That would be a great song for the list.

I am looking forward to trying out the items Zooma sent. Maybe it will introduce me to products I would have been too nervous to try. That is a positive from this package...giving me the opportunity to broaden my horizons and take the chance of finding something to help bring my running to the next level.

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