There's Fuel And Then There's Fool

(<--Isn't this fun? It's like a bowl of tri peeps party favors. I got tired of having to sort through boxes and bags in the pantry so now we just keep our weird training snacks on the counter. It's unusually colorful right now because we're trying out every brand of gel we can get our hands on.)

Despite having access to plenty of healthier options, I ate the WORST crap yesterday. My poor body. One package of shot bloks got me through my swim but by the time I got to my bike ride, the Pringles for breakfast and the ICEE for lunch were coming back to haunt me. Good thing I was inside on the trainer and thus could hurl in the privacy of my own home. Gah. You know how you can't complain when you are hung way the hell over because you totally did it to yourself and deserve the misery? Yeah, it was like that. Only without the woo hoo of the alcohol buzz first. I was much smarter today (which, obviously, wasn't hard.) I had nutritious (real) food for breakfast (early), drank plenty of water, and then had a GU (vanilla bean - which is like vanilla for people who really like chocolate better) right before my four mile run. And get this! (For all you fasties - you can skip this part or you can read it with the knowledge that my time for Tuesday's same run was 3 full minutes slower!) My time was 47:40!!! That is a sub 12-minute mile average even though my first two were 12:15 and 12:12 respectively. Negative split! I haven't done that in a while. I wish I could say that I felt great on that run, like I was soaring. I wasn't. I was plodding... quickly. Nothing hurt though - no ITB issues, no achilles twinges. No pain and a faster than usual pace in drippy, soggy humidity? It goes down as a great run in my book even if it didn't feel like it at the time!

Now we'll see how the 8 mile run (alone since I'll be in Nashville seeing my children again) goes this weekend. I'm a little nervous about it but I think I've got a route figured out around Old Hickory Lake. I've even thought about how to leave myself a bottle of water and a gel at two strategic points along the route. It had better not rain on me and mess up my plans again! (I know I should not complain about rain given the insane drought conditions we have had, but dang, I'm tired of thunder storms!)

Digital shouts and virtual good luck hugs to the bazillions of you who are racing this weekend!!