Last weekend was my half way point in training. That means I ran my longest distance ever - 13.1 miles or half marathon. Looking back at it, it was not bad, but during my last couple of miles all I could think was “Why, 2 months ago, did I think this was a good idea!?!?!” Now it’s behind me and I’m pretty amazed with myself. I would never think my legs and my mind could carry me this far!
For my route I didn’t do anything special this time, just tried to stick to low elevation and paved neighborhood roads vs. concrete, as I find it much easier on my body. I did have to hit at least 10 traffic lights and make too many to count turn-arounds, which no doubt affected my pace...
...but I ran, and that’s all that matters!
Once you start running distances over 10 miles it is recommended to take energy gels every 5-7 miles to help you keep going. There is an endless selection of energy gels everywhere, but I always feel a little uneasy about “magical” energy boosting mixtures – their ingredient lists make me dizzy. Plus, I couldn’t find anything with protein in it. So I decided to make my own, natural energy fuel (big shout out to Pinterest for that). Here it goes:
• 8 pitted dates soaked in warm water for few hours
• 1 tsp extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 TBS honey or agave syrup
• Sprinkle of sea salt
• 1 TBS chocolate protein powder (some suggest to include protein in addition to carbs, in order to avoid hitting “the wall”)
• 2 TBS grapefruit juice
It came out perfectly and it tasted pretty good, I must say! Bonus: I feel safe giving it to my daughter, who has been begging me to have some energy gels for her soccer games.
So that’s where I am at this point and from here, I start running some serious miles!
Till next time,
Liana.
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