Monday, August 19, 2013

Half marathon mark + natural energy gel recipe


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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