Snow and gel and cold

I forgot.

Yes. I totally forgot what it's like to train in the snow. And the cold. And the slush. You see - we have been spoiled this year. Very spoiled. Up until 3 days ago - we have had decent running weather. But then it snowed. And then it was really cold. And I had 10 miles on the schedule yesterday. We had to get our run in.

Janis and I started our run at 1 PM. Let me tell you - it was like running through the sand. But of course we weren't on a beach. We were in my neighborhood and we slogged along. And the wind blew. And it was cold. And every step I took was total ick. It was just one of those runs where as soon as I started, I was ready to stop.

At mile 4.5, we took a water break and took some gel. Now - if you are not familiar with gel - it is a whole thing that runners do. Basically after 45 minutes of running, you need to replenish all your electrolytes. So you need to gel. I personally have never done it because the consistency of the gel - is kind of - well - it's kind of thick and gooey and not the easiest thing to get down. Up to this point, I have been taking my sports jelly beans. However, I know that for a full marathon - the jelly beans are not going to cut it. So - I have to gel.

And I just can't gel at the marathon. I need to practice taking it with each long run. By doing this, I learn how the gel will affect my body. I need to know if it will upset my stomach. I need to know if I can actually get it down my throat! So - yesterday I did it. I managed to get it down with big gulps of water. And it helped that the gel was cold. That made it a lot easier to get down.

So - after my successful gel ingesting - we continued our run. I managed to get 8.6 miles in before I called it a run. I was a little bummed that I didn't do the full 10. So this afternoon, I did another 3 miles to make up for not finishing my 10 yesterday.

That brings me to a total of 21 miles this week! And now, another week of training begins. Now, if we could just get the temperature about another 20 degrees - I would be a happy girl!