Tryin’ Out New Stuff

After running some large events in the past few months,* I decided to take most of 2014 to run whatever races I wanted, with whomever I wanted, and at whatever pace I wanted.  While I always aim to do well when I’m really racing, the latter half of 2013 slowly slid away from “running and having fun” into “running another freaking interval so I can shave a few minutes off a personal record.”  I live for schedules and hard workouts and improvement, but I was getting a little burnt out, so it was high time for a break.

So far, that’s been going well.  As frequent readers to the blog will note, I had an absolute blast in the Keys in February running Ragnar, and I’m also enjoying running (and sometimes placing) in the City of Peoria Runners’ Series races, most of which occur at the park around 4 miles from our house.

Placing third in my Age Group in the Super Day 10K.

I’m Number Three!

One of the City of Peoria races coming up soon is a half marathon on Sunday, March 9^th.  I know that, given my total and complete lack of intense training recently**, I won’t be breaking my current half marathon PR this time around.  However, I had a crappy (for me) time running the same course in a City half marathon last October, so I’d like to at least do better than that.  One of the major issues I faced during that run was abdominal/stomach pain, and if you’ve been reading this blog carefully (there may be a quiz later), you’ll remember that issues in the same area derailed me at Coldwater in January.

A bit of back story - a few years back I was diagnosed with a condition known as diverticulosis; at the time I discovered this, it manifested itself as side/back pain and through an MRI, it was found that I had the acute version of the condition, known as diverticulitis.  Apparently, Mom was right; after all those years, I truly had the –itis.  I endured a colonoscopy at the tender age of 31, but thankfully, after a course of antibiotics, all was well.

My colonoscopy prep juice.

Erin loves this picture.

Overall, my condition is not a major issue, and I keep it under control by eating lots of fiber each day.***  Every now and then, though, my GI system gets truly peeved at me, and things don’t go well.  Being a runner (especially one that runs trails), this can play havoc with my race times and event enjoyment; to further illustrate the scope of the issue, I’ll ask a question other runners/athletes can easily answer - what’s one thing that causes major GI distress during races?  Sports drinks, namely the sugar within them [insert a big sigh here].

I’ve used Cytomax for a few years, and it tastes great and generally doesn’t bother things down south.  However, lately, since I’ve been having issues on and off, I figured it was time to try something new. While running Ragnar in the Keys, I used Nuun an awful lot for hydration (mainly due to its easily dissolvable and transportable tablets), and it seemed good, too.  Cut to Coach mentioning a great discount he had on a newer series of products that have come out within the past six-eight months.  I figured, why the heck not?

Say hello to my leetle friend

The folks at OSMO have an interesting take on sports nutrition; it’s based on the philosophy that some sugars are better at being absorbed than others, so if you put the better sugars into sports drinks, you’ll have better results and not as much GI distress.  There’s more science, but you can look that up on your own, if you wish (you want science?  Read Bill Nye’s blog - if he has one; I honestly don’t know - but that would be awesome).  Anywhoo, the thing that really drew me to try OSMO**** was their focus on gender-specific nutrition. 

Amen, girlfriend.

As of the posting of this blog entry, I’ve tried the Active Hydration formula (meant to be used during the activity itself) just once, during a 1.5 hour run earlier today (in the rain!  In Phoenix! Call the Mayor!).  The taste was pretty good – very lightly mango-y – and it didn’t seem too sugary.  Additionally, the stomach seemed to like it, so that’s a plus in my book.  Certainly, one run does not a convert make, but I’ll at least finish this canister and see how I feel about it a bit further down the road.  I have a long bike event – the Tour de Cure 50 mile distance – in a few weeks, so I’ll probably try it there, too.  OSMO also makes a recovery formula (used for after hard workouts), so if this goes well, I may think about investing in that, too.  I will keep everyone posted, as I know you’re on the edge of your seats!

Later!

Amy

* Some went well, like the Tucson Marathon, and some not so well, like my attempt at the 50 miler.  Meh.

** Unless you count trying not to eat more than three gingersnaps at a time from a co-worker’s office “intense training.”  It feels intense, all right.

*** I will give almost anything (including a piece of my immortal soul, if you believe in that hoopla) to the first person that brews a decent-tasting fiber-rich beer.  Just saying.

**** In addition to the 50% discount Coach had.  Let’s be honest here.