H Two the O

Yup I'm a dork, but since it is summer and also super important to running, I thought I would dedicate a post to staying hydrated. Water is not my favorite drink, but I try and drink my fair share each day, and especially the day before a long run.  There is nothing more miserable than beginning to feel dehydrated while running or having a sloshy belly after a run because you drank water like a camel because you weren't properly hydrated. Trust me, I've had both experiences and they just aren't pleasant.

Now it goes without saying that I am no hydration expert, so I'm just going to talk about what works for me. If you want expert information there is a wealth of information about it on the web that tells you how many ounces you should drink a day, when you should drink, etc.  Below is a picture of my handy dandy water bottle (I used to have a really awesome one that my friend Lizzie gave me, but it got stolen one night at a bar...long story). When I'm at work I try and drink at least two of these a day. No, I don't know how many ounces it is but two of these at the office seems to be about all I can drink unless I really really focus on drinking more. I admit there are days when I only drink one, but if that happens I usually try and make up for it at home with extra water.

At home, I'm not the greatest about drinking water, but I do try to drink at least a glass a day. Yes, I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes even that doesn't happen. However, I do make sure to drink at least one and a half glasses of water before going to bed the night before a long run and incorporate some coconut water. For those of you who don't know about coconut water, you are missing out. Coconut water is awesome for electrolyte replenishment and doesn't have the extra sugars that you find in sports drinks like Gatorade. It also has crazy amounts of potassium, which is great for me because I'm prone to getting charlie horses and the potassium helps prevent them. I have finally turned the BF onto this fab product after months of resistance and now I have to remind him that he can't drink it all because I need it for my long runs.

Now to the bane of my existence, the water belt. Yep, I'm one of those people who wears a water belt on my long runs, but I do it only out of necessity. I really dislike it (although it has convenient pockets for my gum or chapstick) because it always rides up and I end up having to readjust every couple of miles. I looked into a couple of other hydration options, but this one turned out to be the best for me. The belt has 4 little bottles and before I head out on a run longer than 8 miles I fill it up. Two bottles are for water and the other two bottles are for the coconut water and they are enough to keep me hydrated through my longest runs. Some people have asked if I plan on wearing it during my race and at this point I'm not sure, I need to do some more weighing of the pros and cons.

So those are my general musings on staying hydrated and on that note I'm off to go grab a glass!

Training Update

So I realize it's been a little while since I've written about how my training is going and I wanted to give a little update. I'm definitely on track with my training, which is good, but I'm not going to lie, training this year has  been more difficult that last year. I think part of it has been all of the traveling I've done this summer, which is taking its toll, but even weekends when I'm home I've had trouble "getting into the zone." I'm still sticking to my training plan, but my runs have been more effort mentally than I would like (physically I'm in the same shape I was in last year so that's nice). I also think part of it is that I know I'm not invincible and if I don't listen to my body I could get hurt again. I think this is making a little more hesitant with my runs, but I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing as long as I don't constantly focus on it. I'm hoping that August is going to be a turning point with my training (especially since there are only 3 months left till the race) and I can get off this plateau that I seem to be on.

On a positive note, I had an awesome 5 mile run this morning with the Hootster. We had a nice run through Old Town and then by the Potomac (although I did have to keep Hoot from jumping in the Potomac) and as always I'm amazed by the number of people who were out running at 5:30am. I truly believe there is no better way to start your day than with a good run as you come back more awake, alert and ready to take on the day. Plus it's nice to know that I burned 500 calories before 7am!

Another positive is that the BF is getting back into running and has started going on evening jogs with me and Hoot. These are just leisurely two mile jogs at this point and are a nice way to supplement my training and stretch out my legs after a long day at the office. It's also nice to have someone to carry on a conversation with too!

Texas is Awesome

Those that know me know I'm a Texas girl. I love my state and generally find it superior to any other state. That statement may offend some, but I'm from Texas and my love for the state is something I was born with. Can't change it, so might as well embrace it (well I probably could change if I wanted to but why would I want to...).
Anywho, as some of you might know, because Texas is clearly a superior state with lots of pride we have a little something known as Texas flag running shorts. I have wanted these shorts ever since I started running and no, I'm not joking. They are awesome, they are Texan and yes, I would wear them with pride. Apparently you can get your own state flag shorts, but I have yet to see other states being represented.

I'm sure you all are thinking, well if you wanted them for the past two years, why haven't you gone out and bought them? Truthfully, I don't have a good answer for it. Partially it stems from the fact that you can't buy them stores in the DC area, and I hate shopping online for clothes. Yes, I realize this last statement may make me a weirdo, but I'm ok with that.  The other part of it, was I wasn't completely sure I could pull those babies off. Lame I know, but thankfully my lack of access to them was most of the reason why I didn't buy them. Not too long ago, my 24th birthday rolled around and what did I receive as a birthday present? Yep, you guessed it, TEXAS RUNNING SHORTS. Best birthday present ever? I think yes. So before posting this super embarrassing picture of myself showing off my cool new shorts, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to my Mom, who bought them for me. Try not to be too jealous and yes, if you come to watch me run my marathon you will be able to spot me in the crowd, because I'm guessing no one else will have these babies on.

PS. Yes, this is the Texas state flag, not the Chilean flag and not the Puerto Rican flag, so don't even go there.

10 miles in the heat

So this past weekend/week we had a heat advisory in the DC area, with the heat index registering temps of 115. Yuck! Of course given my luck, I needed to put in a long run this weekend to stay on track with my training plan. I debated whether or not to do it on Saturday or hold off until Sunday when the temperatures were supposed to be cooler, but it was also my birthday that day and I really didn't want to wake up early to run. In the end I decided to go with Saturday so I could go ahead and get it over with.

Saturday morning I popped up at 5am and was out the door at 5:20ish, to set out. I was a little hesitant about running on the Mount Vernon trail that early and by myself, but there were tons of people out and about running, walking and cycling. I have never seen so many people out that early in the morning exercising.

My route took me down King Street to the Potomac river and I followed the Mount Vernon trail to the Regan airport before turning back. It was a really great route and reminded me a bit of being on the C&O canal. I was running by the water, in the trees and even through a swampy marsh area, which I definitely did not expect (pics below).

The run was definitely cooler than I thought it was going to be, partially because it was so early and partially because there were so many trees. Some people say that when you run, you are competing against yourself, but Saturday I was competing with the elements, especially the sun. I was at about mile seven when I saw the sun start to rise and knew that I didn't have too much time before it started to warm up. That was definitely the motivation I needed to keep going and even pick up my pace a little bit.

All in all it was a really great run and a perfect way to end my 23rd year. Looking forward to this week's long run! Also, I thought it might be nice to include some pictures from my run, but apologies for the blurriness of some of them as they were all taken from the iphone while running. 

Below on the left is the Potomac on my way out on the trail and in the distance you can see the blur of the US Capitol. On the right is the unexpected marsh I encountered. In the center below

is a close up of the hibiscus that seem to be growing in the marsh. I admit I was a nerd and had to call my mom to see if they were actually hibiscus, because I have never heard of them growing in swamps.

You Know It's Hot When...

You run by the Potomac and you think it looks like a cool and refreshing place for a swim.

It feels like you stepped into a sauna at 5:45am...isn't it supposed to be cool out then?

You come back from a 4 mile run and it looks like you got caught in a rainstorm.

You can't keep your sunglasses on your nose because it's so sweaty they keep slipping off.

Welcome to DC where the temperatures have been in the high 90s low 100s all week.

Mexico

As promised here are some pics that were taken during my vacation in Tulum. If anyone is thinking about going, I would definitely recommend it. Beautiful beaches, great snorkeling, ruins and cenotes. Here's the beach at Akumal, where we went snorkeling with sea turtles and checked out some reefs. Literally all you have to do is put your snorkel gear on and go out to see the turtles and that was probably one of my all time coolest experiences. There were also tons of fish and different kinds of corals for us to check out and even a barracuda!

To the right is a picture from the cenote we checked out. A cenote is basically an underwater cave filled with staglmites/tites and even some fish. The water was a lot colder than the beach but it was pretty incredible. Also, try not to be too jealous of my orange "flotation device." It's considered very fashionable at the cenotes.

Below are some pictures from the old Mayan ruins at Tulum. Back in the day Tulum was a bustling port town that was an important stop over for trading merchants in the Gulf of Mexico. If you think about all of the storms this place has seen, it is pretty incredible how intact many of the ruins are. There are also a ton of iguanas, so if they aren't your thing (ahem BF), consider yourself warned.

Hola Mexico

So I've been a little MIA this past week on the blog and that's because I was in Mexico for the past 6 days enjoying a little R&R. I brought my running stuff because I thought I might be ambitious enough to run while on vacation, but alas I didn't. I did however make up for the lack of running with all the swimming I did. Swimming in the pool, swimming in the ocean, snorkeling with the sea turtles and snorkeling in the cenote.

Time to get back on track with the training plan! I'll post some pictures of the trip later, but rest assured I wasn't a complete slacker.