Redefining my hard - a new race and a couple of reviews

Click to visit competitor.com website - Great stuff there!

The last couple of weeks I've given quite a bit of thought to what I consider to be "hard" when it comes to running.  Often I think I limit myself by my current definition as it tends to linger somewhere just a little past comfort.  This is true of my running as well as my strength training and by limiting myself in such a way I am cheating myself of lifting heavier, running longer and gaining speed.  I've won the mental game by convincing myself that a little hard is hard enough.

A quote I've become fond of is, "The comfort zone is a wonderful place to be, but nothing ever grows there." unknown

I need to stretch well out of it if I'm going to discover my true potential as an athlete.  I have made it my goal this year to reach beyond what I now consider hard and tap in to a new definition of the word.  If I don't do it now, The Rut is going to be a serious shock.

Last week I worked on this during my long run by tackling a hill in town that I haven't done before... and then doing it one more time.  It was harder than what I have previously tapped out at as a "hard workout," but I'll be doing it again and pushing to do it faster next time.  It will be a challenge I tackle until I can say it's easy (then I guess I'll have to find something else hard to do).

This week I did my long run in Red Lodge.  Mitch and I have decided to participate in a duathlon in two weeks and this was a test run combined with my scheduled 14 miler.

Click to visit race website

Peaks to Prairie is a run, ride, paddle event.  We don't kayak, but they have a duathlon option that is run and bike only.  Mitch and I are teaming up.  I will run 9.5 miles and he will follow up with a 49 mile ride from Red Lodge to Columbus.

I haven't made any secret of the fact that I LOVE to run Red Lodge.  Most specifically, I love running the highway which is all downhill for my usual route.  Starting at the entrance by the campground where Mitch and I were married and finishing on the outskirts of town is 12 miles.  I had to run to the other end of the town and around a couple of blocks to get in my 14.

I mean really, what's not to love??

On this particular run, I PR'd a number of distances, including my 1 mile, 10 mile and half marathon. Keeping in mind that these are on a very downhill route, I don't put a lot of stock in those PRs but then again, I have run this same route many times so at the very least I got personal bests for this segment.  Pat on my back:

While I ran, Mitch rode the bicycle route for the race.  Having driven the route after my run to pick him up, I can say I'm seriously glad I'm not the one on the bike.  The first 19 miles are some serious rolling hills on a narrow road with lots of curves.  My husband is not deterred.  This is right up his alley.  Weirdo.

Finishing up 46.6 miles and still in a good mood!

I just have to add that we went to bed and crashed at 9:30 on a Saturday night after this!

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During my last 2 long runs (and one midweek run), I tested out some new fuel.  In my last blog post, I talked about CLIF Organic pouches and reviewed the Banana-Mango-Coconut.

Since then, I have tried the Banana-Beet-Ginger: this one tasted okay (mostly banana) but seriously disagreed with my stomach.

During last week's long run, I tested the Sweet Potato and Sea Salt.  I love sweet potatoes, but I was very unimpressed with this.  It was way too pasty and a little too salty to be enjoyable.

I bought the pizza margarita yesterday.  I'm very reluctant to try it because it sounds somewhat disgusting, but I would really like to find a savory fuel that I like because sweet is going to get old really fast on a 50K race.

The gem I discovered yesterday during my Red Lodge run was Tailwind Nutrition.  I've read a litte on this product on my ultrarunning FaceBook groups.  A packet is 200 calories and is said to be all you need on a long run.

I put a packet of the berry flavor in Mitch's water bottle.  He didn't like it and when I tasted it, I could quite agree.  I thought that one tasted a bit "perfumey."

Mine was the caffeinated Tropical Buzz and that one tastes MUCH better.

I mixed this up in a 16 oz bottle of water and poured half in to one of my hydration belt bottles.  The other half I put in my shaker with about 10 oz more water and my BCAAs.  I drank the shaker concoction on the way to Red Lodge.

I did consume additional fuel.  While drinking the bottles of Tailwind on my belt and another of water, I also had a CLIF pouch at mile 6 and a GU at mile 10.  I can't say I had to have them, but I am a firm believer in fueling before you feel the need.  After that it is too late.  

That being said, I felt better on that run that I have felt on any long run in quite some time.  I didn't even need to take my traditional preworkout supplement.  I felt great the whole time and had plenty of energy.  I liked this so much that I ordered a bag almost as soon as I got home.

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Before I go, I would like to say welcome to the running community to my daughter, Shaina who joined our ranks recently.  I've enjoyed sharing in her journey's beginning and getting to impart a little knowledge to someone just taking their first steps.

Also, I may have a little addiction to running shoes.  So I leave you with some shoe porn... my collection currently in rotation:

Run Happy my friends!!!