Bluhhhh....

....that's what I think of energy gels, at least the ones I tried today. It was my first time using them, and I was not expecting them to taste as if I was eating a tablespoon of runny jam! I say again,"Bluhhh!" The first hit was fresh and fruity, but immediately after, it tasted and felt sickly. I used a few with caffeine and a couple without. The instructions suggested two or three an hour, so I had one after the first half hour, then one every half hour after. I used six in the whole run. I did fourteen miles, and it took me three hours and fifteen minutes. I do not know what difference they made, along with the two litres of replacement fluid that I used, but they must have done something, given that they amounted to over 500 calories of carbohydrate. I felt really tired by mile ten, so the last four miles were tough, I was bored and fed up. But I just kept telling myself, "Only four more miles," or, "Less than five kilometers to go now." It would probably have felt a lot worse without the gels, so I don't think the taste and texture would stop me using them again. I might have a go at a different brand though.

Because of my fear of needing the loo, I decided not to run seven miles out, and seven miles back, or to run a seven mile loop of the ring road, then run it in reverse, as I'd originally thought I might. I thought I'd stay close to home, run a few laps of the park, then head out to the ring road for the last half. As it turned out, I ran the whole thing in the park. Fourteen laps, the same as the laps of the Parkrun. I ran nearly five Parkruns! See how thick the red line is in the map? That's me going round FOURTEEN TIMES in that area!

Did it add to my boredom? I'm not sure. I didn't use the audio book, as I was really trying to get into that focused state that my book talks about. I was trying to think just of the running. But I came in and out of my concentration. And I reached no sort of running nirvana. So that deserves another,"Bluhhhh!"

At least when I finally finished running this week, I didn't feel as if I was going to die. And while my legs are stiff, they aren't actually as bad as they have been in the past. Also, I ran the whole thing with no plasters on my feet at all. That's an improvement. And sometimes, my toes weren't scrunched up. All by themselves. Excellent.

I didn't eat as much shite this week afterwards as I did last week, so my stomach is more settled than it was then. I have used every extra calorie that I earned. But hey, it was a long run, I  used a lot of energy. I needed to replenish. (That sounds like a decent excuse. I  like it. Think I'll use it after the marathon so I can have  lots of ice cream)