Warm, gooey, double-chocolate

Anyone who knows me knows that those words are heaven to me. But today it was warm, GU-ey, Double Chocolate. My first experience with Gu was a good one. I was running a new neighborhood, with no planned route at all. Dutifully following package directions, I stopped at 45 minutes to try my Gu. On first taste (just a little lick) I was pleasantly surprised. Like a very rich pudding. MMMMM, pudding. So I decided to down the whole thing. It tasted really good! But then I had to swallow. EH, it got a little gross then. I felt the slightest gag relfex. It was like shooting a Lemon Drop, Apple Pie Shot, or a Buttery Nipple or any other sweet shot from a bartender. Good at first taste, but then you have to pray to not vomit as you are actually swallowing said shot. I quickly washed it down with some delicious, delicious water.

The new route was great! Well, once I got used to the hills, it was great. They really aren't too big, there there were so many of them - look at that elevation graph! I also learned my lesson about how to choose which street to take when you are on a new, un-pre-mapped out run: avoid streets with names like Hill Crest Drive, Rolling Hills Lane, Ridgetop Avenue, and La Petite Montagne Circle.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I wanted to get 90 minutes in. And I was feeling good enough to do it. Like really good! By the time I had run back to my car, I was at the 82:00 minute mark. Maybe the Gu was clouding my judgement, but I decided to just run right past my car. You read that correctly, I willingly chose to keep running. I actually wanted to keep going. I remember asking myself, "Self, what is up? Are you sure you want to keep doing this?" I then took myself about halfway across the river on one of the bridges and then turned around to take myself home. So I didn't keep going for a super-long time, but I did round out to a solid 90 minute run. Runstoppble later reveal that I covered 8.9 miles of ground. I was very pleased with this time, especially considering the hills. I thought those had slowed me down, but apparently not (or I made up for it on the flat ground at least).

All in all, last week turned out to be a good running week for me. I am hoping that I have shaken the burnout monkey that was plaguing me the two weeks prior. And I broke 20 for my weekly mileage last week. I know that I have to add quite a bit more, but I am ready for it. Yesterday's nine miles was a great confidence booster. It was hard and all, but I felt great during AND after the run. Now I just have to keep it up for the four and five milers during the week!