breaking in 2009

aren't people usually more motivated at the start of a new year, especially when it comes to working out?

i slept in this morning til 10something and from the moment i groggily woke up, i was not in the mood to run. go figure. luckily i have no plans today, so i had time to relax, procrastinate and talk myself into it. so as not to be the worst clemson alum, i watched the first half of the clemson v. nebraska gator bowl (which they are now losing as i watch the final minutes of the 4th quarter... this is why i cannot be a dedicated fan).

at half-time i voluntarily hopped on the treadmill for an 8-mile run. today was supposed to be 10x800 but i didn't feel like going to the track or running in the 36-ish degree weather (i know, i have nothing to complain about) so i settled for a few tempo-ish miles on the 'mill. i also figured i could officially figure out what a few of the treadmill speeds really are (since my treadmill definitely seems to be 'off' the normal calibration). for the record, "6.0mph" on my treadmill translates to a 9:09 mile, which is kind of like a 10:00 mile i'm sure.

i took the first two miles easy ("6.0"), then picked it up for the middle 4 miles (7.0, 7.2, and 7.5) testing to see what each translates to in real life/figure out what i need to set it on for my regular tempo pace, and then slowed back down for the last two miles.

just before christmas i received a sweet motherload of gu roctane courtesy of outside pr and gu to do a product review on (thanks devon!). i've used a few of the yummy "regular" gu's before, and i'm excited to experience the extra 'oomph' the roctane's are advertised to bring. i was planning on first testing the gu roctane's out on my last pre-goofy long training run, but due to some unforeseen circumstances i had to skip that run. i was only running 8 miles today, but i thought it'd be a good idea to 'practice' and make sure my stomach could handle the roctane so as not to cause any unpleasant surprises next weekend. (i normally don't take any type of fuel/water with me unless i'm going 12+ miles, mostly because i'm lazy.)

i received a bunch of the vanilla orange and blueberry pomegranate flavored gu roctanes. at first i was a little leary about the blueberry pomegranate because i've never had a pomegranate and didn't know what to expect. i chose to squeeze down one of those today and was surprised with fruity-sweet-deliciousness. i'm still not sure what a pomegranate is, but it tastes pretty good in gooey-form and mixed with blueberries. after two tempo miles, i was starting to feel tired, so i tore the packet open (a simple feat while in motion) and easily squeezed the gu in. chased it with a few swigs of water to get the slightly sticky feeling out of my mouth and i was good as new. my upper body felt instantly refreshed, and after a few minutes it hit my legs and revitalized them for another 2 quick miles. that's my theory anyway.

everything went ok for the last 4 miles of my run so i'm assuming i'll be fine to use them next weekend in the half and full races. i figure i'll be able to feel the effects more and fully appreciate the benefits of gu roctane in those longer, more intense runs than i did in today's shorter 8-miler. a more complete review of my gu roctane experience will certainly follow the goofy challenge next weekend. (especially since i'll have all that extra free time from not-running.) i'm imagining myself flying past all the competition on my way to a huge pr thanks to the added boost of gu roctane.

mid-day run: 8 miles, 1:08:50 (8:36 avg pace), avg/max hr (173/197)