Back on Track? Pun Intended. =)

I'm not a huge fan of long runs, unlike what seems to be most of the running community.  In fact outside of the three marathons races I've done, I don't think I've ever run over about 17-18 miles...try as I might to go longer, it's just beyond my patience level!

 (Please do not take training advice from me on this...this training strategy is clearly why it takes me several weeks to recover from a marathon).  

HOWEVER, I actually really love track workouts.  As painful as they are during, I always feel a sense of accomplishment afterwards and the mother of all running highs as well.

This morning, I decided I would go to the track for the first time since Pre-Boston.  I was actually excited just thinking about it and kind of nervous to see what my body would be able to do.  I was secretly hoping (as I always do) that interval times that used to be hard would be a breeze and  I would laugh and high five the other people there as I ran to do another 5 minute mile...

That's not exactly what happened.  

I got to the track and sadly the giant man who usually walks around the track every morning and shouts encouragement to himself was NOT THERE!  However, there WAS a skinny dude doing what appeared to be running form work.  He surely must be an avid reader of my blog and read my last entry (Blog Entry On Running Form ;).

So I got goin'.

I ran some 800s....five to be exact with around 2:15 rest in between.  I had wanted to do six right around 3:20 as a sort of "workout that is challenging but not horribly difficult.  Which I pretty much did (minus 1 800) at 3:18 3:18 3:18 3:21, 3:20.


I didn't feel that great about it. 

The problem wasn't the times, it was the amount of effort I put into it.  I was sprinting the last 800 just to make the 3:20 mark, felt exhausted, and am pretty sure I couldn't have done another!  It felt great to get out there, but my legs were glaring at me the whole time saying "What the heck?  We haven't run faster than 8:00 miles in the last month...no way are we going 6:36ish...today!" 

When I got back to my place, I chugged some Trop 50 Pineapple-Mango.  Have I mentioned how much I love this stuff?  50 calorie fruit juice..all natural and all fruit, heck yeah!   It's not quite as good as the real higher calorie stuff (in my opinion) but totally awesome for after workouts because it's more refreshing.

In fact Trop 50 and I took a post workout picture together....

Please laugh....=). 

Bottom line on the track workout, I am not exactly where I want to be for running a half marathon soon, speedwise, but...just gives me more room to improve, right? 

Do ya do speed stuff?  What are your favorite speed workouts? (for me...it's repeat miles for pure, gut wrenching satisfaction) 

Have you tried Trop50 ?  (I promise I don't work for them, I just like da juice after running). 

Have a great Thursday!!

New Sports Drink Report!

Holla!  This morning I did some elliptical and yoga in an attempt to take it easy and keep myself from getting sick / ridiculously sore for days again.

I have also been eating huge portions of everything just in case that was the problem.  Even if it's not, I'm definitely enjoying it =)

Let's talk about all the new sports drinks on the market this year!    

I've run two long races in the last month and one things I've noticed is that when I finished, I got handed random Gatorade products I'd never seen before....I also did a race last fall (malibu half) where they gave out coconut water as the sports drink.
Add that to the G2 (Lower Calorie) Sports Drink that is in all the 7-11s, what's a girl to do?

Wassup with Gatorade:
So along with the regular Gatorade (50 cal / 8 oz), Gatorade has come out with the lower Cal G2 (20 Cal / 8 oz) as well as the the Pro series that includes the dairy based shake drink in the upper right (200 Cal, 15 Grams Protein, 30% Calcium).  The other recovery drink in the round bottle is Gatorade 3 Recover (60 Cal, 8 Grams of Protein).  They've also come out with the "Fit" series that appears to be lower calorie, as well as a Natural series (this sounds awesome!) that's in test markets right now.

My Thoughts:  I actually think that G2 is pretty awesome.  While I can't shake the feeling that I could make my own G2 at half price by just watering down regular Gatorade, I think it's super refreshing.  And unless I've just run 15 miles, I don't really need 200 calories in beverage anyways.  I've mainly purchased it at random convenience stores at exorbitant prices.

As far as the other stuff....I really wasn't impressed by Gatorade 3 Recover (I had mixed berry) or the Pro Series Protein Shake.

The Gatorade 3 has a good combination of protein and carbs, so if you actually like it, I'd say give it a try.  I thought it was way too sweet but palatable.

The Pro Series (I had chocolate) seems to have the nutritional content of a Slim-Fast Shake and it kind of tasted like one too.  Since it's got 200 calories per 8 oz, I'd definitely only drink it if I'd just run a ton of miles and had no real chocolate milk nearby.

Wassup With Coconut Water:  So I had my first run in with coconut water at the Malibu Half Marathon.  I was surprised to find that that was their sports drink of choice (only in Malibu!) and totally avoided it after one surprise cup at mile 4.  Nutritionally, it looks pretty close to Gatorade (45 Cal, 250 mg sodium), only it's a natural product and has 10% of your vitamin C.

My Thoughts:  Honestly, I don't like this stuff, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority with this one.  My mom loves it and it's growing popularity must count for something!  I'd say if you like this stuff, go for it!

Soooo....
Has anybody else gotten these drinks at races? What did you think?


What do you love to drink when/after you're working out?  
(I constantly crave diet coke after running even though I know it's baadddd.)