Day 92: 9 Miles Thanks to Candy with Benefits

OK, I'm getting it. I'm not saying I won't lose it again, or that I was perfect today - I wasn't - I was slow; but I also wasn't close to death when I finished and that's some major progress. The difference? Well, I ate properly yesterday and this morning, planned for the weather, paced, hydrated, used Aquaphor on all my exposed parts, and popped a Sport Bean into my mouth every 10 minutes while I was running to replace electrolytes so my fingers wouldn't swell. Oh, and you know what also? I'm back on coffee. Fuck tea!

It was 30 degrees out and windy today. I thought about running indoors but 9 miles? That seemed kind of brutally boring. I decided to compromise; I'd read somewhere that when it's very cold out it's good to run your first mile or so indoors so your body isn't literally cold while you're warming up. Helps prevent injury and I'm all about that! So, I ran 1.4 miles on the treadmill, and then did the big Loop in Central Park for 6.03 miles, adding in a supplement of one loop around the Reservoir for 1.58, to complete the 9.

My favorite part was going around the Reservoir, especially crossing at the north east end. The sun was in my eyes and the skyline to the south was breathtaking. I wish you could have been there with me. That was probably the first time I've ever wished I'd had someone with me when I was running, just to share that moment. I've seen Manhattan I think from every angle but that perspective, with the light as it was in the magic hour - I'll never forget that. Gotham was majestic and I felt like I was part of it, and home.

My new hydration belt was comfortable and fine. I went with a single 22 oz bottle that sits on an angle and can be spun around to your back. When I was shopping for it at Paragon, there were two women about my age who squealed when they saw it, "Oh that's it! That's the one John has! It's great." Until then I'd been looking at the multi-bottle belts because, well, I don't know. So, I asked the most helpful sales guy ever and he agreed it would be a good design for my needs. Then we got to chatting and I told him about my swollen fingers from last week and he seemed nonplussed, like that happens to everyone (which I know it doesn't because I've asked about 10 people and nobody had experienced it). He told me about Sport Beans.

Sport Beans are made by Jelly Belly so I was a bit suspicious frankly that they were just candy. I am constantly teasing my dear mother for downing what she calls "cough drops" every 10 minutes all day through. They aren't cough drops - they're Werther's butterscotch! But saying "cough drops" makes her feel like they are legitimate. I guess when you're 78 you can tell yourself whatever you like; but at 39, I just want to be clear, I know I'm eating candy!

The beans don't look like regular Jelly Bellies though. They're kind of misshapen, and colored with natural dyes, which is good for me since I'm allergic to yellow dyes #5, 6 and 10. To use them, you just chew one with a sip of water, or as I ended up doing because it's kind of hard to chew something when you run breathing both in and out through your mouth, I chewed it until it was flat and then stuck it like gum to the roof of my mouth, and kept it there until it melted. I marveled at their staying power - sometimes the full 10 minutes! So it is true, I ran today on a steady stream of candy with benefits!

My pace netted to a 12:32 mile. Obviously, I walked a lot. I walked almost all the hills actually. I didn't want to wheeze like I did last time and it was 7 degrees colder today than it had been when I did 8 miles. I did wheeze though and it started earlier than it had last week, around mile 6; so whenever that started I just walked.

I'm learning right now about speed training and I plan to incorporate that into my shorter "recovery" runs during the week. There are all these words to learn to understand the different strategies. Words like, splits, strides, tempo runs and intervals. "Runner's World's" super great for a newbie because they keep it really simple - and they say the same thing every month! I'm not kidding. If I had any idea what I was doing with running I'm sure I'd find it the most annoying and patronizing magazine on Earth but, at this point, I'm remedial and it's just my pace!

After running I went to the pool and ran in the deep end for half an hour and wiggled around to stretch. The lifeguard noted that I looked a lot better this week than I had last week! After the pool I hit the sauna for 30 minutes but still never managed to fully warm up. I hope it isn't so cold out next Sunday when I take on 10 miles!!!