Today's Run: What I Ate and What I wore + Clif Shot Bloks

This morning was my big 9 mile run! My first training run that long since April 9th. I tried to make sure I was hydrated before bed by drinking lots of water and some coconut water. When I woke up I had some more water, and a little almond butter on a graham cracker.

When I woke up it was about 71 with 76% humidity. As I was going to be out on my run for a while (9 miles at an easy 11:52 pace), I brought along some water and some brand new Clif Shot Bloks that I picked up at the store yesterday to try for the first time. Last night I filled half of a 17 ounce bottle with water and froze it over night. I topped it off with cold water this morning right before my run (The ice was totally melted by about 50 minutes into my run).

Here is the package of Clif Shot Bloks I got yesterday. I have not typically snacked on anything during my runs (with the exception of some Sport Beans by Jelly Belly that a friend gave me for the half marathon in April), but when I was training in the winter for my last half marathon, most of my runs were in the afternoon/evening so I had time to eat a real meal a couple hours before hand. Running in the morning, I only have a small snack before heading out - like pb or almond butter with a graham cracker or a banana.

Because it's warmer and my runs are getting longer, I wanted to try bringing something with electrolytes on my run. I bought the Strawberry flavor (without caffeine- several flavors do have caffeine though) for $1.99. I don't need any help increasing my heart rate over the course of a long run!  It looks like you can buy them on Amazon in a box so that each of these packs averages out to $1.50 instead.





There are 6 'bloks' inside. A serving is 3 pieces, 100 calories.
70mg sodium, 20mg potassium, 24g carbs.

They look like big fruit snacks, and they taste like them too.
(very similar taste to Target's Market Pantry strawberry fruit snacks)
They are a little chewier though, I'd say.

I put 3 in a ziploc bag and stuck them in my zippered shorts pocket.

Over the course of my run, they did not get melty or goopy or anything else from the warmth of being near my skin and just being outside in the warmth (I had an issue with this previously with those Sport Beans). I ate one at about 3.6miles, another at 5.85 miles, and the last at 7.6 miles. I followed each 'blok' with a swig or two of water.

I can't say if they "work" or not, and even if there is some kind of placebo effect, that's ok with me. I got through my run, all 9.04 miles of it, at an 11:40 pace. I got out the door before 8am. It was upper 70s with 66-67% humidity for the duration of my run. Assuming they actually replace some electrolytes and do their job, I would definitely buy these again. The flavor was good, I like how they weren't messy, and they were easy to stash in my pocket.

Here was my running "outfit" for this morning:

Lululemon Zoom Singlet, Speed Shorts, and my Run:Baseball Cap.

When I got back from my run, I made a smoothie with about 1 cup of frozen sliced banana, filled the container to about 8 ounces with O.N.E. coconut water, added about 4 ounces of blueberry lowfat kefir, 2 tbsp of finely ground flaxseed, a handful of fresh blueberries, and a couple large strawberries. I made it at about 10:30 (just within an hour of having come back from running) and I felt full until about 1:30ish/2:00.

Yummy Snack

Here's a snack I enjoy after a run or a bike ride:



Cottage cheese with some almonds and blueberries!

A serving of cottage cheese (I like the 1% milkfat small curd variety) is 1/2 cup and is 80 calories with 12g of protein. It's also on the salty side, which may be a deterrent to some - but I've tried the unsalted variety before, and I DO NOT recommend it. It was awful, in my opinion, and my husband who has been trying to eat a low salt diet (and has adapted to having less salt) agrees it is awful.

I like these Dry Roasted unsalted almonds I found at Trader Joe's. I can't remember what they cost, but I know it was a better cost per weight than the smaller package of almonds available at my usual grocery store.

1/4 cup of almonds has 170 calories, 4g of fiber, and 7g of protein.

...and blueberries are just good for you and delicious :)

What do you like to eat after a workout?

Circle Mesh Cool Racerback

Last week I got my Lululemon Cool Racerback *SE (Circle Mesh) tank in black in the mail.

Front and Back views of the Luluemon Cool Racerback *SE, W1715S

I ordered my usual size and found it a good fit. I had read that this style runs a little smaller than the regular Cool Racerback, however I find the regular version to fit a little on the big side. I was pleased with the fit. It is slim fitting in the top and at the bottom it just grazes over the top of my shorts. The neckline comes down a little low, same as how the regular ones fit me, so I'm just used to the top of my sports bra peeking out. It has solid black stitching (my regular CRBs have stitching that changes color on the inside). It also has the reflective lulu logo at the center back.

Here are the tags:

Check it out, this tank was actually made in Canada! (Not China, for once).

And here's a picture of the tank held up to the light, so you can see the circle mesh.

Based on this picture, you'd think this tank might be see-through, but surprisingly it isn't (in black anyway). This tank is also available in white, which I hear is more see-through. I wore a black sports bra under this tank for my 2.5 mile run this morning. I also checked to see what it looked like if I wore a lighter color bra underneath and you couldn't tell (maybe in direct sunlight you'd be able to tell you weren't wearing the same color bra underneath).

Before it came, I had visions of it looking like a fishnet top straight out of the 80s and that you'd be able to see any skin exposed underneath, kinda like this:

Luckily it's not like that at all :)
I'll have to take a picture of it being worn sometime before I go running and post it.

Overall, I like the tank and I'm happy I bought it. It's nice and lightweight for warmer weather runs or the gym too. I like that it has a slightly snugger fit compared with the regular CRB. I hope Lululemon decides to release the style in more colors besides black and white.

Exercise Month in Review: July

Can't believe July is over and August is here already! Summer is going by fast. Here's my exercise month-in-review for July...

July 2: 6.22 mi run outside
July 3: 30.3 mi bike ride

July 5: 2.47 mi run outside, 30-minute abs class
July 6: 7.25 mi treadmill run
July 7: 45-minute spinning class
July 9: 5.5 mi run outside
July 11: 6.45 mi bike ride

July 12: 7.82 mi run outside
July 14: 1 mi treadmill run, 1-hour spinning class
July 16: 6.38 mi run outside
July 18: 8.19 mi run outside

July 20: 4.67 mi treadmill run
July 21: 1-hour spinning class
July 23: 3.81 mi run outside
July 25: 4.01 mi run outside

July 26: 1-hour spinning class, 30-minute abs class
July 27: 2.04 mi run outside
July 29: 5.55 mi run outside
July 30: 2.19 mi run outside

Daily dog walks, long dog walks, and 1.5 mile round trip walks to our garden plot are also sprinkled throughout, but not included as I don't wear my GPS watch for them.

I'm relying on my Garmin Connect software for the following totals:

• 48.67 miles of outdoor running
• 18.42 miles of treadmill running
• (67.09 miles of total running)
• 36.73 miles of bicycling
• 4 spinning classes
• 2 abs classes
  

21 hours 34 minutes and 39 seconds of physical activity for the month!

That's a 50% increase over last month (14h 0m 53s). It was a lot easier to make time for exercise (especially the classes) in July as I was off from work, but my weekly mileage has also been increasing as part of my half marathon training. On to week 10 of my plan (7 weeks to go!)

Is anyone reading this also preparing for an event?
Whether it be a walk, run, ride, or triathlon?