Running, One Day at a Time

Never, ever in my life having run every single day, my body is amazed! It is interesting to see how much this one change in my running has effected my life. This time of year I am usually battling mightily the urge to hibernate.  My mood and outlook on life are definitely influenced by the weather; and in the winter, not in a good way. We have had some unusually warm and sunny days which has helped but this week has turned colder and markedly grayer. Even so, I remain upbeat and very, very busy. Running every day makes me very tired by the end of the day but in general has given me much more energy. It certainly has improved my mood.

Parker and I have been drinking Emergen-C for a while now on Bailey's recommendation. Her fellow athletes at the University of Missouri often drink Emergen-C as a precaution when  they start to feel sick. The description on the products' webpage: " Emergen-C dietary supplements feature immune supporting vitamin C,* B vitamins to enhance energy naturally* (no caffeine, no crash), electrolytes to refuel and replenish post-workout,* and more!"

On a shoe buying excursion to Luke's Locker we discovered another recovery drink: Nuun. The helpful man who assisted Parker with his new running shoe purchase recommended Nuun over other rehydration drinks. In our family when information goes into that area where you cannot quite keep up with the jargon, usually a situation where you just want to be given the bottom line this is what we hear: "Blah, blah, blah nutrition, blah blah blah vegetables". We get the main points! In this instance, what I heard the helpful and informative young man say was: "blah, blah, blah hydration, blah, blah, blah, sodium is bad, blah blah blah LOW CALORIE". Some ideas stand out more than others. So we have been trying Nuun. Parker and I both like the taste and real or imagined we get an energy boost after drinking it. Here's the description of Nuun from their webpage:

Nuun

The following is the nutritional information for a serving of Nuun based on one tablet dissolved in 16oz (500ml) of water. There are under 8 calories per Nuun tab.

Active Ingredients	level (mg)
Sodium (carbonates)	360.0
Potassium (bicarbonate)	100.0
Calcium (carbonate)	12.5
Magnesium (sulfate)	25.0
Vitamin C	37.5
Vitamin B2	500 mcg

Trying new things is fun and adds novelty and freshness to the many, many miles over many, many years. I would never have thought this one change (running EVERY day) would make so much difference. I did have the IT band pain which I now think may have been caused by some hill repeats two days prior to my longish run. I used the foam roller, stretched and ran only 1 mile for three days in a row. The pains disappeared. Monday and Tuesday of this week I ran 5 miles on each day, Wednesday I ran 1 mile, and Thursday my longish run was 8 miles. I will probably not try hill work again until after the 30 consecutive days. I am half way to my goal and am so glad I decided to try this. By the way, my favorite Emergen-C flavor is acai berry and the only flavor I have tried of Nuun is fruit punch (I like it!). Happy running!