More thoughts on Saturday’s long run:

I hadn’t eaten enough carbohydrates on Thursday evening or Friday to fuel me for Saturday. I thought I was doing well by having a plate of rice and a grilled chicken breast for dinner Thursday night, but in retrospect, all of those carbs probably went towards recovering from those eight miles rather than stockpiling for Saturday.

Chris and I discussed meal ideas for me, so we can test them again this weekend. Also, I won’t be doing my eight miler on Thursday, but tomorrow (Tuesday) instead, so I’ll be fresher by Saturday. So, Thursday night I’ll stock up on carbs (I like plain rice, maybe some stirfried vegetables) and Friday morning, I’ll have some oatmeal and a bagel. Then, for dinner Friday night, Chris and Rebecca and I may go have pasta at this yummy restaurant we like. Oh yeah, bagel sandwich or something for lunch on Friday.

This past Saturday, I had to get up at 5:45 a.m., because the weather forecast was for rain starting at 9 a.m., so we wanted to get finished as quickly as possible. Naturally, it didn’t rain. In fact, the last hour or so was sunny and warm. Yeesh. So next weekend, if the forecast is nicer, we can start a little later and I can eat some breakfast (a bagel) beforehand. I was starving during a lot of this run, which can’t be good. I did manage to eat two gels, though. I think I’m getting better! The new Sonic Strawberry flavor (with caffeine) I got is the most palatable so far. The texture is still a major problem, but as long as I breathe while I swallow it, I’m fine.

I’m not sore today, and yesterday wasn’t even too bad. My arches hurt on Saturday after the run, but as soon as I got home, I soaked my lower legs in cold water (as per Chris’s suggestion) which I think helped get rid of any soreness.

Next up: 5 miles this afternoon. Woo hoo!