Not the boss of me

When power gels and energy drinks fail you, there’s really only one thing left to do: Dig into your chocolate drawer 😀

Four months ago I gave up on gels as a source of fuel for my runs, not letting one drop of that nasty goop pass through my lips ever since my last marathon. Those suckers were evil, torturing my insides, cramping my stomach up so bad, I spent the majority of my runs with a vomit-filled feeling creeping all the way up into the back of my throat. Not cool.

I then tried the Hammer Perpetuem drink as a fuel replacement. It started out promising, not wreaking havoc on my belly, not wreaking havoc on my blood sugars. However, once my mileage started increasing beyond 13 km, so did my blood sugars. My last long run ended with an 18.something BG. Not cool.

So yesterday, my first long run in a month, I did a little experiment. Seeing as how the GU tasted like poo and the Perpetuem had a bit of a chalky grit to it,  and neither of which worked for me, I figured why not try something I actually like. Hello chocolate!



So here’s the deal, dark chocolate decreases inflammation, increases blood flow, prevents blood clots, it’s heart healthy, has stimulating caffeine, is chock-a-block full of antioxidants, and my god is it ever tasty. How could it not be the perfect fuel? Add quinoa to the dark chocolate mix, and seriously, it’s like running magic… with perfect mid BG and end BG results. Wahoo!

YESTERDAY’S RUN
9:15 a.m. BG before: 10.5
Temp. basal: -50 per cent (1 hour)
Distance: 11.75 km
Average pace: 6:41 min/km
Time: 1:15:36
@30 minutes BG: 6.4 (Fuel: 1 strip dark chocolate)
@60 minutes BG: 6.2
11 a.m. BG after: 6.3
Temp. basal: +50 per cent (1/2 hour)

When I set out yesterday, I wasn’t sure how long I’d be on the road for, as I had no idea how long my knee would hold out. So, I just ran. I had my Garmin, but no music. My feet took me over the Queensborough Bridge, where I ran into a stark raving mad cyclist, and then along the Queensborough Quay, out to the only “beach” in New West, and then back home again.


If this isn’t stark raving mad, I don’t know what is 😉


Hidden treasures.

At 6 km, when I had reached the beach, I really had to go to the washroom, like really had to go, but there were no public washrooms around, and while there were bushes, I’m not the kind of girl who can just drop trough anywhere, not unless I got a crew on the lookout that is. Given that the beach was directly across the river from home, I wondered how long it would take to swim the river. It didn’t look that far, surely it couldn’t take the 38 minutes it had for me to run the distance out. Hmm…


Contemplating the swim.

But then I remembered I don’t swim, and aqua jogging is more like aqua walking which would likely take way longer than 38 minutes. Dammit. Back on the road I went.

About 8 or 9 km into the run, I started to feel pressure, not pain, just a slight pressure around the knee and behind the knee. I’m not sure if I’m being hypersensitive or what, but I figured I’d listen to Dear Physio, and everyone else I asked, and not overdo it. I stopped just shy of 12 km, but not before powering up one last hill. My knee is NOT the boss of me!

Today, no pain, no pressure, just a happy, happy knee 😀

6 thoughts on “Not the boss of me”

  1. thanks for the reminder I need to get more of these
    http://www.chocolateenergygel.com/ they worked well for me in the past
    AND also check Regen2recover.com they sponsor me and my team – organic chocolate protien drink yum! If you lived on the right coast i could give you a case of the stuff. good job listening to your knee!

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