Half Marathon Training: The Long Run

Well it's Sunday today and you know what that means? Long run day *insert a bit of nerves and excitement*. I have mixed emotions about the long run days. I love them because I love running, plain and simple. I am the most relaxed mentally when I run and the feeling of my body working and pushing itself is kind of addicting. My reservations are that the distances seem FAR. Today, we are planning to run 18 km....yikes. I am slightly nervous but I try to tell myself that next week will be even further so this week will seem like a breeze in comparison. I also try to keep my eye on the goal, which is to complete my first half marathon in April.

Over the past few weeks I have been taking notes and trying to improve on my long run training days. Here are a few things I'm going to try out today for my long run:

1. Drink lots of water before AND after - I have an issue where I get headaches when I run and it is likely caused by dehydration. So today I'm going to attempt to drink 2 water bottles before and 2 after. (I've already downed one bottle this morning)

2. Take some Gatorade with me on the run - Last week when I ran 16 km, I was tired at the end. I ran 12 km at a solid pace but then I just faded for the last 4 km. This week I'm going to try a bottle of water with some Gatorade powder in it. I'm not one to have water or any drink while I exercise, but I think I'm going to need it. We'll see if this works or not.

3. Pre-run Snack: Chocolate Earth Balls *Insert immature giggle*
I made a batch of these bad boys the other day, using a recipe from Whole Foods. The only substitution I made was Rice Krispie's instead of chopped nuts. It's all I had on hand. The combination of ingredients seemed like an energy bar to me so I thought I'd give these a try before the run. Hopefully they give me the right amount of energy for the whole run. I'm no nutrition expert so it'll be good old trial and error on this one.

So that's the plan for today. I guess now that I've made it public that I'm going to run, I better actually follow through. Later.