Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Happy Friday :)  I am counting down the hours until tomorrow because my college friends and I are meeting up for a long weekend trip to my favorite city - CHICAGO!!  Because I am such a jet setter, I had to change my training schedule a bit this week, and did my long run (9miles) this morning instead of tomorrow.

Yesterday, I spent some quality time planning out a route for this morning on MapMyRun and was ready to go. After thunderstorms all night, I woke up to muggy skies and checked the weather forecast, which predicted thunderstorms within the half hour.  So, begrudgingly, I grabbed my keys and went to the gym where I did my 9miler on the treadmill.  I was pretty bummed not to be outside on my hand-crafted route, but didn't have a choice, I wasn't game for getting struck by lightning.

The good thing about the treadmill is I was able to keep up a great pace and finished the run in 1:22:30.  I also discovered THE SECRET SAUCE.  Yes, secret sauce:

Every .5 miles I alternated swigs of water with swigs of Lemon Lime Gatorade.  Until now, I have only been drinking water on my runs (and admittedly not enough). Usually, whether I'm running outside or on the treadmill, I have been cramping on my right oblique about 2-2.5 miles in.  BUT NOT TODAY!  And the only thing I did differently was add Gatorade to my hydration.  I also had 1/2 of a banana before my run, so the added potassium may have helped too.  Either way, I'm stickin too it!  I'm also happy, because Lemon Lime Gatorade is what will be served at each water station at the Marine Corps Marathon and this picky chica happens to ONLY like the lemon lime flavor :)

I have to be sure to drink a lot today, because my muscles are already screamin' at me and its only noon...