These Are A Few Of My Favorite (Running) Things.

Who's sick of hearing about running? You? Yeah, well, I bet I'm a bazillion times more sick OF running than you are of hearing about it. So - you get to hear about it some more because, frankly, it's all I do these days. Speaking of all I do, Sunday we ran 17 miles. It took us roughly 2 hours and 53 minutes, give or take. How do we get through these long runs? Let me tell you a few of my favorite things that I simply can not run without.

*A camel back filled to the top with Gatorade. As disabling as it is to run with a camel back on, it's a little more disabling to be in a sodium depleted state and slip into a coma. If it's more than 6-7 miles, I have to run with this. We used to do just water, but all the salt in our bodies was crystallized to the outside of our faces, which makes for an excellent exfolliant in your after run shower, but it's a little more than inconvenient for your muscles and brain. The last time we ran with water we were almost delirious to the point of (nearly) licking the salt off each other's faces. Gatorade is much, much better for the long runs.

*My RoadID. This handy dandy ID will let the first responders identify me in case some idiot driver runs me over on the road. Or if I slip into a small coma somewhere along the trail (see above). Sara talked me into getting one, and I love it because it means I don't have to slip my driver's license into my bra anymore. Because I'm not sure that's the first place the paramedics would look in case of an accident. This ID is a little more conveniently located on my wrist. It has my name, date of birth, city of residence, 2 emergency contact numbers, allergies, blood type and organ donor info on it. And, YES, I am an organ donor.

*Mizunos. I am on my third pair of these babies. Currently, I am sporting the Wave Inspire. I get them from a Utah county running store called Runner's Corner. They have awesome customer service with employees who know what they're talkin' about. They bring out a bunch of shoes, have you try on 2 different shoes at the same time (one on each foot). You then proceed to run around outside until you make your decision as to which one feels least restrictive. Next, you go back into the store, tell them which shoe feels better. You keep that shoe on and they put another shoe on your other foot and you go running again to compare. Repeat about 10 times until you find the best running shoe for your foot. You can even bring in your old running shoes and they'll look at the bottoms and tell you how to improve your stride and avoid any heel strike you may be having. Every time I do this, I always end up with Mizunos. Next time I may just save myself some time and just get the latest model and skip the whole trying on part. Oh, and if you have some foot and/or knee pain, the folks at Runner's Corner can tell you which bands, foot inserts, shoes, or stretches you may need to take those pains away.

*Sweedish Fish. Seriously. We carry these around with us in the camel back. A basic rule of thumb is that you should be taking in about 100 calories after about an hour of running and then another 100 calories every 40-45 minutes after that. You may need more depending on your size and speed . Sweedish fish are pretty much pure carbs in the form of simple sugars. Easy for your body to breakdown since it's too busy to really do much with, say, a bagel, which is a more complex carb. That's either not gonna go down the right tube or it's gonna come right back up. The fish are fairly easy to chew. Because, believe me, the last thing your body wants to do at 15 miles is chew and swallow. Those energy gels? I will seriously puke if I squirt that in my mouth with as much adrenaline is in my body at mile 9. But, alas, everyone has their own preferences. Our is just happens to be sweedish fish. Although people do look at you funny when you're covered in sweat, carrying a bag full of liquid on your back, and you're scarfing down handfuls of candy because your life depends on it.

*My Garmin. I got this gem for Christmas about 4 years ago. I use to to track my mileage, how fast I'm running, and my average pace for the whole run and per mile. It does a whole lot more, but I'm just simple like that. Oh, and it tracks my calories burned (via my height and weight, average speed and length of run). I burned a whopping 2,534 calories on my 17 miler. Approximately. Yeah, you bet I ate triple the portions any normal human being would be able to consume in one sitting that night.

Honestly, there are a few more things I run with, but at this moment in time I am just getting off an all too frequent awake-for-24-hours-and-counting day and night, so my brain is feeling a little muddy. This is our rest week, so don't worry, I will only be running 7.5 miles (twice) and a half marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday. You know, cause it's a rest week and all. And 13.1 miles is just like taking a nap after that 17 miler.