Long Run and Weekend in Carmel

We headed down to Carmel this weekend for a weekend with family. We arrived just before 9 Friday night - we visited for a while. I probably didn't get to bed before midnight! On Saturday, I got up at 5:15 am or so to prep myself for my "long run" of 7 miles. I filled the bottles on my hydration belt with water and propel (2 bottles of each) and grabbed some clif shot bloks. Pepper spray and my cell phone with runkeeper app rounded out my "gear." I was really stressing this run. For some reason, this run was a major hurdle for me mentally. I don't know why, but I needed this run to go well.

Unfortunately, it didn't go well. It was warm and humid - I felt like I was drenched in sweat as soon as I started running. I felt pretty strong until about 3.5 miles in when I desperately needed a potty break. Luckily, I planned my route knowing this might happen and there was a bathroom when I got to about 3.7 miles. I wasn't sure what to think about the scary skinny fox who was standing between me and the bathrooms staring me down, but I decided that I had pepper spray if need be and ran past him quickly! After the potty stop, I decided I probably would need to take a few energy bloks, I took them around 4.2 miles.

This was my first experience with energy supplements and I was not sure what to expect. But man, the texture of those shot bloks was So difficult for me to handle. I felt like I was chocking trying to get them down. I plan to try these one more time, but not sure these will work for me. I started to feel like I was dragging soon after - I am assuming that either I took them too late or they aren't the right thing for me. Anyway, back to the run review - I was fading fast. I had to walk twice between mile 5 and 6 - probably a total of half a mile between the two walking breaks. I was extremely disappointed by this, my goal was to run the whole 7 miles! I had no concerns with my time to finish, I just wanted to finish being able to say I ran the whole thing! The rest of the run was rather uneventful. I pushed myself to run as far as I could by telling myself "run to that stop sign" and then when I got to that sign "okay you are still alive, you can run further, you can run to that street up ahead" - I did this repeatedly over and over until I got back home and had logged my 7 miles. I ran 7 miles in 1:08 with humidity of 88% and 79 degree temps!

When I got back to where we were staying I showered and got myself ready for the morning at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. We planned to be there when they opened at 10 am, which worked out just about perfectly time wise. We had just enough time to get everyone ready and get lunch packed. I won't say a ton about the museum, but it was a great time! If any of you are in the area you should check it out. Natalie loved the two "traveling" exhibits - Dora/Diego and Barbie. She also really loved the Egypt exhibit. Daniel and Natalie spent time in the playscape and rode the carousel. All in all, great morning - we left at around 2 to head back to our family's house. Here are just a few pictures from our fun times at the museum!







When we got home I wasn't feeling well and since my son was laying down to a nap I decided it would be good for me to do the same. I ended up sleeping for probably at least 3 hours. I should have known that was a sign of things to come... I am currently laying on the couch with a sore throat, stiff/sore neck, and pain/congestion in my ears! :(

After napping, we had dinner and hubby's cousin came over with her daughter who is just about 6 months old. She was adorable and it was cute watching my kiddos play with her! Sunday was rather uneventful - we went to church at 7 am, swam with the kiddos for a bit, and headed home around noon.

I am not normally huge into spamming people for votes, money, etc. However, I entered my son into a cute baby contest and would appreciate any and all votes. You can vote daily, and please share with anyone else who may be willing to vote. I would greatly appreciate it! You can find the link on the upper right side of my blog!

Question for my readers: What is your favorite energy supplement? At what point do you take it for long runs?

EDITED TO ADD: Meant to mention, I skipped swimming this am to get some rest, but still ran my daily mileage because I wasn't running a fever. Felt better after the run as far as the congestion, but its back! Do I skip swimming tomorrow too? Will the rest benefit me more than an easy workout in the pool? I really want to be healthy by Wednesday!