Training Tuesday: Half Marathon Week 9

Another week down! Yay!

My tip for you this week is in regard to electrolyte replacement drinks. I'm not sure it is a tip so much as I would love to have a discussion with you. I have obviously tried Gatorade because that is what is given out at every race I have finished. It tasted good, but in case you haven't noticed it has a big sugar content and in addition to that it is high fructose corn syrup, which I avoid at all cost.

I have been searching for another electrolyte replacement drink. Not really hard core searching, but looking none the less. The first and main thing I have tried at this point is Nuun. It is low sugar, low calorie and natural. Those are all great things. I was excited to try it. I have read that it is best, especially when running in the heat and humidity I am, to replace electrolytes while out running as well as after the run. I have tried Nuun at both times, during and after a run. Nuun (pronounced ‘noon') comes in a tablet form and is added to water. It is carbonated. It works and tastes great for me for after my runs. I like the berry flavor. I can't use it during my runs for two reasons.

I carry a hand held water bottle like this one. The carbonation builds up as I run and jostle the water bottle. It expands the water bottle. It has never exploded, but it feels really close and also releases some liquid every time I open the lid to take a drink. The other problem I have with the Nuun is that the carbonation makes me almost throw up every time I use it while I am running. That is not a good combination for me. I have gone back to plain water while running and Nuun at the end of my run.

This week I got a few samples of other products I plan to try. I will let you know how they work. My brother and my dad, who are both avid cyclists, recommended Hammer Nutrition products. There isn't a store convenient to me that sells their products, but I will probably try to get to the one store here that sells them to check them out and hopefully get some samples of those.

What do you use for electrolyte replacement? What do you like about it? Please leave me comments, I would love to hear your suggestions.

As to the update on my training, I think the one thing that I have learned about my half marathon plan so far is that it is long. I know there are lots of other plans that are 12- 13 weeks. I know I can't complete those plans because my IT band can't handle me adding that many miles that quickly, but I can see the benefit of the shorter plan in that it is shorter and less daunting to take on. I am on week 9 of my plan, I am half a week away from my half way point. In the shorter plans, my race would be coming up in the next month. That would make it seem easier to me to keep going.

As you can see above, I had a good week. I got all my planned runs completed. I did shorten the 4.5 mile to a 3.5 mile run. I had to get home so Mr. T could get to work, so I had to go shorter.

Once again, I modified my speed training. It seems to be working as I am doing well with my pace. I realize not everyone has been reading from post one of this training. For those of you just joining in, I modified my speed training by picking 1 or 2 places where I run a distance as fast as I can. I am up to two of these sections on my run. My 3.5 mile run this week with no speed training, I averaged a pace of 8:41 per mile. The 3.5 mile run with the speed training, I averaged 8:15 per mile. As you can tell from those two paces, there is a difference in my pace.

It was so hot and humid again for my long run this week, but when I look at the last long run I had that was hot and humid my pace has improved. The last hot and humid run was a 10:36 pace. This week my pace was 10:11. I have had faster paces in between one week when it was cooler, so I am just comparing in the heat. My point is that I think the speed training, even in the modified form, is helping. Hopefully between that and cooler temps, I will make my goal of running this half in under two hours.

I hope you have a fantastic week. Thanks so much for stopping by to see how my training is going.
Happy running to you!

Don't forget to leave me a comment below about what you use for electrolyte replacement. What do you use? What do you like about it? Anything you don't like about it? Please leave me comments, I would love to hear your suggestions.

P.S. If you are just joining in on my training, you can view my half marathon training plan here or view other weekly updates here.

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Comments

Dara says

September 4, 2012 at 12:41 pm

I heard about some sort of water you can get at whole foods but I haven’t tried it. I can’t carry anything when I run so I probably need to get one of those hydration belts!

Libby says

September 4, 2012 at 10:06 pm

I like that water bottle that you have. I might have to look into that. I’m also concerned about the drinks as well. The last time (4 years ago) when I started running, my potassium started getting low. I’ve never had a problem with that before so my doctor and I concluded that it was all the running/sweating and not replenishing properly. I’d love to hear more on this topic (especially before my next doctor’s appointment). 🙂

Keep up the good work. “Slow and steady wins the race.” (in response to your lengthened training routine)

Carissa Rasmussen says

September 4, 2012 at 11:35 pm

I like to just run with water and then add power bar energy blasts every 20 mins after an hour. They dont have hfcs, you can buy ones with or without caffeine. A lot of runners use gu and it’s Gf and dairy free. As far as electrolyte replacement drink, I drink gatorade, but only after I’m done running. Hfcs is just sugar and it’s the quickest replacement I know of. I mean you could drink kool-aid…thats just flavored sugar basically

- K Coake says
  
  September 6, 2012 at 1:53 am
  
  I need to look into the power bar or other energy blasts because I don’t do any of those yet either. I think I need one once I get to an hour and a half of running. I’m OK until that point, so far.
  I disagree with you in regard to High fructose corn syrup. I don’t believe it is derived from natural sources and there are studies that link it to many health problems one of which is obesity. Therefore I avoid it at all costs.
  Thanks for your ideas and for adding to the discussion.
  
Barbara says

September 5, 2012 at 2:32 pm

Hi KC…I found your post over at The NY Melrose Family link party and had to stop by to read about your training. Sounds like you are doing great and what a fantastic pace you have. I ran The NYC Marathon last November on the day before my 50th birthday and it was so much fun. Sadly I fell out of running for most of this year but now that the weather should start to get cooler I want to gat back into it. (Although I just came in about 20 minutes ago from only my second run since last April and I was dying as it is 100% humidity today) So when I found your post I thought ah ha…a source of inspiration for me. I am following you now and will be reading about your progress. The half is my favorite race. Oh and by the way I am like you…Gatorade is way too sweet. I like coconut water with a little pineapple juice for electrolye replacement. The Vita Coco with pineapple has only 16 grams of sugar and the taste is pretty good. Good luck as you continue training..slow and steady does win the race!

Barbara says

September 5, 2012 at 2:34 pm

PS…if you would like to read about my experience running the NYC marathon you can follow this link.
http://decoratingwithbarbara.blogspot.com/2012/07/ive-run-olympic-event-and-lived-dream.html

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row says

September 5, 2012 at 7:32 pm

Good for you! I usually just drink water on my runs, but coconut water is also a great way to replace those electolytes. Good luck!

Lissa says

September 16, 2012 at 12:58 pm

Wow – Keep up the great work! 🙂 Thank you for sharing at MightyCrafty Mondays!

- K Coake says
  
  September 17, 2012 at 12:21 am
  
  Thanks!

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