One Week Later

   It's been a week since my epic meltdown in Concord Park during my tempo run. Good news - I've bounced back this week and am feeling much better. In fact, I had two strong back-to-back runs so my confidence is bit better now. Granted, a big part of my success was due to weather. We've had AMAZING weather in Nashville this past week with temps in the 70's rather than the standard July temps of the upper 90's. It's been glorious.
   I also have been trying out some new nutrition this week - Infinit. Until this week, I've been using nuun and Skratch Labs for hydration and Honey Stinger waffles / gels for calories. I've been happy with everything I've been using, but I'm trying to get away from having to unwrap / open anything, so I'm trying new things. I bought two Infinit products: one of their standard products - Napalm - for running and a custom nutrition blend for the bike. I haven't had the chance to try to nutrition on the bike yet, but I have used the Napalm a few times now. As the name implies, it has caffeine in it. Some advice for anyone interested in this product - READ THE DIRECTIONS. I didn't and kind of OD'ed on the stuff the first time I tried it. How? Well, Infinit sends Napalm as a kit - you get a powder and a flask. To make it, you fill the flask with the powder and add water. Easy enough, right? And it is - unless you assume that one flask was one serving - WHICH WOULD BE WRONG! One flask has THREE servings. Since I neglected to read the directions, I downed my flask on my way to my run Thursday night, which was no easy task because the stuff is pretty strong.

It says 2 oz. for optimal performance, not 6 oz!

   The good news is that my run was great. My legs felt great and it hit my times. The bad news is that downing a flask of Infinit Napalm on an empty stomach really didn't work out too well. But THAT'S how good my run was. I felt nauseated the entire run, and it STILL ended up being one of the best runs I've had in a long time. I absolutely don't blame the Napalm for the nausea - that was totally my fault. I've used it since with the proper dosage and it's worked great. Unfortunately, I was also up until about 2:00 am that night because of the caffeine, but it was a small price to pay for a good run.

That one felt good.

TEN more weeks to Ironman Chattanooga!!