Tunica: EMERGEN-C! URGENT!

Again, sorry to have been MIA for a week or so. After Bex weekend camping trip she came back sick as a dog so we took last week off with the exception of a couple low-key gym workouts. So this week we are back in the action. As some of you may know our original plan was to run in this 10-miler on Sunday, October 25th (the BEST day of the year....my BERFDAY!). It is with the Memphis Runner's Club and takes place at Shelby Forest on Sunday morning. However, every single person we have told of this goal has mentioned to us that:

"Shelby Forest is really hilly."
"Shelby Forest is nice. It's hilly."
"Oh, that'll be fun. I've been to Shelby Forest and it is sooooo hilly."

Thanks people. Seriously.

So with it being my berfday weekend and all, Bex pointed out that it really is a buzzkill to have this 10-miler looming over my weekend-o-fun. We made an executive decision to still meet our goal by running our 10-miler on Friday morning instead of Sunday. And in the lovely flatlands of Tunica County to boot. In preparation we ran 5 on Monday, and 8 this morning. The 8-miler this morning was really great, and C.O.L.D. It was like 40 degrees when we started, which in the grand scheme of the Winter is not all that cold. But it sure felt chilly at 6 this morning! We persevered through the elements, though, and beat our previous 8-mile time by 5 minutes. So good news there.

Our 10-mile plan is to run our 6-mile loop, stop at my house for water, and run our 4-mile loop, for a total fo 10. long. miles. So wish us luck because it won't be easy! But there's only one way to find out, yes?

In the past when we've done these long runs I always wind up with a headache half-way through my day, taking an Ibuprofin, only for said headache to turn into a migrain. No fun. Especially when one spends their day surrounded by blinking lights, loud oldies music, and a constant 'bling-bling-ba-blingity-bliiiiiiiiing' noises. And I'm talkin' all the livelong day. Lovely.
So everytime I had to come to work after a long run I would drink TONS of water in hopes that this would help my headache which I assumed was brought on by dehydration alone. Nothing has seemed to work until one weekend my mom was in town and mentioned, "Maybe you need more than water. Maybe you need some Gatorade or something to restore all those nutrients." Genius. Genius woman, I tell ya. So the Gatorade worked for the 6 or 7 milers but any more distance than that and I was still hurting late in the afternoon. So long story longer, I think I have finally found a cure for my dehydration/vitamin deficiency after these long runs. Emergen-C. Yes, you read that right. Anyone out there ever tried it? Emergen-C is a small packet of powdered goodness that you add to a few ounces of water just like you would those little Crystal Light packets. Only Emergen-C has like one bazillion million vitamins in it to give you an instant boost of energy and make you feel great! They come in all different flavors....we like Orange at our house....and it only takes 1 packet per 4 ouces of water. So I usually dump 2 packets in a glass after my long run and I'm good to go for the day! Combined with a banana for potassium and voila! You can get them at your local drug store....they come in packs of 30 for like $18. But I found this website where you can get them half-off. Hey....what a timely post this is....my birthday coming up, I'm telling you where to buy Emergen-C...coincidence? I think not.
An added amenity of the Emergen-C is that it is great for hangovers. At least that's what I heard. I don't know from personal experience or anything.