Iki Express: A Good Monday...Finally!

Today is an unusually good Monday. We all know my distaste first the first day of the work week, so when I have a Monday like today, I get really excited.

I don't have to work today, so I went on a nice looooooong run this morning, and then took a nice loooooong nap with Reba afterwards. It was lovely.

I had planned an 8-miler for today and I was *fairly* proud of how it turned out.

I left the house around 7:30am with an idea to do two, four-mile loops. I decided to set out Gatorade and an energy gel at the house to take after the first loop.

The weather was peeeeerrrrrfect...it definitely feels like fall now!

I finished the first four miles in about 41 minutes, right on pace. It was challenging but I wasn't dying.

I gulped down a few chugs of low-cal Gatorade, grabbed my gel, and was on my way to finish the second half.

On Saturday I had stopped at my favorite running store, to stock up on gels and chomps for my upcoming long runs. I decided to try a new gel, the Cliff brand has one called "SHOT Energy Gel."

I love trying new things, so I scooped one up along with my old standbys of GU Mint Chocolate and a couple of packs of Chomps.

I tried the Cliff gel this morning and I'm sorry to report that it was gross. It had a really protein-y aftertaste and was just....gross. I'm sorry I don't know how else to discribe the taste. Maybe it's because they're 99% organic? Maybe it's the 12 grams of protein? I don't know but it was not good.

I'll be sticking to my beloved GU from now on. Sorry, Mr. Cliff. :(

After my pit stop I made it fine until the 6.5 mile mark. I walked for just about a block, and finished strong. The 8 miles took me 1:25:58 (10:45 pace). I was happy with this because my goal is to finish the half marathon at or around a 10:30 pace.

Thanks, but no thanks.

I also bought my first SweatyBand at Fleet Feet! I loooooove it! It didn't move at all during the entire 8 miles and I didn't even know it was there.

I had heard so many other bloggers express love for SweatyBands and I'm glad I've joined the club of SweatyBand lovers. Speaking of sweaty....sorry for the gross post-run pics. Ha!