Who Needs a Spa Day When They Could Be Running?

Today’s Workout: Rest Day
Yesterday’s Workout: 4 miles on the treadmill @ 38:39

Today was a rest day for me, which worked out well, because yesterday my mom literally begged me to get my hair chopped off did with her. I acquiesced to her request, considering getting a haircut is the closest thing I’ve had to a spa day in over a year. Yeah, I’m a real girlie girl!

Well, that was a not so great move, because I decided to go for a change and take all the “dead stuff” off by having my long hair cut down to my shoulders. Well, my hairdresser went a little nuts and my hair now feels like it’s just about to my chin.

Shoulder length or chin length? You be the judge.

Something else really exciting happened to me yesterday. Last week, I had contacted ZYM about reviewing their products on my blog, and yesterday I got a surprise in the mail: Some samples of their products. As you know, I’ve been looking for some new “fuel” to try for a while (including chews, gels, and some type of electrolyte enhanced beverage).

I had been previously drinking diluted Gatorade during my long runs, but unfortunately I’d end up running to the bathroom shortly after those runs, and most likely ended up more dehydrated after my run compared to the amount of H2O that I had ingested in my attempt to hydrate myself. So in my quest for a new way to replenish myself with water and electrolytes, I came across ZYM.

Each day this week, I’ll be including a daily review of one of their products on my blog, to try and break it up for you, as opposed to overloading you with information.

So far, I’m absolutely loving what I’ve tried! If you’re not familiar with ZYM, they produce electrolyte tablets that you can put in your water. You just drop the tablet in a 16-oz. bottle (that’s your average sized water bottle) of water, and it disintegrates and turns your plain old H2O into a tasty, electrolyte filled drink.

Yesterday, during my 4-mile run, I decided to try their RIVAL orange flavored sports drink tablet.

I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to trying this one at first, mainly because of the orange flavor. I usually hate orange flavored sports drinks. They’re usually too watered down tasting and/or taste like artificial sweetener. Ironically, this was not the case with the sports drink tablet, which happened to have water as its main ingredient. The flavor remained tangy and true to its orange roots.

Another positive of the orange sports drink: it’s caffeine free. I’ve tried other electrolyte tablets that are created specifically for running, but one of the drawbacks of many of them is that they contain caffeine. Don’t get me wrong, I love my caffeine, but there is a time and place for it. And taking a caffeine infused sports drink during a run a few hours before my bedtime is not the time and place for me to be ingesting caffeine, which was one of the main reasons why I started out with reviewing this specific product.

Some nutrition facts for you on this product:

And a list of ingredients:

On one final note, the side of the box says, “ZYM contains electrolytes and B vitamins to provide athletes with fresh legs, natural energy, and higher endurance.* ZYM is effective against fatigue and delivers superior hydration.*
ZYM Rival is naturally sweetened with no sugar. One ZYM tube contains ten tablets for a convenient and on-the-go alternative to bottled sport drinks.”

* denotes that the above statement has not been approved by the FDA and that ZYM is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Although the previous statement has not been reviewed by the FDA, I did feel more energized and hydrated after completing yesterday’s run.

I don’t claim that the drink made me perform better, nor did I expect it to, but it definitely got the job done of keeping me hydrated without making me sick afterwards, and provided me with a much better taste than expected — and made me pick up my water bottle twice as much as I normally do when drinking regular water.

If you want my opinion, I’ll take going for a run and getting some proper hydration over a spa day, anytime.

Your turn:
Spa day, or running – which would you choose, and why?

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