First Week of February Giveaway & Final ZYM Review

Today’s Workout: 12 miles @ 2 hours, 5 minutes

This giveaway has now closed. Special thanks go to ZYM for sponsoring our first contest!

Again, this week’s workout was my longest run on the treadmill. Basically, every run every Sunday after this will be my longest run ever, until/unless I start tapering. I haven’t made up my mind which marathon I want to make my first yet, but due to scheduling conflicts, I think I might have to wait until August to even attempt my first marathon. I might just do a half marathon in the spring, until then, but we’ll see. My goal was to complete my first 26.2 in/around May, but between my sister’s upcoming nuptials, my husband’s birthday, and I just found out my cousin is getting married in June, I may have to re-evaluate my plans.

But…I have bigger news to share with you before I even start discussing my marathon plans with you!

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An Unusual Saturday

Today’s Workout: Approximately 4 mile run @ somewhere between 39:45 and 40:00
ZYM Flavor of the Day: Grape. I’m not quite sure why, but this was another flavor I was hesitant to try (I need to stop with the rhyming there, before this turns into a Dr. Seuss novel!).

I guess just because I wasn’t sure what to expect. Were the tablets going to make my water taste more like grape juice or grape soda? If they tasted like grape soda, I was golden…but if they tasted more like grape juice…not so much. I was excited when I opened up the tube of tablets and was overcome by the scent of grape soda. I couldn’t help but think, “yummy” before ever even trying it in my water. Well, this tablet didn’t disappoint, and was full of flavor.

After drinking a full bottle of regular water this morning, I drank half a bottle of grape water in 5 minutes, felt full of energy, literally jumped up off of the couch, changed and headed out the door for a run.

Beginners: How to Make Running Part of Your Routine

Today’s Workout: Rest Day
ZYM Flavor of the Day: Lemon-lime. This flavor was much sweeter than the Berry flavor I had tried yesterday, and there was no hint of the bitter taste that I detected in the Berry ZYM. Like it’s predecessor, the lemon-like flavor contains caffeine, and is sure to give early morning runners the wake-up call that they need. Which is why I found myself choosing a ZYM tablet instead of coffee again this morning. Once again, it did the trick. And as an added bonus, it kept me hydrated – something coffee (which is a diuretic) – doesn’t do.

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Speaking of early morning runners…up until now, I haven’t talked too much about my running schedule, other than the fact that I typically am NOT an early morning runner. A few things about my running schedule:

• I usually run in the evening (except on the weekends, when I sometimes run in the morning, but more often than not, run in the afternoon)
• I run 4x a week, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sundays are always my long run days.
• For the most part, I don’t mind changing running days, but I NEVER change my long run days.
• If I think I need to scale back on my running one day, because I could potentially get injured, I do.
• However, if I don’t feel like running, feel too tired or lazy to run, etc., I still do.

Running on Empty

Today’s Workout: 6 miles @ 59:23

Some days you feel like you have loads of energy, and on others, you’re so exhausted, you wonder how you’re ever going to make it through the day. That’s how I was feeling today. I went to bed at a reasonable hour 12:00 a.m., and then the dogs woke me up at 2:00 a.m. That’s a far cry from my normal 4:00 a.m. wake-up call from them. Anyways, it took me hours before I could fall asleep again!

I was already running late to work this morning because I pressed snooze an extra 15 times, I was so exhausted, so instead of picking up my regular coffee from Dunkin Donuts, I plunked a ZYM in my water bottle and brought it with me.

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Today’s flavor? Berry. Now, much like many other electrolyte tablets, this flavor is infused with caffeine. 100 mg of caffeine, to be exact. To give you an idea, that’s approximately the same amount of caffeine as what’s in a Dunkin Donuts medium latte.

I wasn’t aware of this at the time, but this morning, between desperation for caffeine and excitement to try out a new flavor of the tablets, I downed that water bottle like it was my job.

I was perky and alert in no time. To be honest, if it weren’t for that pretty little tablet, I’m not quite sure I could have made it through the day. I was literally contemplating calling in sick this morning…that’s how bad it was. I think the only reason why I didn’t was because I go by the philosophy of “if you stay home sick, you can’t do anything.” Not even run. And I wanted to run today, so that meant I had to book it into work.

Now, regarding the taste of the Berry flavored ZYM. It definitely tasted Berry flavored, but if I’m being honest, there was a little hint of a bitter flavor within it. I didn’t mind it, and if I was running while drinking it, I probably wouldn’t even notice it…but I did. This tablet is, of course, filled with electrolytes and a bunch of other vitamins, like B3, B5, B6, B12, and some C thrown in there for good measure, so my guess would be that that’s why it was a little bitter. Now, I did enjoy the Berry flavor, but if you asked me whether I’d choose orange and Berry, I know I’d go for the orange, which I think is exceptionally good…which is why that’s the flavor I chose for my run this evening.

Regarding my run…nothing was going to make me alert. I was exhausted when in started running, and knew before I ever stepped on the treadmill that it would be a mental challenge. But, because this blog keeps me accountable, I told myself to do what Nike says and “Just Do It.” And so I did it, and completed my scheduled 6-mile run. Go me!

What do you do to make sure you get your run in on those super exhausting days?

Coffee, tea, or other caffeinated beverage? What’s your go to drink that keeps you up when you’re tired?

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!