This week seemed to go very fast. Between the eclipse, the first week of school, wedding planning and everything else, all of a sudden it’s Saturday again, and I’m staring down another long run.
Today’s early run, though… once I got out to do it, was mentally interesting. It’s a route I take almost every weekend, and the outside temps weren’t all that different than they have been all summer at sunrise, but there was an ever so slight hint in the air of change.
The sun comes up later now, and soon my early morning runs will be in full dark, and I’ll be trading in tank tops for fleece shirts. I’ll have to dig out all of my safety lights and find my running gloves (I may not look too hard though, I could use a new pair or two). As I ran a formation of Canadian geese flew overhead, and I thought, “they’re here early.”
Other anomalies included the not one, but two red-tailed hawks. I ran by one, who did not like me running too near his perch on the fence, so decided to move to a “safer” hiding spot. The second though, was only a few more paces away on the same fence, and he could not be bothered with my presence at all. Perhaps this is normal, but I found it odd that these two were hunting the same patch of Prairie Dog colony.
I also discovered that my regular weekend route will be undergoing construction and improvement, so just when I’ll be needing double digit miles (which I access from that direction), I’ll have to look elsewhere.
But I think the most fun I had this morning was trying the two new Gu Energy Gel Flavors. I was apprehensive and curious about the “Cola-Me-Happy” flavor, Gu’s Limited time small-batch flavor. Unsure of what to expect, I knew that Cola at certain points of a long race tastes amazing. In a gel, though…hmmm…I don’t know. I was pleasantly surprised, though! Yes, there was the cola flavoring, think flat soda, it wasn’t the sickly sweetness of Real Coke. Mild and satisfying, I actually liked it. No, not my favorite flavor, but definitely in the top 5 I’d reach for when going out on my long run. I will say with 40 mg of Caffeine, I was concerned about how it would make me feel, but no unfortunate after-effect…if you get me.
The other flavor I tried was the “Campfire S’Mores” that released earlier this summer. I ordered a box of 24 (it was the smallest they had). With sweet flavors like this, I’m always afraid it’s going to tasted like frosting…I mean, it did, but in all the good ways. This flavor carries all the goodness of a S’more, and you can taste the chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker all the way through. I loved it! I like that the Campfire S’Mores has a richer flavor to it, because after summer is over and you are looking at fall and winter running, this will work nicely with those cold-weather runs…if they make it that long.
It’s still 90 degrees most days here. Summer will be around a bit longer. But just around the corner, you can see fall coming. The darker mornings, the cooler weather, and the faster paces will come when the weather cools. For now, though, I’ll enjoy these last days.
How was your summer?
