10x400m: Now That's More Like It!

After Saturday's nasty long run, I was a bit nervous to run today. Add to that the possibility of rain and high winds, and my teeth were chattering!

The worries were unfounded. There were a lot of factors involved, but I'm convinced I just needed rest. Sunday was an off day, of course, and Monday was a light gym day where I only burned 108 calories. Even with today's wind, it just turned out to be a really nice run.

On tap were intervals, 10x400m with 400m rest intervals between each. I did a 10-minute warmup, but didn't have time to do a cooldown.


See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - General
Duration:	0:55:45
Distance:	5.87 mi

Intervals
1: 8:11/mi
2: 8:07/mi
3: 7:50/mi
4: 7:56/mi
5: 8:01/mi
6: 8:06/mi
7: 8:04/mi
8: 8:22/mi
9: 8:52/mi
10: 8:25/mi

5.88 miles, 55:45, 9:29/mi average, 624 calories burned

I also decided to try a new hydration drink called Nuun. The form factor is a tablet, rather than powder, with a bit of effervescent to make it dissolve easily. You drop the tablet into 16 ounces of water, wait two minutes, and you have a drink to provide hydration & electrolytes.



Compared to Cytomax, which I've been using for well over a year, it has twice the electrolytes. The kicker is that it's completely free of carbohydrates, including sugar. Many people would say you need the carbohydrates, and while that's true, the idea behind Nuun is to consume those as separate supplements.

The form factor is nice, because rather than having multiple large envelopes of powder, you have a tablet the size of a chewable vitamin C tab or fiber. What that means is it's lighter to carry, smaller to carry, and easier to use.

I bought banana flavor, and yesterday, I mixed up a bottle just to give the taste a try. To be honest, I wasn't impressed. It didn't taste bad, but it didn't taste good either. Electrolytes aside, I'd just as soon use water alone!

But today I mixed a bottle for the intervals and when I tasted it, I could actually taste the banana. It wasn't the best banana flavor, but at least it was there. Instead of bringing a bottle of water, I brought the Nuun.

This afternoon and evening, I wasn't tired like I normally am after intervals, and certainly didn't have a headache. I can't make a final decision on the matter, but I think I have a keeper. We'll see later this week how it performs on longer runs.