Eat it, it's goo for you

7.2 Greenway out-and-back


Rewind about a month ago. It's the turnaround spot for my epic 20 mile Uwharrie run. Everyone is breaking out the recovery packs. Powerbars, bananas, gatorade powders, it's all represented.

My fuel for the run back? A special K snack bar and some Hershey's kisses. And a bite size snickers I sheepishly ask one of the guys for.

Now nobody needs to be reminded of how this run ended for me. And yes, volunteering at a rest stop for the actual Uwharrie race was an eye opener. And yes, I know the terms "carb loading" and "glycogen" and all of the other endurance buzz words. But I really didn't know know.

During my ten miler on Saturday, my awesome friend Genisis, the same one who explained to me about the glycogen brain drain, said that I had to eat goo. I had to. I had to have a goo before I started a long run, and I needed to eat one goo pack every 40 minutes or so.

Why goo? The form makes it easily and quickly absorbed, instantly usable by the body. By the time the bars are digested, you may be too far gone.

Now besides sounding really gross, my sister had been done in by goo when she ate it during a half marathon. Granted, she had never eaten one before, and downed it in a moment of desperation. Still, not a ringing endorsement.

Yesterday while I was working at The Writing Center, my friend Andrew brought in a veritable newbie runner goodie bag: a book about nutrition, three old copies of Runner's Worls magazine, and.....a chocolate flavored caffeine enhanced goo.

I decided with my 14 miler coming up this weekend, to give it a shot. The consensus was to try it out today by downing it with water before my 7.2 Greenway run. If it didn't make my stomach tighten up, I would be good to go.

In the car, I stared at the packet with apprehension. Tearing open the top, I popped it in my mouth and started sucking, bracing myself for grossness. Which never came. It was actually sort of palatable. If you didn't look at it or think about what it was.

After several good sucks, I drank some water, jumped out of the car, and began.

The run? Glorious.

One could say that it was simply a placebo effect, but I felt stronger, better, and faster than normal. The most striking characteristic of the run, though, was how I wasn't thinking about the run. At all. The greenway is normally a slogger for me, both because of the pavement and because I've run it enough to memorize every bump and dip. Usually, I start obsessing over how much farther to go (a lot), how bored I am (very), and how much I wish it were over (immensely).

This time, I found myself zoning out, surprised at how much distance I had covered in the interim. I said, "oh! I'm here already?" I said it a lot. Even at the very very end, my muscles felt good, my brain felt sharp, and I felt ready for another goo and then another seven or so miles.

That being said, I know that I can't just embrace gels and be done with it. I really need to get on the ball, and it's clear that given my background and history with exercise and food, I'm going to need some human intervention to get my rear in gear.

So this week, I'm going to go into the Kinesiology Lab at UNCG and get: VO2 Max, Body Fat %, RBM, and sit down with a sports nutritionist who will give me specifics in regards to my body type, goals, and all the rest. I guess it's the same sort of thing with my ankle. If I tried to rehab on my own, and it hurt, I would have constantly second guessed myself and been overcome with anxiety. If I try to create my own eating plan, and gain weight, I think the results would be nothing but not good.

BUT. If a SPORTS NUTRITIONIST gives me a gameplan after having tested me and quizzed me and talked to me, and I gain weight, I may be a little freaked, but I'll also have a scientific guarauntee that it's in my best interests. Will that help? I think so.

And of course, I may not gain any weight at all, but still perform 100% better, which would be the best case scenario. I feel better having conquered the goo, though.

I mean, honestly, the pun potential alone is worth it.