The Darkest Morning
Last Saturday — the day before we switched to standard time from daylight savings time — was the darkest morning of the season, with sunrise not coming until 7:25 AM.
At about 6:50 AM, as I drove in the dark to meet the guys in the park for our scheduled 19.75-mile run, panic suddenly swept over me. I checked my gear bag as I drove and, sure enough, I had forgotten my double-caffeinated Tangerine Power Gels. At that point I had two options: Turn around and grab two from my endurance nutrition pantry back in my condo or continue on and bum some off Ty, who always brings extras. I knew that Ty favors Tropical Fruit-flavored Power Gels, which often don't agree with the X Man. Yet my only other choice was to violate my self-imposed sacrosanct rule and be late for our 7:00 AM run. Uncool! I chose to be on time and gag down Ty's Tropical Fruit gels at miles 8 and 13, and believe me, I paid in term of performance reduction due to stomach cramps. If I had my Tangerine gels and caffeine boost, there's no way Billy would have stayed with me for the entire distance. But he did, so what can I say? This truly was the darkest morning.
On Sunday morning, meanwhile, after setting their clocks back one hour, unmotivated people across the U.S. enjoyed an extra hour of sleep. Me? I see this switch to standard time and gift of early-morning daylight as an opportunity to try a new workout that I typically don't have time for. This year I planned to run an hour of fartleks on the golf course. Unfortunately, I forgot my can of dog Mace and the head greenskeeper's Doberman chased me away. I enjoyed a slight boost in speed until I reached the fence, but I didn't exactly get in the distance I had wanted.
At about 6:50 AM, as I drove in the dark to meet the guys in the park for our scheduled 19.75-mile run, panic suddenly swept over me. I checked my gear bag as I drove and, sure enough, I had forgotten my double-caffeinated Tangerine Power Gels. At that point I had two options: Turn around and grab two from my endurance nutrition pantry back in my condo or continue on and bum some off Ty, who always brings extras. I knew that Ty favors Tropical Fruit-flavored Power Gels, which often don't agree with the X Man. Yet my only other choice was to violate my self-imposed sacrosanct rule and be late for our 7:00 AM run. Uncool! I chose to be on time and gag down Ty's Tropical Fruit gels at miles 8 and 13, and believe me, I paid in term of performance reduction due to stomach cramps. If I had my Tangerine gels and caffeine boost, there's no way Billy would have stayed with me for the entire distance. But he did, so what can I say? This truly was the darkest morning.
On Sunday morning, meanwhile, after setting their clocks back one hour, unmotivated people across the U.S. enjoyed an extra hour of sleep. Me? I see this switch to standard time and gift of early-morning daylight as an opportunity to try a new workout that I typically don't have time for. This year I planned to run an hour of fartleks on the golf course. Unfortunately, I forgot my can of dog Mace and the head greenskeeper's Doberman chased me away. I enjoyed a slight boost in speed until I reached the fence, but I didn't exactly get in the distance I had wanted.
posted by Anonymous at Tuesday, November 01, 2005
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