Redemption Tour Update-Gatorade Endurance Fueled

Disclaimer: I received Gatorade Endurance products to review as part of being a Bibrave Pro. Learn more about becoming a Bibrave Pro(ambassador), and check out Bibrave.com to review, find, and write race reviews.

I decided to check in since I am coming up on the half way point of my training for Richmond Marathon aka the Redemption Tour. If you missed my previous post where I discussed why I am choosing to tab this training The Redemption Tour, here is a quick summary. In 2018 I trained hard in hopes of completing the Richmond Marathon, which at the time would have been my 4th full marathon. I have done about 30 half marathons but I usually limit my full marathons to 1 a year, just because of the time commitment to training for one. Everything went well all through training but the day before the race I went to eat at a local Italian restaurant with great reviews and I woke up race morning with food poisoning. Although I tried to drink as much gatorade and water as I could, the GI issues were just too extensive and I became extremely dehydrated at mile 14. I was unable to finish and was transported to ER via ambulance. Although I was able to find another marathon to run(Kiawah Island) a few weeks later and PR, I still have unfinished business with Richmond.

So here we are at the halfway point of my training for Richmond Marathon 2019, and things are going well. These summer NC days have been extremely hot and humid, but with the help of Gatorade endurance, I have been able to endure. I’m training 4 days a week currently and averaging about 40 miles each week. Typically if my run is an hour or less, I take 1 gatorade endurance gel and my water bottle filled with gatorade endurance mixture. For 2 hours, I add another gel and for anything 3 hours plus, I take 3 gel packs. By far my favorite gel flavor is the Apple Pear, and my favorite powder mix is the watermelon. I love how the taste is not overwhelming but still flavorful.

With all the heat and humidity, we have to remember to stay very hydrated. Gatorade Endurance has been great asset to have at my disposal. Average days have been in the 90s with 90 + % humidity. Only good that about this heat is it is great for burning calories and it has keep my weight down.

Looking forward to the second half of training, cooler weather and updating you after a successful Richmond 2019.

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Richmond Half Marathon Recap

I couple of weeks ago I decided I had 1 more half marathon in me, so I decided to sign up for the Richmond Half Marathon. Although I knew i would be traveling solo, i was aware of several runners from my area that were making the trip up so I knew I would probably run into someone I knew. As expected, at the expo I ran into 4 other Raleigh runners, one being the notorious Dr. D. I got a good night’s sleep friday night and woke up on Saturday ready to take on the next 13.1 miles.

I had been going back and forth about whether or not I wanted to try for a PR, it boiled down to how I was feeling after the first mile. The temperature was chilly 39, so it was almost prime weather to run fast. I started out staying within striking distance of the 1:45 pacer and i wanted to see how i would hold up. My PR was 1:48 so if i could hang with the pacer, I was guaranteed a new PR. After mile 8, I felt stronger and was handling the hills a lot better than a lot of the runners around me. As i got stronger, i started picking up my pace. I passed the 1:45 pacer after mile 9 and decided to see if I could keep the pace. 10,11,12 and still i was well ahead of 1:45. This half marathon is notorious for its final mile being straight downhill, and it did not disappoint. I galloped down the final downhill and crossed the finish line in a time of 1:43:05, a new PR by 5 minutes. Very happy with the outcome and now my 2016 has seen me PR in both marathon and half marathons. It has been a good year.