The Untamed Runner celebrates its one-year birthday around now. Oddly, I don’t have the exact date I launched but it was sometime in late May. How does a running blog celebrate its birthday? By its author going for a long run and using Birthday Cake-flavored Gu for energy.
I got lucky and was able to do this by running to work one morning last, due to vehicle logistics with visiting family. This was a 13.5-mile, point-to-point run ending at a slightly higher elevation. It combined dirt trails, residential streets, and concrete running/bike paths. There is a shorter way for me to make the trek but that would involve a few miles on a heavily used road with no sidewalks. The extra couple of miles are well worth it to avoid that insanity. I managed to complete it at a faster pace than I had planned (given that it was three days after Bolder Boulder and had net elevation gain, I was pleased) but more importantly, it was an exhilarating way to start the day and celebrate one year.
To date, the Untamed Runner has featured a combination of race analysis, training anecdotes, posts focused on individual elite runners, overviews of the sport, and food reviews. The latter three have received the most enthusiastic feedback so you can expect more of that as the Untamed Runner strides ahead. For the next several weeks, I’ll be covering why running may yield more learning about human capabilities than many team sports (this will include an early prediction for the Ineos 1:59 challenge), the value of pacing, and a Badwater overview.
Running food review of the week: (note–gels, bars, chews, and other items affect everyone differently. Try them on a short run before using them for a key training run or race): Gu Stroopwafel Hot Chocolate with a Hint of Cinnamon: I was pretty excited about this one but the texture was a little more chalky than I would have figured. However, I was eating it prior to my run so it didn’t interfere with that. As far as energy goes, I would give this one a thumbs-up and it didn’t affect my GI at all, which is another bonus. It might just be difficult to take down quickly mid-run.
Running anecdotes, running food reviews, some race coverage, and more