Houston, Get a Clue

Key Words: Rice Block Party, Cups of Tap Water, This Might Save Your Life
Word Count: 893
Likely Next Topic: Cross Training Sunday

Much to say, so a quick recap of this morning run. 13.1 miles for the Chicago marathoners, so I toed the line with Larry at 5AM; off we went to Lukes for the first 3.5 miles of the run. This leg went well, with my averaging about 10:15/mile. I lost Larry at this point, but picked up a trio of female runners for the trek to Rice Loop and our second aide station. The triumvirate lost a member, and then I passed up the remaining duo before a return to the aide station. There were lots of people piling up at the aide station; about 50! It was like a block party on the Rice campus!! After milling about for a bit, and eating an orange slice, off I went back to Lukes. I chased down Pink Headphones Girl, and rounded onto Lukes in just over 11 min/mile total pace. Since that time include three long breaks, I was pleased with the time. Much of the remaining two miles were solo, and thus my mind got away from me a bit during that stretch; my time suffered accordingly, but I was pleased with the overall time (esp. considering I grazed at Lukes for 5 min on the way back!). I finished in just under 2:29.

Nutrition: Post-run, Jon taunted me viciously for pointing out that after I had an orange slice at the Rice Block Party and at Lukes stop #2, I felt full of energy! And that was only after one slice, had I ate the whole orange ... cartwheels down McDuffie, no doubt about it! This was the first time EVER I've eaten food during a run. Maybe I've found that my body likes "au natural" sugar? Maybe I just had a good day?!? It demands a test, so in addition to buying new shoes (Mizuno Wave 7s) and socks today, I purchased some Honey Stinger from Lukes. This stuff is basically pure honey, so I'm wondering if it will have the same impact as the orange? Whatever caused the orange effect, I want it again ... I felt extremely good after the citrus infusion.

Hurricane's coming. Well, not really. Dean is almost certainly not going to hit Houston, but yet people are going ape sh!t. First off, you don't need to buy every bottle of water in Kroger people. If you plan to stay (and most will), fill your cups with tap water, cover them with saran wrap (they had plenty of that) and viola, you're ready for a natural disaster. The city has also erected "Fill Your Tank With Gas" billboards ... too much, too early. Disappointing.

BUT, here's what you should check with Dean roiling up the Caribbean; you're get out of town bag. After Katrina/Rita I realized that I could need (probably due to terrorism, unfortunately) to get out of town quickly. To that end, in my car and in a book bag in my apartment, I stored a gallon of water, a big bottle of Gatorade, a huge container of peanuts, and a huge bag of M&Ms. Don't scoff, just continue. As these emergency instruments are almost two years old, I checked dates and most are indeed expiring; time to restock. I went to Kroger and purchased two of each of the following: family sized Planter Peanuts (those adverse to peanuts should go for almonds), a family sized bag of M&Ms, and a small container of Gatorade mix. The beauty is the peanuts and M&Ms have 8,720 calories, and all in a very small space! Better yet, a serving of peanuts has 14g of fat, 7g of protein, and 5g of carbs ... a reasonably balanced meal. The M&Ms will make up for the somewhat low carbs in the nuts, and both will fill you up as they have lots of fat. The Gatorade is just another small way to carry lots of calories (1,850), and keep the electrolytes balanced by mixing it with my water. That number of calories could easily keep me feed for a week, so that, with my water, makes me ready to go on quick notice. Oh, and it takes a while for this stuff to go bad, so set it, and forget it!

For the water, you need to buy Ozarka or some good name brand. Those Kroger milk jugs full of water are not air tight; I have had all the water evaporate from those. In two years, my Ozarka jugs (including the one in my hot car) are still filled to the brim.

MOST IMPORTANTLY AND EASILY FORGOTTEN, write down your insurance numbers and key bank account numbers and put that in your pack. If you have to stay gone for a while, you'll need that stuff.

So go get an old back pack or sturdy Target bag, and make the $15 or so investment in at least one get out of town pack. Not likely that you'll likely need it, but you could save your life, and probably those of several friends and/or family.