Running isn't Pretty (Stacey)

Despite all the wonderful pictures of beautiful women (or men) running with either smiles or determined looks on their faces, it's a lie!!!

I'm convinced no one looks like this when they run. I hate to burst everyone's bubble but no. At least, not in my case. I tend to look more like a dehydrated, out of shape, shuffling loser. 

Today however, I was a mostly hydrated, sorta out of shape, very slow RUNNER! Woo! I'm so proud of myself. I ran for a total of 48 minutes (which I know pretty exactly thanks to listening to my boyfriend's sermon recording on my run today). Furthermore, I went 3.2 miles. Running. THE WHOLE TIME. Have you gotten that I'm proud of myself? Because, yeah, I am. Considering that yesterday I was unable to run 2.5 I'm pretty proud that I was able to go 3/4 of a mile beyond that. Sometimes, it's the little victories that can make your day. 

Aside from that physical victory, I was really reminded of the un-prettiness of running and its accessories. My mom has a few friends at work who run and she asked them what helps with hydration during the longer runs and they told her the following things: "goo", salt tablets, and something that sounded to me like a mix of Batman's utility belt and a fanny pack.

So I did some research into said objects and learned some things:

First, it's spelled Gu. Second, they sell various products for "performance energy." Essentially, its purpose is the same as Gatorade, which is something I am familiar with. They sell various powders, tablets, and gels to refuel your body with electrolytes, carbohydrates, calories, etc etc as you are working out.

The gel packs look the least objectionable and disgusting to me, and you can use them mid work-out without much else.

Salt tablets/sticks have a various reactions on the runners blogs/articles/message boards that I've seen. They basically replenish the salt you lose while sweating rather than just replacing the water. It seems like runners who do marathons or longer(!) tend to like them, but overall everyone says trust your body and go from there. (I read various things, but this forum had a lot of interesting opinions.)

But where do people keep all these things while they run? Hydration belts! Below is a "Fuelbelt" with all kinds of fun place to store running goodies.

Cool? No. Potentially useful? Absolutely, unfortunately . . . .

I haven't decided yet how I feel about any of these things, but one thing I am sure about.

Running isn't pretty.

But hopefully, the results will be.