Good Morning!

And happy long-run day, haha!
Thanks for all the sweet comments and congrats yesterday on our anniversary. I also loved all the comments about married vs. single life and the special aspects of each. I can relate to all of those, on both sides! Looking back at my wedding pics reminded me that I wanted to do a few posts on my wedding - I was on a very strict budget, both of time and money, yet I pulled off a unique wedding for under $8000 total. This included every single dime we spent, from the rings to the reception. The average New Orleans wedding costs $36,500 (the national average is about $30000) so I feel pretty good about cost. I might put up some posts on saving money without stressing out. If I can get my act together :)
Yesterday the hus surprised me with this Mignon Faget cuff: I love it but I wish he'd quit getting me extravagant gifts when all I gave him was a leftover Christmas card with the verse crossed out and my own message written inside.

So, my long run: I resolutely set the alarm for 5 am this morning, then I checked the weather and saw that it was 90 degrees with 90% humidity basically from 3 am to 7 am. What's the point of even getting out of bed? I ended up getting on the road at a little past 6, maybe 6:10. It was already warm and super muggy, but I was prepared this time: I brought Cliff shot blocks (which are pricey, geez, over $2.50, good thing there are 2 servings in there), gatorade, and a little baggie of sea salt and potassium tablets. I was going to compound my own capsules, but I didn't have time to swing by Castellon pharmacy and pick up some empty capsules. Sometimes I like to play pharmacist.
This run went ok. I was feeling slow and sluggish from the start and I had "heavy legs". This is because yesterday I tried a new workout as my cross train day, and I whomped my thighs.* Plus I forgot my compression hose yesterday at work. But really it was ok; I have super sore stiff quads now but I got through my run well and even picked up the pace for the last few miles. I was a lot slower altogether compared to last week, but I think part of that is my chosen route: going up and down St Charles ave a few times during commuter hours is slow going - lots of traffic turning in front of you and lots of lights. I also had some longer walk breaks because it takes a freaking long time to chew those shot blocks; I tried running and chewing and it was making me queasy so I canned that idea. I had 3 shot blocks and about 13 ounces of gatorade, plus 90 mg of potassium and a highly exact pinch of salt.
My shot blocks review:
Good:
-More portable for spaced calories - you can eat 33 calories at a time instead of trying to squeeze out small portions of GU, then run holding an open GU pack.
-Kind of like eating candy! Yummy!
-Nice, healthy ingredients (I mean, as far as fake foods go).
-It was a pleasant change to chew something instead of swallowing gel.
Bad:
-I could feel them in my stomach, but take that with a grain of salt because I get sick to my stomach a lot when I run.
-After eating them I felt like brushing my teeth for the rest of the run.
Have you tried shot blocks? What's your running fuel?
*If you're wondering, it wasn't some awesome thigh workout. It was a Women's Day ab workout, and I was obviously doing everything wrong since my abs feel fine and my thighs hurt!