Great trail run

I Got out for a lunch run today. I ran the first bit of the work route and then continued into the Bridle Trails for a short loop in the mud and then headed back to the gym. I didn't want to run with no plan so I tried to keep what I'd like to be marathon pace, 7:30/mi. I kept on target except for the hilly bits in the middle. I'm loving running on trails these days. It's just a damn shame that there aren't trails around the house that I can run on the weekends.

Speaking of the weekend, the schedule calls for 19 miles on Sunday. Going longer and longer adds another element to the route planning, buying water to refill my bottles. I can't imagine that giving up the bottles and running with a big Camelbak / bladder thing on my back would be comfortable for very long. I see people wearing those gray Nathan bladder vests with pouches but... they're $80, they look like ass and I don't think that they're comfortable. I'll just stick with two UD hand bottles for now. Each one will last for about 6 miles. It just means that I have to plan the route to go by a store after 60 - 90 min.

So far I've been using HEED and Hammer gel for fueling on my long runs with Recoverite after. I need to spend some time finding something else I could use for fuel on my long runs. I like the idea of a liquid diet for long runs / rides but I have a hard time with the reality of it. I want to like Hammer products and I've had success using a mixture of Hammer gel and Perpetuem for long events but it's hard to get past the taste. Chris mentioned using Coffee to flavor the Perpetuem and make it more palatable. I want to try that out soon and see if it's tolerable. I think I still have a huge jug or two of Perpetuem around the house somewhere.

Sounds like I have some planning to do.
Time: 0:42:42
Dist: 5.5
Avg: 7:45/mi